Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 355 Hagrid's Invitation Before the Match (Part 2)

Tragic hero, or Galon the fraudster?

Yes, Viktor Krum caught the Golden Snitch in the Quidditch World Cup final, but lost the match... What a tragic scene! Countless people felt sorry for him!

But how many people have considered that this might just be a carefully orchestrated performance?
According to sources within the team (we can only refer to them as 'insiders' to protect righteous individuals from retaliation), Viktor Krum's team had secret contact with the Fairies, and they spent several hours together in the same bar.

No one knows what they talked about, but the result of Viktor Krum capturing the Golden Snitch and Ireland winning the game allowed the goblins who ran the betting operations to reap countless Galleons.

What's puzzling is why Viktor Krum, a world-class Chaser, would attempt to catch the Snitch when he knew he was going to lose.

Also, now that he has become a warrior in the Triwizard Tournament, will he resort to his old tricks again?

……

"boom!"

A loud thud came from the Slytherin table that morning, as if someone had slammed a plate down on it.

Then Krum stood up, his face dark, and walked out of the auditorium.

"Does that girl even know anything about Quidditch?!" someone said angrily. "Does she think she can just catch the Golden Snitch like that? Krum is only doing this to prevent the Bulgarian team from losing too badly!"

This statement garnered considerable support, but many others remained silent.

They couldn't afford the expensive Quidditch World Cup tickets, and naturally, they didn't know how good Ireland's Chaser was.

All they knew was that even in a game at Hogwarts, the Seeker wouldn't actively try to catch the Snitch if the opponent was leading.

For a moment, all sorts of different voices filled the auditorium.

“What did I tell you…” Siren calmly took a sip of pumpkin juice. “Rita Skeeter isn’t going to honestly promote the Triwizard Tournament. Karkaroff has miscalculated.”

"Terrible!"

Harry, who was standing nearby, suddenly shivered for no reason, frowned, and threw the newspaper back onto the table.

"Luckily, I'm not a warrior, so I don't have to do her interview."

Xilun turned and glanced at him.

For Harry, this was certainly something to be thankful for.

“Speaking of which, Sirius’s second hearing should be starting soon, right?” Sirius picked up the newspaper and flipped through it all. “Why isn’t there any news about it?”

He remembered Lupin mentioning that Sirius's second public hearing would begin in early November, but almost two weeks have passed and there's still no news.

“They changed the time.” Harry’s face immediately darkened when he said this.

“Mr. Weasley told me last week that they have postponed the hearing until Christmas!”

“Why…” Hermione asked, “What’s the point of this?”

"Perhaps because everyone was busy celebrating Christmas at that time, they wouldn't go to any hearings."

Siren wiped the pumpkin juice spilled on the table with a newspaper and casually said, "After all, it's a public hearing, and many wizards from outside the Ministry of Magic will be there. If Fudge tries to act as recklessly as he did at the first hearing, he'll definitely receive a lot of shouting letters."

“I dare say Professor Dumbledore had already figured him out,” Hermione said. “That’s why he asked Wizengamor to change the second hearing into a public hearing.”

“Maybe.” Xiren shrugged.

He hadn't expected Dumbledore to be so decisive, immediately requesting a public hearing after the first hearing failed. As the chief wizard of Wizengamor, this wasn't a difficult task for him.

But Siren also didn't expect Fudge to be so stubborn, still struggling even after all this.

Public hearings in the wizarding world are rare to begin with, and the Potters, who were betrayed, are the very family that gave birth to the saviors, so even at Christmas, there will definitely be quite a few people attending.

Fudge's actions were completely useless and only revealed his guilty conscience.

"Didn't Headmaster Dumbledore say anything?" Hermione asked.

“No.” Harry shook his head. “He’s probably busy with the Triwizard Tournament.”

At this point, Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville entered the Great Hall, and the group stopped discussing the topic.

Harry looked a little embarrassed.

