Altair could not help but smile when he woke up and found both Aurelia and Cho in bed with him, hugging his arms.
It was almost as if they were worried he would vanish that night as well, even though he had promised them that he would stay.
Since it was Sunday, he woke up half an hour later than his usual time, and even though the girls looked very sweet as they slept soundly, he gently stirred them awake.
The three of them took a bath together, and then both helped him dress in his leather armour and fasten his cape.
Everyone was waiting for them in the Common Room, and there were smiles all around. A lot of them wished him the best, and they were already making plans for celebrating his victory.
A while later, they made their way to the Great Hall as usual and had a very lively breakfast.
A lot of people from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff also wished Altair the best when he got up to leave for the Glass Enclosure outside the castle, next to the Greenhouses.
It was a short walk, only five minutes, and he arrived right on time.
At exactly eight o'clock, Nymphadora Tonks and Sebastian Montmorency, the Head Girl and Head Boy of Hogwarts, opened the door and welcomed them inside.
The four champions were led to a white waiting room, much to their confusion, and then Tonks grinned.
"Stay put. The first challenge will begin at exactly ten o'clock, and Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout will come to take you to the venue. Make sure you know the rules of the Fantastic Beasts Challenge. If you don't, then pick up the rulebook," she pointed at the books that were on the side tables next to every couch. "No excuses. Break a single rule and you will be instantly disqualified."
They all nervously nodded their heads.
"What's the first challenge?" Robert, the Hufflepuff Champion, asked, and they all tensed up even more when they saw the Head Girl and the Head Boy exchange mischievous grins.
"Oh, you will be suffering, Robert. You will be suffering a lot," Sebastian said cryptically, and then Nymphadora grinned at Altair.
"Good luck, kiddo."
"Thank you." He smiled at her, and then watched the two prefects leave and seal the door.
They could not even hear a single sound outside this white room, and after the champions exchanged glances, they quietly moved to their couches and sat down.
All of them picked up the rulebook and went through it, and Altair only needed to read it once to remember all the rules and technicalities.
"Any idea what the first task is?" Robert asked the other champions, and all shook their heads.
"There are rumours that Newton Scamander and his wife came to Hogwarts late last night. He is likely the Chief Guest or maybe even the Chief Judge of this year's competition," said Theodore.
"The last time he came was three years ago, right? On the Inaugural Fantastic Beasts Challenge where Gemma Fawley won the competition?" Augustus looked at his batchmates, and they nodded their heads.
"He probably came back then because Gemma was participating. She's his granddaughter."
"What?" Both Augustus and Robert looked at Theodore in surprise.
"You did not know? Lady Annabel Scamander, now Lady Annabel Fawley, is the youngest daughter of Newton Scamander and his wife Porpentina Goldstein."
"Now we know!" both exclaimed. "Wow... she won and received the trophy from her grandparents..."
"Think they gave her some clues?" Robert playfully asked, and both Theodore and Augustus shook their heads.
"Not possible. The Board of Governors keep strict eyes on all the competitions at Hogwarts now. There are always independent reporters present. All the faculty, including the Headmaster, have taken oaths to keep every competition fair and to never be partial to any contestant. You were in the hospital wing back then so you missed it, but Gemma performed exceptionally in that Challenge..." Theodore then told the Gryffindor all about what had transpired in the 1987 Fantastic Beasts Challenge.
The three boys also discussed the following years, where Nymphadora Tonks and Keyvan Shafiq had won the competition.
A Slytherin, a Hufflepuff, and a Ravenclaw. There was still no Gryffindor winner of this competition, and Augustus was very confident that he was going to win it this year.
Theodore and Robert shared banter, but neither boasted, and both kept sneaking glances at Altair from time to time, who was carelessly lying on the couch with his eyes closed.
At exactly a quarter to ten o'clock, they heard the seals on the door open, and the Young Black calmly sat up and then stood.
Professor McGonagall, followed by Professor Sprout, happily entered the room.
"Good morning, champions. I hope you are ready for the Challenge and got some rest last night."
"Yes..." Robert instantly became nervous again.
It all sounded like they were truly going to suffer and suffer a lot. He remembered how much she insisted last night that they get some good rest.
"Your wands."
Professor McGonagall then put bands on each of their wands and told them not to take them off until the Challenge was over. These bands were there to record their spells and make sure that they were observing the rules.
