Hogwarts doesn't need a savior

As if in response to his question, before he could finish his words, a miniature mushroom cloud rose from the stadium, as if causing a small earthquake, and the howling wind blew the robes of the two men.

The towering yew trees pierced through the smoke, extending straight into the sky, with lush branches and leaves, and each branch seemed like a world shrunk countless times.

A huge dent was blown out on the hardest part of the iron belly's chest, with its scales shattered and flesh and blood dripping. It let out a hoarse wail, as if a jade mountain had collapsed and it fell backwards.

It was a cold vertical pupil, but it was not just an isolated vertical pupil. Instead, it was wrapped in light golden flames, emitting vitality from the inside out.

"Although Professor Dumbledore's advice is useful, I still aspire to be a teacher the most."

The robe was also dyed crimson by the blood falling from the sky. Cedric walked forward slowly with a calm tone. With a wave of his hand, the rubble on the ground turned into countless chains, tying up the fire dragon like a dumpling.

From its intact limbs to its severely injured torso, and then to its bloody mouth that was wailing continuously, let alone spitting fire and wreaking havoc, even the simplest struggle and rolling would be as difficult as climbing to the sky for it.

When the smoke cleared, the spectators who had covered their ears belatedly and the principals in the referee's booth were able to see everything clearly.

Even Dumbledore did not expect this result. His half-moon glasses almost slipped off, and his deep blue eyes were filled with confusion and amazement.

Fleur, who was resting on the sidelines, was also shocked. She was the first to notice Cedric's gaze and silent lip movements.

In response to her challenge before her appearance, Cedric, who had specially won with such a strong attitude, gave the most clear answer.

"The Eye of Tonatiuh... it's so biased!" The arrogant witch clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, looked in the direction of Lynn and Euphemia, and made up her mind secretly.

As she was also proficient in Rune magic, she could of course see the flames surrounding the ancient magic. It was the Rune fire that was refined to the extreme. Even the form of the magic changed again.

This was an invisible declaration of war that touched her sensitive nerves and also allowed her to find the long-lost motivation.

"Cedric Diggory..."

She murmured the increasingly familiar name softly, and an equally talented and confident figure unconsciously flashed through her mind.

At this time, Bagman's voice finally came from the referee's seat far away, but it became vague and indistinct due to the thunderous cheers from the audience.

"Mr. Diggory has undisputedly defeated his opponent, the fierce Ukrainian Iron Belly! According to the results of the referee team's discussion, we will award him the same full score!"

In response, he was met with an even more turbulent crowd and colorful fireworks from the Hogwarts stands - they were undoubtedly the work of the Weasley brothers who were tinkering with new magical tricks, but even McGonagall would choose to turn a blind eye.

But for the person involved, although the celebration from teachers and classmates is important, the most important thing is what is happening right now.

Looking at Lynn falling from the sky and the bright smile on his face, Cedric subconsciously ignored Euphemia who was following him and clenched his fists and pumped them hard.

"Professor, I said I will win, not only this game, but every time after that." He said this in the most affirmative tone.

"I think so, Ceder," Lynn said happily, "but what you should do now is celebrate your victory with your good friends."

Following his fingertips, Cedric turned around and saw Doris and Boyce rushing into the field, and Pavla being pulled over by them.

Chapter 499 Are you in such a hurry to leave, Bagman?

In the bustling stands, the dazed Harry was out of tune with the people around him; even the style of the picture was different.

From Ron and Hermione, he already knew the level of the first few contestants - they were indeed excellent, but at least they were within the range that he could understand and accept.

But the two people he saw with his own eyes were different.

Although he had heard a lot from Hermione about the leaders of the Stargazer Club, seeing is believing. After actually witnessing the performance of Cedric and Fleur, he was still worried about the prospects of his two future projects.

It’s not that I didn’t feel the joy of getting third place, but it was completely washed away by the huge shock.

"Do you think they are really students like us?" Harry couldn't help but ask as he looked at Fleur who was leaving alone and Cedric who was celebrating with his friends.

"Well... it's possible that someone might have swapped the items - don't tickle me!" Ron said with a serious expression, but before he could finish his words, he was pushed away by Hermione in annoyance.

Hermione, still immersed in excitement, grabbed Harry's arm and shook it vigorously, saying happily: "Don't worry about them, you have done very well, the professor is right, you are really talented! As for Cedric, he was trained by the professor and Doris together."

"But I still have to deal with them next." Harry said hoarsely, "How can I not care?"

"That's true..." Hermione came back to her senses and looked up and down at her good friend, as well as the anti-scald ointment on his face. After a while, she said, "It's a bit troublesome."

