The dinner was over, but the young wizards did not leave immediately. Most of them sat together, looking at the Goblet of Fire with longing eyes.
However, at this stage, few people go to the Goblet of Fire and submit their names. Most young wizards do not want to submit their names in public. It would be too embarrassing if they are not selected.
They would rather find a time when no one would notice them and come here secretly. That way, even if the Goblet of Fire didn't choose them in the end, others wouldn't know whether they had voted in or not.
But Cyrus knew very well that how could such a sneaky person be selected by the Goblet of Fire? Unless he was the only one left in that school.
Of course, there are also those who are arrogant.
Cassandra had already walked towards the Goblet of Fire almost when Dumbledore drew the age line, causing dissatisfaction among many young wizards who were almost adults.
She puffed out her chest, her eyes were contemptuous and arrogant, and her slightly curly golden hair swayed gently with her elegant steps, like a cluster of lively little snakes. Her beauty was like that of Medusa, attracting the admiring gazes of many little wizards.
Ginny, with her flaming hair, turned her head away unhappily.
Like Hermione, she felt that this woman was a little too arrogant.
Cassandra was just the beginning. Then all the students of Ilvermorny, except Malfoy who was not old enough, took the initiative to walk to the Goblet of Fire and cast their names.
After that came the Durmstrang men.
They came here to participate in the competition, so naturally they wouldn't be shy.
However, Cyrus did not see any action from Grindelwald. Perhaps he planned to ask others for help, or he planned to wait until no one was paying attention before taking action.
Of course, the same goes for Cyrus himself.
"Well, you can walk around Hogwarts, or just go back to the carriage and rest. After all, it's getting late today."
Cyrus still suggested that the students of Ilvermorny spend more time at Hogwarts, especially the library, but there was no rush. For the next year, they would take classes with the students of Hogwarts.
"Professor, what about you?"
"I have some friends to meet." Cyrus said with a smile, "If you want to go back to the carriage, you can go back with Bella. Of course, you can also meet some new friends."
After saying that, Cyrus walked through the crowd and went outside the auditorium.
In fact, most of the students in the auditorium were planning to leave at this moment, and a large crowd of people was crowding at the door of the auditorium.
Cassandra's green eyes watched Cyrus's back through the crowd, and she also saw a few small shadows following behind Cyrus. She laughed contemptuously at those little ghosts, turned around and followed Bella.
Outside the auditorium, Cyrus turned toward the castle courtyard and stood under the central sculpture.
"Cyrus!" Ginny shouted from a distance, and several people ran over together.
"I never thought that you would become the headmaster of another magic school!" Hermione said to Cyrus excitedly, "How is it? Is there a lot of books in Ilvermorny Library?"
"There are fewer than in Hogwarts, but there are a lot of new magics. People there like innovation." Cyrus said, "I think you have read the book "On the Differences in Different Animal Transfiguration" that I gave you."
This was Cyrus' birthday gift to Hermione this year.
Harry and Ron were very confused about Hermione and Cyrus talking about books, but they were used to it, and they knew that they had to interrupt Hermione, otherwise the topic would never end.
The two of them wanted to say something, but Ginny was a little quicker than them.
"I heard from my father that you went to North America during this period. The Ministry of Magic has withdrawn the wanted warrant for you, but I didn't expect that you became the headmaster of Ilvermorny. How many things happened?" Ginny looked straight at Cyrus and asked a long list of questions as soon as she opened her mouth. She wanted to know exactly what Cyrus ate every day.
"It's a long story. To put it simply, I got the snakewood wand left by Slytherin, and then I got the recognition of Ilvermorny School itself. The old headmaster of Ilvermorny gave up his position to me." Cyrus said briefly.
"The school itself?" Harry and Ron repeated, puzzled.
"The school itself has consciousness, and this is also true for Hogwarts. If you don't get the castle's approval, even if you are appointed as the principal by the Ministry of Magic or the school board, you will not be able to know the castle's secrets." Cyrus explained. He didn't really want to talk more about his own affairs, so he changed the subject, "Why don't you talk about it, is there anything special happening during this period?"
"Of course!" Ginny nodded vigorously, with a slightly jealous tone, and roughly pulled Harry away from Ron and lifted up his sleeves, "What's the matter with this mark?"
"When did you leave this?"
"The night you defeated Voldemort," Harry said, pursing his lips.
Cyrus looked at Harry's arm in surprise. He didn't expect that the magic mark he created to restrain those Death Eaters who turned against him was also left on Harry's body.
Then, he felt happy.
"Harry, only those who are truly loyal to me can leave this mark without hurting you." He looked Harry in the eyes and invited him seriously, "If you want, you can follow in my footsteps."
In terms of wizarding talent, Harry Potter is actually quite good, but he is still not as good as a true genius. Snape, who wears tinted glasses, thinks that he is mediocre.
But he has an advantage that others don't have - appeal.
Especially in the UK, there is no wizard who doesn't know the name Harry Potter, and all the Muggle wizards or half-blood wizards who have been tortured by Voldemort are grateful to him.
"Of course I do!" Harry said quickly, with a shy smile on his face. At this moment, he seemed happier than Cyrus.
