A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 593 Is this a competition event?

"Where is this?"

Harry and the others struggled to their feet from the cold, damp ground, each feeling a strange sense of dizziness and disorientation, as if they had just experienced an extremely violent apparition.

They looked around warily, their hearts pounding anxiously in their chests.

This place is completely outside the Hogwarts area, and may even no longer be in Scotland.

The familiar rolling mountains surrounding the castle were nowhere to be seen; instead, the terrain was completely different and felt unfamiliar.

Beneath my feet lies an ancient cemetery overgrown with weeds and lined with tombstones, the air thick with the smell of earth and decay.

To the right, behind a tall, twisted yew tree, stands a gloomy little church, its spire appearing particularly out of place in the dim light.

To the left, on a gentle slope of the hill, sits an old house with exquisite design but bearing the marks of time, its windows dark and empty.

"Hmm?" Harry's brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed as his gaze swept over the chapel. "There! On the roof! It looks like someone's watching us!"
A chill ran up his spine.

In the shadow of the church steeple, Jack whispered to Charles, "His intuition is still as sharp as ever."

At this moment, Jack had completely changed his appearance with magic to ensure that Harry and the others would not recognize him. Charles had never seen him look like this before.

Charles gazed into the distance, his tone calm: "I think Ruby should be coming with Dumbledore by now."

"Is this also part of the competition?" Seamus scratched his head in confusion, completely baffled. "Do we need to find the door key here to go back?"

Hermione quickly analyzed the surroundings, pointing to two prominent buildings: "It's possible that the key to the door is in that chapel or that old house."

Harry pondered for a moment and suggested another possibility: "Hermione, perhaps the key is somewhere, but we need to crack the clues here first. The clues might be on these tombstones."

Neville suggested, "Then let's split up and either look for clues or go directly to the church and the house to search."

"No!" Hermione immediately objected after Harry's reminder, her voice filled with unwavering certainty. "That's very likely a false target, deliberately placed in a conspicuous location to mislead us and make us misjudge our direction."

She made a lot of sense, and even the audience watching the live broadcast on the magic screen in the stands nodded in agreement.

Each player was given a special tracking spell during the match, and their every move was displayed in real time on a huge magical screen above the audience.

However, the two principals, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, exchanged a meaningful glance, each with their own thoughts.

Seamus and his group inexplicably participated in the competition outside of the plan, which must have filled both schools with resentment; otherwise, they wouldn't have joined forces against the Hogwarts team.

Dumbledore cleverly orchestrated this, allowing Seamus and others to participate while simultaneously ensuring their departure from the arena at the most crucial moment of the final, thus guaranteeing a fair final.

The two headmasters exchanged a glance and sighed inwardly. As expected of Dumbledore, who was known for his wisdom, he was fair and just in handling matters and left no room for error. He had been the undisputed number one in the wizarding world for so many years. In addition to his unparalleled strength and outstanding achievements, which left no room for criticism, his skillful handling of interpersonal relationships was also admirable.

Just then, a clear and melodious phoenix cry pierced the sky, and Ruby appeared behind Dumbledore, her powerful claws gripping his shoulder. The man and the bird vanished instantly. Professor McGonagall frowned; her intuition told her that things were far more complex than they appeared.

Soon, she couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Suddenly, the image on the large screen representing the location of Ximo and the others changed!
A group of figures dressed in matching dark gray trench coats and wearing wide-brimmed hats appeared like ghosts and surrounded them.

Death Eaters!

This outfit has become the signature attire of the Death Eaters ever since Voldemort attacked Gringotts.

The atmosphere inside the Hanged Man's Tavern was frozen.

Dumbledore raised the Elder Wand, its tip steadily aimed at the strange entity before him.

The thing looked very much like Grindelwald, but its skin was as black as burnt charcoal—or burnt steak.

“Disguise,” Grindelwald’s voice came from the charred body, tinged with a barely perceptible smugness and caution, “This is just my disguise!”

He paused, then continued in an aria-like tone: "You think I can hide and no one can find me? It's no use! A man as outstanding as me, no matter where I hide, is like a firefly in the dark night, shining brighter and more dazzling. That brilliance cannot be hidden."

As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and Dumbledore now found that this twisted logic seemed to... make some sense.

"What's going on here?" Dumbledore's voice was deep and imposing. "Why did you bring Harry and the others here?"

Just as he was about to leave, Grindelwald opened his eyes and said rapidly, "Today is the great day of your noseless student's resurrection. Who he invites to the ceremony is none of my business."

He abruptly changed the subject, his tone becoming dangerous, and said, "This ritual is part of the deal to rescue Charles from Gringotts. If you disrupt the ritual and that guy can't be fully resurrected, I can't guarantee what the consequences will be for Charles."

Dumbledore's raised foot froze in mid-air, his mind in turmoil.

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, clearly indicating that he realized the seriousness of the situation.

Although he couldn't stop Voldemort from rising from the dead, he was confident he could defeat this new threat immediately, and now he needed help.

He quickly pulled out his communication notebook, attempting to send messages to the Minister of Magic and the Head of the Auror Office.

However, a cold message was clearly displayed on the laptop: You are not in the service area.

Grindelwald shrugged, a smile seemingly creeping across his charred face: "They've obviously taken some precautions, quite thorough ones."

The Death Eaters were well-prepared to use Apparition and the communication notebook, but they were completely unprepared for the Phoenix's teleportation ability, because they expected Charles to intervene in advance; as for the magic used to broadcast the match, they completely ignored the subconscious belief that it was impossible for it to work due to the distance.

Therefore, the audience watched in horror as the Death Eaters on the screen raised their wands in unison, the ominous tips of the wands pointing at Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Seamus in the center of the encirclement.

(End of this chapter)