Hermione, who always had good ideas, was like this. Harry's expression became even more serious. Even Fred and George, who came up to him and laughed, couldn't make him happy.

The magical bewitchment magic, the absurdly powerful South American magic, the endless rune magic, for the first time, Harry felt that his knowledge was so lacking, and even a good start could not make up for this sense of gap.

He was well aware that there was a gap between his magic level and that of every senior warrior present, but he had never imagined it would be so great - so great that it just exceeded a certain limit.

"Why are you still here, Potter?"

Harry was thinking hard when Sprout suddenly appeared from behind him, scaring him and the three Weasley brothers.

"Professor Sprout!"

"You did very well, kid! We are all proud of you." Sprout smiled broadly, his eyes almost narrowed into lines with joy from the inside out. "Minerva asked me to come find you. You still have to go back to the contestant tent to discuss the next event. Hurry up."

After she finished speaking, she squeezed through the crowd and trotted into the venue, her steps lighter than ever before.

"I've never seen her so happy. Fortunately, Professor McGonagall didn't come here herself, otherwise it would have been confiscated again." Fred said with lingering fear.

The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously. Harry, who originally didn't think much of it, suddenly remembered the professor's identity - the head of Hufflepuff house.

He sighed helplessly and then smiled.

It would be a lie to say that he didn't want to win, but he wasn't a petty person like Snape, especially since the one who beat him was someone as impeccable as Cedric.

Thinking of this, the confusion in his heart mostly dissipated, and he slowly walked into the tent again.

The wind blew on his face covered with ointment, feeling cool and a little itchy, making him touch it subconsciously.

"hiss--"

It turns out that competition is risky and participation requires caution.

-----------------

Bagman left the judges' table at a brisk pace, while the headmasters stayed with Fudge to exchange pleasantries and, of course, some veiled verbal battles - it was Madame Maxime who had the upper hand before he left.

Students' grades are the teacher's confidence. Except for the low-key Dumbledore, the other three headmasters could not stand up straight in front of her.

Including Karkaroff, who is best at being sarcastic.

Their students were of similar level, each with their own special skills, and were considered outstanding over the years, but they were still far inferior to Fleur and Cedric.

As the conversation went on, Fudge was unknowingly pushed to the margins again, which made his mood, which was already bad due to recent events, even worse. Soon he apologized to Dumbledore and left without even having dinner.

He was joined by Ms. Blunt, and Auroreus, who was on security duty today.

Watching their hurriedly leaving backs, Dumbledore shook his head thoughtfully, not knowing what he was thinking.

-----------------

When Bagman entered the tent, most of the warriors had already arrived, carrying their models and golden eggs.

The remaining few people didn't have to wait long. The last one to arrive was Cedric, who was sent to the door by his friends. As soon as he entered the door, he walked up to Harry and whispered with a smile, "I've heard them say it's wonderful flying and magic."

"Thanks, you too." Harry smiled back.

Krum, who had just finished treatment and was walking with a limp, glanced at them and said nothing.

"Okay, everyone, we're finally here. You all did a great job. You're all outstanding young people!" Bagman said excitedly. "I know you must want to celebrate with your friends, teachers, and family, so I can't take up too much of your time. I'll just say a few words."

He took out a piece of parchment with words written on it, glanced at it and said, "The second project will be held at 2:24 am on February next year. You have a very long vacation to rest and prepare - I know that some of you will feel stressed - in addition, we have left some questions for everyone. Please look at your golden eggs. They can be opened. You must solve the clues inside, which are related to the content of the second project."

"What is this, a puzzle game?" Furong lazily took out the golden egg, "This is quite interesting."

"I feel like this is a competition that starts early. After all, warriors need not only high magic skills, we hope to see young talents with both wisdom and courage." Bagman said with a smile, "As a reward, the one who finds the clue in the golden egg earlier will have more time to prepare. Do you understand everything now? If there is no problem, you can go back."

The contestants left the tent one after another. The injured ones needed treatment and recuperation, while the uninjured ones naturally wanted to celebrate their successful completion, regardless of whether they were leading or not - after all, they were facing adult fire dragons, and this was a competition event beyond the level of students.

After cleaning up the mess, Bagman, in a good mood, hummed a tune, tightened his old team robe and prepared to leave.

At this moment, a voice came from the corner of the tent that made him tremble all over.

"In such a hurry to go, Bagman?"

The director, who had been so happy just now, was suddenly stunned and beads of cold sweat appeared on his back.

He had no idea there was someone else in the tent. He turned his head stiffly and saw Lin En appearing quietly.

"Lynn? You really gave me a shock." He forced a smile, "Didn't you go to celebrate with them? I'm so happy for you to have such an outstanding student."

