Harry Potter: I started checking in from Diagon Alley

"Eric." After Professor Flitwick finished his presentation and distributed many registration forms, he instructed several Ravenclaw students to set up a temporary registration area before finally coming over and gesturing for Eric to come with him.

Eric and Professor Flitwick stepped aside.

Professor Flitwick said, "I discussed it with the principal and several other deans, and we intend to turn this event into a celebration, to give everyone a good time to relax before Christmas. This year, we plan to adopt a brand new format for the Duel Club. Simply put, it will be one-on-one draw matches until the champion is determined. The top three will receive generous prizes."

Eric asked, "How do you differentiate between lower and upper grades?"

Professor Flitwick gave him a strange look. Grade didn't seem to be something Eric would care about; he had just defeated a fifth-grader named Cedric.

Age doesn't seem to matter to him.

Eric explained, "I'm asking for Harry and the others."

Professor Flitwick nodded in understanding and said, "We will apply a spell to the draw process to ensure that at the beginning, players will only draw opponents from their own grade or adjacent grades. If not, they will receive a bye. This protective rule will not apply in the final rounds."

Professor Flitwick continued, "The final award slots will actually be divided into two groups: the lower grades group (grades 1-4) and the upper grades group (grades 5 and above). The three best-performing students from each group will receive a prize."

Eric understood. This competition format ensured both fairness and prestige; otherwise, apart from him, the lower grades wouldn't have a chance to participate.

Of course, Eric definitely secured a prize spot in the lower grades group.

The others can only compete for second and third place.

"Professor, you called me here just to talk to me about this?"

Professor Flitwick smiled and said, "No, I'm calling you to inform you to get ready. After the competition format was agreed upon, to ensure the excitement, each dean will have one guaranteed spot to select one student from their college to advance to the top sixteen without having to play in the earlier matches. I've chosen you."

Eric smiled and asked, "You really have faith in me."

Professor Flitwick shrugged: "I originally wanted to choose Clement from the sixth year, who is quite strong, but after seeing the magic you used in the competition, he immediately ran over to me and said he was giving up."

Eric asked, "Who are the other three colleges?"

Professor Flitwick said, "Hufflepuff is definitely Cedric Diggory. I'm not sure about the other two houses yet. Slytherin might send their Quidditch captain, Flint. Gryffindor has too many candidates, and Professor McGonagall is having a headache."

Eric finally asked, "And the prize? What is the prize?"

Dumbledore went to great lengths to set up this dueling club, and if he wanted to ensure Eric would take the bait, he would definitely have to throw something big inside.

Professor Flitwick smiled mysteriously: "The top three will receive generous Galleons as scholarships. The prize for first place is decided by Dumbledore himself, and even I don't know it yet, but I can guarantee it will be absolutely amazing."

Chapter 93 Rally

After all that, they still didn't say anything.

Why does everyone at this school like to be a riddle solver?

Eric was speechless.

I'll definitely still participate in the Duel Club.

He is now very calm about being famous.

Anyway, it's too late to hide it anymore.

No need to worry if you have too many debts, no need to worry if you have too many lice.

He kicked out the Dementors from the stadium, and it might get reported again.

Throughout this period, whether it was the materials Dumbledore gave to the Daily Prophet or the recent Dementors incident, Dumbledore was clearly supporting Eric's progress.

There's a saying that goes, "Since you can't resist, then..."

Eric had a vague idea that he really didn't need to rebel against Dumbledore.

Instead, they could directly leverage Dumbledore's influence to build their own network of relationships.

During this time, it's best to maintain your independence.

As I said before, Eric still has time.

Not just to Peter, but also to Voldemort.

Voldemort is currently hiding somewhere, eating dirt, and he won't attempt to return until at least next year's Goblet of Fire.

Eric doesn't need to rush until then.

Eric originally intended to keep it from Dumbledore because he felt that Dumbledore wouldn't allow him to do these underhanded things behind his back.

That's why they never intended to ask Dumbledore for help from the beginning.

But it seems that's not the case now.

