From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 325: Tie and the Wand

"That's neat, Harry!" Ron cheered. "I knew you were a qualified warrior!"

Harry smiled at Ron, then turned to look at the Slytherins on the other side: "Anyone else want to try?"

The Slytherin students who came with Derek to ambush took a step back and looked up and down at the short boy in front of them with cautious eyes.

"I thought you would have more backbone." Cassandra shook her head and drew her wand. "I will be your opponent, Potter."

"Cassandra... why?" Harry was puzzled. In his opinion, Cassandra was here to help them, but it was surprising that she challenged them to a fight at this time.

"Yeah, why?" Cassandra slowly walked to where Derek was standing before, and used a levitation spell to move Derek who had fallen to the ground. "Probably because of these Slytherin idiots."

"This is totally meaningless!" Harry urged loudly, "You know I didn't intend to compete with Ivy for the title of Champion at all. It was only because someone cast a spell on the cup that I was dragged into the Triwizard Tournament! Ivy knows this, too!"

"You are right, but there are always fools who don't believe it. As the uncrowned king of Slytherin, Lord Doom can't instill his ideas into everyone, so they will ambush you on their own initiative." Cassandra stared at the wand that Harry held in front of his chest. "But no matter what, this duel still happened, and the fool on the ground also damaged Lord Doom's dignity... So for Lord Doom, I must defeat you, Potter."

Harry's eyebrows were tied into a complicated knot. "This is totally meaningless and unreasonable. I won't duel with you."

As he spoke, Harry inserted his wand into the dueling wand holster on his sleeve and prepared to bypass Cassandra and the other Slytherins behind her.

"This is indeed unreasonable for you, but such unreasonableness is not without meaning. To some extent, it will increase the cohesion within Slytherin. So, I have to do this." A bright red beam of magic passed by Harry, leaving a deep pit at his feet. The lightning on the tip of Cassandra's wand slowly dissipated. She said to Harry who was in a stance again, "Raise your wand, Potter, or the next one will hit you."

"Don't push me!" Harry said, holding his wand, his emotions were surging and expanding, "This is not good for either of us!"

"I have already realized something. Let me see yours." Cassandra stared into Harry's eyes. The powerful magic power from the sect master was gathering rapidly.

"Disarm you!" As Harry chanted loudly, the light of the disarming spell quickly crossed the battlefield, aiming directly at Cassandra's face.

"Armor!" Cassandra calmly chanted, deflecting Harry's disarming spell to the side, and the poor tree by the roadside immediately lost a branch.

Cassandra's armor spell had just taken effect when scarlet lightning burst out from the tip of her wand. Cassandra triggered a swift explosion of magical energy, and the scarlet energy beam pierced through the air again.

Harry was best at using his spell-casting speed and agile body to dodge, but he had never encountered an opponent like Cassandra who could cast two spells in a split second.

Therefore, his attack was interrupted, and he had to switch to another spell: "Armor Protection!"

The bright yellow magic shield had just taken effect when the magic energy beam spear hit Harry.

Unlike wizard magic that was easily deflected by the Shield Charm, the magic energy explosion directly exploded with the magic shield around Harry, throwing him out.

However, the Shield Charm still provided Harry with all-round protection. Cassandra's magic energy explosion did not cause any direct damage except blowing Harry away.

"Fall to the ground!" Cassandra rushed forward and attacked, her target was Harry who was in the air with no support.

However, Harry's excellent dynamic vision allowed him to see Cassandra's movements clearly during the flight. Alarms flashed wildly in his mind. He twisted his body with difficulty, dodged the stun spell with a very awkward movement, and then fell heavily to the ground.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry, who fell on his back and had no opponent in his sight, still recited the third spell. He cast this most familiar spell based solely on the general impression of the battlefield in his mind.

Cassandra intended to continue the pursuit, but she didn't expect Harry to be able to fight back in this situation, and was hit hard by the Disarming Curse.

Harry's magic spell pushed her body backwards, and the wand in her hand flew out of her hand involuntarily. But before she completely lost her balance, Cassandra pointed and made the last counterattack she could think of: "Infernal Shout!"

