McGonagall nodded at Dumbledore's words, indicating that she did not need to worry about the students' safety in their absence.
With that in mind, McGonagall suddenly turned to look at Ivan, who was surrounded by the crowd, and suddenly smiled. "I bet the Secret Man didn't expect Hales to finish the game so soon!"
"Perhaps…" said Dumbledore noncommittally.
… .
"Hales, our hero!"
"Warrior of Gryffindor… the Star of Hogwarts!"
On the makeshift podium, a large number of overexcited wizards lifted Ivan up and threw him high into the air. Screams and cheers echoed throughout the stadium.
Colorful flags and petals fell from the sky like rain, and the rain did not stop for several minutes.
Upon landing on the ground or on a person, the petals would disintegrate and vanish, apparently magically transfigured.
Such a wide range of transfiguration spells left Ivan speechless, and he mentally weighed them.
Given time to prepare, Yvonne thought she would be able to create a less-trafficking scene as well, though with less coverage.
In terms of his mastery of Transfiguration, there was still a large gap between him and Dumbledore. After all, when the old professor cast the spell earlier, it was obviously on a whim.
After a while, the young Gryffindor wizards finally managed to get Ivan out of the air.
Ivan, however, was unable to stay idle for even a moment, as more young wizards began to gather around him, bombarding him with questions about his exciting time in the maze.
The other champions were deserted compared to Ivan, who was surrounded by eager students.
Maxim and several Beauxbatons girls were quietly comforting Fleur.
Karkaroff, on the other hand, pulled a long face the entire time. He resisted the urge to curse and dragged Krum away. The Durmstrang students were too ashamed to stay, so they left with Karkaroff.
Harry, a fellow Hogwarts Champion, was pushed aside by the crowd, and although he was occasionally congratulated on his second place by the young wizards, the vast majority of the students chose to side with Ivan, with only Ron and Sirius remaining on his side.
"You're something else, Harry!" Ron reached out and thumped Harry on the chest, talking like a machine gun.
"I saw it all on that crystal ball. You single-handedly defeated a couple of giant spiders and a Blast-Ended Skrewt in the maze. My God, I bet that Blast-Ended Skrewt must have been fifteen feet long, with a shell harder than steel on its back… even an adult wizard would have been helpless against it. I can't believe you actually defeated it!"
Harry looked increasingly embarrassed at Ron's constant boasting. "It's no big deal, Ron … Ivan got rid of a dozen Blast-Ended Skrewts."
"No, that's different, Harry!" Ron shook his head. "Didn't you hear Professor Dumbledore? Ivan's the greatest genius Hogwarts has ever seen, even the You-Know-Who!"
"You may not have been as good as Ivan, but you certainly defeated the champions of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang," Ron said emphatically.
"That's only because I had your help and was lucky…" Harry said sheepishly, knowing full well how capable he was.
Without everyone's help, he would have died in the dragon's jaws during the first match, and he would never have been able to think of using his broomstick and the Eye Curse to snatch the dragon's egg.
"Oh, come on, you're not the only one who's had help from the other champions. Everyone has, but you're a lot better at it than they are!"
Ron talked about Harry's spectacular performances in every match.
For example, during the second match at the bottom of the lake, Krum transformed into a ferocious shark-headed creature and was brutally beaten up by the merpeople. Fleur was chased around by them in a panic and fell into a trap.
However, Harry was able to use his magic to easily drive off the merpeople…
"And when you were dealing with that Hungarian Horntail, you were flying better than even Aurum!" Ron said admiringly.
Harry looked at Ron in surprise, as he was well aware of how much Ron admired Krum. He had even put up a portrait of Krum in the dormitory, and was even tempted to give up his bed so that Krum could sleep in the dormitory!
Ron caught Harry's eye and shrugged, replying easily, "Oh, please don't look at me like that … Harry, it's true that I liked Krum before, but I've seen him for what he is these days! I don't admire a champion who makes a fool of himself at every game; he's got a bit of flying talent at best!"
Ron paused for a moment and looked at Harry, hesitating for a long moment before speaking.
"And … I'm sorry about last time, Harry! I shouldn't have said that, and I shouldn't have doubted you …"
"I see you've come to your senses, which is nice of you…" Harry snapped. He had tried to explain himself so many times, only to be ignored by Ron, who had been waiting for his apology for almost half a year.
Ron gave an awkward smile and was about to say something when Sirius interrupted.
"Want to come for a walk, Harry?"
'What? Now?' Harry turned to look at Sirius in surprise, then quickly shook his head as a thought struck him. 'No, I'm fine, I've forgiven Ron for a long time…'
'It's nothing to do with that, I have something I'd like to talk to you about in private… just the two of us, how's that? It's too noisy in here…' Sirius looked away from the judges and smiled.
"Can't we say it here? What about Ron? He can't come with us?" Harry was puzzled.
"It was Dumbledore's idea…" Sirius's eyes were distant.
"What kind of assignment did the professor give me?" Harry asked, instinctively thinking of this.
"Yes, that's one way to put it. You should know where they are now… so we'd better hurry before we get delayed!" Sirius said with a hint of urgency.
Harry nodded in agreement and gave Ron an apologetic look…
Sirius laughed, grabbed Harry by the wrist and pulled him away.
Ron watched them go for a moment.
It occurred to him that Sirius had not yet congratulated Harry on his good results in the Triwizard Tournament …