"My sister said she also recently went to the lake winter swimming!" Gabrielle said, looking at Krum, who had dived into the lake, "That's strange; she's never had that habit. Is there something in the lake?!"
"Who knows!"
Hearing Gabrielle's words, Hermione looked at Krum thoughtfully, feeling she had caught something.
Two consecutive warriors ran to the lake to practice winter swimming, which sounds abnormal.
"You guys say the second competition program will be related to the lake; let the warriors dive into the lake ..." She said.
"Absolutely not!" Ron said, "Unless they are crazy, let us go inside!"
"It's okay to be cold, but the giant squid is in the lake!"
Evan helped persuade Hermione, but Harry and Ron didn't think in that direction.
They didn't think about Hermione's speculation, and everyone's attention soon shifted to other places.
Because they were going to meet with Sirius later, and Sirius would help Evan practice Apparate.
Even though Evan was very relieved to everyone, this matter was illegal, so the fewer people who knew about it, the better.
Therefore, when they arrived at Hogsmeade, several of them acted separately!
Colin accompanied Gabriel, Ginny, and two other girls to the Honey Duke Candy Shop. Gabriel, not long ago, these candies as a Christmas gift to her classmates in Beauxbatons were very popular. This time, she would buy a lot of candy for them to take back.
As for Ron, he had a lunch date with Lavender, but it wasn't time yet.
It was also about half an hour before his appointment with Sirius, so Harry suggested he go to the Three Broomsticks first.
The pub was crowded as usual, and the four of them bought a couple of butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta and found a corner.
"Look, doesn't he ever work in an office?" Hermione said quietly, nudging Evan.
She pointed to the mirror behind the bar, and Evan saw the reflection of Ludo Bagman.
He was sitting in a dimly lit corner with a group of goblins and was whispering something quickly to the goblins in a lowered voice.
The goblins cross their arms, look aggressive, and shake their heads occasionally.
Every time the goblins shook their heads, Bagman's face turned ugly.
"Things seem a bit out of whack!" Harry said, gazing at Bagman in the mirror, "Come to think of it, it's the weekend, no Triwizard Tournament is going on, and there's no need for a referee, so why is he here?"
Bagman's expression was tense, and he kept looking around as if searching for an escape route.
Then, his eyes lit up, and he saw Ron sitting in the corner.
He leaned over and whispered something to the goblins, pointing quietly at the four of them.
The goblins squinted their black eyes, looked at Ron silently, and nodded.
"Deal, wait a minute, I'll go have a word with the boy!" Bagman said that the baby's face was smiling again.
He stood up and hurried toward Ron.
"Boys, I didn't expect to run into you here; what a coincidence, how have you been!" He asked Ron, "Can I have a word with you alone?"
"Yeah, sure!" Ron looked at him quizzically and followed Bagman to the end of the bar, away from Mrs. Rosmerta.
They stayed there for about a minute or so, Ron's expression looking slightly surprised and then pleased.
Evan took a sip of his butterbeer; it looked like Bagman must have made another bet with the goblins to pay off the money. he put all his chips on Ron to win the Triwizard Tournament, and then all his gambling debts would be wiped out.
Bagman is telling Ron about the secret of the Golden Egg, and Ron accepts his help.
As a referee and the director of the Division of Magical Sports, he even took the initiative to violate the rules; cheating and whatnot is a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament.
"What are they talking about?" Hermione said while sipping her butterbeer, "Those goblins don't look too friendly!"
"Probably about the tournament," Evan said, pulling a densely written piece of parchment out of his pocket.
He didn't care about it and would use this time to review the key points of Apparation.
"Apparation looks cool, and it's easy to use!" Harry said, staring at Evan's parchment, "I want Sirius to help me pass my exams, too, so I don't have to wait until I'm an adult to use the spell."
"No way, Harry!" Hermione looked shocked, "It's illegal to do that, and it's very dangerous; many people lose their lives yearly because of failing Apparate, and you don't have as much magic as Evan does to fully control the spell ..."
"I know, I'm just saying!" Harry said.
Hermione said that the spell Apparate could not be used as a joke.
