The Return to Hogwarts

Before Amosta could react, Sirius frowned and said angrily,

"What right do they have to make such a demand?!"

"yes--"

Remus nodded, his eyes also showing displeasure.

"Taking a wizard's wand is like pulling out a dragon's claws and fangs—a very impolite request. Furthermore, Amosta is not a monitored criminal; they have no right to do this, but..."

After a moment's hesitation, Remus looked at Amosta.

"Their purpose in doing this is quite obvious."

"A bunch of cowards!"

Sirius Black said loudly with disdain, "If they're scared, they can just refuse Amosta entry, can't they?"

"Clearly, the Magical Congress of the United States, or the officials who made this decision, are curious about Amosta. They want to meet him, but they also have to consider Amosta's destructive power. To be honest, I'm not that surprised they would come up with this idea. After all, the city of New York suffered serious damage because of a powerful wizard."

Setting aside personal emotions, Mr. Remus said,

"Of course, this is not a reason for them to take restrictive measures outside the law. Amosta, we can protest to the Magical Congress of the United States on the grounds that there is no provision in their Wizarding Immigration Act that states that a wizard with no criminal record must surrender his wand when entering the United States."

"If we actually did that—"

Amosta smiled.

"Then you will find that the Magical Congress of the United States will pass relevant laws at an astonishing speed, so that if a wizard who is deemed to pose a significant threat to the United States applies for entry, the immigration authorities have the right to confiscate the wizard's wand as appropriate."

Remus and Sirius, filled with righteous indignation, fell silent.

The Magical Congress of America is clearly wary of Amosta, and they might indeed do that.

"if--"

After a moment's thought, Remus suggested,

"What if you use your identity as the vice president of the International Federation of Wizards?"

"The International Wizarding Federation is not what it used to be, Remus. Without the invitation of the country's magical government, the Federation has no coercive right to interfere in the country's internal affairs. In other words, at most, it can only complain a few times,"

Amosta sipped his tea and had already made his decision.

"Besides, we're going there to discuss business. Entering the country with such an aggressive attitude basically means the negotiations have failed. So why should we even bother going?"

This ban was indeed a dilemma, and Remus frowned and pondered for a long time, but could not come up with a solution.

"So be it."

Amosta smiled and said,

"If they insist on taking my wand, I can hand it over, but... heh, I hope they keep it safe."

"But what if something unexpected happens?" Remus asked worriedly.

Amosta waved his hand dismissively, acting as if he wasn't the one whose wand was about to be taken away.

“Isn’t it you who’s here, Remus? I believe that with your abilities, you’re capable of handling any unexpected situations.”

Remus pursed his lips, feeling somewhat moved, but upon closer reflection, he still had doubts.

Amosta knew what Remus wanted to say and calmly said,

"The magical world of the United States, governed by the Magical Congress of the United States, is a powerful magical civilization. They have more wizards than we do, which is a vast market that we must strive to capture. That's all for now. You can write to them now to give them a formal reply. We agree to their demands."

With things having come to this, Remus had no choice but to agree. Sirius shrugged and stopped worrying. Just as Amosta had said, Remus was also quite skilled and capable of handling danger.

"I wanted to get you here—"

That's enough of that topic, let's get down to business.

Amosta turned and walked to the bookshelf in the office, opened a drawer and rummaged around inside for a while. Then, she took out an opaque bottle, walked to the sofa, and tossed it into Remus's arms, gesturing for him to open it.

"This is."

Seeing Remus pull out the cork and frown at the liquid inside, Sirius curiously leaned closer. Upon seeing it, his gaze froze, and he asked in bewilderment.

"Polyjuice Potion."

Amosta smiled slightly and spoke calmly.

Tomorrow is the start of the second match of the Triwizard Tournament. All day long, the castle was filled with an extremely excited atmosphere. The only topic of conversation among the young wizards was who would achieve the best results in tomorrow's event.

People hold differing opinions on this matter.

Durmstrang and Beauxbatons would naturally support their respective champions, but Hogwarts, with its two champions, had differing opinions. Hufflepuff supported Cedric, Gryffindor supported Hermione, and Slytherin supported Cedric simply because they disliked Gryffindor more. As for Ravenclaw, it wasn't surprising that the house with the most girls would support Hermione.

The young wizards and faculty were all buzzing with discussion, while the Ministry of Magic employees who had arrived at the school early in the morning to set up a platform by the lake, and the fairies assembling equipment for the live broadcast of the event, added to the atmosphere.

Neville returned to Hogwarts after school and before dinner. He went straight to the Quidditch field for morning exercises, but soon he caused a sensation.

Fred and George stopped their morning run and tried to take Neville to the professor, because they believed Neville must have been under the Imperius Curse to change his personality.

