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It's well-known at this point that there are several magical schools other than Hogwarts, Beauxbaton, and Durmstrang. It's also been noted that the Triwizard Tournament probably did not continue after 1994.

Out of curiosity, is there any in-universe reason given for why the other schools weren't included in the tournament (either in its original incarnation or the 1994 not-so-greatest-hits edition) to begin with? This is putting aside the "triwizard" assumption, of course.

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  • @Edlothiad: No worries :) I'm curious if there were any in-universe (or even really out-of-universe) reasons given for why it became the "triwizard" tourney in the first place. Were these the only 3 schools interested/insane enough? Was it magical elitism? Did something eat the owls delivering invites to the other schools? You get the idea.
    – tonysdg
    Commented Sep 4, 2017 at 12:49
  • I think it originated before the other schools were founded, some 700 years ago (in-universe) and Rowling only thought about having other schools later I guess, not sure if that's true or not but that would be out-of-universe.
    – Edlothiad
    Commented Sep 4, 2017 at 12:55

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The Triwizard tournament was held between the three biggest wizarding schools in Europe (emphasis mine).

"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.
(Goblet of Fire, Chapter 12, The Triwizard Tournament).

The three biggest schools in Europe were Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Drumstrang. As such, they were the three schools that contested the tournament.

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  • 33
    A real life example would be the boat race on the Thames between Oxford and Cambridge. Yes, there are other universities, but these are the ones that have been competing since time immemorial (well, okay, 1829).
    – SQB
    Commented Sep 4, 2017 at 13:06
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    It always makes me laugh when the Triwizard Tournament, the contest discontinued due to its unacceptably high death toll, is referred to in the HP universe as a "friendly competition".
    – DisturbedNeo
    Commented Sep 4, 2017 at 15:21
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    @DisturbedNeo Witches and wizards are hardcore.
    – JAB
    Commented Sep 4, 2017 at 16:46
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    @DisturbedNeo - nothing unfriendly about wizards getting killed, as long as it's done fairly. :-)
    – Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні
    Commented Sep 4, 2017 at 18:31
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    @DisturbedNeo: "Friendly" should perhaps be interpreted in the same sense as found in "friendly fire". :-)
    – ruakh
    Commented Sep 5, 2017 at 5:43

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