Traitor!
Karkaroff silently cursed Maxim for not keeping his word.
However, Karkaroff hesitated when it came to scoring. If he was the only one who gave a low score, the pressure would be too much!
"Headmaster Karkaroff, we are all waiting for you to judge fairly!" Bagman said loudly, emphasizing the word "fair".
The young wizards in the audience, already unhappy with Karkaroff's indiscriminate scoring, quickly realised the meaning behind Bagman's words, and raised their wands high into the air, sending beams of light into the air, where they exploded in brilliant "ten" after another…
Karkaroff looked around, fidgeting under the scrutiny of everyone around him. Eventually, after Bagman's repeated urging, he reluctantly gave Ivan a perfect score.
"Very good! I hereby declare Hogwarts's champion, Ivan Hals, to complete the first task with a perfect score!" Bagman shouted excitedly.
At Bagman's words, the crowd burst into the most enthusiastic applause, and every young Hogwarts wizard was honored.
Ivan straightened the folds of his wizarding robes, stood up calmly, and nodded around.
Hermione looked even happier than he did.
"Bravo, Yvonne! I've done a lot of research, and there's never been a champion who got full marks! You're the first…" Hermione said proudly, her voice trembling with excitement, as if she herself had won the first match, rather than Yvonne.
"I'd be honored!" Ivan smiled. He had done his best for the occasion. However, he had to thank Bagman for putting pressure on Karkaroff and Maxim.
After scoring the champions, Bagman solemnly announced the end of the first match, and the rest of the students returned to the castle in twos and threes, discussing the exciting match they had just witnessed.
Ivan, Harry, and the other champions were left behind by Bagman to take note of the next match.
"To cut a long story short, the second match will begin at half-past nine on the morning of 24 February next year, giving you plenty of time to prepare for the next match and solve a riddle!"
"Do you see the golden eggs in your hands? If you look closely enough, you'll see that they can be opened and the hints are inside! That's all I can tell you…"
Bagman stopped there, unwilling to divulge any more information, no matter how many times the champions questioned him.
However, Bagman was able to give Ivan a discreet wink, which only served to confirm his suspicions.
However, Bagman did not know that Ivan already knew the details of the second match, so there was no need to risk getting the information from him, the referee.
So Ivan completely ignored Bagman's glare, grabbed the egg, and left the paddock with Harry, opening the system panel to check the day's haul.
By the end of the battle, the progress of the previously activated mission, "The Fanatic Follower", had risen to eighty-seven. There were only thirteen people left to complete the mission, which was much faster than he had expected.
In addition, Ivan found that the Legend value had also increased slightly, but he did not find any new legendary events. After looking through it for a while, he found that one of the original titles had changed, or rather, upgraded!
[Legendary Title: Dragoon
Legend Level: 2
Legend: Your reputation for battling a dragon in the Triwizard Tournament has spread far and wide, and you are the first underage wizard to ever face a dragon head-on.
Note: Sometimes the truth doesn't matter so much, and people tend to believe only what they see, don't they?'
Ivan glanced at the notes and thought about the students cheering for him in the paddock with mixed feelings.
However, he did not regret relying on acting to get through.
After all, one more performance meant one less death!
It was not impossible for him to kill a dragon. At most, it would be a bloody scene!
… .
The first match lasted the entire afternoon, and by the time everyone returned to the Great Hall, they were able to enjoy dinner.
The Gryffindor table was so crowded that it became a mini feast, and many young wizards and witches tried to get a word in with Ivan.
At first, Ivan greeted them with a smile, but there were so many people that he had to leave after a quick dinner.
Ivan was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief when he returned to his room and closed the door.
"Whose owl is this?" Harry suddenly pointed to the window, where an unfamiliar grey owl was resting, gently tapping its beak against the window, making a loud noise.
Yvonne wondered if it was from Knockturn Alley.
However, Harry was one step ahead of them, and opened the window. He read the letter and became excited.
"It's Sirius. He sent me a letter!"
Harry tore the envelope open as quickly as he could, read the letter, and then turned to Ivan. "Sirius wrote that he was worried about me, and that I should write him a note about recent events … well, he also reminded me to try the Eye-Disease Charm on a dragon!"
Harry couldn't help but laugh at this as he exclaimed, "I bet Sirius doesn't know I've passed the race and come in second!"
"Yeah, he'll never guess, so why don't you write and tell him!" Ivan laughed, understanding why Harry was so excited.
Harry was naturally looking forward to sharing this joy with his elders after a dangerous project and a proud achievement.
This also reminded Ivan that he should write home and talk about the game, lest Alicia worry.
Write it now and never forget it!
Ivan thought to himself that he was very impressed with the trouble he had caused by forgetting to send the letter. He immediately took out a blank piece of parchment and started writing. At the end of the letter, he expressed that he would not be going back for Christmas this year.
If he remembered correctly, as a champion he must attend this year's Christmas Ball!