"Originally it should have been like this, but I suddenly remembered something very important, and it's related to you." Lin En stood at the door of the tent with a half-smile, "My dear friend, when was your memory tampered with?"

Chapter 500 Abandoned Pawn Bait

"Memory... tampered with? I don't know what you are talking about. I am very healthy." Bagman's smile froze, his eyes full of confusion and innocence.

In order to make himself look more credible, he even tried to flex his muscles, but unfortunately, after retiring for so many years, he was left with only fat.

Lynn showed a disappointed expression, "I thought we would be more honest, it seems I was wrong. Let me change the question. Are you hooking up with those gutter rats? To pay off your debt to the goblins? I don't think you have the ability to come up with thousands of Galleons. Tell me."

His tone was calm, without any hostility or suspicion, just like an old friend reminiscing about the past. However, Bagman was so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead and his lips turned white, and he almost couldn't stand.

"You...how did you know?"

"Are you sure you want to answer a question with a question, Bagman?" Lynn asked.

This time his eyes were more serious than before, and the smile that had never reached his eyes disappeared completely.

Bagman suddenly felt like a bumblebee trapped in a spider web. The more he struggled, the tighter he got, and the huge, ferocious, poisonous spider in front of him was closing in on him.

"Gudu..."

He swallowed hard, his face bitter: "You know me, Lin En. We are friends. How could I get involved with such a shady person? There must be a misunderstanding here."

As he spoke, he moved step by step towards the cave of the contestants' passage without leaving a trace. It was the only place in the entire school where the anti-Apparition magic had been cancelled.

But before he had taken a few steps, he felt a strong resistance - an invisible wall to be exact.

"What are you going to do?" His face was pale, desperate and helpless.

"Don't make such a fuss. I just want to talk to you. How about going to your house?" Lynn said in an unquestionable tone, with an unknown magic in her voice. "I really want to know why you didn't come to see me after Amelia invited you."

Bagman's features twisted into a grimace. He wanted to reject the offer in a stern manner, but he knew he couldn't do it - he didn't have the guts.

Beads of sweat the size of beans fell like raindrops. He opened his mouth with difficulty and finally lowered his head dejectedly.

"Okay, I'll take you there."

"Don't be so nervous." Lin En showed a satisfied smile, "I just want to see who dares to provoke me in such a stupid way. This will also be good for you."

-----------------

London, Ministry of Magic.

Having just returned from Hogwarts, the secretly angry Fudge called his confidant, Umbridge, who he had sent to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as the Minister's special adviser.

The toad-faced witch was always good at guessing her superiors' intentions. As soon as she entered the room, she saw Fudge's mood at the moment and said with a flattering smile, "Minister, you are finally back. The ministry is in chaos without you."

These words touched Fudge's heart.

He remained calm on the surface and asked in a deep voice: "Each department has its own tasks. What happened?"

"Bones has taken people to confiscate dark magic items and Knockturn Alley again. Several groups of people have approached us this month hoping that she would be more restrained, but I couldn't persuade her."

"Bones again..." Fudge's eyes suddenly became sharp, "She really wants to be a good person, and there are those reporters who can only write rumors."

"Do you think we should find someone to challenge him?" Umbridge asked tentatively. "We can't let this woman be so arrogant all the time."

"Do you think I don't want to? Alas!" Fudge sighed, "So many people are staring at me, especially that old guy Barnold who doesn't want to retire. Everyone knows that Bones is her successor. Now Eric also supports her. What can I do to her? Dumbledore won't help."

"Just because Dumbledore won't help doesn't mean no one can help you solve this problem, Minister." Umbridge said intriguingly.

Fudge frowned. "What do you want to say? You should know that I hate clever cover-ups the most."

"Of course, Minister, I will never hide anything from you." Umbridge smiled, "A friend wants to meet you, introduced by Malfoy. As long as you are interested, they are always available."

"The friend introduced by Malfoy..." Fudge's eyes were a little colder, and after a long while he said lightly, "He really has a wide range of friends. I'll make a note of it and think about it later."

"Yes, Minister."

-----------------

The town of Cotsworth.

In a simple three-story building, Bagman, who looked as if he had shed his skin, leaned weakly on a chair. The horror in his eyes had not yet completely subsided, as if he had escaped death and survived.

"What kind of magic is this?" he asked weakly.

"I'm always reliable to my friends, right?" Lin En said lightly, "Now it's your turn to answer me. When did you get tricked?"

"…To be honest, I don't know. I just feel like something is wrong with me, but I have no idea how my memory was rewritten—I don't even know who did it, or why."