The flames from hell suddenly rose up around Harry, causing a small explosion on the spot, and Cassandra's wand flew out and stabbed directly into the soil in front of Harry.

"Ah——" Seeing Harry on fire, Hermione and Ron hurriedly surrounded him and used magic to help him put out the fire.

"Clear water like a spring! Clear water like a spring!"

None of them expected such a sudden change to happen. They thought Cassandra, whose wand had slipped out of her hand, had been defeated by Harry, but she was able to cast the spell again without a wand when her body was unbalanced.

"We won!" Several senior Slytherins cheered happily.

But Cassandra stood up from the ground with a gloomy face and picked up her wand and shouted: "Shut up!"

"Harry's burned!" Hermione shouted anxiously, "We have to rush him to the school hospital!"

"I'm fine... Oh! Hiss—" Harry struggled to stand up from the ground, but the wounds on his body burned by the flames made him lose the strength to get up, and he could only make a gasp sound.

"Use these." Cassandra pulled two potions from a small bag. "Lord Doom has foreseen that someone will be hurt."

"What is this?" Ron looked at the green and white liquid in the bottle suspiciously. "Isn't it some kind of poison?"

"Revitalizing potion and dittany essence. They can remove scars and heal wounds." Cassandra took out a few more bottles and stuffed them in front of them. "You win this time, Potter. I will go to Lord Doom to receive the punishment. And they..."

Cassandra glanced at the senior students who had just cheered with a cold gaze, and then said, "It won't be easy, believe me."

"No, Cassandra, we're at best a draw," Harry said, pretending to be strong. "You fought back before your wand fell to the ground..."

"But you're not completely unconscious either." Cassandra didn't appreciate it.

"But I have lost the ability to fight back. This fire spell is quite painful..." Harry smiled, "Ivy really helped me a lot. I don't want to be enemies with him... Hey! Be gentle, Hermione! It hurts!"

Hermione, who had confirmed that Cassandra had handed over the potion, was applying the potion to Harry with all her might: "Really? I thought you were a tough guy! I hope the pain will make you remember not to try to be a hero next time!"

"It's over now. Slytherin will make sure that no one else uses the excuse that 'you don't deserve to be a warrior' to bother you again, Potter." Cassandra seemed to have seen the rejection on Harry's face and added, "Don't be in a hurry to refuse. This is what you deserve. You have proved yourself through this duel, but the Triwizard Tournament is still a difficult challenge for you. Slytherin just hopes that you will not hold back Lord Doom. Because we all know that the scores of the two of you will be calculated equally to ensure the fairness of the Triwizard Tournament."

Cassandra then looked at the other Slytherins who were pulling Derek out of the mud and said, "Lord Doom asked me to take full charge of this matter. Did you all hear me?"

These senior Slytherins were ordered around by a girl who was several years younger than them, but they did not seem unhappy at all and nodded their heads like pounding garlic.

Cassandra pulled out a bottle of green stimulant from her potion bag and threw it to the Slytherin students. She raised her chin towards Derek who was still unconscious and said, "Feed him and you can leave."

After the Slytherin students left, Cassandra began to repair the blown-up cobblestone road. The repair spell was very useful at this time.

"We're sending you to the hospital ward, Harry." Hermione carefully examined the wounds on Harry's body. There were many holes in his robes burned by the flames. Black ashes covered his skin, making it difficult to tell where there were wounds that had not been treated with potion.

"Ivy's potion is very effective. I feel much better." Harry drank the green invigorating potion and got up from the ground. "I just need to change my clothes."

The trio did not speak to Cassandra anymore, but walked towards the castle. The sky was gradually getting darker. The closer it got to winter, the shorter the day would become. In November, classes often ended after dark.

"Did you hear her call Ivy? 'My Lord'!" Ron looked back at Cassandra who had disappeared from the cobblestone road and said with a funny look on his face, "Maybe we can witness the birth of another 'Dark Lord'!"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Ivy is not interested in pure-blood stuff at all. He just wants to study magic quietly."

----

It was another Friday, and when Harry was led by Colin from the Potions classroom to an empty classroom next to the entrance hall, he found that the other three warriors had already arrived.