Watching Neville, surrounded by a group of people yet showing no stage fright, chatting and laughing with his classmates, Ron rubbed his eyes hard.

“I think Fred George has a point. Neville is definitely under the Imperius Curse!”

Harry nodded frantically, his face filled with astonishment, while Hermione grinned and said...

“I told you, you’ll be very surprised when you see him.”

The joyful atmosphere that filled the campus lasted until late at night before slowly dissipating, and this will be the most relaxing day for the young wizards at Hogwarts for quite some time.

"You'd better have something really important to say, Dumbledore!"

As the stone monster in front of the office door spun open, Karkaroff, who was trying to energize himself for tomorrow's match, angrily pushed open the wooden door to Dumbledore's office. But when he saw a round conference table suddenly appear inside, and the people sitting around it, Karkaroff's furious expression instantly changed, replaced by a smug, sweet smile.

"Oh, have I missed something important, Professors Dumbledore?"

Around the round desk sat Dumbledore, Amosta Blaine, Alastor Moody, McGonagall Minerva, Mrs. Maxime, and the Director of the Department of Magical Sports at the British Ministry of Magic.

“You’ve come at just the right time, Professor Karkaroff,” Dumbledore said with a smile. “Please take a seat.”

Karkarov's dark yellow eyes darted around, and he easily discerned that Mrs. Maxim's pretty face also carried a hint of confusion, indicating her bewilderment at this late-night meeting scheduled before the match.

With a thought in mind, Karkarov walked to the conference table and sat down next to Mrs. Maxim.

"Well then, everyone's here—"

Amostella leaned back in his chair, his fingers intertwined on his crossed legs, looking relaxed and content. After Karkaroff sat down, he exchanged a glance with Dumbledore, then his gaze fell on Ludo Bagman.

"You can explain it, Ludo."

"Alright, it's my pleasure!"

When facing Amostella, Ludo's expression became slightly unnatural, clearly not forgetting his bet on Hermione. He coughed twice, glancing at the crowd, mainly at Madam Maxim and the secretly wary Professor Karkaroff, and said with a smile,

"I think all of you Warriors should have figured out what you're going to do in Game 2, right?"

Chapter 837 The Most Important Treasure

2024-04-02

Professor Karkaroff and Mrs. Maxim exchanged a glance, but in front of the British Ministry of Magic officials, they both remained cautiously silent and made no response.

Their concerns are easy to understand. First, the competition requires the warriors to handle everything independently, and the principals and professors of each school should not interfere. Under these circumstances, it would be suspicious if they knew the warriors' progress in deciphering the secrets.

Secondly, they were unsure of the progress of the other warriors, and if they revealed crucial information, it would be tantamount to helping others.

"Oh, don't worry, everyone—"

"This was expected," Ludo said with a smile.

"From the moment you enter this office until the start of the competition, you will not be allowed to meet with the warriors and their respective school students alone. In other words, as of now, the decryption of the second competition is completely finished. Next, warriors, follow the clues from the golden egg to complete the corresponding challenges."

"Since that's the case—"

Karkaroff's eyes were filled with distrust of everyone; he was unwilling to reveal any details about Krum's decryption, only putting on a saccharine smile.

"Now that the decryption is over, Mr. Bagman, there's no need for us to reveal anything, is there? Besides, I really don't know how far Victor has progressed. To be honest, I'm quite worried. As you all know, that kid's talent lies in sports, and he's not particularly good at games like decryption. Perhaps he's the only warrior who hasn't figured out what he's supposed to do."

Everyone else ignored Karkaroff's affected speech, but Moody made no attempt to hide his disgust, waiting for Karkaroff to loudly denounce his hypocrisy.

"What exactly are we supposed to do, Mr. Bagman?"

Mrs. Maxim seemed a little impatient at the meeting. With the "big battle" imminent, she would rather be by her students' side to offer encouragement and comfort, but Ludo Bagman said that they had all been "under house arrest," which undoubtedly annoyed her.

The lack of cooperation from the principals of both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang left Ludo feeling somewhat helpless, and he turned to Amosta for help.

"Let me speak--"

Amosta straightened his posture and said with a smile.

"In the second game, the warriors need to go down into the Black Lake. They have one hour to retrieve the treasure we took from them. If they exceed one hour, they will lose their treasure forever. This is the clue the warriors got from the golden egg they obtained in the first game."

Karkaroff, who had just been reprimanded by Moody, opened his mouth to say something, but when he caught sight of Moody's disgusting, demonic eye, still fixed on him amidst his grotesque scars, he gave a soft snort and said nothing.

"So to say,"

Seeing that Amosta had already spoken, Madame Maxime finally stopped holding back.

"We've gathered here to discuss the treasures that were taken from the warriors?"

“You’re right, Mrs. Maxim,”

Ludo said in a light tone,