Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 424, Chapter 418: What apple? It's a pineapple!

Karkaroff didn't want to talk to Dali, but out of curiosity, he couldn't help but ask.

"What do you mean?"

When Dali heard Karkaroff reply, he continued, "Haven't you noticed? Not long ago, the invincible man in your heart failed twice in a row."

"The Ministry of Magic once. Diagon Alley (the movie theater) once more."

"Dumbledore, Fudge... More and more wizards are able to stand up to him. He may still be the same as before, but this is no longer the era in which he reigned supreme."

In other words, times have changed.

"Professor Karkaroff, you don't want to spend your whole life hiding like a mouse, do you?"

It was an obvious offer of recruitment, and Dali's words seemed to have somewhat moved Karkaroff, but only somewhat.

"But he is still the Dark Lord, with so many Death Eaters by his side. If these people I gathered were to discover that I was deceiving them, they would swarm me and tear me to pieces without the Dark Lord even having to lift a finger."

Karkaroff still spoke in fear, completely lacking the imposing manner he had displayed when he confronted the Death Eaters.

Voldemort cast such a deep shadow over others that many people only gravitated around him out of fear of being punished.

"What if what you said is true? And you didn't deceive them?"

"What do you mean?"

Dali took something out of his pocket and placed it in front of Karkarov.

"Professor Karkaroff, what is this?"

Looking at the lush green fruit before him, Karkarov honestly replied, "One apple, one green apple."

Dudley shook his head and said, "No, this is a pineapple."

Karkaroff was puzzled, but he continued, "This is clearly an apple."

Dudley stood up again, looking down at him, and placed his hand "lightly" on his shoulder, applying slight pressure: "I said, this is a pineapple."

Karkaroff didn't know what Dali was going to do, but being so close to Dali, especially when those eyes were fixed on him, felt like he was being watched by a natural enemy, and he felt weak and limp all over.

"Now I'm asking you, what is this?"

Dudley's voice came again, and he asked the same question once more.

"This is a pineapple."

Karkaroff said, trembling, but then his eyes widened: "This pineapple? This is a pineapple!"

"Very good, it seems you're not so stupid after all, you've finally figured it out."

Seeing Karkaroff repeating that sentence as if he had suddenly understood, Dali smiled with satisfaction.

"If I say he is, then he is, and he isn't either. If I say he isn't, then he isn't, and he isn't either."

"Who is the real Dark Lord? I am, he is, you are all fine. The truth is not important. What matters is who is worth investing in, who can maximize profits, and who can achieve the final victory."

"Professor Karkaroff, do you really think the group of people you gathered here know nothing?"

"Following those people, they'll only ever be at the very bottom, the lowest of the Death Eaters."

"This is a venture capital investment. Even if it fails, they can blame it on you, Professor Karkaroff."

As Dali described, Karkaroff's expression changed repeatedly, finally speaking in a hoarse, scratching voice, "Aren't you afraid I'll tell that person everything right now?"

"I'm not afraid." Dali shook his head. "Perhaps others would, but you have no choice."

"If you appeared in front of him, you would be killed instantly. Do you believe me?"

Staring at Dali's ordinary, unremarkable eyes, Karkaroff had the illusion that his entire being was being seen through.

Just as Dudley said, Voldemort would not show Karkaroff any mercy, and would not even give him a chance to explain.

"And one more thing, don't you wish 'that person' didn't exist in this world? Do you really want to give up your hard-won status for a future where you're likely to be killed?"

"You've had a good time lately, haven't you? I treat my subordinates much better than he has."

"And even if you tell him, what can you do? Or do you think he can do anything to me?"

After Dudley finished speaking, he turned and walked towards the door. As he opened it, he turned back again: "By the way, Professor Karkaroff, we'd like to go to Durmstrang next week for a magical exchange. Just me, Harry, and the other three—six of us in total."

"If you want to tell that person this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

The door slowly closed, leaving only Karkarov inside, his heavy breathing echoing in the room.

The most discussed topic in the wizarding world recently is the content of the Harry Potter movies. Ever since watching the first film, everyone has been full of curiosity about the sequel.

It is said that the second part will fully reveal the content of that prophecy.

And the analysis of the "mysterious man's" past and present life will not be available until next year at the earliest.

Aside from the movies, the most discussed topic among wizards is the new generation of wizard cards.

Tom, who shone brightly in the previous Wizarding Card Game tournament, will also receive a second wave of enhancements—the new card 'Dark Wizard: Tom Marvolo Riddle' will be further strengthened after collecting all the sealed parts and unleashing its liberated form.

Since the invincible power of Harry's Dark Magic deck in the previous two Wizarding Card Games, the Dark Magic deck has become the most popular deck in this year's Wizarding Card Games, with more than 60% of the players participating and using it.

Everyone was full of confidence and determined to win the championship, because Harry Potter was not participating in this Wizarding Card Tournament.

Yes, Harry is not participating in this competition.

Not only him, but all members of the discipline team will not participate, mainly because they simply don't have the time.

The Wizard Card Tournament took place around the same time that Dudley and his friends were heading to Durmstrang.

Dali wasn't joking with Karkaroff; they were indeed going there for a three-month exchange program.

This was Grindelwald's suggestion. Although he did not graduate from Durmstrang, he learned all his magical knowledge there and still had a good impression of his alma mater.

Putting aside the headmaster's level, the library there has a lot of magical books, no less than the restricted section of Hogwarts. Moreover, the study of dark magic is not prohibited there, and the place is more open to the research of dark magic than Hogwarts.

In fact, it wasn't just Durmstrang; Beauxbatons was also in Dudley's plans. There, alchemy, which Hogwarts rarely touched upon (Nick Flamel graduated from Beauxbatons).

Since modifying his wand, Dudley has become a greedy sponge, constantly absorbing all kinds of magical knowledge from the wizarding world.

For him, learning is a never-ending process.

The day of departure was also the day of the new Wizard Card Tournament.

One of the finalists unsurprisingly used a dark magic deck, while the other surprisingly used Ron's specialty, the divination deck!

(End of this chapter)