Cedric smiled, a mix of helplessness and pride.
To be blunt, ever since Percy Weasley graduated, Cedric could already be called the strongest student at Hogwarts in almost every sense, even though he was only in his sixth year.
Even so, this was not a moment he wanted to clash head-on with Davies.
Davies was no weakling either. Back in the Duelling Tournament, if Cedric hadn't gained the upper hand through superior tactics, it was hard to say who would have won.
"Honestly, the six of us together are already the strongest group here," Cedric said. "If we join forces and avoid facing more than three teams at once, we can safely make it to the center. After that, we can decide the winner among ourselves. That would be the safest option, wouldn't it?"
"And then get beaten by you?" Davies glanced around the surroundings and shot back.
George, who immediately caught on to Cedric's intention, stepped forward without hesitation.
"What, you scared?"
Davies had known them for years. There was no way a line like that would provoke him.
"Yeah, I am," he replied calmly.
"Then we'll just beat you right now and stroll off as the winners!" Fred snapped.
"Are you sure?"
Davies smiled mysteriously, then swiftly pulled his teammates back.
"Sorry about this, George, Fred, and Cedric."
Angelina Johnson, Gryffindor's Quidditch Chaser, stepped out, followed by a group of Gryffindors who had long been fed up with the Weasley twins' constant showing off.
George's expression stiffened. His fingers unconsciously began counting the suddenly appearing crowd.
"One, two, three… Cedric, do you think you can handle seven people by yourself?"
"What, so you two are each going to take one?" Cedric set himself into a bitter fighting stance. Judging from their posture, this fight was unavoidable.
In a corner hidden from everyone's view, Tver watched the scene unfold with undisguised interest as Cedric and the others were surrounded.
This was exactly why he had arranged this small competition.
Over the past three years, he had gradually trained the students to grow accustomed to combat. If today's goal had merely been to make them fight in a different way, it wouldn't have carried much meaning.
But this situation was different.
Cooperation was the true theme of today's match. Forming alliances and shifting them as needed was what Tver wanted to see.
For every team, sheer strength was no longer the sole deciding factor.
The hint he had deliberately left behind was meant to remind Cedric and the others that the students present today were not only opponents, but also potential allies.
Unfortunately, they hadn't grasped that point right away. Instead, they focused only on avoiding others and moving forward on their own.
By the time Davies tracked them down, trying to form an alliance had already lost its value.
With a clear advantage on his side, Davies naturally had no reason to take their proposal seriously.
If this mindset of cooperation could be applied to the conflicts they might face in the future, their circumstances would be far better.
Or rather, even without direct combat, such cooperation could help them go much further in the wizarding world, whether within the Ministry or striking out on their own.
It was a wake-up call for them all: before possessing absolute strength, never let yourself become the target of everyone else.
As Tver watched the battle break out, his thoughts drifted to the many complexities of the wizarding world.
Very quickly, though, he no longer had the leisure to think.
Because the fight unfolding before him was unexpectedly spectacular.
Cedric in particular stood out. With almost no help from the Weasley twins, he repeatedly used the terrain to blunt his opponents' attacks.
From time to time, he even managed to launch counterattacks of his own.
In some respects, Cedric was hardly weaker than Percy had been in his sixth year, when Percy had already begun studying Dark Magic.
If the opposing side hadn't so completely outnumbered them, if even one team had been missing, the outcome might have been very different.
In the end, however, as their magic and stamina ran dry, the panting Cedric and the Weasley twins were finally disarmed by Davies's precise and ruthless spells.
Speaking of which, Davies was quite the odd one.
His spellcasting style leaned entirely toward the sly and underhanded. The magic he cast was sharp, tricky, and unsettling in all the wrong ways. Coupled with his solid fundamentals, he was genuinely difficult to deal with.
If Tver hadn't personally confirmed several times that Davies had never practiced Dark Magic, he would have already pulled him aside for a serious talk.
The hastily formed alliance fell apart the moment Cedric and the others were tied to the trees.