Because Ron and Dean were still holding a grudge against Siren because of what happened before, he, as their mutual friend, was caught in the middle.

Ron wanted Harry to take his side, but Harry felt that Ron was the one being unreasonable, but was just too embarrassed to say it outright.

On the contrary, Xilun had no such concerns. He calmly finished the few pieces of toast on his plate, stood up, and walked outside.

……

Several weeks have passed since the Halloween dinner, and Gryffindor's enthusiasm has finally subsided, and he no longer follows him everywhere.

And because of Rita Skeeter's article a few days ago, people now seem to be more interested in Viktor Krum.

Karkaroff was furious and lodged a strong protest with the British Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet, even declaring that Durmstrang would withdraw from the Triwizard Tournament if they were not given an explanation.

But his approach was clearly not very effective... If protests were useful, Rita Skeeter would have been imprisoned in Azkaban long ago.

As for whether Durmstrang will withdraw from the Triwizard Tournament, there's even less to worry about. Even Fudge knows that Karkaroff would never do that.

Then the matter was left unresolved. Rita Skeeter even wrote another article in the newspaper afterward, digging up all of Karkaroff's dark history over the past ten years, from his identity as a Death Eater to his identification of his accomplices in the dock, and his embarrassing escape from Britain.

Xiren remembered hearing roars coming from the direction of Black Lake repeatedly when he was reading that newspaper.

However, after that incident, he rarely saw Durmstrang's men again. Even when it was time to eat, they would only send one person to take the food back to the ship.

In stark contrast to Karkaroff, Ms. Maxim of Beauxbatons was beaming with joy.

With two opponents, one is only fourteen years old and practically a free win, while the other is embroiled in scandal and in poor form, isn't this tantamount to handing the championship to them?
The principal had this idea, and the students from Beauxbatons who came with him were no exception. In the past few days, Xiren could clearly feel that they were becoming more and more arrogant. Before the competition even started, they were already acting like victors.

Some people even went so far as to obtain badges sold by the Weasley brothers, and after some modifications, the words on them were changed to mock the other two warriors.

When Fred and George found out, they immediately wanted to go to the carriage and teach them a lesson.

Although Professor McGonagall eventually stopped it, the atmosphere in the castle became tense and volatile.

But none of that mattered to Celeste. What mattered was that he was surrounded again, with a large group of Gryffindors, a small group of Hufflepuffs, and a few Ravenclaws following him wherever he went.

According to Fred...

"We're doing this to protect you!" "What if those blue Bombshells try to attack you..."

This is the nickname they gave to Beauxbatons students because their school uniforms are blue.

The two originally intended to call them Blue Giants, but after learning from Hagrid about creatures like the Blast-tailed Snail, they changed their names... because they believed that the Blast-tailed Snail was even less intelligent than a Giant.

Soon, the first project was about to begin, and the atmosphere in the castle became increasingly tense.

The professors noticed this, so on Saturday, the school approved students in their third year and above to visit Hogsmeade Village to relax and unwind.

Honeydukes candy store and Zoko attracted most of the attention, and Siren finally found an opportunity to get rid of his 'guards'.

"You look troubled," came a voice that sounded like it hadn't woken up yet.

Strange glasses, carrot earrings, cork necklace...

Luna tiptoed and waved her hand near Xilen's ear, as if shooing something away.

"Another harassing horsefly?" Xilun asked.

“Yes, and there are many,” Luna said.

“I think so too.” Xiren sighed. “If you’re followed by a large group of people wherever you go, you’re bound to attract a lot of harassment.”

Luna blinked, thinking that this situation was unlikely to happen to her.

"Anyway, thanks," Celen said. "I'm going to Three Brooms for a drink, what about you?"

“Davies-Bans,” Luna said. “Dad said he bought glasses there that could find horned horned beasts, and I’m going to go check it out.”

“Alright, then good luck,” Siren said. “If you find the Curved-Horned Beast, remember to come find me; perhaps I can help you turn it into a wand.”