A unique understanding had unknowingly formed between him and Dumbledore.

You do your thing, I'll do mine.

Given Dumbledore's keen sense, Eric wouldn't be foolish enough to think he hadn't discovered anything so far.

Judging from Dumbledore's shrewdness in the original work, he was indeed the one who had the best control over the situation all along.

What he showed was only the tip of the iceberg compared to what he knew.

Dumbledore didn't act because he didn't want to, not because he couldn't.

If he wanted, he could easily step in and stop Eric's underhanded tactics.

But Dumbledore simply didn't directly address anything with Eric.

Instead, they sent signals to Eric in various ways.

Eric could sense that these were all statements that Dumbledore tacitly approved.

The pressure Dumbledore exerted on him was not in the public eye, but behind the scenes; Dumbledore was constantly pushing him forward.

Eric responded in kind: "You give me fame, so I'll accept it without hesitation. I'll also open a Guardian Charm tutoring class on the side."

This is how a core team is cultivated step by step.

Furthermore, after Eric recently revealed Harry and Horcruxes to Sirius and Lupin, he discovered that the two of them also had some reservations about Dumbledore.

It's not accurate to say they would rebel against Dumbledore, but they would certainly have their own opinions about how Dumbledore treated Harry.

This is the downside of leaders keeping things from their subordinates.

If the leader can handle things well, then everything will be fine.

But once this news gets out, his subordinates will inevitably have some thoughts.

It's human instinct; nobody likes feeling kept in the dark.

What's more, there's now Eric relentlessly revealing Dumbledore's secrets.

Eric was quite certain that Dumbledore knew absolutely nothing about this matter.

……

time flies.

Several weeks have passed since Eric accepted Cedric's challenge.

The system hasn't released any new sign-in tasks, so Eric can only act according to his own pace.

Eric is quite famous now.

As he expected, after he made a splash at the Quidditch pitch, newspapers outside quickly began reporting on it.

This was also Dumbledore's arrangement.

Of course, regardless of how the media reports it, the scene of him using magic to banish the Dementors in front of the entire school will not be forgotten anytime soon.

This made him a household name within the school.

Although only a few people witnessed his duel with Cedric, it was still widely known and used as proof of his strength.

Almost everyone inside the castle already knows him.

Especially after he held a gathering as promised and began to publicly teach the Patronus Charm, his reputation could no longer be suppressed.

Eric was very creative; he used oath magic with parchment to draft a standard contract, which he distributed to everyone who wanted to learn magic from him.

Anyone who signs a document will be subject to certain restrictions, including not being allowed to disclose the relevant information to others without their consent.

Eric did not reveal the existence of the Room of Requirement.

He applied to Professor Flitwick for an abandoned classroom to serve as a meeting place, and Professor Flitwick readily approved it.

Finally, there is the form of a gathering, where Eric will summon the guardian spirit to deliver a message to the people on the list, informing them of the time and place.

The format of the party was quite novel, and everyone who participated was very satisfied.

The core members include Harry's trio, the Weasley twins, Cedric and Cho Chang, and others.

Occasionally, with Eric's consent, some new members would be added.

Unlike the DA gathering that Harry secretly held in his fifth year in the original book.

The DA, also known as Dumbledore's Army.

The gathering convened by Eric was more like a course where Eric, as the absolute center and authority, imparted magical knowledge to others.

The course taught was certainly not limited to the Guardian Charm.

It also includes some other basic spells.

This includes spells such as Disarming Charm, Knockback Charm, and Barrier Charm, which can have a huge effect in duels.

Eric's organization is more like an upgraded version of DA.

Everyone who participated in the club improved their dueling skills.

So calling it a tutoring class isn't a problem.

Eric never cared about making Harry and his friends' magical abilities a little stronger.

This will not do Eric any harm.

Anyway, no one is stronger than him.

Besides teaching the spell, Eric was also busy with other things.

The plan to capture Peter is complete; now only the final step remains: to seize Peter.

This is actually the simplest step in the whole plan.

The effects of Gregory's flattery can last for a long time.