Karkaroff gave Dumbledore a perfunctory handshake, then strode straight past him and wrapped Tver in an overly enthusiastic embrace, putting his fondness for him on full display.
He was so passionate that even Tver felt a little unaccustomed to it.
Karkaroff quickly explained himself.
"Ever since you and Cynthia left the school, the professors have been complaining to me nonstop. They say there's no longer a single student left who can truly exchange ideas and learn alongside them."
"Uh…"
Tver frowned slightly, looking perplexed.
He and Cynthia really had been different from ordinary students. Once the teacher began guiding him, Tver's time at school had largely been spent exploring his own magic. As for Cynthia, her exceptional talent had led to her being brought in to assist him with magical research.
The professors, meanwhile, were more or less treated by him as walking libraries, there to answer questions when he ran into something he didn't understand…
Even so, they cherished the experience. After all, it meant indirectly being exposed to some of the teacher's magical concepts.
In that sense, Tver's years at the school had been built on mutual benefit with the professors. That was also why, back then, it wasn't just students who had hoped he would stay on at Durmstrang. Many professors had wished the same.
"But I understand!" Karkaroff said cheerfully, giving Tver a hearty pat on the back.
"It seems you've only grown more unfathomable. I'm very much looking forward to the day my student takes the title of the wizarding world's number one from Dumbledore himself!"
His smile was as radiant as a blooming flower, his mind already filled with visions of Tver standing at the very pinnacle of the magical world.
When that day came, the praise he, Karkaroff, would receive would surely surpass that of any headmaster Durmstrang had ever known.
"I'm looking forward to that day as well."
Dumbledore was clearly used to this sort of talk and showed no surprise at all. Only then did Karkaroff turn to exchange pleasantries with him, and the two of them headed toward the castle, leaving the chilly outdoors behind.
Viktor Krum tightened his coat and strode over, finally squeezing in beside Tver.
"What, are you cold?" Tver asked with mild curiosity.
Feeling the familiar warmth of magic radiating from Tver, Viktor's expression softened with relief.
"I…" He sniffed. "I caught a bit of a cold."
"That ship Professor Karkaroff dug up from who knows where is bad enough as it is. It's falling apart, and it can't block out the cold from the deep water at all."
"If the trip had taken any longer, I reckon more than half of us would've fallen ill."
The other Durmstrang students nodded vigorously, faces full of grievance, as if they'd finally found someone who understood.
Durmstrang lacked wealthy governors like Hogwarts or Beauxbatons, so funding was always somewhat tight. With their emphasis on a tough, militarized style, they rarely complained about such things. But with Tver, it was different.
After all, he'd already seen them at their most miserable before. A bit of grumbling now hardly mattered.
"Then hurry inside and warm yourselves up," Tver said, shaking his head with a helpless smile.
Only now did he understand why they were still wrapped up in heavy coats even after arriving in Britain.
That ship must have functioned much like the Knight Bus, a means of travel that moved through connected waterways rather than roads.
"Professor, are you… close with Krum?" Penelope suddenly slipped over to Tver's other side, a small notebook in hand as she asked in a hushed voice.
She was a year younger than Percy, so she still had another year at Hogwarts before she could go to the Ministry of Magic and work with him.
"What, you want an autograph?"
Penelope sighed and pointed toward a group of younger girls peeking over in their direction.
"Those Ravenclaw girls again. They begged me to come over and ask for an autograph," she said, then abruptly looked up and lifted the stack of notebooks in her hands. "Of course, if you could help me get one too, that would be great!"
Tver took them without a fuss and immediately shoved them into Viktor's hands.
"Here, superstar. Sign your dashing name in every one of these."
Viktor stared at him in horror. Tver added, "You don't have to sign every page, right?"
It wasn't even his signature, after all. He was just passing them along.
"No, no, one per notebook is fine!" Penelope was so startled by the generous treatment that she waved her hands frantically.
"But I thought you didn't really like Quidditch. Why do you suddenly want Viktor's autograph?"
"It's not for me," Penelope said with a gentle smile, her eyes bright with anticipation. "Percy really likes Quidditch, doesn't he? I thought this autograph might cheer him up a little."
Tver's eyebrow rose.
"Has Percy been unhappy lately?"
"Not exactly. I can just feel how much pressure his work is putting on him from the way he writes. This is the only thing I can do to help him right now."
Tver nodded, understanding.
Cynthia intended to have Percy waver between Barty and Fudge, keeping up a neutral appearance for Fudge's sake. Quite a few Ministry employees who were close to Cynthia were doing the same.
That way, when it was time to lay the cards on the table, Fudge would be caught completely off guard.
He just hadn't expected that, for someone as young as Percy, this sort of pressure was already beyond anything like fretting over exams at school.
"If Percy knew what you're thinking, he'd be very happy."
Penelope didn't answer. She simply took the stack of autographs Viktor had written until his hand was sore and skipped back toward the cheering group of girls.
Maybe she was thrilled because she'd completed her mission, or maybe she was imagining Percy's happy face…
In the original story, Tver didn't know how this young couple would end up. Maybe they still wouldn't make it to the end.
But sometimes, wasn't it exactly these unknown futures that gave him the motivation to move forward and change things after coming to this world?
If everything stayed exactly the same, then what was the point of him being here at all?
"I've got a feeling you're going to keep shoving stacks of autograph books and parchment at me," Viktor said helplessly, looking at the Hogwarts students nearby who were now itching to try their luck after seeing it work once.
Signing autographs was something he'd long since gotten used to after becoming famous, but watching Tver so casually hand him the notebooks still made him want to complain.
"Would you sign them?"
Tver looked at him, amused.
"What do you think," Viktor murmured so only the two of them could hear, "Panda Warlord?"
...
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