Cho Chang racked her brain, yet she could not think of a single spell she excelled at.
She thought for a long time, but nothing came to mind.
"Sorry," Cho smiled bitterly. "I... I really don't know what I'm good at."
"It doesn't matter, Cho," Harry said with a smile. "We can find the spell that suits you best during practice."
"Is... is that so?" Cho asked hesitantly.
"Don't worry, Cho." Cedric stepped forward at just the right moment, embracing Cho from behind and whispering into her ear, "Although we don't have innate talents for specific spells, we can make up for it with hard work."
"That is true," Harry agreed. "Just like Dumbledore—his specialty is Transfiguration, but we can't deny his mastery of other spells, can we?"
"Dumbledore specializes in Transfiguration?" Cho asked in astonishment. "I always assumed he knew a little bit of everything..."
"Oh, that's not the case," Harry chuckled. "In fact, it's exactly as I said. The spell Dumbledore is most proficient in is Transfiguration. I can testify to this, and so can Veratia; after all, I once witnessed a duel between Veratia and Dumbledore."
"Miss Grindelwald actually dueled Professor Dumbledore?"
The crowd was stunned. They knew Miss Grindelwald possessed high magical attainment, but no one had ever imagined she could stand on the same stage as Dumbledore.
"So, who won?" As Veratia's admirer, Hermione was very concerned about the result.
"Oh, I used a few little tricks," Veratia said with a beaming smile. "I used some improper means to win that match... Of course, Professor Dumbledore wasn't someone the 'me' back then could defeat."
"That's still amazing!" Hermione's eyes were full of stars. "Goodness, Veratia, you actually managed to win a duel against Professor Dumbledore..."
Veratia didn't offer any defense. In fact, both Harry and Veratia were now capable of winning a duel against Dumbledore. Especially Harry, who had fully activated the Philosopher's Stone...
Dumbledore: Me? Duel Harry? Oh, this poor old bag of bones wants to eat candy for a few more years.
"Of course, that isn't the main point you need to focus on right now, Hermione." Veratia suddenly revealed a smile like a little devil. "In the coming days, what you will be facing isn't each other, nor training dummies, but an arena tailor-made for you..."
"Arena?" The members of the Duel Club were stunned.
Wait, what? You never mentioned this to us?
Harry, of course, knew about this. He had heard Veratia talk about it when they were going to sleep yesterday; it was one of Veratia's sudden whims. However... it would require some hard work from them to go to the Forbidden Forest, or some other places, to capture some sparring partners.
"Is it... Dark Wizards?" Cedric asked with trepidation.
He was a bit traumatized. After all, during the last practical duel, he had been hit squarely by Harry's "Avada Kedavra" brand Lumos. For a split second, he truly felt like he was dead. It was too realistic. After all, that Lumos was just too green—green enough to pass for the real thing.
"No, just some common magical beasts," Veratia said with a smile. "Of course, you will need to cooperate to defeat these magical beasts..."
"Cooperate to defeat?"
Hearing that they didn't have to fight alone, everyone's eyes lit up. Only Cedric felt that it didn't seem that simple—at least not as simple as Miss Grindelwald made it sound.
"Of course, you have a week to prepare. As for today..." Harry glanced at the time. "Since you've only just arrived one after another, you should experience the local scenery of the Isle of Wight, shouldn't you?"
"That's wonderful." Cedric let out a long sigh of relief. He didn't know why, but the ominous premonition in his heart was growing stronger.
What kind of stunt are they pulling this time?
Sometimes, even in his dreams, Cedric would see that green Lumos tearing through the air. One can only imagine the sheer magnitude of the psychological shadow that thing had cast over him. Do you know how damaging a Lumos that green can be to a teenage boy?!
However, the others did not share this realization. They just thought it was absolutely brilliant to have a few days to play to their hearts' content. Ron organized a group to go surfing on the beach. Hermione opened her mouth several times to stop them but eventually held back.
Forget it, forget it. There's no harm in playing a bit more during the holidays.
"So, you've already got the troll ready?"
On a nearby hilltop, Poppy Sweating looked at Ron and the others playing wildly on the beach and asked Veratia without turning her head.
"Oh, it's been ready for a long time," Cassandra said. "Look, isn't there a silly little troll right next to us?"
"Eh? Where?" Poppy Sweating stretched her neck, looking left and right.
"Behind you," Harry sighed. "You should know, Cassandra gave me that nickname back in the day. At the time, I always thought she was verbally bullying me."
"Oh, that's too mean of her," Poppy Sweating chuckled. "But... I actually think it might be a term of endearment she gave you. If only you had realized that sooner..."
"That wouldn't have been any use." Veratia raised a glass filled with juice. "Given Cassandra's tsundere personality, I don't think she would have accepted Harry—of course, I'm more inclined to believe she would say: 'Oh, it seems you really don't know yourself, Potter...'"
Hearing Veratia's words, Poppy Sweating let out a squishy giggle.
"Well, I also think that's exactly what Cassandra would say, isn't it?" she said, smiling.
Cassandra stood rooted to the spot with her arms crossed, her eyes gazing out at the azure sea, her beautiful face covered in frost. She couldn't yet remain indifferent to the teasing of her two sisters, but she could at least suppress the urge to retort.
But then again, even if she did argue, she wouldn't be able to out-talk these two anyway.
"Regarding your question," Veratia spoke again, "the Ministry of Magic recently captured quite a few illegally modified trolls, just like the ones we encountered in the wild back then... I suspect that besides Voldemort, there is a new evil force rising."
