Asterion felt his body being moved, stretched, compressed in every possible direction and, before he could do anything, he felt his feet touch the ground again. When he finally heard a thunderous sound of clapping and shouting, mixed with some thanks that he was confused to receive. With his eyes getting used to the light, he looked around and found himself in front of hundreds of thousands of wizards and witches, all focused on him.
The Quidditch Stadium.
He had returned to Hogwarts.
Asterion frowned and looked around, he saw Rose sitting in the saddle in perfect condition, as if apparating was no different to breathing for her. Having an Innate Technique involving space really helped in that regard. Patriarch Black looked at Luna and saw that the fair-looking young woman was completely pale from the experience of Apparating together.
Suddenly, green flames appeared not far away, revealing two dragons and their riders, Asterion noticed Fleur and another girl from the French Team. Honestly, Fleur's condition was decadent to say the least. One of her arms was completely twisted backwards while blood dripped from the wound. There was a particularly serious wound on her stomach, as if she had been hit by something at high speed.
If there was a tally showing how much hatred any team had, the French team would undoubtedly be at the top, the consequences of Fleur's actions having shown up in the Dragon Race. It was no surprise that she was attacked together after what happened in the Game of Kings.
Fleur's companion was even worse off than the captain herself, her face pale as she held one of her hands wrapped in a cloth. Her hand had obviously been severed during the Dragon Race.
Both girls' dragons were not much different from their riders, both were severely injured, the worst was Fleur's Antipodean Opaleye, the poor dragon was completely unrecognizable, the scales were blackened while one of the dragon's legs had completely disappeared.
Asterion assumed that Fleur and her teammate had been attacked by at least three other dragons, possibly even more. He watched as the Hogwarts medical team led by Madam Pomfrey, the gentle-looking blonde woman, seemed extremely serious about their work, rushing both girls to intensive medical care.
"It's good to see that French bitch suffering so much." Rose commented, taking off her belt and climbing down from the dragon, her eyes gazing at where Fleur had disappeared. She didn't hide the dislike in her tone.
If it had been before, Asterion might have said something to defend Fleur, but after learning what Fleur's father and the German Minister of Magic were up to in the shadows, he no longer harbored any goodwill towards the young woman with a quarter Veela blood.
Speaking of conspiracy, Asterion looked at Dumbledore in the Vips seats and sent a message through magical energy to the man sitting down. It was translated into voice form, so Dumbledore could understand, and even if other Special Grade wizards noticed, they would just ignore it.
Dumbledore, who was about to bring the cup of tea with delicious lemon drops to his lips, stopped his movements, but then went back to drinking his tea in silence the next moment. As he had his back to all the Ministers of Magic and the President of MACUSA, no one noticed the extremely cold look in the eyes of the man considered to be the most powerful in the world.
Looking over his shoulder at Luis Delacour and Joseph Weiss, Dumbledore found it difficult to quell the growing murderous intent in his chest. It was the first time in his life that he had reached out to help someone and that someone had actually dared to plot not against him, but against his country.
Honestly, Dumbledore wanted to kill them both right now, but his rationality prevented him from doing anything like that. If Louis and Joseph were planning a Third Wizarding World War, killing them would only make France and Germany declare war on England.
And if that really happened, believe him, the Third Wizarding World War would begin, because just as in the first Wizarding World War, England had trade and protection treaties with numerous countries. If England was attacked, these countries had to declare war on the enemy country in accordance with the treaty.
Now keep in mind that these same countries had their own treaties with other neighboring countries with the same protection clauses in case war broke out. It would be a domino effect, with just one falling to bring down all the others.
On the other side, France and Germany also had such treaties, which meant that the whole of Europe had gone to war just by declaring war on England.
Dumbledore knew this and decided not to kill Louis and Joseph, being the reason for the Third Wizarding World War certainly wasn't what he wanted. But at the same time, he had no way of monitoring these two to prevent a possible war from breaking out on English soil.
Taking a deep breath, Dumbledore managed to keep his expression smiling as he watched more and more dragons and their riders appear in the Quidditch Stadium. In his mind, the man was wondering what the two Ministers of Magic would use as a trigger to start the war.
It had to be something important for the populations of both countries to want war, but no matter how much Dumbledore thought about it, he had no idea what this Fuse was to start the Third Wizarding World War. He couldn't predict the future like Grindelwald, nor did he have enough information to assume a hypothetical scenario.
For the first time, he felt that things were getting out of hand, and this, frankly, unnerved him deeply. It seemed that the whole International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been turned into an event to promote war rather than a spirit of sportsmanship and healthy competition between the young talents from all the countries present.
Looking at Asterion, Dumbledore found himself somewhat moved, although they were both political enemies, but at the end of the day, apart from all their enmity, they were both English Wizards and would give their lives to protect their country.
Asterion, noticing Dumbledore's gaze, was confused by the emotional look the old man was giving him. He just wanted England not to get involved in the war, turning an entire country into a monarchy during the war wasn't exactly the best time for such political and social change. At the same time, like Dumbledore, he was also guessing what Louis and Joseph would use as the fuse for the Third Wizarding World War. Honestly, he had no idea what it should be, but it would have to be believable enough to make the citizens of both countries want a war. Which, believe me, wasn't easy to do.
"What's going on?" Rose approached Asterion and asked, whispering in his ear. She had seen the exchange of glances between Dumbledore and Asterion, she noticed the incredibly murderous look in her teacher's eyes.
"Trouble and more trouble." Asterion replied, ignoring the camera flashes on him and Rose, he looked around the entire Quidditch Stadium and couldn't help thinking that the place looked like a volcano, about to erupt at any moment. And when it did, it would shake the whole planet.
"If it's trouble, we can solve it by punching." Kissing Asterion's cheek, Rose commented with an amused tone, her incredibly blue eyes sparkling for a moment.
Looking at her, Asterion smiled and whispered in her ear. "You can really help if things get really complicated." He wasn't lying, a beautiful and powerful woman really could be a great advertisement for war should it occur, which seemed to be inevitable at the moment.
"I feel like you're thinking something incredibly rude." Raising an eyebrow in doubt, Rose asked with a tinge of suspicion.
"It wasn't something rude, I wanted to make you a war hero." Asterion rolled his eyes at the subtle accusation against him. Were women's senses really so acute? He thought as he looked at Rose with a gaze full of interest.
"Would you two kindly stop flirting in front of so many people." Luna, who had climbed down from the dragon with a still pale expression, didn't fail to comment in a slightly irritated voice. Only she knew what it was like to live next door to a couple; fortunately for her, Asterion, Daphne and Rose weren't exactly the most loving couple, even in private.
"Let them be jealous." Rose replied with an indifferent tone, her lips curved into a smile full of sarcasm. If she cared about the others, she probably wouldn't have even started the three-way relationship with Asterion and Daphne.
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