The topic of conversation died down when Dumbledore, Ollivander and Crouch, Maxim, and Karkaroff arrived. Dumbledore looked at us all with a question, and I nodded toward the door to the adjoining room. The Headmaster was quickly there, opened it, and after talking to Skeeter, got Potter out of that reporter's tenacious paws. We were seated in four chairs at the entrance, as if for an exam, and the rest of the judges took their seats at the big table.
"Let me introduce you to Mr. Ollivander," Dumbledore said to us. "He will check your wands to make sure they are ready for tournament battles."
Ollivander stepped out into the middle of the office and began examining the wands, starting with Fleur. As I expected, the core of her wand turned out to be her grandmother's hair, and Ollivander conjured a bouquet of orchids and returned the wand to its owner. Krum was next, and Ollivander praised the somewhat clumsy but very effective work of his colleague Grigorovich. Then it was my turn. Ollivander was pleased to see the wand of his own work and praised me for my hard and systematic training in magic, saying, "Not every adult wizard can boast of such wand development." He did not look at the second wand because only one wand is allowed in the tournament. On Harry Potter, the master almost gave away the resemblance of his wand to the one owned by Voldemort, but Dumbledore cleared his throat in time.
After examining the wands, they pestered us with photographs for at least an hour. Either Madame Maxime did not fit into the frame, the photographer tried to highlight Fleur, and Skeeter was constantly pushing Potter, then something else. And how much pressure was put on the fact that he was the youngest participant! But I'm just a little older than him. It's funny.
By the time they finally let us go, it was lunchtime. Flitwick still hadn't given the go-ahead for the project work, which was obviously weighing on Hermione. However, at the end of lunch, an owl flew up to the high table and defiantly dropped a large and weighty bundle on the professor. Thank God that Hagrid intercepted it. Otherwise, we would have had to look for a new Charms Professor and Head Ravenclaw - the bundle increased in size as it flew and was already larger than Flitwick when it reached the table.
"Hurry, hurry, my bearded friend!" Flitwick hurried Hagrid, who took responsibility for transporting the package. "Things can not be delayed! Mr. Knight, Miss Granger! Tomorrow after the lesson I am waiting for you in the office!"
I opened my notebook at the dining room table and checked to see if I had all my assignments for the semester. It turned out that I had them all. I looked at Hermione and realized that we were going to have a tough year.
My concerns were confirmed by Lady Greengrass at the after-school meeting. She, as it turned out, had already set up a training ground in the Chamber of Secrets. Lots of different obstacles, barriers, poles, shelters, and targets of all kinds and shapes. There were also impersonal golems in human form.
"It was impossible to get anything more out of the golems from the Headmaster. It makes sense, of course," Delphine lamented, recounting the training plan. "Not every wizard would let a small army into his fiefdom, but still..."
A rather nondescript tent was deployed nearby. Of course, inside it was an apartment in miniature. The tent was somewhat reminiscent of mine, except that it was more comfortable, and there were bookcases along the fabric walls. The hall itself, into which you find yourself immediately from the entrance, was an impromptu classroom, and behind a small screen, there was a miniature hospital wing with one bed.
"Well, this is where to study," Delphine pointed to the tent with her hand. "Practice here," she pointed to the rest of the Chamber of Secrets.
"Miss Granger. Your task will vary from lesson to lesson. As far as I know, you and Max have been studying the Restricted Section for a long time, which means you have about the same level of knowledge."
"At least we think so."
"Well. That's great. This means that in the course of your activity, you will acquire quite a lot of practice both in support and healing. As well as in the combat aspects of magic, oriented around suppressing the enemy and malefic. Nothing secret, everything within the knowledge of the Hogwarts library."
"Lady Greengrass," I decided to ask a few important questions. "Shouldn't you be paying attention to family matters, you know."
"I understand," Delphine nodded. "Not at all. I've always had quite a bit of free time. Contrary to what many people think, the affairs of the family do not take it away in fabulous quantities. Oh, and my father's help is worth noting. As a wizard, after one incident, he's not much of a wizard, so he's happy to take care of the family, allowing me to achieve my goals in magic. If it weren't for him, I don't know how long it would have taken me to achieve what I have now."
"What about Hermione? I mean, wouldn't it be a burden for you to practically teach her, but without contracts and other things. What's the point?"
"That's the way I want it, and I'm comfortable with it. Any more questions?"
"I'm not good at enhancing my body with magic," said Hermione clearly.
"And you won't be able to do that until you're seventeen. Some disciplines related to the body before the final formation of that very body are inaccessible to wizards. There are exceptions, but they are rare, and not always this rarity does not carry any disadvantages. Any other questions? No questions? Then I want to know what you know. Let's conduct a survey."
Delphine pestered us about the theory almost until the night, asking us to apply this or that knowledge in practice. Only after we were mentally exhausted did she let us go.
"I don't envy you," Hermione smiled woefully. "I'll only participate in all this in the evenings, but you'll be here all day."
"Your speech has become colloquial rather than literary persuasive. Are you tired?"
"Yes, very. I hope that this training and education will help you overcome the difficulties of the tournament. Although, what nonsense? Of course, they will help! Lady Greengrass will not want to lose her apprentice to some ridiculous accident."
"Are you saddened by the inaccessibility of body amplification to you?"
"A little. It's a little sad when by some ridiculous accident you can't use what's available to someone else."
"Don't be sad. Everything has its time. I am sure that with your persistence, you will overtake me in time."
"Do we have time?" I have a vague suspicion. It's like something's coming."
"There will definitely be something. I just wish I knew what..."