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After the two headmasters exchanged a few words, Professor McGonagall led the Beauxbatons teachers and students into the castle.
A long while passed, and still there was no movement.
The young wizards looked eagerly up at the sky. For a while, everything around them was silent, and there was nothing in the sky.
As time passed, the temperature gradually fell. Quite a few young wizards were already trembling in the cold wind.
Suddenly, a sheet of light descended from the sky and shone on the young wizards. They discovered in surprise that they had become much warmer.
"Professor Dumbledore, I think the students should go into the castle and warm themselves."
"In this weather, it would not be good if they became ill from the cold."
Dudley put away his wand and stepped out of the line at the same time. In a few strides, he reached Dumbledore.
"Durmstrang is late, and very late. There is no need to make the students suffer here. They were the ones who were rude first."
Although Dudley's ability allowed him to keep casting this warming charm, he did not want to pay the price for Durmstrang.
Being late was unpleasant no matter where it happened.
Dumbledore thought briefly and agreed.
"Pomona, please take the students inside first."
'Mr. Dursley is still so gentle.'
Dudley's action had undoubtedly won everyone another wave of goodwill.
If there were a favorability system, numbers like +1 and +1 would definitely be flashing before his eyes.
The students entered the castle one after another. Only Dumbledore, Snape, Flitwick, and a small number of students led by Dudley remained on the lawn outside.
Yes. Only the prefects and the disciplinary group stayed behind.
After a while, a strange sound drifted from the darkness. It seemed to be a mixture of a suppressed rumbling and sucking noise, a little like a vacuum cleaner.
The sound did not come from the sky.
The lake. The sound came from the Black Lake.
Durmstrang had not taken the air route. They had chosen the water route.
The calm, dark surface of the lake became restless. Water churned in the center, huge splashes rose, and waves struck the damp shore. In the middle of the lake, a great whirlpool appeared.
A black mast slowly rose from beneath the whirlpool.
Dudley watched the mast gradually rise.
'This entrance is a little like one of those whirlpools in an old strategy game.'
'The principle should be different.'
In that game, entering the whirlpool carried a chance of losing crew members.
Only because the giant squid under the Black Lake had a good temper could they do this. If it had a bad temper, it might tear the ship apart directly.
A giant squid lived in Hogwarts's Black Lake. No one knew how many years it had been alive. There were even rumors that it was Godric Gryffindor transformed.
Soon, an impressive ship slowly emerged from the water, gleaming under the moonlight.
As the iron anchor was thrown into the shallows, the huge cabin doors slowly opened.
Large students wearing special fur cloaks, all built like Crabbe and Goyle, walked out one after another.
"Dumbledore!"
The man walking at the front shouted warmly at Dumbledore as he came up the slope.
"My dear old friend, how are you?"
"Very well, Professor Karkaroff."
Dumbledore's answer was very calm.
Igor Karkaroff, Headmaster of Durmstrang Institute.
When Karkaroff discovered that aside from Dumbledore, only a handful of people were present to receive them, the smile on his face stiffened. He immediately looked displeased, as if he had put on another mask. Fortunately, because Dumbledore was present, he did not explode on the spot.
What? He had been late first?
Sorry, Karkaroff did not care. His original plan had been to arrive deliberately late and give Hogwarts a show of authority.
Although his attitude toward Dumbledore changed completely, he said nothing more.
This made Dudley look regretful. He had originally wanted an excuse to let Karkaroff understand the importance of punctuality.
"It has been a long time since I came here. Hogwarts is still so magnificent. How wonderful."
Karkaroff raised his head to look at the castle. Although his face still smiled, there was no smile in his eyes, only coldness.
"Viktor, come here and warm yourself. You do not mind, do you, Dumbledore? Viktor has a bit of a cold."
Karkaroff called a student behind him forward and brought him before Dumbledore.
Short hair, a striking hooked nose, thick black eyebrows. His appearance was very easy to recognize. Viktor Krum, Durmstrang's star student and Seeker for Bulgaria's national Quidditch team.
Karkaroff's intention was obvious. He wanted to show off his excellent student before Dumbledore.
Look. My student was a star Seeker in the Quidditch World Cup.
Dumbledore still wore a smile, without the slightest reaction.
In truth, to Dumbledore, no matter how excellent Viktor Krum was, he was still only a Quidditch player. What had Dumbledore not seen over the years? He had even seen one pink, human-shaped toad.
Besides, Hogwarts students were not much worse than Viktor.
"I know you. I watched your match."
Before Karkaroff could continue showing off, Viktor spoke on his own, visibly excited as he said to Harry, who stood beside Dumbledore:
"The champion of this year's Wizard Card World Tournament, the famous Harry Potter. If I had not been busy with the Quidditch World Cup, I think I would have entered that tournament too."
The charm of Wizard Cards was that almost every young person liked them.
The other Durmstrang students looked at Harry with worshipful expressions.
Many of them had entered this tournament as well, but unfortunately, they had not even passed the preliminaries.
"Ahem."
The sound of someone clearing his throat drew Viktor's gaze away. His eyes lit up again.
"Right, and the runner-up, Mr. Draco Malfoy."
Draco smiled and nodded, enjoying the admiring gazes from the Durmstrang students.
"Oh, semifinalist Mr. Neville Longbottom is here too. I cannot believe all of you are Hogwarts students. I thought one or two might be from Beauxbatons."
As he spoke, Viktor's gaze moved again and landed on Ron. As the member of the disciplinary group who liked Quidditch most, Ron admired Viktor greatly and even treated him as his idol and goal.
Just as Ron excitedly prepared to enjoy his idol's praise, Viktor's gaze moved away from him without the slightest pause. Then Viktor's body paused slightly, and he became even more excited than when he had seen Harry.
"You... you are the creator of Wizard Cards, Mr. Dursley, are you not?"
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