Only Dumbledore's footsteps echoed in the spiral staircase, he smiled as he stepped onto the last step and found himself in front of a dark dome that resembled the outside of a Domain Extension.
"Merlin is a genius, even dead, his Domain Expansion still works by itself." Dumbledore commented with a truly sincere tone, looking at the huge black dome.
Suddenly, Dumbledore's eyes noticed a crack in the dome, not a big one, no more than two meters long. Since the dome was miles long, two meters really wasn't much.
The explosion of the Hogwarts core had damaged the seal, despite all the magical defenses.
Unfortunately, even a two-meter gap was enough for the Elder Dragon inside to exert some influence on the outside.
Worst of all, Dumbledore couldn't restore the seal to its perfect state, for the seal itself was an Extension of the Domain, and the holder of the Extension of the Domain was dead. It was impossible for him to restore the seal.
The only thing Dumbledore could do was to seal the entire area where the Dome was located, creating a double layered seal. But it certainly wouldn't be as effective as the seal Merlin himself had made.
Sensing something, Dumbledore raised his head and saw a giant golden eye staring directly at him.
Smiling softly, the old Hogwarts headmaster placed his hand on his chest and bowed gracefully. "Your Majesty, I see you're in very good health. It seems that sleep is doing you good, your scales are as bright as the light itself, a light that would put diamonds to shame."
A hint of anger flashed through his golden eyes at Dumbledore's sarcastic words. Vortigern could not understand why everyone he had met so far in this age had been wizards with sharp tongues.
Where are the honorable knights? Where is the honor of a strong man? Where are the good manners?
Vortigern suppressed the rage in his chest and spoke with his magical energy, or rather the minimal remnant he could mobilize at the moment.
"Human, what do you want? Rejuvenation? Power? To be king? Knowledge, perhaps? I can grant you any wish you desire." Vortigern spoke, his voice full of endless temptation and promises that would make anyone accept.
Unfortunately, it was Dumbledore who stood before him, a man who, though manipulative, loved his country above all else. If Vortigern were released, the headmaster of Hogwarts had no doubt that the Elder Dragon would destroy the entire island of Britain in his rage.
Still, Dumbledore couldn't help but give the old king of Camelot a strange look.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think Your Majesty had turned into a djinni." He continued with an amused laugh. "But my wish itself is very simple: could you die? It would save a lot of work for future successors to the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts."
If Vortigern had been angry before, he was furious now.
His huge body shook, threatening to rise at any moment and attack Dumbledore, but just as he was about to do so, Excalibur, still embedded in the white dragon's head, began to glow and Vortigern's body stopped moving.
A reluctant roar sounded in Dumbledore's mind before silence filled the room.
"It seems that although the seal is damaged, the core of the seal itself is Excalibur." Dumbledore thought, feeling the sacred aura still in the air, even the air seemed to be purified, making it extremely pure.
Knowing this, a weight fell from Dumbledore's shoulders, as long as Excalibur remained, the entire seal would still work perfectly, despite the damage to the barrier.
Shaking his head, Dumbledore began to create a barrier around the dome, using his own innate technique.
"Fried lizard, that must be delicious." Dumbledore commented with an amused smile on his lips, but if you looked into his eyes, you would see a cold, calm look.
He still couldn't understand how an organization could know a secret that only the Headmaster of Hogwarts knew. Before you become a Headmaster, you have to take an Unbreakable Vow, and not just any Unbreakable Vow, but one with extremely strict clauses.
Under no circumstances are you to divulge any information, whether in writing, speech, signs, or even by memory. If this is disobeyed, death is instantaneous!
Still, Organization R knew about Vortigern and planned to use it against him and young Asterion.
With one last look at the black dome, Dumbledore climbed the stairs and returned the place to its former silence.
...
In the Great Hall, Asterion stood next to Daphne while his friends talked to each other, all looking excited at the announcement of the second trial of the tournament, which would take place in a few minutes.
Looking around, Asterion could see his former rivals in the Game of Kings, all of whom looked very... healthy... some more than others.
Fortunately, the prosthetics of the Witch World were quite advanced in other countries, especially in Germany, which was the pinnacle of the modern world in healing spells and alchemical items. So after a few days of rest, Hans Weiss looked perfectly fine. But with a prosthesis instead of an arm.
Honestly, if his arm had been intact, he could have reattached it, but unfortunately either Rose's attack or Fiendfyre's were not kind to human tissue and destroyed his arm completely.
Another thing he noticed was that the French team was completely isolated. Fleur no longer had those lustful eyes on her, instead everyone looked at her with fear. Everyone saw how she had enslaved dozens of participants, including the Chinese and Japanese teams.
In particular, Matteo Roman, a member of the Italian team, looked completely terrified of the young Veela. Asterion couldn't blame the young man, the feeling of being enslaved would certainly not be pleasant.
"Ma sœur chérie." Gabriel stood beside Asterion and looked at his older sister with pity. She looked extremely pitiful, which made Theodore try everything to cheer up the source of his passion.
To Blaise and Daphne's extreme dismay, they both just wanted the French girl to disappear. Although they both wanted it for different reasons. Blaise wanted his friend back and Daphne wanted the French bitch away from her fiancé.
Asterion, on the other hand, didn't mind Gabriele's approach, although the girl seemed to be a nuisance, he discovered that the girl seemed to have a high EQ, which made even the most boring conversations pleasant.
Frankly, Asterion had the idea to kidnap Gabriele from France, the girl was born to be the foreign minister. Not only was she cunning like an old fox, but she also had an ability to control a conversation that would put any veteran politician to shame.
"Your sister is a strong woman, Lady Gabrielle." Raising the goblet to his lips, Asterion spoke in a calm tone, seeing Gabrielle's worried expression. He wasn't lying, if there was a strong woman in this world, it was Fleur Delacour.
Imagine being under the lustful eyes of men and women twenty-four hours a day. Fleur's mentality was definitely one of the strongest he knew.
In the future, he could even imagine Fleur becoming a Special Grade Witch, considering she hadn't even graduated yet and already had the strength of a Grade 1 Witch.
Gabrielle's eyes narrowed as she looked at Asterion, a smile playing on her red lips. She could feel that Asterion's attitude had changed. In the past he would have stayed away and even ignored her, but at this moment she felt that he wanted to befriend her. Although she was still confused as to why his attitude had changed.
However, she soon put these thoughts aside and thought that this was a great opportunity to get closer to her crush.
Gabrielle ignored Daphne's increasingly murderous stare and chatted happily with Asterion.
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Author's Thoughts: Help me choose the third trial, I'm as confused as you can imagine!!!!
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Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 184 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (2), Chapter 185 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (3), Chapter 186 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (4), Chapter 187 - Second Test of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (5), Chapter 188 - Asterion & Daphne (R-18), Chapter 189 - Asterion & Daphne, Chapter 190 - How to Train Your Dragon (1), Chapter 191 - How to Train Your Dragon (2), Chapter 192 - How to Train Your Dragon (3), Chapter 193 - How to Train Your Dragon (4), Chapter 194 - Dragon Race (1), Chapter 195 - Dragon Race (2), Chapter 196 - Dragon Race (3), Chapter 197 - Dragon Race (4), Chapter 198 - Dragon Race (5), Chapter 199 - Dragon Race (6).