When Cedric spoke, the Hufflepuff boy had no choice but to comply.
Fleur and Krum turned to leave when they saw that there was nothing left to see, but they were both worried to discover that Ivan's magic was even more advanced than they had expected.
"I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your time, Hulse!" Cedric apologized.
"It's nothing. I learned a lot from fighting you…" Ivan shook his head. Cedric's generous admission of defeat surprised him, so he tried to be polite.
It was only after she finished speaking that Ivan realised he had used the wrong words, as if he was mocking her.
After all, the battle ended in an instant, and there was no benefit to it at all…
"Anyway…I hope you can win on behalf of Hogwarts!" Cedric said with a wry smile, and then he ushered the Hufflepuff wizards away.
The young Gryffindor witches and wizards gathered around them, and George clapped Ivan on the shoulder in excitement.
"Ivan, you were amazing, beating Cedric so easily! I wonder who would dare to question our Gryffindor champion now!" George said admiringly.
Ivan was equally pleased, not because he had defeated Cedric, but because he found that the number of followers he had in his taskbar had gone from four to fourteen…
This meant that after the battle just now, his strength and bearing had successfully won over some people.
Ivan had been having a headache about how to complete this mission, but now he had found a way. All he had to do was perform.
The Triwizard Tournament would be a good platform for him to complete both of his tasks!
"What's going on here? Why are you all gathered around?"
The more Ivan thought about it, the happier he became. Professor McGonagall, who had received the news, rushed over. As soon as she entered the hall, she saw the mess around the Hufflepuff table, as well as the group of Gryffindor wizards.
"Professor, Cedric from Hufflepuff insisted on duelling Ivan in the Great Hall…" Seamus quickly explained.
He was, of course, on Ivan's side, adding fuel to the fire in an attempt to shift the blame to Cedric.
Though it is true…
"Even so, you shouldn't have agreed to fight him, Hales! Especially not in the Great Hall, with all these broken things… ten points off Hufflepuff and Gryffindor!" Professor McGonagall complained, waving her wand to fix the broken candlesticks and pots.
The young Gryffindor wizards were indignant. Hufflepuff was the one who started it, so why were they losing points?
Ivan didn't care. He could see that Professor McGonagall was being lenient. Normally, twenty points would be the most basic amount!
After restoring the broken objects, Professor McGonagall stopped talking about the duel and turned to Ivan.
"Hales, Headmaster Dumbledore asked me to tell you that Mr Crouch and Mr Bagman will be giving the champions preliminary instructions in the next cubicle in the afternoon… don't miss it!"
"I'll be there, Professor!" Yvonne replied.
McGonagall nodded, then turned her attention from Ivan to the others. "Well, what are we all doing here? Don't you have anything better to do today?"
At McGonagall's admonition, the crowd of wizards dispersed, leaving Ivan in peace.
He turned to look at the young witch, who had not yet left, and thought of his plan to practice Legilimency, so he forced himself to speak again. "Hermione, about what I said earlier…do you agree?"
"Is that spell that important?" Hermione asked, her lips pursed and her expression disturbed.
"Yes! It's important!" Ivan said helplessly. He would not have asked Hermione for help otherwise.
"What about time? When do you need to practise… practise that magic?" Hermione was stammering.
"How about in the evening? Wait for me on the roof of the tower!" Yvonne suggested.
Hermione hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
…
In the afternoon, after dinner, Ivan took note of the time and followed Professor McGonagall's instructions to a compartment not far from the Great Hall.
When she opened the door, she found herself the last to arrive, as Fleur, Krum, and the others were already there.
Harry was also standing nearby, but he didn't look too happy about it, and it didn't take Ivan long to figure out that he had hit a wall with Ron, and that he hadn't won this match.
However, this was to be expected. If Ron had been very thoughtful when he found out that they had become champions, he would have wanted to find out who was controlling Ron…
A moment later, Bagman and Crouch pulled back the curtain and came out of the back room.
"Now that we're all here, let's get started!" Bagman announced, glancing at the judges. "The first match will be on 24 November, and you'll have to complete a task in front of all the students and referees!
What I can now reveal is that this trial will test your courage! I hope you will show enough courage in the face of it…"
Bagman looked at the champions with a slightly amused expression. He talked non-stop about the rules of the game, but did not reveal any of the details.
"Your turn, Barty!" Bagman said, glancing back at Crouch after ten minutes of talking.
"Ah? Oh! Good!" Crouch looked distracted, as if he had just woken up from a dream, and nodded quickly, stunned. "Where were you? Bagman?"
"What's the matter with you, Barty? You've been distracted these past few days?" Bagman asked, frowning unhappily.
"It's not as if you don't know that I've had a lot on my plate lately… I haven't been able to sleep for days! Why don't you tell me all about it?" Crouch explained with a sigh.
Bagman nodded in understanding. Crouch was busy not only with the Goblet of Fire, but also with the Co-operation Division.
With that in mind, Bagman decided not to make things difficult for Crouch any further and proceeded to explain the rest of the matter to him.
Ivan, who had been keeping Crouch's odd behaviour in mind, decided that he would start with Crouch once he mastered Legilimency.