"...Alliance?"
In the tent of Koldovstoretz, Alexander suspiciously eyed the two mysterious people in front of him.
"You know the next match will be an elimination round, right?"
Cedric nodded and began to entice him gently.
"Yes, I'm aware of that—"
Alexander nodded, the elimination match was something everyone knew about, which is why almost all the champions, except Cedric and Harry, looked as anxious as ants on a hot pan. After all, there wasn't any information leaked this time—Harry suspected that even Ludo Bagman might not know the exact proceedings—
Otherwise, that fat guy would have probably come to help him cheat already.
"But, you don't know the contents of the match—"
Harry continued, he and Cedric had already discussed it—two people were not strong enough, especially since they didn't know the method of entering at the time; they wouldn't know who they'd meet once the challenge started, so they had to expand their number of allies, make more friends, and fewer enemies—
"What is it?"
Of course, Alexander didn't know; he stared with curiosity and asked.
"...Before that, you need to tell us about that slate?"
Cedric shook his head, indicating that intelligence obviously couldn't be given to him for free.
"...I already know."
Alexander hesitated for a while, finally making up his mind, "That slate led me to the depths of the Forbidden Forest, where there's a cave. I've been there once, and the centaurs told me that place won't unlock until the day of the event—" he sighed, "And I'm joining you guys—can you tell me now? The specific contents of the match?"
"..."
Cedric and Harry exchanged a glance, both nodding. What the other man said matched what William had disclosed.
Thus, Cedric spoke, "The third event, we will be sent into the Forbidden Forest, and we don't know if we'll be separated. Then, we will be hunted."
"By whom?"
"The referee."
"Which referee?"
"William Richard—"
"Who is that..."
"Fire dragon, duel club—"
Cedric just mentioned a few keywords, and the previously lazy man suddenly sat up straight with respect. He recalled the "Divine Being" who raised fire dragons, couldn't help blinking, and swallowed, "This, how strong is William?"
"Very strong, did you see our Charm Class professor?" Harry nodded.
"That shorty?"
"But that shorty is the British Magic Realm Duel Champion—"
"He can't beat William?"
"No, he can't."
"..."
"Remember Hermione, the girl who defeated you—"
"Of course, she's quite pretty."
"...The two of us, plus her, and the boy who defeated the Magic Institute's champion, the four of us together have no chance!"
Cedric himself didn't know if they had a chance of winning; after all, they hadn't tried. They had never seen William go all out, but now, to recruit more members, he had to exaggerate the situation enough to scare them—and yes, it did scare him.
"No way?!"
Alexander instinctively retorted; he remembered Hermione and her vast array of spells that left him defenseless.
"He even raises fire dragons, what isn't possible?"
Harry stopped Cedric from continuing and directly brought up Norbert.
"...Our alliance isn't strong enough!"
Alexander's eyes widened, and he stood up, completely bluffed by the two.
"Yes, but even with alliances, the number shouldn't be too many because it's an elimination match afterward—"
Cedric gestured for him to be calm; he had more to say.
"So, what is your plan?"
"Get one more person, four would be perfect, preferably from Uagadou—" Harry continued.
"No, no way."
After a moment of thought, Alexander dismissed Harry's suggestion, and under the curious eyes of the two, he continued, "That guy is not easy to deal with. Remember at the end of the pyramid under the Black Lake? She wanted to make a move on you—" the man looked at Harry, speaking earnestly, "But then the referee showed up."
"...Really?" Harry widened his eyes, instinctively touching his neck.
"I have no reason to lie to you—although I originally planned to hide it from you, but we're allies now, aren't we?" Alexander showed a highly credible smile.
"Alright, so your plan—"
"I have someone in mind, someone I really trust."
…
…
The Christmas holiday ended, but in the first week after school resumed, the little wizards were clearly still basking in the holiday spirit.
