The Return to Hogwarts

"Wait, Cedric!"

Hermione instinctively called out.

Hermione wasn't entirely sure why she told Cedric all this, but if she had to give a reason, it would be—fairness.

Since Fleur, Krum, and she already knew, it was fair to let Cedric know this crucial information as well—that's how Hermione convinced herself.

Hermione didn't want to dwell on why Cedric seemed to want to run away from her. She looked around to make sure no other wizards were nearby, then took a deep breath and spoke quickly in a low voice.

I'll only say it once—

"what?"

Cedric's voice began to tremble; he already felt that things were exactly as he had thought.

"We're going to face a fire dragon, that's the first event, and then... well, that's all. You need to come up with some moves quickly!"

After a moment's hesitation, Hermione didn't utter the second piece of advice.

Cedric remained motionless, clearly still reeling from the shock of Hermione's revelation. But Hermione had no intention of waiting for Cedric to recover; she turned and left immediately. Otherwise, it would be too suspicious for others to see two Hogwarts warriors talking so mysteriously together.

however,

“Miss Granger—”

Just as Hermione took two steps, the door to the room opposite them creaked open, and Professor Moody's deep, husky voice sent chills down the spines of both Hermione and Cedric.

"Excuse me, could you come to my office?"

Chapter 613 Your Method Is Unreliable

2023-11-24

Professor Moody's expressionless face startled Hermione and Cedric. They realized that they were chatting right outside Professor Moody's office door. What was worse, most young wizards knew that a wall was no obstacle for this professor. He must have seen the two chatting by the corridor and then eavesdropped for a while with his ear pressed against the door.

"Professor, we—"

Cedric was eager to explain, but Professor Moody didn't give him a chance to speak; the scar on his cheek contorted in pain.

“Mr. Diggory, aren’t you going to dinner? Then go ahead. I have something to discuss with Miss Granger—”

Despite his reluctance, Cedric couldn't defy a professor's orders. He lingered, looking back every few steps, before finally disappearing around the corner of the stairs.

Hermione was pale. She didn't know how Professor Moody would punish her; it was blatant cheating. She could accept just having her champion status revoked, but to expel her for it was unacceptable. Besides, if Hagrid were involved, Hermione knew all too well just how afraid Hagrid was of breaking the law.

“Come on, Miss Granger—”

Professor Moody waved to Hermione and turned back to his office.

Hermione expected Professor Moody to reprimand her severely and interrogate her immediately, just as he would judge the most heinous dark wizards when he was an Auror. However, none of what she expected happened.

"So, you've figured things out?"

Professor Moody's tone was very gentle, even a little bit of a happy one that Hermione couldn't understand.

"I--"

Hermione stammered, unsure whether to immediately tell the whole story and try to get leniency, or to decide to fight back. This kind of experience was too rare for her; she was so nervous that her fingertips and the ends of her hair trembled. Her mind uncontrollably conjured up images of her and Hagrid packing their bags and being kicked out of Hogwarts.

"Oh, hehe, it's alright, Miss Granger--"

Perhaps noticing Hermione's nervousness, Professor Moody's tone softened, almost like Professor Blaine in casual conversation.

"Didn't you know? Cheating has always been a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament."

Well--

Professor Moody, unaware of the shocking remark he had made, uncorked the bottle and gulped down a few mouthfuls. Judging from his undisguised contorted expression, the bottle probably didn't contain any delicious beverage. Hermione sniffed the air, feeling a strange, very familiar smell, but she had no time to dwell on it.

"Oh, maybe I should put it another way—"

Professor Moody stared at the dumbfounded Hermione, and chuckled in a hoarse voice.

"--The Triwizard Tournament is a large-scale comprehensive competition. The contest is not limited to the arena. Miss Granger, intelligence gathering is also a very important test. It seems that you have passed this test, and Mr. Diggory owes his success to you."

Hermione continued blinking, and after a dozen seconds, her frozen breaths suddenly melted, and her pale cheeks flushed red.

"Oh, I see!" Hermione exclaimed, suddenly understanding. "That makes much more sense!"

Ever since learning about the previous events of the Triwizard Tournament, Hermione had found them utterly absurd. Let alone young wizards still receiving their education, how many non-professional adult wizards could suddenly face werewolves, Dementors, vampires, and dragons without any prior knowledge?!

Professor Moody's statement now provides a reasonable explanation for this confusion.

She actually needed someone to remind her to figure this out! Hermione thought with a bit of annoyance, but once the thought was clear, her nervousness vanished, and she pursed her lips shyly.

"I am... well, I found out by accident--"

Hermione said very subtly, trying not to appear too smug.

Moody let out a hoarse, dry laugh, his demonic eye darting around rapidly.

"If that's the case, then you must have already thought about how to deal with the fire dragon, right?"

Hmm--

Hermione was about to reveal that she had been practicing those spells for the past few days, but she stopped herself before she could speak, and her expression became tense again.

If inquiring about the game's events can be considered a hidden test within the game, then discussing how to handle the game with a professor is definitely not a proper thing to do. After all, Batty Crouch has made it clear that the Warriors cannot accept any professor's help.

