The entire tournament had been laid out for the teams as well as the students to figure out on their own with the vague clues given to them, right from the beginning. As it had been announced, there would be extreme measures taken for the assure that the students would remain safe. Which meant that it wasn't going to be like the previous tournaments at all. The tasks were easier as the students who were aware of past tournaments were aware of.  From using the nifflers to find the leprechaun gold to finding the key in the lake for the second task. 

So, of course, it would seem like a shock to have all the dragons appear out of nowhere, but by that moment, the judges and those running the tournament assumed the teams would have at least figured it out. 

But only one student managed to do so and that was Hope. However, it was only because of what Henry had told her at one point. 

Nonsense had been the word that clicked inside of Hope's head as soon as it brushed past Henry's lips.

Of course, the word was simply to say but it was a bit more complicated to explain why it brought everything together. 

But as Hope was able to put it together, she came to the conclusion that the tournament was not what it seemed.

The coin had been one of the first hints because of all the hidden leprechaun gold. It appeared real but it wasn't. The second task had all of them believing that the key was hidden beneath the surface because of the original tasks that had taken place but it turned out that it was at the surface the entire time. When they opened the chest, there was nothing there, giving them their next clue. 

It was all confusing but the word nonsense had sparked Hope to flee to the library in order to research what she could about the tournament in the past. Seeing as the tournament took place every five years, the timeline didn't match up for them to host a new one, even though they had been long overdue, to begin with. But they couldn't control the timing of the Goblet. The flames would only rise during a certain time and extinguish once the names had been chosen. 

Which meant that people couldn't hold the tournament whenever they felt like it, but people had looked over that matter completely because they were just in shock, to begin with.  They only worried over the fact that the tournament had been brought back up together and the majority of Hogwarts was just in shock that McGonagall had allowed for the tournament at all. 

But Hope knew there was something awry when Henry muttered nonsense, bringing her to wonder how much of the tournament was truly nonsense. The incident with the Grindylows hadn't been planned as she had been the only one attacked and it was just her luck that she had swam over their mating swarm. However, everyone else remained safe, there were no merfolk attacks and all they had to do was stay afloat until the pieces of the key gathered.

A key that opened up nothing because there was nothing to discover. That's what Hope had been anticipating the entire time when she thought of the final task. There was nothing to worry about.

Of course, she had been caught off guard when she saw the swarm of dragons but she had to think to herself that adults wouldn't be so stupid to unleash several dragons on students that weren't even of age. 

It was the reason she had kept a firm hold of the key because it had been the first clue given to them. The coin was the key to finding the other key that led to nothing, which made the coin the original key. 

The key to winning. 

When they were gathered in the circle, Hope kept hold of the coin while everyone else panicked. She was sure she was right, even as the dragons surrounded her. As soon as the flames were unleashed, it activated the coin, which transported the girl to stand beside her headmistress that wore a very amused smile at the time.

"Merlin's beard," Fred said under his breath with a shake of his head and a smile. "I don't believe it."

"What? What is it?!" Eleanor was close to shoving the man down the stands as she was waiting for some sort of explanation. Anora reached out and held the woman back before all hell broke loose in the stands.

"Easy there, Lady Badger, there's nothing to be upset about, right? Little Hopey is fine-" 

Eleanor turned around and gave the other woman a look that caused Anora's eyes to widen before she pushed Charlie in front of her as a barrier. 

"You're up, Captain Muffin."

"Why me?!"

Fred turned to them with a laugh. "Don't you all get it?" He said.

"No!" The three of them yelled at him.

Fred took a step back and held his hands up. "Simmer down. You all just witnessed history. Today marks the day that Minerva McGonagall just pulled the biggest prank on not one, but three schools."

"What?" The three looked confused as Lyall was halfway making his way over to Remus who seemed to be in just as much shock. The entire faculty of Hogwarts looked confused. The Heads of Ilvermorny and Durmstrang looked just as confused. 

The only one that looked calm, collective, and amused was McGonagall.....and Hope.

"What do you mean a prank?" Eleanor said. "McGonagall? McGonagall playing a prank on all three schools?"

"Yes," Fred laughed again. "That's exactly what she did. The tournament...those dragons weren't real. They were an illusion, why else would they have just vanished like that? Hope ends up on the judges' platform...no one was hurt. They were just frightened. All of this..the whole tournament was a big elaborate prank...and I didn't catch onto it until now. I am so ashamed of myself."

"So what made you turn to the dark side?" Hope asked McGonagall after they took a couple of pictures for the Daily Prophet. "You just couldn't resist the pranking life, could you?"

McGonagall peered down at the girl for a moment. "I don't think you understand, Ms. Weasley..." she began. "I was the one who started it."

Hope raised a brow at her. "Oh really?"

The Headmistress faced forward.

 "I was just smart enough to never be caught."

Hope placed her hands on her hips and faced the woman with a small smirk that reminded McGonagall of the girl's father. 

"With all due respect, Professor, but getting caught is sometimes the best part. You don't know what you've been missing out on."