A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

“Isn’t it you guys who are here?” Harry said.

Ron shrugged. "What weird stuff are you talking about? Come on, let's go find Fred and George. I saw them go to the Owl Hut. Maybe the aging serum arrived."

Harry was about to go see Hedwig, and Hermione thought it would be good to get some fresh air, so they packed up and left the library.

As they passed the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they saw two goblins emerge from the woods. They were carrying a wild boar on their shoulders and heading towards Ilvermorny's camp. When they saw Harry and his friends, the two goblins whispered amongst themselves in a strange language.

“Guess what they said?” Ron asked.

“I don’t know, maybe just curiosity,” Harry said, looking in the direction of the Quidditch pitch. From his vantage point, all he could see was the roof of a tall building, with four animal statues standing at the four corners of the eaves. Facing them was a Thunderbird poised for flight, which looked somewhat like Ravenclaw’s Bronze Eagle.

"Do you think the Thunderbird will be in this year's championship?" Ron asked curiously.

“Thunderbirds are not easy to deal with. They are the darlings of the storm. Not to mention their magical abilities, their ability to fly alone is enough to make warriors look on in the dark,” Hermione said pessimistically.

The owl hut was a round stone room perched high up. As they endured the howling drafts and the smell of owl droppings in the tower as they climbed the stairs, they happened to hear the twins' footsteps coming down.

"He can't hide from us forever; that's no small sum!"

“Yeah, I don’t know if sending a letter will work. Maybe we should just shove the letter into his hand. He’ll definitely come, right…” George stopped mid-sentence, looking at Harry, Ron, and Hermione in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Fred asked, his eyes wide.

Ron didn't answer; he stared at the twins. "Who's hiding from you?"

“I hope your silly little brother will stay away from us,” Fred said unhappily.

Ron wanted to ask more, but Fred and George put their arms around him on either side. "Didn't you want the aging serum? It arrived yesterday. We'll get it for you when we get back." With that, they left one after the other.

“They’re definitely hiding something from their families,” Ron said confidently, watching them walk away. “But it looks like someone owes them money.” He quickly put the matter out of his mind and said hopefully, “I wonder what the aging potion tastes like? I really hope it’s better than the compound decoction…”

Hermione said coldly, "You haven't given up on that plan yet, have you?"

“Yeah, are you going to report us, Hermione?” Ron said with a grin. “We should at least give it a try… Professor McGonagall said that the champions don’t have to take the year-end exams, which means that no matter how much they cram their homework, they don’t have to worry about getting a low grade… That’s a whole year of peace and quiet!”

Hermione glared at him, annoyed. "So you want to become a warrior just to avoid doing your homework?"

"And of course, there's a large bonus."

Back in the common room, Ron slumped over his desk, groaning, “There’s so much homework this year! Professor McGonagall assigned a paper on hedgehog transformations, Trelawney made us predict next month’s stargazing horoscopes, Snape’s forcing us to research an antidote—he even hinted at poisoning us! Professor Binns always has a ton of homework—the goblin rebellion…who cares about things that happened hundreds of years ago? And Professor Flitwick, he’s prepared three reference books on the Summoning Charm, and even Hagrid suggested we observe the Blasttail every other day—did you hear that? He made us observe things whose butts spit fire, and he said it like he was talking to a bunch of obedient dogs…”

"Think about it, as long as you become a warrior, you can get rid of all this." He looked up and said with a hopeful expression.

Hermione and Harry ignored him; he figured he'd be fine after a while, wallowing in self-pity. Hermione pulled out a booklet and muttered to herself, while Harry, holding the Two-Way Mirror, made a phone call to Sirius.

"I'm fine... the scar doesn't hurt anymore, it's probably psychological... um, three more schools are coming, I really hope you can see them... Hey, Kreacher, what? Uh, sure, the locket goes well with your bald head... Happy Halloween in advance..."

Sirius's furious voice came from the other side of the mirror: "Damn it, Felix won't let me use the fireplace in his office! He's such a ungrateful bastard!"

In the evening, Neville brought back some news: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's men were coming.

……

The delegations from both schools arrived on the same day, as if they had made a prior arrangement, with less than an hour between them.

Having experienced the challenges of welcoming Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hogwarts seemed much more at ease from head to toe. Even Filch's eyes didn't bulge as much, perhaps because no young wizard would repeat the same basic mistake.

The weather had turned cool by the end of October. The students waited for twenty minutes on the steps outside the foyer before the Beauxbatons delegation finally arrived in a huge, powder-blue carriage. The carriage was as big as a house, pulled by twelve winged, silver-maned horses.

