Tver watched in disbelief as Gryffindor gradually faded away before his eyes. The scene felt strangely familiar.
...Was this not exactly how Dumbledore had dragged him into the team against Voldemort?!
So slacking off was Gryffindor's true tradition after all!
Annoyed, Tver punched at the fading light, venting his frustration in a pointless, self-deceiving sort of way.
Gryffindor's charge to him was not actually binding. Whether he did it or not was entirely up to Tver.
But as he tightened his grip on the badge in his hand, the gentle yet blazing magic inside it soothed the slight disorder in his soul caused by studying dark magic.
He could not bring himself to refuse.
Soul instability was an unavoidable side effect of learning dark magic. Even Tver found it difficult to remove completely.
That said, it was not so serious as to cause major harm. It simply meant that his soul could never be as pure as that of a wizard who had never touched dark magic.
After being nourished for a while, Tver felt that his soul had become much clearer and more transparent.
Compared with the other three founders, Godric had given him the least help, yet it was also something Tver himself could not have managed.
"Wait, there's one more thing I want to ask you!"
Tver quickly raised his right hand, showing the curse on his wrist, which had already become extremely faint.
"Hm?"
He looked at his wrist in surprise. The curse seemed to have almost no power left.
"I cut off its connection to the castle for you while I was at it. Honestly, how could Salazar so casually let our castle get tangled up with some weird unknown thing..."
Godric's complaining voice echoed slowly through the Headmaster's office, and soon vanished along with the office from a thousand years ago.
It was as if it had taken with it the traces the founders of the past had left behind at Hogwarts...
After a moment of reflection, Tver looked in surprise at the Headmaster's office gradually reappearing around him.
This was the real Headmaster's office again?!
That meant what Godric had left at the bottom of the Black Lake was actually a transportation spell. After bringing him to the Headmaster's office, it had used the castle's magic to recreate a scene from the past.
Now the office had completely returned to the form Tver knew best. The only difference was the Sorting Hat and Gryffindor Sword in his hands.
Legend said that only a true Gryffindor could wield that sword.
But Tver felt that what it really required was true fearlessness, the kind of courage that let someone command it the way he could.
After examining the sword for a while, though, he discovered something interesting.
The sword could absorb not only substances like Basilisk venom, but magic as well.
That more or less confirmed Tver's guess.
Godric's style of fighting, with a sword in one hand and a wand in the other, had actually made use of the sword as both protection and as the unexpected advantage of a close-range weapon.
Especially when another wizard was on the defensive, and suddenly someone Apparated in front of them with a sword in hand.
Then, just when they thought their Shield Charm would be enough to stop it, the sword would absorb the magic and kill them in a single stroke.
"Hey, how much longer are you going to stand there thinking?!" the Sorting Hat suddenly snapped in irritation.
"Even if I'm a hat, having someone hold me by the tip for this long is still uncomfortable!"
"A hat can feel uncomfortable?" Tver looked at the Sorting Hat oddly, but still walked over to where it was supposed to be.
"It's a psychological feeling!" the Sorting Hat stressed loudly.
Although it had never really communicated with Tver before, they were familiar enough with each other by now, so it did not mind complaining to him at all. In fact, it rather enjoyed it.
"You all keep treating me like I'm just an ordinary hat..."
"If you're not a hat, then what are you?"
"..."
The Sorting Hat choked on its words for a moment.
"I am Godric Gryffindor's most beloved hat, inheritor of Rowena Ravenclaw's wisdom, possessed of Helga Hufflepuff's broad heart, and endowed with Salazar Slytherin's shrewdness!"
"Yes, yes, of course." Tver casually set it down on its personal tall stool and replied perfunctorily, "Then I'll leave Hogwarts in your care."
After placing the sword on Dumbledore's desk, he left the Sorting Hat's endless chatter behind and strode out of the Headmaster's office.
"You don't believe me, but I really am..."
Leaving the office, Tver crossed the quiet castle and headed toward the lively Black Lake.
But he was not idle on the way. He was also examining the curse on himself.
Now that it had lost its connection to the castle, the curse was no more troublesome to him than a mosquito bite.
But it still clung stubbornly to his soul, like a mosquito that refused to leave no matter how many times he swatted at it.
Still, he was not in any hurry about the curse. In its current weakened state, even if he could not remove it himself, Marvolio ought to have a way.
After all, Marvolio had said before that it was only because the curse had become entangled with the castle's magic that it had turned so powerful.
Otherwise, a young wizard who had only graduated a short while ago would never have been able to leave behind such a potent curse.
Thinking as he walked, Tver arrived at the edge of the Black Lake once again.
It seemed that some of the Champions had already returned. The cheers from the stands were growing louder and louder, and quite a few young wizards were even trying to squeeze past the railings and run over to the Champions.
"Tver, why are you coming from that direction?" Barty spotted him at once.
"Uh, there was a little accident." Tver shrugged.
He also saw the three Champions, Viktor, Cedric, and Fleur, wrapped in thick towels together with their hostages.
Aside from Hermione, they all looked fairly relaxed, each holding a cup of Madam Pomfrey's potion to drive away the chill from being underwater.
"Where's Harry? He's not back yet?" Tver glanced around and, sure enough, did not see Harry anywhere.
"There are still five minutes left before the hour is up, but Potter really hasn't returned yet," Barty said with a frown, glancing at the pocket watch in his hand.
"But the problem is, where's your hostage?"
!!!
Tver's eyes widened instantly.
Oh no!
Godric had left him so much information that he had completely forgotten about Draco, who was still tied to the Giant Squid's tentacles!
Just then, there was a loud splash as Harry suddenly broke the surface of the lake with difficulty.
Several merpeople were swimming around him teasingly, watching him flounder in the water.
In the next second, Ron and Draco surfaced as well, both of them gulping down air.
"I... I..." Harry panted as the anxious Moody pulled him to shore. "I saw Malfoy being grabbed by a giant squid, so I had to save him..."
Tver looked awkwardly at Draco's complicated expression, then pulled him up onto the stands as well. Thoughtfully, he wrapped another thick towel around him and finally stuffed a huge piece of chocolate into his hand.
Draco was furious, but did not dare say anything. He could only take a vicious bite of the chocolate and mumble toward the Black Lake with his mouth full,
"This tournament is no fun at all!"