The Birth of the Tournament xxxx xxxxx Xxxxx Xxxx xxxx Xxxxxx Xxxxxx The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities — until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued.

Description
Selected champions compete in three tasks — traditionally judged by the Headmasters or Headmistresses of the competing schools — designed to test magical ability, intelligence, and courage. Champions competed for the honour and glory of winning the Tournament, for the Triwizard Cup, and a monetary prize.

Judges graded the champions' performance on each task. The Heads of the three participating schools were customarily judges. The selection of the champions from each participating school was done through a magical object called the Goblet of Fire.
The Goblet was a large, roughly hewn wooden cup, brimming with dancing blue flames. Basically, anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion had to write their name and school upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet. Aspiring champions had twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. On Hallowe'en, the goblet returned the names of the three it had judged most worthy to represent their schools.
The Goblet was placed in the entrance hall the day the visiting schools arrived, where it would be freely accessible to all who wished to compete. To ensure that no underage student submitted their name, an Age Line was drawn around the Goblet of Fire in 1994. This was a part of the new restrictions that were enacted to decrease the death toll. No one under the age of seventeen was able to cross the line.

Customs
Champions were supposed to stand alone during the Tournament. They were supposed to receive no outside help from anyone, including friends and teachers. Cheating was frowned upon, though it had been known to take place several times during the history of the Tournament. Cheating was so common, some people believed it to have been a traditional part of the event.

The Yule Ball (held on Christmas Day night) was a traditional part of the Tournament.[9][10] The Ball included a feast and a formal dance where the champions and their partners led the host school in dancing. Students old enough to attend were allowed to bring a friend. Students that were too young to attend might attend if invited by a student old enough to attend the ball.