"Professor Moody--"

Hermione's eyes flickered, and she said hesitantly,

"The charter states that discussing this is not permitted."

“Oh, Miss Granger, you don’t think I’m going to give you advice, do you?” Moody let out an exaggerated laugh. “Of course I won’t. Even if you do exceptionally well in class, I won’t give you special treatment. But I have an obligation to remind you, Miss Granger, you and Mr. Potter have seen how despicable Karkaroff is. You can certainly be virtuous, but I dare say Karkaroff won’t be satisfied with just finding out the competition from Snape. He might call a meeting and gather everyone together for Tiddlestrong’s warriors to come up with ideas. I just—”

Professor Moody's eyes suddenly stopped moving, remaining quietly in their sockets, and began to emit an extremely faint but alluring green glow, somewhat like the color of Harry's eyes. Hermione thought blankly, completely unaware of the irrationality of this phenomenon, but she suddenly felt an urge to confide in him, and then she laid out her plan in its entirety.

"--Wow, that's impressive!"

After hearing all this, Professor Moody clicked his tongue and said in an appreciative tone,

"Eye-Bleeding Curse, No-Flying Curse, Fire-Extinguishing Curse, Miss Granger, these are all common and effective ways to deal with fire dragons. How did you come up with all this?"

"It's Professor Blaine!"

Hermione blurted it out, and then she gave a sharp jolt and jumped up from the stool.

What happened? She shouldn't have exposed Professor Blaine!

Moody looked stunned; he hadn't expected Blaine to be involved in this whole affair. Blaine certainly didn't seem like the kind of person who would pull strings for the little witch.

"Professor Blaine was just... just..."

Hermione said with a hint of fear, racking her brains to try and exonerate Professor Blaine.

"It was just an example given to us in class a long time ago, showing us how to deal with an opponent much stronger than us!"

"Oh, is that so?"

Moody spoke softly and thoughtfully, noticing Hermione had stood up, and then reassured her,

"It's alright, Miss Granger, please sit down, we're not finished yet!"

Despite her hesitation, Hermione sat down. The conversation had progressed to this stage, and she wanted to hear what Professor Moody had to say.

The cracked endoscope on the desk diffused the sunlight streaming in from the window, creating bizarre and surreal light and shadow on the wall. Hermione suddenly realized that there were quite a few strange things in this office; most of them she had seen in books, but there were also some that she couldn't quite make out.

“Not surprising,” Professor Moody said. “Brain is experienced; he knows how to contain those terrifying behemoths. But, oh, for him, it was a sure thing, so he overlooked something—”

"what?"

Hermione was still annoyed at herself for being so talkative, but upon hearing this, she was still surprised and asked.

“Worship can make people blind, Miss Granger. I thought you would discover the problem with it—”

Professor Moody said in a rough voice,

“Eye-Burning Charm, oh, not bad, but you have to hit the dragon's eye. You know, it's not a piece of wood; you might just hit its eyelid. Extinguishing Fire Charm and Anti-Flying Charm, yes, equally effective tricks. I suspect they'll work, but it's not guaranteed, you understand what I mean, Miss Granger? You're facing a wild dragon with powerful magic. If you can't make your spells strong, then the duration and effectiveness will likely be limited—”

Seeing Hermione's astonished expression, Professor Moody smiled smugly.

"Of course, as I've already said, these are all very useful little spells, but they're not very reliable. I think you could strengthen your trump card... an easily obtainable item that makes you less conspicuous—"

Chapter 614 Game Day

2023-11-24

A thin mist hung in the air, and the morning light was faint.

Above the dim sky, an owl, returning late from its foraging, rode the wind. It spread its wings and flew wearily around the Astronomy Tower, the tallest building in Hogwarts, toward the Owl House. However, just after it passed the Ravenclaw tower, its sharp eyes caught sight of a magnificent circular building that it had never seen before, which appeared out of thin air overnight behind the pergola built over the abyss.

Curiosity overcame fatigue. With a sharp swoop, the owl covered miles in the blink of an eye. Then, with a gust of wind, the brown owl quickly climbed up and finally landed on a huge screen.

This enormous screen, suspended above a complex steel frame resembling a bird's nest, is entirely black and composed of numerous square stone slabs. Each slab is engraved with an intricate and unimaginable magical corridor. The owl lowered its head and pecked a few times with its hard beak, but this curious probing was interpreted as an attack. A gentle wave of air suddenly appeared, blowing the owl into the air.

cuckoo-

An owl, having lost a few feathers, hovered above the building, hooting in discontent.

Then, the owl shifted its attention elsewhere, and with its exceptional vision in the dark, it immediately discovered that it wasn't the only one hovering in mid-air.

In the air above this area, there were many strange little things that it found oddly shaped. They all had small white wings that were fluttering rapidly. It had indeed seen some people holding such things to their eyes and looking at them when it was delivering letters to wizards. They would occasionally emit a bright white flash. However, these little things in front of it did not have wings.