"Now, I want you all to be very honest with me. No lies." She seriously looked at them, and Altair could not help but notice that Professor Sprout was hiding her left hand in her robe. "Tell me one by one if you know what the first three tasks of the Challenge are going to be."
"I don't, Professor." Theodore shook his head.
"You don't what, Mister Diggory?"
"I don't know what the first three tasks are, Professor." The boy clearly said, and then Augustus and Robert repeated the sentence.
Finally, it was Altair's turn, and all looked his way.
"No one has told me what the first three tasks are, Professor."
Minerva raised her brow at him, and he smiled.
"I don't know what the first three tasks are."
She sighed in relief when what she feared did not happen and then smiled at them.
"I am going to have so much fun seeing you all... suffer." She mischievously clapped her hands, and all four of them sweated.
Altair glanced at Professor Sprout's hand again, and he had a guess about what she was holding.
It was likely a Sneakoscope. Thankfully, it did not trigger when he half-lied. He had shared his vision with his familiar and had seen Hippogriffs being brought into the Transfiguration Courtyard.
They were likely for the third task, but he really did not know what exactly the third task was.
The two professors then led them out of the room.
Robert and Altair stayed with Professor McGonagall whilst Professor Sprout took Theodore and Augustus with her.
The two champions were made to stand in front of two doors, over a dozen metres away from each other.
"When you hear the clock ring, enter. Remember, you only have seven hours to complete the Challenge. If we don't have a winner by five o'clock, then no House is getting any points."
The two solemnly nodded their heads and heard Professor McGonagall step back.
As soon as the clock rang, the door in front of them opened, and they heard the cheers from the auditorium.
Altair stepped into the bright light, and when it subsided, he found himself in a glass enclosure, about seven by seven metres, and there was a magical bird on the grass, feeding on seeds that were sprinkled all over.
He instantly recognised the creature, and also noticed the little scroll that was tied to its left leg.
It was a Diricawl.
He looked up and saw the high galleries filled with students, who were waiting for the fun to begin, and he sighed in his heart.
"First Task: The Elusive Diricawl. The Champions must catch the bird and retrieve the scroll on its leg. Remember, the spells you use in this task cannot be used again in the following tasks. Also, no direct spells on the Magical Creature."
Felix Meriden's voice echoed in the auditorium.
Altair carefully knelt and touched the grass, checking for any enchantments, and then looked at the opaque glass walls and the transparent ceiling.
The entire Glasshouse was brightly lit thanks to the daylight, and the atmosphere was quite... lively.
It was not going to be easy. Catching a Diricawl was not an easy task.
He knew he could simply ask the bird to come over to him, but using his gifts was too unfair in this Challenge.
"Silentium Absolutum!"
He cast the very first spell, preventing the noise of the spectators from alarming the Diricawl later, and also to deprive the enclosure from all types of sounds.
The world around him could not be anymore silent, and he could not even hear his own heartbeat. He could just feel it.
Afterwards, he ignored the bird as he dug his wand's tip into the ground and cast another spell.
"Adhaerentia!"
He slowly covered the entire ground of the enclosure with an Adhesive Charm and then covered the walls and the ceiling with it as well.
Next, he cast an Anti-Sticky Charm on his body to allow him to move freely and to bounce off these sticky walls, ground and the ceiling. "Resilio."
The use of three advanced spells, when the magical quill wrote them down, surprised the teachers and the senior students, but they were in for another surprise now.
"Graviso Enversum."
Suddenly, the gravity inside his enclosure started to grow stronger until it was more than twice what it had been before.
The Diricawl, who was already alarmed after finding the ground sticky, panicked some more and started teleporting around.
Altair, however, cast one last spell, and this one was for his body.
"Leviare Corporis."
The Anti-Gravity Charm came into effect, and his movement speed sharply increased.
The young Black then took off his cape, making a certain guest smile.
Unlike the other contestants, he knew that it was not a normal cape. It was enchanted, and he guessed that it was what they needed to use in this Task.
The Diricawl kept teleporting left and right, but its movements were far slower than the Diricawl in other enclosures, and the spectators could clearly see the difference. It was glaring.
It was then that the hunt started, but to the surprise of the spectators, Altair never directly targeted the bird.
His movement speed was fast, quite fast, and thanks to the Anti-Sticky Charm, he was practically able to bounce off the walls and the floor.
It almost looked like he was having fun on his own, not interested in the bird at all. Perhaps, this was why the bird was never truly wary of him. It was just overwhelmed by the changes in the environment.