The students looked up and gasped in amazement. With a sickening thud, the carriage crashed to the ground. "Cool! Hard landing!" Seamus exclaimed, and he gasped as Madame Maxime stepped out of the carriage and onto the golden steps before the crowd.

"My goodness, she's so tall!"

Dumbledore and the professors led the applause, then Dumbledore kissed the back of Mrs. Maxim's hand, and after some pleasantries—"Has Karkaroff not arrived yet?" Mrs. Maxim asked.

“He’s a little later than expected,” Dumbledore said with a smile.

Maxim scoffed and muttered something under her breath. The professors standing in front and the students nearby heard her clearly; she said, "Pretentious."

"Would you rather wait here to greet him, or would you like to go inside and warm up first?" Dumbledore asked, as if he hadn't heard her, with a gentle and welcoming tone.

“Let me go in and warm up first,” she said with a slight bow. “My horses are very spirited—they need strong people to take care of them, and they only drink single malt whisky.”

"Rest assured, our Professor of the Protection of Magical Creatures will take good care of him," Dumbledore said.

Mrs. Maxim smiled gracefully, nodded to the professors, and when she saw Felix, her smile became much more genuine. Then, she said authoritatively to the students of Beauxbatons, "Come in with me."

The Hogwarts students parted to make way for her, watching as she led a dozen or so students up the steps into the castle, whispering amongst themselves. These Beauxbatons students were all dressed in elegant blue silk uniforms, and several particularly slender girls had their heads wrapped up.

Dumbledore turned his head and said softly, "Felix..."

“Leave it to me,” Felix said, glancing at the carriage with a silvery sheen in his eyes. The herd of elephant-sized horses, their fiery red eyes fixed on the ground, suddenly froze. A moment later, they all raised their hooves, the size of platters, and headed toward Hagrid’s hut.

“Oh, and single malt whisky too,” Dumbledore said, raising his hand to pull a note from the thin air. The note floated and stuck to the head of the lead silver-maned horse.

The note twirled in the wind, making a rustling sound, and looked particularly strange. Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, her expression gradually becoming stern.

“Ah, waiting around is getting a bit boring,” Dumbledore said. “Felix, does your ‘Futureworld’ company have any new products? I saw in the newspaper that you recently signed a contract with the eccentric sisters…”

"That's for the magic phonograph; they'll be recording the first batch of records. I suggested Remus make the product as small as possible, ideally projecting magical images. However, we've encountered a few minor issues, and I urgently need some valuable advice."

The two began to discuss, and the professors and students who were bored nearby all perked up their ears to listen. Later, the professors also joined in, and time passed little by little.

Another half hour passed, and even the students wearing cloaks were starting to feel the chill and were shivering in the cold wind.

How much longer do we have to wait?

Draco Malfoy grumbled, then quietly drew his wand, cast an Inflation Charm on a beetle on the ground, and kicked the beetle, which was as big as a rat, away. A moment later, screams came from not far away.

He grinned and suddenly stared at the distant black lake, where a whirlpool had appeared.

At that moment, Lee Jordan shouted, "Look at that lake!"

Draco clicked his tongue and squinted to observe carefully. Huge splashes of water rose from the once calm center of the Black Lake, like a boiling cauldron. Then, a huge mast rose from the whirlpool.

It was a strange-looking large ship, like a shipwreck that had been submerged at the bottom of the sea for hundreds of years and was finally salvaged one day—the hull was riddled with holes that let in drafts, and the portholes emitted a hazy phosphorescence. When the ship docked at the shore, a row of people wearing heavy fur cloaks came out, except for the man at the head who was wearing a distinctive silver-white fur.

He had a spiky goatee, was tall and thin, with a gaunt face, deep-set eyes, prominent cheekbones, and slightly upturned eyebrows, giving him a scheming and calculating air.

"Dumbledore!" the man called out enthusiastically as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear old friend?"

“Excellent, thank you, Professor Karkaroff,” Dumbledore replied.

He led everyone to the auditorium, where the house-elves in the kitchen had already prepared a sumptuous dinner.

The dinner party brought together representatives from four schools, and when Durmstrang's principal, Kakarov, heard that the people from Vagado were still wandering around in some remote mountain area, he immediately began to grumble in dissatisfaction.

"They really know how to put on airs! Making everyone wait for them! You know, Krum had a bit of a cold before he left, and I told him, 'You have to hang in there, there's a long road ahead before you get used to it...'"

"They will arrive by Halloween at the latest," Dumbledore said gently. "If any of your students are unwell, Professor Karkaroff, the Hogwarts Hospital can help; Madam Pomfrey is very professional."

