"You're going to compete?" the young wizard asked, looking at Ivan curiously, and then realizing what was happening. "Hales, you found a way to break the age limit?"
"No, I didn't crack it… but that didn't stop me from competing, did it?" Ivan said, shaking his head and smiling.
The young wizard was completely confused and didn't quite understand what Ivan meant. To participate in the competition, one had to cross the age line and put their name in…
And the age line…
The young wizard then remembered that Ivan's previous request was for him to take out the Goblet of Fire!
"I-I can do that?" the young wizard gasped.
"Why don't we find out?" Ivan asked, pointing to the Goblet of Fire on the table.
It was only a guess, but he was ninety percent sure it would work.
During the evening feast, Ivan did not see Dumbledore perform any magic other than his age.
"I'll give it a try, then!" The young wizard nodded and hurried over to the Goblet of Fire. He reached out his hand nervously and picked it up without a hitch.
"This is too easy!" exclaimed the young wizard, his voice trembling with excitement as he crossed the age line set by Dumbledore, the goblet in his hands. "I can't believe we broke Professor Dumbledore's spell."
"It's just a trick! If I can't do it the hard way, I'll just have to use my brain!" Yvonne laughed.
Due to what the old professor said at the banquet, most people would pay attention to how to cross the age line, but they would not expect the Goblet of Fire to be available!
As he spoke, Ivan slid the parchment into the Goblet of Fire. This time, the blue-white flame did not throw the paper out, but swallowed it whole.
"How clever of you, Hales!" the young wizard exclaimed in admiration of Ivan's success.
He did not take the simplicity of the method lightly, and did not think he would have thought of it if Ivan had not warned him.
The young wizard did not care whether Ivan would become his competitor or not. He knew that his chances of becoming a champion were slim, otherwise he would not have sneaked over in the middle of the night.
He was worried about being seen and mocked for overestimating himself.
After successfully throwing the names into the Goblet of Fire, Ivan reminded the young wizard to keep it a secret. If this method were to get out, a large number of young wizards would definitely follow suit and cause chaos in the Great Hall.
In that case, Professor Dumbledore would definitely come after them!
[Ding! New mission generated!]
As Ivan thought about this, the system's voice sounded in his head.
Ivan quickly checked the mission list. As he expected, it was about the Goblet of Fire!
[Mission: Cup of Fire
Objective: Participate in the Triwizard Tournament and win!
Task Reward: Legendary Points*3
Task description: This is a major competition held by the three major European wizarding schools, and the chosen warriors will go through many trials until the final victory!
Task note: You are keenly aware that this is a great opportunity to make a name for yourself all over Europe…]
Yvonne was touched by the new assignment.
'How long has it been?'
Finally, a normal-looking mission!
Not to mention, the reward this time was very generous, a total of three Legendary Points!
Once completed, and with the remaining points from the previous year, he would be able to perform a fourth bloodline fusion immediately.
… .
The following Saturday morning, Ivan had a good night's sleep and did not wake up until ten o'clock. After a quick wash, he sauntered towards the Great Hall.
Before he could step into the hall, Ivan heard a noise from inside, and then two familiar figures flew in front of him and crashed to the floor in front of him.
The dull thud of the door hitting the ground was painful to hear.
"George, Fred…good morning, what a peculiar way of greeting you have today!" Ivan teased as he looked at the Weasley brothers lying on the ground, moaning in pain.
"Hi, Ivan, good morning!" George managed to get to his feet, wincing as he touched his shoulder, which still hurt.
Fred, on the other hand, opened his mouth to speak, but before he could speak, smoke rose from his chin, and he suddenly grew a thick white beard.
"Oh my God, Fred, you've got a beard!" George exclaimed, having witnessed the magical sight with his own eyes. Curiously, he reached out and tugged at the beard, only to discover that it was a real beard, not a figment of his imagination.
"Gasp! Can't you be gentle? Aren't you the same?" Fred angrily slapped George's hand away, and when he saw that George had grown a beard like his own, he immediately reached out to take revenge.
The two soon got into an argument.
"I should have warned you, Mr Weasley!"
Just then, a deep, amused voice came from behind them.
Ivan turned to see Dumbledore emerging from the Great Hall.
George and Fred, who had been fooling around, stopped abruptly, looking sheepish.
Dumbledore showed no intention of reprimanding them, but instead studied their new looks with interest, his eyes shining.
"I suggest that you both go to Madam Pomfrey, who is already nursing Miss Fawcett of Ravenclaw and Mr Summers of Hufflepuff. They are as determined as you to make themselves a little older."
"Although I must say, their beards are nowhere near as beautiful as yours!" Dumbledore said teasingly, turning back to Ivan.
During the feast in the Great Hall last night, he could tell that Ivan was interested in becoming a Hogwarts champion for this year's Triwizard Cup.
Dumbledore had no objection to this.
As Headmaster, he naturally hoped that the champions representing Hogwarts would be able to best the other two wizarding schools in the tournament.
Therefore, when setting up the age line, he deliberately left a loophole that was very difficult to discover. He planned to wait for Ivan to think hard and ask for help, then pass it on to him through him so that Ivan could crack it in public.
This would both convince the crowd and silence the younger wizards, as well as silence Maxim and Karkaroff.
However, before the plan could be carried out, Dumbledore was surprised to find that Ivan's face showed none of the confusion or distress he had expected. Instead, Ivan looked relaxed and confident.
(PS: It's usually two chapters before eight, and one after ten.)