Rowena took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
In fact, when Salazar first came to see her, she had suspected that he was there because of the Yule Ball, and she had indeed played a role in pushing the matter forward.
It was her persuasion that had convinced Dumbledore to follow the traditions of the Triwizard Tournament, hold a ball on Christmas Day, and have the contestants who passed the first stage open the dancing.
Naturally, her goal had been to watch Salazar go up and dance.
Who would have thought that in the end, she would drag herself into it as well?
Rowena was unwilling to admit defeat so easily. She was still trying to struggle.
"I'm actually not very good at dancing either. Why don't you ask those two students of yours? They're from the Greengrass family, so they must be good at singing and dancing."
Rhys gave Rowena a strange look.
"Don't you think the Greengrass family and the phrase 'good at singing and dancing' seem somewhat contradictory?" he could not help retorting.
Four years had passed, and he had not seen much artistic talent in either of his two students. Daphne, in particular, looked more like someone with talent for swordsmanship.
Rowena gave an awkward smile.
"Rowena, be my dance partner. With your intelligence, you should understand that the moment Dumbledore decided to have the contestants lead the dancing, you no longer had any choice," Rhys said in a sinister tone.
He had already figured it out.
He might as well drag Rowena down with him!
If she wanted to make him uncomfortable, then she could forget about staying out of it herself!
Rowena sighed.
She had truly brought this upon herself.
By now, she had realised that Salazar must have noticed something and had come to find her with the intention of taking her down with him.
As for why he had not gone to Helga, it was because he had no leverage over Helga. Helga might not necessarily cooperate with him.
She was like an eagle hunting a venomous snake, only to be bitten in mid-air. The eagle died from the venom, while the snake fell from the sky and died from the impact.
"Fine. We'll do it your way."
Rowena knew she had no other choice and could only agree.
Satisfied, Rhys left Rowena's office.
Rowena, meanwhile, wore a bitter expression as she took the antidotes Rhys had developed and headed for Dumbledore's office to make preparations for the next stage of the tournament.
When the door was pushed open again, Dumbledore was somewhat surprised.
He had assumed Professor White needed more phoenix blood. Just as he was about to advise her to give Fawkes some time to recover, he realised that the person entering was Professor Aries.
"You're here as well? Is something the matter? Let me make one thing clear first. Fawkes can't have any more blood taken from him for the time being."
Dumbledore first invited Professor Aries to sit down, then smilingly told her that if she had come for phoenix blood, she could turn around and leave.
"I don't need phoenix blood for now. I came because of this."
Rowena placed a box filled with antidotes on Dumbledore's desk.
"For the next stage of the tournament, I hope the contestants can take these antidotes with them before entering the alchemical world. However, they shouldn't simply be handed out directly. They should have to pass some kind of test to obtain them."
"All right. I'll contact Jamison and have him arrange it."
After accepting the box, Dumbledore asked Rowena a question.
"Has something changed inside?"
Rowena did not answer, but Dumbledore had already understood everything from her attitude.
That person was probably going in to clean up a mess, wasn't he?
That was what Dumbledore thought.
After what had happened that day, Dumbledore had actually developed a question of his own.
Why would someone like that involve himself in a game between children?
Putting himself in the other man's position, Dumbledore felt that he would have no interest in participating personally.
None of them were fools, nor were they impulsive people who acted on sudden whims.
So there had to be a deeper reason behind it.
Professor Aries's attitude today proved that his speculation had been correct.
"I've delivered the supplies. I'll be going now."
After handing the potions over to Dumbledore, Rowena prepared to leave.
Dumbledore seemed to suddenly remember something and asked another question.
Why did both she and Professor White need phoenix blood?
Rowena stopped.
A joyous smile like that of someone celebrating a rich harvest appeared on her face as she shared the results of their latest research with Dumbledore.
A sharp gleam flashed through Dumbledore's eyes.
He sat up straight and asked seriously,
"There's no restriction on species? Any magical creature will do? As long as you pour its blood onto the tree, it can produce fruit that grants the ability to transform into that creature?!"
Rowena nodded.
Dumbledore could not help raising his eyebrows.
He immediately realised the immense significance such fruit could have for the wizarding world.
To put it plainly, this kind of fruit could greatly increase a wizard's combat strength.
Professor Aries had only mentioned phoenixes and dragons, but Dumbledore knew very well that there were far more powerful magical creatures than just those two.
Acromantulas, enormous and naturally vicious.
Nundus, whose breath could destroy an entire village and required more than a hundred wizards to subdue.
Basilisks, whose direct gaze could kill instantly.
Bloodthirsty and immensely powerful Chimaeras.
Manticores...
If wizards could transform into such magical creatures, Dumbledore had no doubt that they would gain terrifying strength.
Fortunately, the blood of these magical creatures was extremely difficult to obtain.
Unfortunately, according to Professor Aries's explanation, successfully consuming the fruit required a high degree of compatibility with the corresponding magical creature.
A wizard who had strong compatibility with inherently vicious magical creatures such as Chimaeras or Manticores probably would not be a particularly good person either, would they?
A trace of anxiety rose in Dumbledore's heart.
However, when he saw Professor Aries's calm eyes, he immediately settled down again.
"A great invention. A brilliant concept."
Dumbledore was generous with his praise, though at the same time he quietly pointed out that this kind of magic should be strictly controlled and must not fall into the hands of cruel or inherently wicked people.
'Salazar has already used it,' Rowena complained inwardly.
Even so, she readily agreed aloud and assured him there would be no problem.
After Professor Aries left, Dumbledore closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.
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