"Come out!" Ivan snapped, his voice low and his expression strained as he gripped his wand.
He had an idea who was in the corridor and was hesitant about attacking them. It was highly likely that they were up to no good, especially since they were suspicious of him.
"Put down your wand, it's me, Hulse!"
The sound of hoarse, low voices came from down the corridor, along with the soft thud of a stick hitting the floor.
Shortly afterwards, Moody's scarred face came back into view.
"What are you doing here at this hour, Professor Moody?" Yvonne demanded, not intending to lower her wand.
"I might ask you the same thing!" Moody snapped, then his expression hardened and he looked away with his magical eyes.
Yvonne thought Moody was about to make a move, but he silenced her with a gesture, then gestured for her to look out of the window.
This inferior diversion was obvious to Yvonne, but she did as she was told and activated her protective ring, the Ring of Magic on her wrist ready to go.
If the opposition tried anything, Ivan would be able to confirm Moody's suspicions and mount a reasonable and legal counterattack.
However, the expected ambush did not occur. Instead, a figure could be seen skulking across the lawn in the direction Moody was pointing.
"You were so loud, Karkaroff almost heard you!" Moody exclaimed in relief.
"Is that so?" Yvonne said dubiously, having run Legilimency the whole time without much success, as Moody never looked at her with his normal eye.
"So you're after Karkaroff?" Ivan ventured.
"You could say that, but he's not the only one I've been after lately!" Moody said casually as he swung his wooden leg toward the exit. "Let's hurry up and follow him! I hope Karkaroff hasn't gone too far."
Ivan hesitated for a moment, then chose to follow Moody, but kept half a pace behind, keeping Moody under constant surveillance.
Moody seemed to sense this, but said nothing.
The two of them followed the figure from a distance. Ivan, cold and hungry, complained to himself that he had been following someone all night.
Why did all these people like to come out at night?
Ivan held his anger in, but accompanied Moody as he tracked Karkaroff, curious as to where Karkaroff was going.
The dark figure in front of them sneaked up behind a banyan and waited for something to happen. A minute or so later, a large witch approached them from the other side, a look of annoyance on her face.
Maxim? She did not return to the carriage?
Yvonne immediately recognised him. Maxime was the only witch who was this tall at Hogwarts, and she should have just separated from Hagrid.
Yvonne sensed that things were getting complicated, that everything was coming together like tangled threads.
He looked suspiciously at Moody, suspecting that everyone present had been taken over and were planning to gang up on him.
"Let's get closer so we can hear what they're saying!" Moody, oblivious to Ivan's thoughts, cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself with narrowed eyes, then beckoned Ivan to join him.
Ivan collected his thoughts and stepped forward as well. As they got closer, they could hear Karkaroff and Maxim talking.
"It's obvious now. We must join forces!"
"You think they won't come after us if we don't do it? Think about it. One of the three referees is the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and the other two are members of the British Ministry of Magic! If you put yourself in their shoes, do you think they'll deliberately side with those two Hogwarts brats?"
"I could tell from the choice of champions that they were working together!"
Karkaroff spoke angrily, his words sharp.
Maxim, on the other hand, seemed to hesitate. She hesitated, then looked around before speaking. "What are you going to do? Make trouble for the champions before the game? I would never do such a thing!"
"No, that's not what I meant!" Karkaroff rushed to explain, seeing Maxim's misunderstanding. "I meant that when the time comes, we can find a reason to lower the score of the Hogwarts Warriors and then give our champions high marks…"
"I don't think that's a good idea, is it?" Maxim was tempted, but hesitant.
"There are two champions at Hogwarts, and it's not fair! They broke the rules first!" Karkaroff said soothingly.
Maxim thought for a moment, then nodded.
The two of them then talked in low voices for a while before pretending that nothing had happened and heading back to their respective camps.
"Disgraceful behaviour! They were planning to lower your points so that Hogwarts would lose this year's tournament…" Moody exclaimed in frustration as he disarmed Karkaroff and Maxim, his cane hitting the floor with an odd thud.
Ivan was also having a headache. He had not expected Karkaroff to be so shameless!
In the original timeline, he had always given Harry a low score, and this time he had even dragged Maxim into the mix.
In order to complete the two missions issued by the system, Ivan had originally planned to score the highest points in every match, or at the very least, first place in every match!
However, if Karkaroff and Maxim deliberately targeted him during the scoring, it would be difficult to win.
Moody stopped cursing and turned to Ivan.
"Don't worry too much, Hales. I'll let Dumbledore know. Just figure out how to get through this!"
"I'm not worried about you, but Harry is a bit of a handful … he's too young to be in the game!" Moody added in a muffled voice as he walked toward the castle on wooden legs.
"Yes, I'm worried about him, too!" said Ivan, looking equally worried. "I've been briefed on the details of the first match. It's a dragon, and it's the mother dragon that incubates the eggs! The Ministry's point should be clear. Let's get the eggs. Is there anything you can do to help him get through this?"
Yvonne looked expectantly at Moody, waiting for his reply to confirm that he was not a spy for Lord Voldemort, one of the most important indicators being how much he cared about Harry winning.