But Bill didn't react much; he just shrugged and said indifferently, "Perhaps. Or maybe she just thinks I'm good friend material."
Laughing and chatting, the two walked into the Great Hall. Just then, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny also entered.
"I can see that," Mrs. Weasley said with a chuckle. "You two having a nice chat? Ginny and I saw you just now."
"It was alright," Bill said, hands in his pockets, smiling dashingly. "Let's go have lunch, Mum. I'm a bit hungry."
Hearing Bill's words, Mrs. Weasley was even happier.
"I have to say, coming to watch Harry's match is one of the best decisions I've ever made. After all, I didn't have to worry about cooking lunch today, did I, Bill?"
"Yes, indeed," Bill nodded, fishing a distinctively Egyptian trinket out of his pocket and handing it to Ginny.
It was a scarab beetle—not real, but lifelike.
When Ginny took the scarab, it was still crawling up and down with its six legs, but as soon as she pressed it lightly, it turned into a hairpin.
"Mum? Bill?"
Ron, sitting at the Gryffindor table, was shocked. His body involuntarily shivered. "What are you doing here? Did Professor Snape..."
"To watch Harry's final," Mrs. Weasley said happily, then her face sterned. "I already know about what you did! Ronald! You dared to openly attack a professor in the Great Hall—Merlin's sewing needle, I always thought only those two troublemakers would do something like that, I never expected it to be you, you little rascal..."
"Mum! That really hurts our feelings!"
Fred and George suddenly popped up from behind them, flanking Mrs. Weasley on the left and right.
"Shut up, Fred," Mrs. Weasley snapped at the boy on her left.
The boy pulled a face at Mrs. Weasley: "Ah, Mum, you've got it wrong again—I'm George! Honestly, you've hurt us once more; even our own mother can't tell who we are!"
"Alright, sorry, George," Mrs. Weasley sighed.
"Hehe, actually I am Fred. Tricked you, Mum."
Fred pulled a face at Mrs. Weasley. The students in the Great Hall watched the Weasleys' interaction, smiling with envy.
Mrs. Weasley reached out and smacked Fred, pulling him saying, "Hurry up and sit down to eat. Look, it's already lunchtime, aren't you hungry?"
Saying this, she sat on a chair and looked at Ron: "Speaking of which, you just took your History of Magic exam, didn't you? How did it go?"
Ron was relieved because his mother had finally stopped dwelling on his clash with Snape.
"Oh... it was alright. I couldn't remember all the names of the rebel goblins, so I made a few up. It doesn't matter," Ron said while helping himself to a Cornish pasty.
Mrs. Weasley set her face in a stern line and lectured Ron, "They're all called names like Bodrod the Bearded or Urg the Unclean; it's not hard to make them up."
They sat in the chairs, as if they were back at the Burrow.
Halfway through the meal, Hermione walked over.
Seeing Mrs. Weasley and Bill, she greeted them and sat down next to Ron.
Mrs. Weasley glanced at Hermione, then at Ron, but ultimately said nothing.
"Eat a bit more, Harry," Ron said to Harry. "You've got the task soon, you can't go into it on an empty stomach, can you?"
"If I recall correctly, Harry's task isn't until after dinner," Fred remarked from the side. "Even if he doesn't eat now, there's still a meal tonight, my dear ickle Ronniekins..."
"Yeah, are you in such a rush to find a topic to hide something?" George followed up on Fred's words. "Is it that you don't want to be criticized by Mum for what happened in the Great Hall this morning? If you ask me, there's nothing shameful about it. I think you could even carve this deed on your tombstone: Here lies the one who fought to the end against the world's worst... well, you know."
"Ronald Weasley!" Mrs. Weasley said fiercely. "You don't really think that was something glorious, do you?"
"No, Mum," Ron said meekly, lowering his eyes. "I never thought it was glorious. Please stop talking about it."
"As long as you know!" Mrs. Weasley said heavily. "I don't want to hear of anything like this happening again, do you understand?"
Ron meekly agreed, his expression looking extremely aggrieved.
After lunch, Ron went to the Potions office to serve his detention, while Harry took a walk through the castle with the Weasleys.
As they walked, Mrs. Weasley reminisced about the eventful years of the past, pointing out various spots in the castle and telling the children about her and their father's romance.
Bill, meanwhile, took a keen interest in the Sphinx, even staying in the Gryffindor common room to chat with the Sphinx for quite a while, only rejoining the main group around three in the afternoon.
At dinner time, they returned to the Hogwarts Great Hall.
The turnout was full this time. Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge sat at the staff table. Bagman looked beaming, and Cornelius Fudge, sitting next to Madame Maxime, looked quite happy too.
Karkaroff appeared absent-minded; for some reason, he wanted to laugh but couldn't seem to get it out.
Madame Maxime was engaged in an animated conversation with Hagrid during the meal; the two seemed to have become much closer.
There was an empty seat at the High Table. Harry thought for a long time but couldn't figure out who it was reserved for.
The dinner was much more sumptuous than usual. Harry wasn't sure if it was because of the upcoming final task of the Triwizard Tournament, but he certainly felt it was grand.
"I think Sirius must have taught Hagrid something incredible," Hermione commented sharply. "Given Hagrid's emotional intelligence, he should have fallen out with Madame Maxime ages ago... but look how intimate they are now. I think Sirius definitely put in a lot of effort."
Harry thought that was indeed the case. The thing Sirius had been busiest with lately was nothing else but acting as Hagrid's strategist.
The term Consigliere comes from Italy; in Mafia families, a Consigliere acts as an advisor or a counselor.
And during Hagrid's pursuit of Madame Maxime, Sirius was evidently playing just such a role.