Fortunately, the Gryffindors were relatively straightforward. They failed to realize that Davies's team had now become the strongest contenders for the championship, allowing them to slip away quietly.
Judging by the timing, the teams that had charged straight ahead had likely already fought an encounter battle further up.
Even if Davies's group was somewhat exhausted, relying on sheer strength alone was more than enough for them to deal with those teams.
Cedric let out a quiet sigh. He had already thought of this possibility and could only watch helplessly as his classmates disappeared into the distance.
"So, how do you feel about what just happened?"
Tver revealed himself and personally began undoing the ropes binding them.
"Professor?" George exclaimed in shock. "So you were watching the whole time?"
"They were brutal!" Fred complained loudly at once. "Ganging up on us like that!" His voice was full and energetic, hardly sounding like someone who had just been through a fight.
Cedric, on the other hand, didn't know what to say. He lowered his head, clearly discouraged.
Ever since entering Hogwarts, he had always stood out among his peers. This was the first time he had been eliminated from a competition before he had even made much progress.
"Not satisfied?" Tver asked with a chuckle.
"It was my mistake. I should have sought cooperation earlier. It wouldn't have come to this otherwise."
Cedric didn't answer aloud, instead reflecting quietly on where he had gone wrong.
The Weasley twins froze for a moment.
"Earlier?"
"Why would we need to cooperate?"
"This competition is meant to make us think about the value of working with others, isn't it, Professor?"
Cedric freed himself from the ropes but stayed seated on the ground, his eyes bright as they locked onto Tver.
"Exactly," Tver said, flicking his wand in approval and freeing the twins as well.
"You've already learned how to cooperate within your own team. What you're meant to learn this year is how to cooperate with teams that could be your enemies."
"Cooperate with enemies?" George asked, baffled, while Fred wore the same confused expression.
In their minds, opponents were opponents. Cooperation didn't even seem like a possibility.
Cedric, however, fell into deep thought.
"Enemies only exist because of conflicting interests. If there's a temporary shared interest, then enemies can naturally cooperate. They might even become friends."
"Exactly," Tver said, pulling him to his feet. "Come on, Davies… huh? The champion isn't him?"
He sensed the magic he had placed near the cupcake, and to his surprise, the first person to touch it wasn't Davies at all.
The twins didn't bother thinking any further and burst into loud cheers.
As long as the winner wasn't Davies, they were perfectly happy with the result.
By the time Tver led the three of them through the forest and the arena, dispelling the traces of the Undetectable Extension Charm, the central area was already packed with stunned students.
Davies sat on the ground with a hollow look on his face, staring blankly at the beaming Angelina across from him.
Through the students' explanations, Tver quickly pieced together what had just happened.
Davies, convinced victory was already his, had been teasing the teams resting after battle while strolling forward at his leisure.
If that had been all, his team would have progressed the fastest.
The problem was that Tver had made it clear: only the one who touched the cupcake counted as the winner.
When Davies reached the center, he ran into a Slytherin team approaching from the opposite side.
Both sides, evenly matched, immediately clashed around the platform. Neither noticed that a stray spell struck the platform itself, sending the cupcake flying high into the air.
It landed perfectly in the arms of a completely bewildered Angelina.
"Ahem. Drama is also part of the competition," Tver said, his expression complicated. "Let's give a round of applause to the winners of this match, Team Angelina Johnson!"
"These three young ladies will each receive a training dummy, usable for six months!"
The students erupted into an uproar.
They had long heard the Weasley twins boasting about the training dummies, and many had attributed Cedric and his team's strength to practicing with them.
But since the professor hadn't brought the dummies out again afterward, the topic had gradually faded away.
And now there were training dummies again?!
They watched Angelina and her teammates hugging and cheering with undisguised envy. Davies in particular looked on in despair. The reward had slipped right through his fingers, and he looked like he was about to cry.
"Oh, and before class ends, remember to pick up a worksheet," Tver added casually. "Even though you won't have exams this year, you still need to start preparing for your N.E.W.T.s."
"Waaah—give me back my dummy—!"