……

Night fell, and the deep blue night sky, studded with stars, was shrouded in dark clouds, the moon obscured by thick veils. A bright flash of lightning streaked across the night sky, followed by a deafening clap of thunder, and then a light drizzle began to fall.

In the ancient magic office, Felix, wearing a wool cloak, nestled on the sofa with Niffler Valen, watching a movie. Niffler's eyes were glued to the projected image; at an exciting part, it didn't even notice Felix quietly snatching the Galleon from its hand.

After watching the movie, Niffler climbed into her crib and lay comfortably on the velvet.

"Good night."

"Haw!"

Meanwhile, several mountains away, a group of figures stood atop a mountain, gazing at the majestic Hogwarts Castle.

"Keep going! This storm is nothing. We'll get there before dawn."

"A loud voice said. Suddenly, he jumped down from the mountaintop, flapping his wings and transforming into a tall bird, its iron-blue feathers sweeping across the steep rock face, circling continuously in the valley.

"Oh hoo!"

Another figure rolled over, transforming into a lithe leopard. In a few leaps, it covered a distance of over a hundred feet.

Then, with its long trunk raised high, the African elephant, with its broad ears and silvery-white tusks, nimbly walked down the steep, dark brown slope, the sharp, rocky ground appearing as flat as it did.

"The little ones are all very energetic; it seems the training has been very effective," a frail, aged voice rang out. The thin witch sat on the flying carpet, grinning as she spoke.

Chapter 379 The Goblet of Fire

The next day, Felix opened his eyes in bed and yawned widely.

The air outside the window was damp, carrying the scent of earth. After washing up, he estimated the time and prepared to go to the auditorium for lunch.

"Valen, let's go eat," he called out.

The fluffy velvet blanket on the cradle shook and then fell silent.

"Varren?"

A small hand emerged from the blanket and waved impatiently at him.

"Chirp!" It was too tired from watching a movie last night and didn't want to get out of bed at all.

"...Okay, there are cookies and cakes in the office."

Felix left the room and went into the Great Hall. He was surprised to find an extra school emblem in the Great Hall. He glanced at it: the Hogwarts shield emblem, Ivermony's petal emblem, Beauxbatons' crossed wand emblem, Durmstrang's double-headed eagle and stag emblem, and one last one—

The cone-shaped mountain peak is shrouded in clouds and mist. Upon closer inspection, a magnificent building stands halfway up the mountain.

Mount Moon, Vagado.

"Has Vagado arrived too? Was it last night, or this morning?" Felix glanced around the auditorium, not seeing any unfamiliar faces, but he did spot Durmstrang's star student, Krum.

He only learned yesterday that the genius Seeker who twice outmaneuvered the Irish national team Seeker in the Quidditch World Cup final and ultimately caught the Golden Snitch to end the game was still studying at Durmstrang.

Is it just that Quidditch training is too tough, with all the wind and rain all day long?

At the Slytherin table, Krum didn't join his teammates, choosing instead to eat alone. A dozen or so pairs of adoring eyes darted around him, but he seemed used to it, quietly enjoying his breakfast.

After finishing his meal, he got up and left. Unlike his former self riding a flying broomstick, he was now taciturn, his eyebrows habitually furrowed, as if he were always deep in thought.

At the dinner, Felix finally met Vagado's students.

They all had dark skin, but their features varied. Only one student's skin was as black as the bottom of a pot, making him look like a walking block of black. If it weren't for his brown animal skin clothing, it would be difficult to distinguish the different parts of his body. The remaining Vagadu students were much more normal—although they also had dark skin, at least their eyes and noses were distinguishable.

As he passed the Ravenclaw desks, he heard a little girl mutter softly, "Coffee, brown, dark brown, chocolate, black..."

He grinned and sat down next to Mrs. Maxim in the professors' chair, with Principal Ilhamoni resting with his eyes closed on her other side.

After exchanging a few words, Felix noticed a mournful gaze. Looking back, he saw Hagrid in the corner. He was startled; Hagrid's attire was very different from usual. He had somehow produced a handmade suit, and his beard and hair were meticulously groomed. At least for the first time, Felix could not distinguish between the two.

At that moment, Hagrid was staring longingly at him—no, at Mrs. Maxim beside him.

"Is that the professor Dumbledore mentioned for the Magical Creatures class?" Mrs. Maxime asked softly.

"Rupert Hagrid, Keeper of the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, custodian of the keys, and professor of the Department of Conservation of Magical Creatures, was born in 1928. He is passionate about raising and taming various magical creatures. He was expelled from Hogwarts, but it was later proven to be a malicious frame-up, and he was exonerated last year. He is the first magical creature expert to successfully tame a Thestral and has close relationships with most of the magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest. He is warm, sincere, and straightforward..."