"Sirius certainly has his ways," Harry said to Hermione. "Trust me, he is definitely a... well, a man who understands women."
"Is that so?" Hermione asked with interest.
Harry didn't reply. He thought to himself that he couldn't tell Hermione about his godfather's knack for pursuing women.
If he did, wouldn't that ruin his godfather's image?
However, what he didn't know was that Sirius's reputation as a playboy was no secret at Hogwarts. If Hermione wanted to find out, she could certainly dig up a thing or two.
After all, when Sirius was at Hogwarts, he was an existence that captivated thousands of young girls.
"I hope Hagrid and Madame Maxime can make it work," Hermione said, chin in hand, looking at Hagrid and Madame Maxime with a doting smile. "I think Hagrid and she are really suitable. What do you think, Harry?"
"I think so too," Harry muttered. "Sigh, I really wish Veratia could come..."
He really hoped Veratia could come to Hogwarts in person to watch his match during the third task. He had thought she would surprise him, but after looking around for a long time, he hadn't found Veratia.
He was a bit disappointed, certainly, but he also understood her. After all, she had official business to attend to.
"You have to understand her, Harry," Hermione consoled him. "Think about it, Veratia just took office as the Minister for Magic today. She has so many matters waiting to be dealt with; how could she drop everything to come to England to watch your match?"
Before she had finished speaking, the doors to the Great Hall opened again.
Veratia, dressed in black formal robes, walked in from the entrance. Following behind her were her secretary, the former Hogwarts student Gemma Farley, and a beautiful woman Harry didn't recognize.
She walked with an aura of authority straight to the High Table.
"Apologies, I was delayed by some matters, Headmaster Dumbledore," she said with a slight bow.
"You have arrived at just the right moment, esteemed Lady Grindelwald," Dumbledore said, standing up.
Subsequently, everyone at the High Table stood up, even the absent-minded Karkaroff.
After all, she was the Minister for the Greater German Ministry of Magic; this basic level of respect was required.
Dumbledore was still sighing inwardly. Just this time last year, Miss Grindelwald was still an ordinary Hogwarts student; a year later, she had become an ambitious leader who had swallowed up six Ministries of Magic.
But he understood—she was a Grindelwald, after all. Without a bit of ambition, she wouldn't be worthy of that surname.
Veratia walked to her seat and sat down. She didn't rush to say anything to Harry; instead, she ordered a meal for herself, then signaled for her two secretaries to find seats anywhere.
Miss Farley led her colleague, meeting the awestruck gazes of the Slytherin students, to sit at the end of the Slytherin long table.
Harry noticed that after Veratia sat down, she first gave him a wink, then began to converse in a low voice with Dumbledore.
"I really didn't expect..." Hermione finally came to her senses. "She actually came to Hogwarts to watch your match. Heavens, Harry... I really can't imagine, she truly loves you—you lucky devil, Harry!"
She admitted she was really jealous of Harry.
It was sour grapes; she was green with envy!
"Hey, I knew she'd come," Harry said with a chuckle. "Even if she was busy, she'd come to Hogwarts... Ah, let's eat first."
When the enchanted ceiling turned from blue to a dusky purple twilight, Dumbledore stood up at the staff table, and the crowd fell silent.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes, I will ask you all to proceed to the Quidditch pitch to watch the final task of the Triwizard Tournament... Now, will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman to the stadium."
Harry stood up, and the Gryffindor students applauded him in unison. The Weasleys and Hermione wished him luck. Poppy Sweating ran over and gave Harry a hug, nearly suffocating him again.
He walked out of the Great Hall with Fleur and Krum.
"Feeling alright, Harry?" Bagman asked as they walked down the stone steps. "Confident?"
"I'm good," Harry said.
They walked into the Quidditch pitch, which had become completely unrecognizable.
A twenty-foot-high hedge surrounded the edge of the field. In front of them was a gap: the entrance to this great maze.
The passage inside was pitch black and a bit scary.
Five minutes later, the stands began to fill.
Hundreds of students filed into their seats, the air filled with excited chatter and the sound of footsteps. The sky was now a clear deep blue, and stars began to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick walked into the stadium, approaching Bagman and the champions. They all had large, luminous red stars on their hats, except for Hagrid, whose red star was on the back of his moleskin vest.
"We will be patrolling the outside of the maze," Professor McGonagall said to the champions. "If you encounter difficulties and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the sky, and one of us will come to help you. Do you understand?"
The champions nodded together.
At this moment, Dumbledore walked over, followed by Veratia.
"Minister Grindelwald would like to say a few words to the champions, Minerva," Dumbledore said to Professor McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall looked back at Veratia and smiled at her.
While smiling, Professor McGonagall's heart was quite complex.
Why couldn't such an outstanding student like Miss Grindelwald have been a Gryffindor?
Although it was said she wanted to speak to the champions, Fleur and Krum both knew this was just a pretext; in reality, Minister Grindelwald only wanted to speak to the Hogwarts champion.
Having stayed at Hogwarts for so long, they had long since learned about Harry's affairs.
It wasn't that they were gossips, but as champions of their respective schools, they naturally had to inquire about the information of champions from other schools.
Upon inquiring, they received shocking news.
The Lady Grindelwald, who had recently been active in the political arena of the Austrian (Greater German) magical world, was actually the girlfriend of the Hogwarts champion, Harry Potter.
This news was truly explosive, so explosive that they found it a bit hard to accept for a moment.
However, thinking about it, it wasn't unacceptable. After all, Harry Potter was the existence who had defeated Voldemort as an infant; it wasn't surprising that he could win Lady Grindelwald's heart.
But what they didn't know was that the former Lady Grindelwald had been a Squib.
And Harry was a ray of light that had shone into her once dark and hopeless life.
--
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