Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 405, Project 3

"How are you feeling? Are you nervous?"

“Not bad,” Xilun said.

“Yes, there’s nothing to be nervous about,” Ludo Bagman quickly said. “Actually, the third project isn’t as difficult as you think. By the way, I…”

“I’ve heard it from Ms. Maxim; your parents are both Beauxbatons graduates,” Fleur said, interrupting Ludo Bagman again.

“That’s right,” Siren said, glancing at Bagman beside him. Bagman’s face was slightly flushed, whether from anger or suppressed frustration, it was hard to tell.

But nobody cared.

"Then why did you come to Hogwarts?" Fleur's voice carried a hint of doubt.

Generally speaking, a wizarding family will choose the same magic school, and that's how it was for her; every Delacour graduate was a Beauxbatons graduate.

“Because my grandfather graduated from Hogwarts,” Siron said. “And I love making wands, and the best materials can be found here.”

As he spoke, he gently touched the silver hair in his pocket.

“Beauxbatons has a lot of magical creatures too,” Fleur said. “Besides the stellar you saw, we also have fairies, Pomlocks, and Moonfoxes on our campus.”

“But Hogwarts is just the Forbidden Forest.” Sirens pointed to the deep darkness in the distance. “You can find almost everything you just mentioned in the Forbidden Forest.”

"What about the divine talisman horse?" Furong asked. "You probably don't have that, do you?"

"But there are Thestrals in the Forbidden Forest."

As they spoke, the two had already crossed the moonlit field and entered the Quidditch pitch.

The place had become completely unrecognizable. A hedge over twenty feet high completely surrounded the entire field, with only one gap directly in front, which also served as the entrance to the maze.

Ludo Bagman didn't get a chance to speak the whole way. Although he was unwilling, he had more important things to do at the moment, so he had to leave first.

“I didn’t cheat,” came Krum’s gruff voice from the side.

When Bagman was there, he walked at the very back without saying a word.

"Oh?" Furong turned around and glanced at him.

As fellow warriors, her attitude towards Krum was noticeably better than her attitude towards Bagman... at least she was willing to listen to Krum.

“I know you might not believe me, but I really didn’t,” Krum said.
“I admit that Mr. Bagman did offer to help me more than once, but I refused each time… I completed the previous two projects on my own. The secret of the golden egg… I also solved it while swimming in the lake.”

Krum probably rarely speaks this much at once, and with his excitement, he even stuttered a bit at the end.

"You say you didn't, who would believe you?" Furong sneered. "That was with the help of the referees in the Three Kingdoms Tournament."

“I swear,” Krum said solemnly, “as a Seeker, I have never accepted any help from Bagman. In my opinion, that would be an insult to me!”

It must be said that Krum's expression looked quite sincere, and Fleur, who had been so determined just moments before, now seemed a little hesitant.

"But you met at the Pig's Head Bar."

“That was our principal’s request, and I couldn’t refuse,” Krum said. “But before I went, I cast a spell on myself so I didn’t hear a word they said.”

Furong became even more hesitant, wondering if she could resist the temptation if Bagman took the initiative to be friendly to her.

The answer is difficult. However, Siren is willing to believe Krum.

After all, besides being known as the Durmstrang Warriors, he's also a world-class basketball star and currently ranked number one in the Seeker rankings. How could someone like that not have his pride?
“No matter what, this is the last project,” Fleur said, seemingly agreeing with Krum. “And now that this has been exposed, even if he wanted to help you, there’s nothing he can do.”

“No, not really,” Krum stammered, pulling a folded piece of parchment from his pocket.

"what is this?"

“Bagman gave me the map of the maze,” Krum said.

"What?!" Furong couldn't help but scream, "How dare he..."

“I didn’t look at it, and I won’t look at it,” Krum said hastily. He took out his wand and waved it forcefully, and the parchment instantly burst into flames, turning into a small pile of fine ashes in the blink of an eye, which was then scattered by a gust of wind.

"Heh, who knows if you've already read it beforehand?" Furong said expressionlessly.

“I didn’t look at it,” Krum said anxiously. “I didn’t even open it.”

“Actually, it doesn’t matter even if you see it,” Xilun said.

"Why?" Furong asked, frowning. "If he knows the route, he can go straight to the destination. I can't compare to him at all."

“Because Ludo Bagman didn’t know the final maze route; what he saw was fake,” Siron said.

Before he could explain further, the students had already arrived.

Hundreds of students walked out of the auditorium one after another and sat in the stands under Professor McGonagall's arrangement. The air was filled with excited voices and noisy footsteps.

The clouds in the sky gradually dispersed, revealing a clear, deep blue starry sky. In the stands below, nearly a hundred banners and flags were being waved vigorously.

On the Gryffindor stands, several fireworks rose into the sky, and the exploding fireworks formed a giant lion.

Once everyone was seated, Ludo Bagman's loud voice rang out from the stands.

"Now, please welcome our warriors!"

The three of them walked into the entrance at the same time and stopped at a fork in the road.

Siren glanced at the referee's box and noticed that Connelly Fudge was now sitting in what should have been Ludo Bagman's spot. He himself was standing on the commentary platform.

If Siren is not mistaken, Ludo Bagman is now just a commentator... If he is just a commentator, he is indeed excellent, experienced and full of passion.

After the warriors had taken their positions, Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Moody entered. They were all dressed in identical black cloaks and pointed wizard hats adorned with large, glittering red stars.

“We will patrol outside the maze,” Professor McGonagall said. “If you are in danger and need rescue, just fire a red spark into the sky and we will be there immediately.”

"I'll confirm one last time, you all know the Spark Charm, right?"

The three of them nodded at the same time.

Like the Illumination Charm, the Spark Charm is a first-year spell. If they don't even know this, there's no point in doing the third project.

“Well then, good luck.” Professor McGonagall nodded, and then they went in different directions, spreading out around the maze.

……

(End of this chapter)