As June approached and the day of the third match approached, the castle was filled with tension and excitement.
During this time, Harry became almost the busiest person at Hogwarts, having to spend hours practising spells in addition to attending classes every day.
However, these efforts were not in vain, as Harry's magic level grew rapidly over the course of many battles and practice sessions, to the point where he was able to gain an initial grasp of a difficult spell like the Shield Charm.
This gave him some confidence in the upcoming game.
Of course, this confidence did not refer to winning the championship, but to being able to finish the game without making a fool of themselves…
Ivan did not slack off during these months, devoting most of his attention to the study of Transfiguration Charms.
There was a qualitative difference between a seventh-level spell and a sixth-level spell, and after some experimentation, Ivan found that the creature he transformed into was virtually identical to the real thing until the magic dissipated completely.
Other than that, he was able to perform exaggerated transformations that were simply unimaginable in the past, such as the fairy tale set up in the Forbidden Forest a few months ago, or temporarily mutating a tree into a giant Ent to assist in battle…
After these days of practice, Dementor had reached the limit of Level 6.
Despite not being able to read someone's mind, Ivan was able to access a person's thoughts without having to cast a spell.
Ivan, however, was not at all happy about this, as he had tried to maintain Legilimency for an entire day, only to receive terrible feedback.
The world seemed to be shrouded in falsehood and malice.
The young wizard who was smiling and greeting her just a second ago was filled with jealousy. These two good friends who seemed to talk about everything had a grudge against each other in secret…
Even more frustrating for Ivan was the fact that not all of the feedback he received from his friends was positive.
Thus, after a day of experimentation, Ivan gave up on maintaining Legilimency, fearing that he would never find friends.
Yvonne was struck by the sheer number of young, innocent children who thought so much. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have a castle full of adult wizards.
As they were eating breakfast, McGonagall came out of the hall and waved at them. "Hars, Potter! Come here…"
Yvonne and Harry looked at each other, then stood up and followed.
"Professor, isn't the game at night? Why are you calling us now?" Harry asked curiously.
"Yes, you remember correctly, Potter. The match is tonight." McGonagall nodded and smiled. "But the family members of the champions have been invited to the final. They're in the conference room. I'm sure you'll want to see them before the match…"
The trio made their way to the front door, where McGonagall turned the handle and pushed it open.
Viktor Krum was sitting in a corner of the room with his parents, talking in Bulgarian, and Fleur and Gabrielle were with a middle-aged witch, presumably her mother.
Yvonne glanced at it, then looked away. She scanned the room and spotted Alicia by the stove.
Mrs Weasley and Sirius were there as well, and the three of them seemed to be chatting, though not happily.
Bill, who was smiling wryly and unable to get a word in edgewise, was relieved to see Harry and Ivan enter the room.
"Hey, Harry, Hals, over here!"
Bill's words successfully pacified the parents, and Alicia gave up arguing with Mrs Weasley and immediately turned her attention to Ivan.
"Mother, what are you doing here?" Ivan was both delighted and surprised; he had assumed that Alicia would not set foot in Hogwarts out of disgust at Dumbledore.
"What? You're not too happy to see me at school?" Alicia pretended to be annoyed and pinched Ivan's cheek.
"Of course not…" Ivan shook his head quickly.
Alicia laughed, understanding Ivan's misgivings, and explained, "I would hate to be absent from something as important as your participation in the Triwizard Tournament, and if anything, it should be your Headmaster who is worried about running into me, not the other way around…"
Alicia's words were laced with resentment.
Ivan was curious, but he kept his questions to himself, knowing that Alicia would most likely not tell him.
At the same time, Sirius and Mrs Weasley gathered around Harry to see how he was doing.
The atmosphere was much more relaxed, presumably because the children were in the meeting room, and Mrs Weasley came forward to give Ivan a big hug.
Sirius was the only one who kept a straight face, though at least there were no more arguments in the meeting room.
Considering that none of them seemed to get along well with each other, Ivan took the initiative to ask Alicia to accompany him for a walk around the castle.
"It's been a long time since I've been to Hogwarts, and I thought I'd take a look at all the changes…" Alicia nodded in agreement.
Ivan greeted Harry and the others, then left the room with Alicia.
As they passed through the Entrance Hall, Ivan was surprised to find that all of the wandering ghosts avoided them, and even the usually bold Peeves fled in terror when they saw Alicia.
Yvonne turned to her mother, wondering why the ghosts were so afraid of her.
"When I was in school, I used to tease these spirits out of boredom, but I didn't expect them to remember after all these years…"
Ivan's mouth twitched, and he thought it might be more than teasing, as he had "teased" Peeves before, but Peeves was far less frightened of him.
It seemed that Asia must have used a lot of fear spells on these ghosts when she was young. No wonder the Score Hat complained about this to her when she first started school…
(PS: One chapter today)