As for Gryffindor—
Because of two unnamed twins who set off fireworks filled with dungbombs in Potions Class, a certain Potions Class Professor was furious after getting blasted, causing Gryffindor to trail far behind the other houses at the start of the new term, even falling to half the points of Slytherin House—
Setting a record for the fastest point deduction in history, and the two were sentenced to detention for six whole months.
But the Potions Class Professor refused to accept these twins; only Mr. Filch, the gatekeeper of Hogwarts Castle, strongly requested to take them in, but for their safety, Professor McGonagall eventually took them in personally, having them help grade homework every night.
As for Hufflepuff—
Recently, the relationship between these little badgers and the Magic Institute students has hit rock bottom, with conflicts and arguments almost certain to occur when they meet at school. According to reports from a "frontline reporter," it seems to be due to the Hufflepuff champion being a Quidditch player, as everyone knows—
Though starting late, the Magic Institute's lot are great broomstick riders, even forming a team to enter the Quidditch World Cup in their third year of contact with broomsticks.
As for Slytherin—
For some unknown reason, this group of people, who usually enjoy sarcastic remarks, have been remarkably quiet lately, to the point of being strangely so.
Harry, who was usually the first to be mocked, even felt a bit uncomfortable, as he sat at the Gryffindor Long Table, watching the unusually quiet little Slytherins from a distance. He raised his hand to rub his inexplicably twitching right eyelid—feeling an ominous premonition.
"Hey, Harry—"
Hearing his name called, Harry looked up and unsurprisingly saw a certain former Gryffindor student council president who had graduated.
Percy pulled out a stool, sat next to Harry, ignoring the disapproving looks from Ginny and Ron, and spoke in a low voice, "Tomorrow's the match, are you ready?"
"Your Mr. Crouch wouldn't ask a player such a question—"
Given how Percy had been constantly talking about "Mr. Crouch" lately, Ron naturally found a way to mock him.
"I'm merely concerned about our champion. Winning for Hogwarts is important for our Ministry of Magic—"
Percy blinked and wasn't angered by Ron's remark. Truth is, only the Weasley Twins had managed to irk Percy with mere words before, but since they had been sealed away by Professor McGonagall after each class lately—
"Can you really say such a thing directly?"
Hermione widened her eyes, looking incredulously at Percy, who spoke without a filter.
"There are no outsiders here—"
Percy shook his head, indicating it was no big deal.
But Harry, upon hearing this, suddenly widened his eyes in surprise.
"Oh, by the way, Percy, I remember you were working on that thesis about thinning the bottoms of imported cauldrons—" he hesitated for a moment, then asked.
The topic change was abrupt and stiff, so much so that almost no one reacted in time.
"Oh, that one, I've already submitted it to Mr. Crouch."
But Percy seemed unfazed, and after seemingly contemplating for a moment, he replied calmly.
"Alright, our Potions Class recently just happened to..."
Harry shrugged and kicked Ron under the table, signaling with his eyes for him to zip it.
"Alright, if you have any questions about tomorrow's event, feel free to ask me. I can offer a little help within my capability—you know where my office is."
Percy nodded and stated in a blatant tone, though Harry's reaction remained rather flat—but Percy didn't say much more, and shortly after finishing his meal, he left the table with his plate.
Leaving a table of little wizards staring at each other in bewilderment.
"Percy, he..."
Ginny widened her eyes, not knowing when they were filled with a look of terror.
"Something's not right."
Even someone as slow to catch on as Ron realized something at this moment, and he instinctively looked at Harry, hoping to get some hints from him.
"Percy wouldn't be the type to help Harry cheat—"
Hermione couldn't help but say. To be accurate, Percy isn't the kind who would go out of his way to find Harry for something like this, "Unless it's an order from 'Mr. Crouch'?" The girl blinked, unable to resist speculating.
"...it's possible?"
Harry furrowed his brow, looking up towards the direction Percy had left. By now, Percy had disappeared into the crowded throng.
"So, are you going to find him? Should I let the senior know?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"...No, no need... I mean, you can let him know."
Harry shook his head, "But I have no intention of going to find him." He continued to gaze in the direction Percy had left, his eyes flickering slightly.