Krum was still looking gloomy, sitting alone, with no intention of talking to anyone, while Ivy was talking to Fleur.

Fleur looked very happy, her long silver hair bobbing back and forth with her laughter, attracting the attention of most of the men in the room.

In addition to the people already mentioned, there was also Ludo Bagman, who was in charge of the Triwizard Tournament, Rita Skeeter in a magenta robe, and a bunch of big-bellied men holding cameras. "You're here, Harry." Ivy stopped talking to Fleur and nodded at Harry. "Today is just a wand testing ceremony, don't worry too much."

"Wand detection?" Harry asked anxiously, because he had just participated in a wizard duel not long ago. Although no professor was present, the news had spread throughout the castle, and the topic of Harry cheating to become a warrior had died down. It was impossible to say that the professors had not heard anything, at least Mrs. White had already asked about his well-being. If he was found out here, it would not look good.

"It's mainly a functional test," Bagman took over the conversation, "to check whether your wands are fully functional and in good condition, because in the subsequent competitions, the wands are the most important equipment for the warriors."

"The expert will be here in a moment. He is upstairs with Dumbledore now." Bagman pointed to Rita Skeeter, who was wearing a magenta robe, and the photographer behind her. "The champions will have a photo taken together later. This is Rita Skeeter, who is writing some articles about the Triwizard Tournament for the Daily Prophet."

"I'd rather call it a thorough and factual report," Rita Skeeter said with a smile.

Harry had heard of the name; she had given an accurate report before on how the Ministry of Magic had framed Hagrid.

But Harry would not let his guard down, because he had heard everything about Rita Skeeter from his godfather Sirius. She was willing to tell the truth because Ivy had evidence against her.

And Harry didn't like her overly flashy look, especially her big chin and the red nails on her thick fingers.

"Before we begin, could I have a chat with the fourth champion?" Rita Skeeter asked Bagman, but her eyes were still fixed on Harry. Harry had only seen that look in Norbeta, the hungry look of seeing food.

"Sure!" Bagman shouted back. "Just wondering - does Harry object?"

"No—" Harry shook his head cautiously, "I don't like to draw attention to myself."

Rita Skeeter's smile froze, but she continued to move closer to Harry. "You can't stop the public from being curious about you. They all want to know how you became a warrior."

"I didn't," Harry denied. "I didn't put my name in the Goblet of Fire."

"What do you think of the upcoming competition?" Rita Skeeter asked. At some point, an emerald feather pen began to record on a piece of parchment.

"...I will pass." Harry stared at the back of the parchment for a moment, then realized that he did not have the magical eyes to see through it.

But Ludo Bagman, who was very interested in this, had already walked up to the parchment and read out the words one by one: "...the youngest champion expressed absolute confidence in the Triwizard Tournament and believed that Hogwarts would definitely win in the end..."

"Those weren't my words!" Harry protested.

"You might as well wait until it's in the Daily Prophet before you read it, Ludo?" Rita Skeeter suggested to Ludo Bagman with a smirk, grabbing both the quill and the parchment in her own hands.

The door of the empty classroom was opened again, and in came the judges headed by Dumbledore. They walked to the table in the middle of the room and sat down, with the exception of Dumbledore.

"Warriors, please sit on the chairs at the door. We will start the wand test soon." Dumbledore looked at Harry kindly.

Bagman stopped tangling with Rita Skeeter and sat next to Lucius Malfoy with a smile on his face.

Rita Skeeter also found a chair and sat down, no longer pestering Harry.

After everyone found their seats, Dumbledore took his seat and introduced the old man standing in the middle of the room: "This is Mr. Ollivander. He will check your wands to make sure they are in good working order."

Ollivander is an old wizard who is hard to forget. Even after three years, Harry still remembers the day when he first got the wand.

He whispered, "Miss Delacour, you go first, okay?"

Fleur's steps were very light, and the hem of her blue silk robe fluttering up and down made her look like a butterfly. She came to Ollivander and handed him her wand.

"Hmm..." Ollivander fiddled with the wand with his slender fingers, like the baton in the hands of a symphony conductor. The wand sprayed out many pink and gold sparks, and then he put his eyes close to it to observe carefully.

