Hogwarts: My Grandmother is the Queen

Chapter 401 In the Auditorium

By the time the banquet was in its second half, the seating in the auditorium was already in disarray.

The Slytherin table, which had been split in two, was now occupied by three Durmstrang boys and two Beauxbatons girls.

One of the Beauxbatons girls was discussing potion ingredients with Daphne in broken English. When they got excited, they switched back to French, and Daphne didn't mind, replying in French.

The girl burst into laughter.

Pansy had already formed a small circle. She sat between two Beauxbatons girls. The one on the left was named Madeline, with black hair, a round face, and two dimples when she smiled. The one on the right was named Sophie, who was very tall, with short silver hair, and eyes even colder than Hibiscus's.

Pansy and Madeline chatted quickly in French, with Sophie occasionally chiming in, each time with a touch of humor.

Pansy laughed twice, and Daphne translated it to Draco. Draco laughed too and said something in English that Madeline didn't understand. Pansy translated it, and Madeline covered her mouth and laughed out loud.

"What are they talking about?" Henry asked Draco in a low voice.

"Sophie's talking about Beauxbatons' Potions professor," Draco said, taking a sip of his drink. "She says he has..."

They mixed up the shrinking potion and the swelling potion once. The student drank half of it and shrunk to the size of a thumb, while the other half swelled up like a balloon. Mrs. Maxim herself had to clean up the mess in the end.

Henry picked up his teacup, a smile playing on his lips.

On the other side of the Great Hall, Hermione was already seated with Hannah, Ernie, and several Ravenclaw girls.

Cho Zhang sat next to Hermione, holding a roll of parchment covered with writing.

They were discussing the Duel Club training plan for the next semester. Hermione advocated for more inter-house sparring, Cho Zhang suggested a theoretical explanation before training, and Hannah insisted on more specialized deflection technique training.

"The deflection technique was brought by Henry," Hermione said. "He's the most skilled at it. We can have him give a demonstration next semester."

Zhang Qiu nodded. "Four people from Ravenclaw want to participate. They're all fifth graders, and their spellcasting skills are quite good."

"Fifth grade is a heavy workload," Hannah said. "Are you sure they have the time?"

"They said it was no problem," Zhang Qiu smiled. "One of them is Petil's twin sister, Padma. She's first in her grade in spellcasting, even higher than me."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Let her do it."

Henry listened to their conversation, holding his teacup, his gaze slowly sweeping across the hall.

Harry sat at the other end of the round table, next to Ron and several Gryffindor Quidditch players.

Ron was telling a joke about the Hogwarts kitchens—something about how the house-elves were experimenting with a new recipe and ended up mixing pumpkin juice with an energy drink. One of the owls who drank it circled on the top of the tower for three hours and refused to come down.

The people around him burst into laughter.

Fred and George somehow found themselves among the Durmstrang students. They were talking to a tall Durmstrang boy who was looking at them suspiciously. It was a box of Weasley's latest creation: an automatic shuffle deck of cards.

Fred drew a card, which jumped up by itself, somersaulted on the table, and landed steadily back in the deck.

The Durmstrang boy widened his eyes and said something in German, to which George immediately replied in equally fluent German.

Henry didn't know George also knew German, but then he thought, the Weasley family's businesses spanned Europe, so learning a few languages...

Language is not strange.

The Durmstrang boy took out his wallet and bought two boxes.

Fleur Delacour sat among the Ravenclaw girls, her silver hair flowing like mercury in the candlelight.

She was talking quietly with a Ravenclaw girl with a ponytail. They were speaking French, not very fast, as if they were talking about something private.

The girl with the ponytail nodded occasionally, frowned occasionally, and finally smiled and patted Furong's arm. Furong smiled too, a smile more relaxed than at any other time during the competition.

Krum sat among the Durmstrang students, finally holding a new glass of wine, its color quite dark.

He didn't join in the surrounding noise, but he also showed no intention of leaving his seat. He leaned back in his chair, listening to the students next to him talking, nodding occasionally. His gaze swept across the auditorium, lingering for a moment in Henry's direction before moving away.