Failure to use it often meant physical separation, which meant death, which was why the Ministry of Magic had an exam.
Evan had had many experiences with Apparation but was still a little nervous about using the spell on his own for the first time.
The quill in his hand kept writing and drawing on the parchment, marking the relevant points.
Apparate is divided into two modes of use, one for long-distance rapid movement and the other for instantaneous shifting in a duel.
Although the spells were the same, the amount of magic consumed and the techniques used differed.
Harry and Hermione put their heads together and looked at what Evan had written, wanting more details.
On the other hand, Ron and Bagman's conversation was quickly interrupted when Fred and George appeared just at that moment.
They had just walked into the tavern when they saw Bagman in front of the bar.
"Hello, Mr. Bagman!" Fred hurried over and said pleasantly, "Can we buy you a drink?"
"Uh, no." Bagman said, patting Ron on the shoulder, "No, thank you, boys ..."
Fred and George seemed disappointed in Bagman and were ready to say something more to get their money back.
"I've got to get going." He said, "It was nice seeing all of you. Good luck, Ron, and don't forget what I said."
He hurried out of the tavern, and the goblins all got up from their chairs and followed him.
Fred and George hesitated and followed.
"What does he want?" Harry asked just as Ron came back and sat down.
"Nothing!" Ron shook his head, not telling what Bagman had told him.
He was debating whether to try it this way. As ridiculous as it sounded, he had no other choice! As for proving himself to be the true warrior of Hogwarts, winning the tournament and so on, on the contrary, became a secondary goal.
To be able to win the fire dragon, he was already satisfied in his heart and wanted to prove that his ** was not as strong as before.
Thinking of Hermione's stunning dress at the ball, Ron was a little uncomfortable, a strange emotion that made him not want to listen to Hermione's advice.
Besides, he still had five weeks to study the clues of the golden egg, a long time!
On Saturday, Evan, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Colin, and Gabrielle left the castle together, walking towards the school gates through the cold, damp grounds.
As they passed Durmstrang's big boat moored on the lake, they saw Wicked Durkrum come out of his cabin onto the deck, clad in a pair of swimming trunks. He was skinny but still seemed to be in pretty solid shape, and they saw him nimbly climb over the side of the boat, stretch out his arms, and plunge into the water with a splash.
"My God, what is he doing?!" Colin couldn't help himself, "It's suicide!"
"He's crazy!" Harry looked at Krum's dark head floating in the lake's center, "It's January; it must be freezing!"
"It's much colder where he came from." Hermione said, "I think it's quite warm for him."
"Krum is strong, stronger than most people!" Ron defended him, "Temperature isn't a problem; he's probably in the habit of winter swimming. These difficulties are just a minor inconvenience to him!"
He is now on good terms with Krum and can rarely say a few words after meeting him.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"By the way, why are there so many goblins following him?" Harry asked.
"According to Bagman, they were looking for Crouch and wanted his help. Crouch is still sick and hasn't been working!" Ron explained, turning his thoughts back from the golden egg and waving his hand in disbelief, "If you ask me, it could be that Percy poisoned him; he probably thought that if Crouch snapped, he'd be the head of the Division of International Magical Cooperation."
Hermione glared at Ron, meaning, don't joke about something like that.
"Goblins actually looking for Mr. Crouch, strange, they usually deal with the Division of Magical Animal Management and Control."
"Percy said that Crouch speaks many languages!" Harry said, "They probably need a translator."
"Don't worry about those pesky goblins!" Ron looked at Hermione, "What, you want to start another S.P.U.G. or something? Ugly Goblin Protection Society?"
"Goblins don't need protection!" Hermione said sarcastically, taking another sip of her butterbeer, "They're very smart and good at dealing with wizards; they're not like house elves who don't know how to defend their rights!"
"That's great!" Ron said, looking strangely at Avon, who wasn't involved in their conversation.
He was scribbling complex magical formulas on a piece of parchment, analyzing the minimum amount of magic consumed by Apparition.
Ron moved forward, trying to better understand what Avon was writing.
Just then, Rita Skeeter pushed open the door and walked in.
She was wearing a banana yellow robe, her long fingernails painted bright pink, and was accompanied by her pot-bellied photographer.
