Chapter 395: Approaching
"Whoosh~"
The golden thief extended its long wings in Harry's hand and disappeared in a flash under their gaze.
The three of them looked around anxiously. "There!" Harry pointed above Ron's head. A Disarming Charm shot out but missed. Hermione and Ron hurriedly chanted spells, and two red lights vanished into the sky.
"You're still far from catching it," Sirius said, arms folded, with a smug grin.
Harry gave his godfather a disgruntled look. "Then you give it a try."
Sirius flicked his wand silently. Several leaves from the pumpkin vines shot out like swords. The golden thief trembled slightly and dodged them. Sirius pouted in embarrassment.
"I refuse to believe—"
He joined the trio. They occupied the four corners, tilting their heads back, casting spells at the sky. The golden thief remained within a small area, constantly dodging like an agile ghost. Occasionally, they got lucky and hit it. A palm-sized transparent shield would appear on its surface, refracting colorful hues in the pale sky, blocking the spells.
The four of them played with high spirits until they saw three tall figures emerging from the Forbidden Forest in the distance. They were the champions of Durmstrang. for new novels
They pointed and gestured towards Harry's group, speaking in an awkward accent. The words weren't clear initially, but gradually, they could make out phrases like "cheating... fake champions..." This soured their mood.
"Ignore them. Once you defeat them in the first task, they'll learn to shut up," Sirius said irritably.
Harry felt like Sirius was convincing himself more than anyone else—he really wanted to go up and give them a piece of his mind.
Days passed, and on the last Friday of the new week, during the final class, all the champions underwent wand checks. Mr. Ollivander himself came over to assess the condition of each champion's wand.
Bagman and a few heads of the school were present. Harry observed the champions from other schools. Krum seemed even quieter, brooding and almost forgetting how to speak. Bryl's presence, unseen for a while, became apparent. He looked darker than before. Every time he passed by the Quidditch pitch, the sounds of collective training could be heard, but two goblins stood guard at the entrance, so he never approached to watch.
Ron hadn't turned in his potion homework for two consecutive weeks. Snape didn't bother hiding his displeasure as he slapped a "T" on it. Ron merely yawned in response, during the lesson on brewing antidotes, Snape's gaze was fixed on him the entire time.
"We're definitely going to pass this year anyway," Ron told Harry and Hermione after class.
"But next year is O.W.Ls year!" Hermione countered passionately. She had admitted to the two of them that she regretted handing over the Time-Turner.
"Who cares, Hermione? You don't seriously think I plan on taking his N.E.W.T level classes, do you?" Ron looked at her strangely. "Fred and George chose to give up some classes last year, including required ones like Astronomy and History of Magic. They discussed product concepts during class..."
"That's different! Do you have any plans for your future, Ron? Potions are necessary in many fields!" They left the classroom bickering, heading straight for the library—there were still plenty of spells they weren't proficient with.
Felix's demands were becoming stricter. In recent days, he had them facing two dragons simultaneously. A panel of several professors made up the judging panel, providing evaluations.
"The idea of summoning crossbow arrows in flight is good, but you have to consider your two teammates as well, Harry!"
"Collins, you're dealing with a dangerous beast; you need to learn to mask your scent. Also... stopping spells isn't a bad idea."
"Ron, the tunneling spell isn't used like that. You can't just jump in yourself."
Finally, the day came—November 24th.
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