Upon hearing about illegally modified trolls, Cassandra's ears pricked up.
"Could it be..." She narrowed her eyes. "Ranrok?"
"I don't know," Veratia said decisively. "We only saw Ranrok fall, but we never had the chance to confirm his death... because he vanished along with Harry."
"Of course," Veratia added, "I will have people investigate this matter, so rest assured."
"So what we have to face now isn't just that strangely deformed Voldemort, right?" Harry asked. "There's also an unknown enemy... So, will these two factions collude?"
"That isn't something we can know, but Ranrok and Voldemort are essentially the same kind of person," Veratia said with her head held high. "They foolishly pursue power that does not belong to them..."
After staying on the hilltop all afternoon, Harry returned to the hotel with his three girlfriends.
Veratia returned to Vienna, partly to extract the trolls and partly to deal with some accumulated business. Harry and the others, along with Sirius, staked out a piece of land in the mountains and set up Muggle-Repelling Charms, preparing it as a temporary arena.
One week later, Veratia returned to the Isle of Wight as promised, and the trial for the young members of the Duel Club officially began.
"I suggest you get ready." Sirius, who had known the content of their trial long ago, stood on the makeshift stands nearby with a strange grin on his face.
Behind him sat the parents of the Duel Club members. Some of these parents looked worried, while others smiled expectantly—yes, we are talking about you, Mr. Weasley.
"Don't worry, Sirius." Ron gave two thumbs up. "We've been ready for a long time to face the approaching danger!"
"Good! Very spirited!" Mr. Bagman, who had arrived at some point to guest-star as the host, began his commentary. "So... alright, alright, we are gathered here to witness a wild carnival—they come from Hogwarts; mysterious, dangerous, and a bit green... Oh, they are a group of students!"
At this point, Mr. Bagman turned around and nodded to Sirius.
"Entering the arena now," he said, turning back confidently after seeing Sirius give him a thumbs-up. "Entering the arena now are the amazing... astonishing... magnificent... Uh? What is this?"
Mr. Bagman looked down in astonishment and discovered that instead of a troll walking out of the gate, a pig ran out.
The pig was shiny and oily; it looked like it was craving bacon.
"A greased pig? I'm starting to doubt the professionalism of this trial," Mr. Bagman announced loudly. "Alright then... catch this pig, and you win the first round!"
The students of the Duel Club also looked in astonishment at the pig running all over the place. No one knew why the first trial was such a thing.
"I guess Harry must want to test our ability to adapt on the spot," Hermione speculated, reaching out and pointing her wand at the pig: "Accio Pig!"
However, as the spell approached the pig, the pig's body suddenly flashed with light, and the spell grazed it and flew aside. It was as if it had truly hit something slippery.
"It seems there is indeed some difficulty." Ron also pulled out his wand and turned to everyone. "Let's get it together! I don't believe we can't catch this pig!"
Everyone drew their wands together, and colorful spells shot toward the pig.
It seemed the oil on the pig's body had a resistance effect against spells. After absorbing more than ten spells, the oil on its body finally vanished.
Cedric seized the opportunity and hit the pig with a Levitation Charm.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Hit by the Levitation Charm, the pig floated up unsteadily, its four hooves kicking weakly in mid-air, trying to step on the ground but unable to do so.
"It seems the potion recently researched by the R&D department actually works," Veratia whispered to Harry. "It's just that this potion... makes one look greasy when applied. I think it should be improved further, like... at least make it not so oily."
"I think as long as it works, it's fine," Harry didn't care much about what it looked like when applied.
"Let's improve it," Veratia said softly. She put away the crystal ball and tapped a few times on a light screen.
"Hmm..." she said. "I've already sent the video back to Miss Farley. I hope they can make improvements based on my suggestions."
"Beautiful work! Ced!" Ron didn't spare his praise, clapping and loudly commending Cedric.
"Haha, I think it was because everyone wore down the layer of oil that blocked the spells, which gave me the chance," Cedric scratched his head, speaking with embarrassment. "But this thing is indeed formidable, actually able to block spells..."
"I think it's just that our spells aren't strong enough," Hermione had a different view. "If it were Dumbledore, or Vol—You-Know-Who, they would definitely be able to penetrate that layer of oil and hit the pig itself."
"We'd better not compare ourselves to those two." Ron spread his hands helplessly. "One is the Dark Lord, and the other is the only wizard the Dark Lord fears... We absolutely cannot compare to them."
"That is true," Hermione nodded. "That's why we need to practice diligently."
"Alright."
Mr. Bagman's voice rang out at the right time: "Our students have now completed the first trial. Next, what they will face is—well, I think I should keep some mystery. Since you are about to see it, it's better to give you a surprise."
"Mr. Bagman!" Seamus shouted loudly. "What is the surprise?"
Just as his voice fell, the gate crashed open again.
The sound of heavy footsteps rang out, and accompanying these footsteps, the entire earth seemed to tremble.
"No way?" Ron shielded everyone behind him in horror. "What is this thing? Sounds like it must be huge..."
"It couldn't be a dragon, could it?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
"No," Ron said with certainty. "I know dragons; they generally don't make this much noise when walking."
They soon didn't need to guess anymore.
Because the owner of that sound had already walked to the front of the gate.
It was a troll, wearing a layer of red metal armor that tightly protected its vital areas; in its hand, it held a massive spiked club. There was no doubt about the kind of damage that thing would cause if it struck a body.
"Bloody hell!" Ron screamed in terror. "A troll! It's a troll!"
--
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