Dumbledore's actions brought the atmosphere in the stadium to a fever pitch.
Countless wizards made up their minds at that moment to return to their homeland and immediately contact their respective Ministers of Magic, urging them to begin distributing the Wolfsbane antidote and the Human Restoration Spell.
If they couldn't learn it, they could send people to the UK for further study. In any case, they were determined to eradicate lycanthropy, a disease that had plagued the wizarding world for over a thousand years, in their generation.
Wizards with quicker minds decided to start working on producing the Wolfsbane antidote immediately. In the next decade, this potion would be like a money tree; as soon as it was produced, there would be no shortage of buyers, with the Ministry of Magic being the first to acquire it.
Seeing that Dumbledore had instantly become the center of attention, Cornelius Fudge couldn't hold back anymore.
He rushed onto the field, standing next to Dumbledore, and pulled a bewildered Lupin to his side. Mimicking Dumbledore, he had Lupin bite the skin on the back of his own hand, drawing blood.
Enduring the pain, Fudge raised his bleeding hand high and shouted to the wizards in the stands, "I, Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic of the United Kingdom, also pledge to vouch for all werewolves treated with the Human Restoration Spell!"
The wizards in the stadium were momentarily stunned, then burst into enthusiastic applause for the Minister of Magic.
Hearing the waves of applause and the cheers interspersed throughout, Fudge's complexion visibly brightened, and the pain in his hand seemed to lessen.
However, as the excitement drained from his head, Fudge couldn't help but feel a little uneasy: It should be fine, right? This werewolf shouldn't be infectious… right? After all, Dumbledore already did it… but he's Dumbledore!
...
In the end, Fudge decided that after the gathering, he would seek someone to prepare a supply of the Wolfsbane antidote for him, planning to drink several doses to enhance his immunity.
What Fudge didn't know was that taking the Wolfsbane antidote wouldn't work as a "preventive" measure. If someone were to be bitten by a werewolf, they would still transform regardless of how much Wolfsbane they had taken.
"Dumbledore…"
In the corner of the stands, the wizard in plain robes, the curly-haired old man, and the beautiful woman all frowned as they watched Dumbledore, who was now the center of attention on the field.
Their expressions were complicated as they assessed the most powerful wizard among humans.
"Capricornus, are you confident you could defeat him?" Sagittarius posed the question.
"I can't see through him," Capricornus shook his head. "I'm not sure if he's mastered a domain. If he hasn't, I'm confident I could kill him."
Sagittarius snorted, "Modern wizards can still master a domain?"
"Do you really consider him part of the modern wizarding world?" Vigo argued that a wizard like Dumbledore shouldn't be grouped with ordinary modern wizards.
"You're giving him too much credit. If the three of us attacked together, he wouldn't survive," Sagittarius said, unimpressed by the so-called "strongest wizard of the age."
"Come back after you've mastered a domain yourself," Capricornus muttered in genuine disgust for Sagittarius. He swore to himself that he would never partner with someone like this again.
Vigo nodded in agreement with Capricornus's comment.
This infuriated Sagittarius.
Amid this somewhat pleasant atmosphere, the Ministry of Magic's experiment came to an end.
The wizards rose from their seats and began to make their way out of the stadium.
The weather grew increasingly cold and damp, prompting many to clutch their robes tighter.
The Scottish climate—it was absolutely ghastly!
Interestingly, Rhys and Daphne were not the only "shadowy figures" sneaking around; at least a dozen students had slipped out of the castle to witness the spectacle.
"So, are we really not going to do anything?" Daphne asked, puzzled by Rhys's single-minded focus on heading back.
"Aren't we already doing something? Our most important task right now is getting back to the common room as quickly as possible—damn it, with so many students sneaking out to watch the experiment, the professors are probably going to increase patrols." Rhys quickened his pace while casting a Disillusionment Charm over Daphne.
Just as Rhys had expected, the moment the group of young wizards stepped into the castle's entrance hall, the torches flared to life. Professor McGonagall, the other three heads of house, and Filch, the caretaker, all stepped out from the shadows, catching the rule-breaking students red-handed.
Not only were the students who stepped into the entrance hall caught, but those still outside the castle were also rounded up by their respective Heads of House.
A line even started to form inside the hall.
Professor McGonagall glanced at the group of students she had rounded up and called out loudly, "Fred, George, no use hiding—I've spotted you. Even if you run back tonight, detention notices will still be waiting on your beds!"
Fred and George, who had been lurking in the shadows of the castle walls waiting for the coast to clear: "???"
Completely baffled, they walked into the hall and joined the lineup of captured students.
"You've got sharp eyes—I didn't see them at all," Professor Sprout praised McGonagall, who smiled without responding.
Honestly, Fred and George missing out on such a spectacle?
Not possible.
Calling them was always a safe bet.
Thanks to Rhys's impressive Disillusionment Charm, he and Daphne managed to avoid being caught by the Heads of House and safely returned to the Slytherin common room.
"The professors set up their ambush in the wrong spot. They should've blocked the common rooms—then they'd catch everyone for sure," Rhys stretched and casually suggested, offering a sly tip.
"I'm off for a shower, goodnight!" Rhys yawned and headed toward the bathroom.
Daphne: ?
"You're really just going to do nothing about it?" she asked in shock.
Rhys turned his head back. "I'll write the anonymous letter after my shower."
After tossing that remark, he went straight into the bathroom.
Like any ordinary student, Rhys entered the bathroom and turned on the faucet.
Hot water gushed out, pouring onto his skin. Gradually, Rhys began to "melt," merging with the water streaming from the showerhead until he completely disappeared.
Finally, a thin stream of water, shaped like a finger, turned off the shower, leaving no trace of Rhys in the bathroom.
At the same time, in the shadows outside the Quidditch pitch, Rhys opened his eyes and looked up at the bright moon in the night sky.
"Clear skies under the bright moon… What a nice night~" he muttered as he slowly sank into the earth.
…
Meanwhile, Dumbledore, Henry, and Fudge hadn't left the field yet. They were surrounded by enthusiastic wizards, stuck in the stadium. As for Lockhart, no one cared where he had gone or what he was doing.
"Good, everything is going according to plan. Let's proceed; we have fifteen minutes," Capricorn said, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes as he watched Dumbledore, who was held up by the crowd.
"Gryffindor's relic, the Sword of Godric Gryffindor—we must get it tonight!"
___________
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