Henry put down his teacup.

"I'm going out for some fresh air," he said to Draco.

Draco didn't ask where they were going, he just nodded.

Henry walked along the edge of the auditorium toward the side door, and as he passed the Hufflepuff table, Cedric stood up, and the two nearly bumped into each other.

"Sorry," Cedric said, then, recognizing him, "Henry. Are you leaving?"

"Let's go outside for some fresh air. It's too hot inside."

"I'll go with you." Cedric waved toward the Hufflepuff table, indicating he would be right back, and followed Henry out the side door.

The air in the corridor was much cooler than in the auditorium, carrying the dampness unique to the stone walls.

The torchlight flickered faintly in the distance, and most of the corridor was dark.

Henry took a few steps and stopped in front of a high window.

Outside the window is the Black Lake, where moonlight falls and shatters into silvery scales.

"You look troubled," Cedric said, standing beside him with his hands in his pockets.

"I'm thinking about something," Henry said.

"Is it unrelated to tonight's dinner?"

"It's irrelevant." Henry turned to look at him. "You've been very quiet tonight."

Cedric smiled.

"I was thinking about the maze. Not the competition part, but that stone at the base of the pillar. Did you notice anything after you took it?"

"A little." Henry took the small stone out of his inner pocket and turned it over in the moonlight. The fourth arc shimmered with a very faint green in the silvery moonlight. "The fourth arc engraved on it is green. The same color as the fourth arc in the dark green book."

Cedric leaned closer for a look. "What does that mean?"

"The dark green book was obtained in the fourth trial." Henry put the stone away. "The second page has a complete diagram of four arcs, the fourth of which is green. The middle-aged man said that the fourth arc represents people outside the Alliance."

The fourth arc in this book is green, indicating that the book's recorder considered himself an outsider to the Alliance.

Cedric was silent for a moment. "Then this stone—the fourth arc on this stone is also green," Henry said. "The person who carved the stone and the person who wrote the dark green book might be the same person. Or at least, they used the same marking method."

Cedric leaned against the windowsill. "You think this person is still at Hogwarts?"

“I don’t know,” Henry said, “but this man knew the location of the base of the pillar, knew I would be there for the third project. He left this stone at that time and in that place. He was telling me something.”

"Tell you what?"

"The fourth arc. Outside the alliance. Back to normal." Henry put the stone away. "He's saying the fourth arc needs to be back to normal. Those outside the alliance need to return to the alliance."

Cedric looked at him. "What are you planning to do?"

"I'm going to Black Lake tomorrow morning. The seal beneath the Pebble Beach is related to this rock. Before Barty Crouch died, he located seven nodes, one of which is on the shore of Black Lake. That node was awakened by last night's pulse. I need to go check it out."

Cedric nodded. "Do you need me to come along?"

"No need," Henry said. "You stay in the castle. If Dumbledore asks, just say I went for a walk."

Cedric glanced at him, then chuckled. "Every time you say you're going for a walk, you're actually going to do something dangerous."

A dangerous thing.

"It's not dangerous this time," Henry said. "We're just going to check out the lake."

"You said you were just going to take a look when you went to the Forbidden Forest last time," Cedric said. "But you came out with three badges and a glowing book."

Henry did not refute. He turned around and looked out the window at the Black Lake.

"Cedric," Henry began.

"Um?"

"For the third project, after you placed the emblem in the maze, did you see anything else? Besides the stone at the base of the pillar?"

Cedric thought for a moment.

"Yes. When the stone pillar shook, I took ten steps to the east. At that spot, I felt a slight warmth on the stone bricks beneath my feet. It wasn't the magical kind of heat; it was coming from underground. Like stepping on a fireplace."

"Ten steps to the east," Henry repeated. "That location is near the stone slab area on the east side of the field."

“Yes,” Cedric said. “The warmth disappeared as I walked towards the center. But the prize…”

I felt it again when the cup was touched. Just as that force pushed me away, the stone bricks under my feet suddenly became very hot, and then the pushing force came.