She went over to buy a drink and walked with the photographer through the crowd towards a nearby table.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at her, and Evan looked up.
Rita Skeeter was saying something rapidly, seemingly satisfied with something.
"He doesn't seem very willing to talk to us, does he, Fuzo? Why is that, do you think? What's he doing with a bunch of goblins behind him? And saying he's taking them on a scenic tour is nonsense; he's a veteran liar. Is something wrong? Should we dig a little deeper? The discrediting of Ludo Bagman, former head of the Department of Magical Sports, that's a hell of a start, Bozo. We need to find a proper story for it."
"Enough, are you trying to ruin someone's life again?!" Harry exclaimed angrily, unable to resist standing up.
The cacophony of voices in the bar snapped to a halt, and several people turned their faces to find out what was going on with Harry!
Rita Skeeter's eyes widened behind her jeweled glasses when she saw who was speaking.
"Harry, Harry Potter!" She said, beaming, "Great! Why don't you guys come over here and join us?"
"I wouldn't go near you on a ten-foot flying broom!" Harry said angrily, "Why did you do that to Hagrid? He didn't offend you, did he? Why did you do that?!"
Rita Skeeter raised her bushy eyebrows, a hint of smugness flashing across her features.
"Our readers have a right to know the truth, Harry, and I was only doing my duty."
"You're spreading rumors; who cares if he's a half-blood giant?" Harry shouted, "There's nothing wrong with him!"
The thought of Hagrid's sad face made him feel unusually uncomfortable, and he shouted at the top of his voice.
This time, the whole tavern became silent.
Mrs. Rosmerta looked over from behind the bar as she poured mead into a large jug.
The jug was overflowing, and she didn't even realize it.
Rita Skeeter's smile flickered, but she immediately fixed it again.
She opened her alligator handbag and pulled out her stenographer and notebook.
"Care to tell me about what you know about Hagrid, Harry? The humanity behind all the tendons? Your baffling friendship and the reasons behind it. Ah, yes, do you see him as your father?"
"Enough!" Hermione lurched to her feet, clutching the mug of butterbeer as if it were a grenade.
Her body trembled slightly with anger as if she had never seen anyone so brazen.
"You lousy woman!" She said through gritted teeth, "You don't care about anything but attracting attention, and you don't care who it is as long as you can get a story, do you? Even Ludo Bagman."
"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't understand." Rita Skeeter said coldly, her gaze becoming cold and fierce as it fell on Hermione, not at all as friendly as it had been when it had looked at Harry, "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make the hairs on the back of your necks stand up, don't talk about it."
She scowled disdainfully at Hermione's disheveled hair, the pen swishing back and forth across a piece of parchment on the table.
"Come on, Hermione, don't offend people like that; it's not worth it!" Evan said softly, placing the parchment on the table.
Rita Skeeter squinted at Evan as if she had just seen him, and her eyes fell to the thick parchment.
She could clearly see that it was a horrible design.
Under the effect of some magic spell, the soul of a person on the parchment was being extracted, with a pained expression on his face, and underneath the image were complicated magical symbols and formulas, and then the scene of a person being burned by fire.
Undoubtedly, these things were very evil and terrible black magic!
Even a muggle who had never learned magic could guess what these things were when they saw these patterns.
Evan was persuading Hermione to sit down, and then, as if he suddenly thought of something, he hurriedly turned the parchment in his hand upside down.
As if afraid of being seen, he gave Rita Skeeter an uneasy look.
Seeing Evan's movement, Rita Skeeter seemed to think of something, and a satisfied smile reappeared.
"Let's go, Bozo!" Rita Skeeter snapped, grinning at Evan and Harry, "Harry, if you ever want to talk to me about your thoughts on Hagrid, I'm always welcome! And you too, Evan!"
And with that, they left the pub, leaving the table untouched with their freshly purchased drinks.
If Avon was right, she'd probably be back in another form soon to find out what was on the parchment she'd just revealed.
It was such a big story that she couldn't possibly miss it!
That's right, those are all black magic that he had studied; it was a trap that Evan had specially prepared for Rita Skeeter.