"A horned, snorting beast cannot be made into a wand."

"Others may not be able to do it, but I can."

……

The two argued for a while, and Luna seemed a little unhappy when she left.

This left Hermione, who was passing by, dumbfounded... What a horned snorkel? Isn't that just a fictional creature from "The Quibbler" to attract attention?
They're so bored, arguing for so long over something that doesn't even exist.

“This is a matter of my professional skills, not whether or not there is a Curved-Horned Beast,” Siren explained. “Anyway, I’m sure I can turn it into a wand.”

Hermione gave a slight twitch of her lips.

“Let’s go to Three Brooms for a drink, it’s on me,” Xilun said.

“Sure, I need to save a spot for Harry too,” Hermione said. “He’ll be here later, wearing the Invisibility Cloak.”

"Once Sirius signs Harry's application, he won't need to come wearing the Invisibility Cloak anymore."

"hope so."

The two men walked up to the three brooms.

The room was almost full, filled not only with Hogwarts students but also with all sorts of people from the magical world.

Celen also saw Hagrid here; he was sitting and drinking with Moody.

That's not quite right either, because only Hagrid was drinking; Moody only drank from the curved bottle he carried with him.

He brought three brooms just to pass the time... After all, every student at Hogsmeade needs a professor present, and he was that professor.

"Oh, look who's here?"

Upon seeing Siren, Hagrid immediately burst into laughter.

"Well, the first project is about to begin. Is our brave warrior ready?"

“If Snape had said that, I would have thought he was mocking me.” Cyren smiled and sat down next to Hagrid.

At the same time, he glanced at the half-tip of Moody's wand sticking out of his sleeve... thankfully, it was still Moody's own wand.

“Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mean to mock you,” Hagrid quickly said. “I definitely support you, you see…”

He pointed to his coat.
Only then did Celen notice that he had a badge pinned to his collar, the kind Fred and George sold.

“If you could, I really wish you could take that thing off,” Siron said.

“Why? I think it’s great. Look here, how exquisite it is,” Hagrid said, bending down as if to hand over the badge pinned to his collar, and saying in a very low voice, “I was just about to look for you, Siren. Come to my cabin at midnight tonight, and if you can, remember to borrow Harry’s Invisibility Cloak.”

“Hagrid!” Moody suddenly frowned and said, “You shouldn’t have done that…”

"What did you do?" Hagrid feigned ignorance. "I didn't do anything, Alastor. I just invited Siron to the cabin."

As he spoke, he straightened up and patted Moody on the shoulder. “We should go, Alastor. I’m afraid if we stay any longer, Ms. Rosmerta will be tempted to kick us out.”

“You can’t always drink your own stuff in the bar; it’s an insult to those warm meads.”

“I never drink anything of dubious origin,” Moody said, his magical eyes darting around, staring at Siron and Hermione at an eerie angle.

Meanwhile, Ms. Rosmerta, who had overheard their conversation, was also watching him.
“Mead isn’t some obscure thing; it’s one of the greatest inventions in the world.” Hagrid smiled awkwardly at Ms. Rosmerta and pulled Moody away from the three brooms.

No sooner had the two left than Xilun felt something touch his arm.

"I agree to lend you the invisibility cloak."

“Harry!” Hermione whispered. “When did you get here?”

“Just now,” Harry said, “Siron, I’ll lend you the Invisibility Cloak after we get back from Hogsmeade.”

“There’s no rush,” Xilun said.

No wonder Moody's Magic Eye suddenly looked this way; it was looking at Harry under the Invisibility Cloak. That Magic Eye can see through the Invisibility Cloak.

As for why Hagrid sent him to the cabin, it's obvious that it was to tell him about the dragon.

Xilun hesitated whether to go... or if he didn't go, would it mean he hadn't cheated if he didn't see the fire dragon directly?

……

(End of this chapter)