Henry took the dark green book from his inner pocket and turned to the page on the main structure. The main structure started from the castle's underground, passed through the stone slab area on the east side of the labyrinthine grounds, and extended southward. Cedric's position was directly above the main structure.

"You're standing directly above the main vein," Henry said. "When the door key is activated, the interference node releases a reverse pulse, stirring up the energy within the main vein. The warmth beneath your feet is energy overflowing from the main vein. That thrust is the reaction force generated by the main vein as the pulse deflects."

Cedric processed this information. "So that power wasn't generated by the emblem?"

“The emblem is the trigger,” Henry said. “What really pushes you forward is the main channel itself. The emblem allows the main channel to release its energy at the right time and in the right place. The main channel has always been there; it’s just that nobody knows how to use it.”

Cedric was silent for a moment. "You already knew."

“I guessed it,” Henry said, putting the book away. “But I wasn’t entirely sure. What you just said about the warmth underfoot confirmed it. There’s an energy node beneath the stone slab area on the east side of the maze. There’s a passage between that node and the seal along the Black Lake. Last night, when the pulse passed by, the passage was activated.”

He turned around and walked deeper into the corridor.

"Where are you going?" Cedric asked.

"Back to the chapel," Henry said. "The dinner isn't over yet. I don't want to arouse suspicion."

They walked back down the corridor to the side door of the auditorium, and when they opened the door, a tidal wave of noise poured out.

Ron has finished telling his jokes; now it's Fred and George's turn.

They sold the automatic shuffled playing cards to a Durmstrang boy and a Beauxbatons girl, who were sitting face to face, each using their native language and gestures to try to explain how good their hand was.

George was translating, and halfway through the translation, he burst into laughter so hard he couldn't stand up straight.

Fleur and the Ravenclaw girl with the ponytail had switched places, and Fleur was now sitting next to Hermione.

Hermione was explaining the Duel Club's training methods to them, and when she got to the deflection technique, Fleur raised an eyebrow and said something in French.

Hermione didn't understand, so Cho Zhang translated for her: "She said that deflection techniques are also taught in Beauxbatons, but it's all theory, with no practical training."

"Does Hogwarts have combat training?" Fleur asked in English, her accent heavy, but every word was clear.

"Yes," Hermione said. "There will be inter-house scrimmages after the start of next semester. You can write to ask about the time."

Furong looked at her for a moment, then smiled. "I will."

When Henry returned to the Slytherin table and sat down, Draco was playing chess with a Durmstrang boy named Anton Ivanov, the same boy who had shaken hands with Henry earlier. He played aggressively, his pieces rampaging across the board; half of Draco's black pieces had already been captured.

"You're back." Draco said without looking up. "Where's Cedric?"

"Back to Hufflepuff."

"You look much better." Draco made a move. "You didn't look too good when you went out earlier."

"It's cool outside." Henry picked up his teacup and took a sip. The tea was already cold, but he didn't mind.

Anton made a move, capturing one of Draco's knights. Draco frowned, stared at the board for a moment, and then made a defensive move.

"Your chess playing is just like your talking," Anton suddenly said, his English heavily accented but every word clear. "You're always taking your time, waiting for others to make the first move."

Draco looked up. "You know me?"

"Krum said it," Anton said. "He said Slytherin had a Malfoy who never attacked first in chess, but always won in the end."

Draco chuckled. "What else did Krum say?"

"He said the people at Hogwarts are more complicated than he thought," Anton said, making a move. "He also said the Duke of Cambridge is the least thirteen-year-old person he has ever met."

Henry put down his teacup. "Where's Krum?"

"It was just here a moment ago." Anton looked around the auditorium. "It might have gone out."

Henry stood up and glanced across the auditorium. Krum was no longer among the Durmstrang students. He looked towards the side door, which was ajar, leading to the corridor.

"I'll go take a look," Henry said.

He walked out the side door, took a few steps along the corridor, and stopped in front of the high window.

Krum stood by the window, his back to him.