The Diricawl did not even understand what happened when after a few minutes, it simply got caught in the cape just as it teleported. It had mistakenly teleported in Altair's path, who did not waste the opportunity at all.
Deafening cheers rose, but the young Black did not hear any of them.
He carefully reached inside the cape, untied the scroll from the bird's leg, and then gently removed it as he allowed the Diricawl's head to poke out.
"Calm down." He lovingly scratched under its chin and then disabled all the active charms.
The Diricawl jumped out of his arms, curiously looked around, and then simply went back to feeding on the seeds.
Altair opened the scroll and learned where the next task was waiting for him.
He made sure to read the words twice and then rushed to the door, which opened on its own.
Without looking back, he charged out of the Glasshouse and ran into the Castle.
His feet echoed in the hallways as he made his way up to the sixth floor, to the theatre.
He saw the signs on the walls guiding the way, and he entered the back room before stepping onto the enchanted stage.
The curtains were pulled off, and the students cheered in excitement when they saw who had reached the stage first.
Altair, however, was staring at the tiny creatures all over the place.
It was a family of Nifflers, and they were busy stealing and storing all the shining things on the stage.
He looked at the banner, where the details of the task were written.
"Second Task: The Golden Key Heist."
Right under it were the images of four golden keys. The one he needed had green highlights.
He helplessly chuckled, and the audience in the dark theatre laughed at his reaction.
Only the stage was lit up in soft lights, the rest of the Hall was dark, so dark that even the faces of students in the first row could not be made out.
Without needing anyone to tell him, he knew that the four keys were already in the pouches of the Nifflers, and he fell into a deep thought.
A minute later, taking a deep breath, he curiously walked around the stage, picking up some non-shiny metallic items, and then made his way to a chair and a desk and sat down.
Both the boys and the girls were confused about what he was doing. He was not even paying attention to the Nifflers.
They watched him take out his wand and cast a spell, covering himself and half the desk in a barrier.
"Praesidium Orbis."
The dome-like barrier was quite shiny, so it immediately attracted the attention of the Nifflers, and what happened next excited them even more.
Altair calmly transformef a metallic cube into a golden statue of a baby Niffler, and then proceeded to transform other metals into statues of the Niffler family.
The magical creatures tried to sneak their way into the barrier, but there was no hole, and then they just gathered on the table, planted their paws on the shining barrier and stared at the statues in fascination.
When he was finished, he transfigured the last metallic quill holder into the key he needed.
The audience heartily laughed when he started communicating with the Nifflers in sign language, trying to convey to them that he wanted a key like this one and then he would let them have their statues.
It took quite a while, nearly half an hour of convincing, but then one of the Nifflers finally understood his intentions.
The magical creature reached inside its pouch and started digging out stuff.
In the end, it brought out a key, but it was not the Slytherin key. It was the Gryffindor key.
Altair shook his head and showed the transfigured key again, and the others paid attention too.
Suddenly, another one of them started digging in its pouch, and after a few minutes, it finally took out the Slytherin key.
The audience turned very quiet, and Altair remained calm too.
He smiled and nodded his head before drawing his hand forward, but the Niffler hugged the key and looked at him in distrust.
Sensing what it was worried about, the young Black picked up its statue and then signalled it to hand over the key and take it.
It was quite a crucial moment as these little creatures were very mischievous.
He knew that the moment they got an opportunity, they would take everything and run away. He waited and waited, and seeing him not budge, the Niffler finally put the key down.
Altair kept his nerves and excitement under control as he slowly reached forward with both hands.
He pushed the statue out with one, and managed to land his fingertips on the key.
The Niffler, however, tried to act smart as it slid the key back with its foot as soon as it grabbed the statue, but Altair just smiled and refused to let it go.
After struggling for a while, the Niffler tried to bait him by pushing the key forward, and it was then that the young Black made his move.
He let the statue go, and since the Niffler was pulling hard, it fell back and its foot failed to pull the key away because it was pressed under Altair's fingertips.
As soon as the key entered the barrier, cheers broke out, and he tightly held onto it after making sure that it was real.
He glanced at the chalkboard where a few words appeared, telling him to rush to the Transfiguration Courtyard.
Altair picked up his wand, stored away the key, and then stood up and removed the barrier, allowing the other Nifflers to pick up their statues.
Thankfully, none of them came after him to retrieve the key, and he ran off the stage, into the back room, and then made his way downstairs to the Transfiguration Courtyard.