"Not bad," said Ollivander. "Nine and a half inches...very strong - maple, and the core is made of..."

"A Veela hair," Fleur said, "My grandmother's hair."

"Indeed," said Ollivander. "Of course, I never make wands from Veela hair, as I feel that wands made from this material are too sensitive and willful... but everyone has their own preferences, and if it suits your magic..."

"Orchids are in bloom." Ollivander whispered a spell, and a bunch of flowers suddenly bloomed at the top of the wand.

"Very good, in very good condition." Ollivander gathered the flowers and handed them to Fleur along with the wand, "Mr. Doom, it's your turn."

Furong walked briskly back to her seat and smiled at Ivy as she passed him.

Ivy handed Ollivander her wand, and he looked even more excited.

"It's an old wand from a hundred years ago! Made by my grandfather! I'm very impressed by it!" Ollivander's slender fingers slid across the surface of the wand, and his tone gradually moved closer to the aria. "Silver lime tree and phoenix tail feathers, I have used it as a reference more than once. It is precisely because of it that I listed phoenix feathers as one of the main materials for Ollivander's wands, on par with dragon heartstrings and unicorn tail hairs that are more easily obtained."

"Fifteen and a half inches, what a gorgeous wand! What a wonderful wand!" Ollivander put his large light-colored eyes close to observe it carefully. "I can feel its confidence, as if it has just conquered the whole world... More than once, it has performed magic that people have never imagined... It is proud to have a master like you, even a little proud!"

Ivy curled the corners of his mouth, not thinking that Ollivander's praise was exaggerated. This was the confidence of a nine-ring spellcaster.

"There are no scratches... You have taken good care of it, Mr. Doom." Ollivander gently waved the silver wand in his hand, and the bright galaxy suddenly filled the entire room, the stars twinkled and shone on everyone's face.

"I didn't even cast a spell..." Ollivander was so moved that he couldn't help himself, "It was cooperating with me in casting the spell..."

When the stars disappeared, Ollivander returned the wand to Ivy. He even wiped his eyes with his sleeves, and then choked up and said, "Mr. Krum, it's your turn."

Krum stood up from his chair, with his shoulders drooped and his feet turned outward, and walked listlessly to Ollivander. He handed over his wand, stood there without saying a word, with his hands folded across his chest, looking reluctant.

"...Gregorovitch's work, no doubt..." said Ollivander. "Although his style is not exactly the same as mine, he is still an excellent wandmaker..."

"Hornbeam, with a dragon's heartstring at the core, right?" Ollivander glanced at Krum, who nodded. "It's much thicker than a normal wand, and will fit a large hand...very strong...ten and a quarter inches...flocks of birds!"

The hornbeam wand made a crack that was not much different from the sound of a Muggle firearm going off, and a number of small birds flew out from the tip of the wand and out of the open window into the winter sunlight.

"Very good," Ollivander returned the wand to Krum, "and one last person...Mr. Potter."

"Holly and phoenix tail feathers, yes, I remember it clearly..." Ollivander took Harry's wand, "It is a wand I made. It is very wonderful, but it is different from Mr. Doom's wand. It..."

Harry was relieved when Ollivander stopped talking.

Because the core of his wand and Voldemort's wand are the same phoenix tail feathers, Harry now knows that the fundamental reason for this is that there is a fragment of Voldemort's soul in the lightning scar on his forehead, which not only gives Harry some of Voldemort's power, but also allows him to gain the Parseltongue, a skill from Salazar Slytherin.

However, as Voldemort's soul fragment was removed by Ivy, he has now lost the ability to speak Parseltongue.

"You added dueling accessories to it?" Ollivander looked at the added kit on the handle with interest. It allowed Harry to fix his wand to the leather case in his sleeve so that it would not fall off even if his hand was hanging down, and it also had an anti-slip function.

This was a Christmas gift Harry received during his dueling practice with Sirius, along with a set of tools for maintaining his wand.

"I do have this hobby." Harry said after a moment's hesitation.

Ollivander just smiled and said nothing more, he made Harry's wand spray a stream of wine, and then announced that the wand was in good condition and was regularly maintained by its owner.

　There are still 4000!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)