He had always wanted to be recognized, especially in front of Cyrus, the man who had saved him several times and actually defeated Voldemort with his sheer strength.
But when the joy in his heart was still gushing out, he was roughly pushed aside by Ginny. The fiery girl stretched out her smooth, jade-like elbow and belly towards Cyrus, her tone firm.
“I want one too!”
"You'd better remember that I'm here." Hermione also quickly reached out her hand.
The two girls met Cyrus' gaze without giving in, as if they would not give up unless Cyrus agreed.
This made Ron feel a little embarrassed. He looked at his good brother Harry, then at his daunting "mother" - Hermione, and his own sister:
"If I don't reach out, wouldn't that be a bit unsociable?"
Cyrus held his forehead with his hand, and said helplessly and seriously: "I don't mind that my followers are increasing, but I have to remind you that this is not a joke. Do you really understand who the enemy I am facing is?"
His red-gold eyes looked directly at these young souls.
He was stunned.
"Really?"
Not only Ron, but even Ginny and Hermione were dumbfounded. Harry looked completely incredulous.
On one hand, there was Cyrus, whom they admired and yearned for, and on the other hand, there was Dumbledore, who was highly respected and hailed as the greatest wizard. Harry suddenly found it difficult to make a decision, and he didn't even understand why there was still a conflict between Cyrus and Dumbledore.
"But you were working together to fight Voldemort..."
"That was before, Harry." Cyrus smiled, not making the atmosphere too heavy. "But don't worry, we won't kill. This has nothing to do with hatred. It's just that what we want to do and what we want to protect are different."
Just when Harry and the others were in great shock, a cold voice suddenly interrupted them.
"I don't care about Dumbledore, why did you refuse my joining before?"
Ginny and Hermione's hearts tightened at the same time, and they quickly turned their heads to look not far away. In the darkness, there stood a blonde girl. She was tall, with her arms folded in front of her chest, and a cold and smug smile on her face.
Harry and Ron were frightened by Cassandra's aura and couldn't help but take half a step back. Ginny and Hermione recognized that she was the witch from Ilvermorny who had become famous not long ago, so they took a step forward not to be outdone.
But Cassandra didn't take the two of them seriously. She walked towards them, her waist twisting into an elegant and beautiful arc like a snake. When passing by Harry, Cassandra stopped and pierced his green eyes, making Harry forget to breathe for a moment.
He turned his head mechanically and whispered in Ron's ear, "Isn't this the Shura Field?"
Ron just shook his head numbly.
"Miss Volley, I thought you had returned to the carriage with Bella." Cyrus didn't feel uncomfortable at all, or rather, he would not reveal his flaws because of such a small scene.
"I suddenly thought I should go out for a walk. Also, you can just call me Cassandra." Cassandra looked at Harry, or rather, at the mark on Harry's arm. "You refused to let me become your believer like my father because I haven't graduated yet, but...how can he explain it?"
Without waiting for Cyrus to answer, Cassandra pulled up her sleeves and continued, "I don't care who you are against, and I am ready to sacrifice myself."
"Us too!" Ginny glared at Cassandra and rushed out with Hermione, her face full of hostility.
Cassandra looked at the two of them seriously, her golden eyebrows slightly furrowed, Ginny and Hermione's appearance did make her feel a little threatened. But when she looked down, her frowned eyebrows immediately relaxed, and she sneered as if she had seen two jokes.
Just like that, you want to compete with me? She puffed out her chest proudly, and her shoulders trembled, which immediately made Ginny so angry that the ends of her fiery red hair almost stood up.
Fortunately, at this time, another person came to the rescue.
"Good evening, Harry!" Hagrid broke the deadlock with his loud voice. His huge body pushed aside the little wizards along the way and strode over. When he saw Cyrus, a complicated expression appeared on his face.
"Seeing your face really makes me feel complicated, Mr. Cyrus." He spoke bluntly, but still stretched out his hand towards Cyrus, "Of course, I already know that you are not Tom Riddle. And I have to thank you!"
"Thank me?" Cyrus was a little confused for a moment. He couldn't remember what he had done to deserve Hagrid's thanks.
"You saved Harry several times, didn't you?" said Hagrid. "And about Mr. Scamander, he invited me to his trunk during the summer vacation. He said you were the one who introduced me."
Hearing Hagrid say this, Cyrus suddenly remembered that when he was with Uncle Newt before, he did mention to him the skills of Hagrid, the mating expert.
"Thanks to you, I saw a lot of magical animals that are not found in the Forbidden Forest!" He was so moved that he almost cried, and then he patted Cyrus' shoulder heavily, "Come to my cabin for tea when you have time? And I will take good care of your two dragons!"
Hagrid left as suddenly as he had appeared.
Finally, Cyrus left marks on everyone's arms. Cassandra was very sensible. After achieving her goal, she did not continue to disturb Cyrus, Ginny, Hermione and others from reminiscing about the past, and left on her own initiative.
Cyrus didn't talk to Harry and the others for long because Hogwarts had a curfew.
At midnight, he sat outside the carriage, looking at the steep dark shadow of the castle. As soon as he loosened his fingers, the snakewood wand came to life, burrowed into the ground, held the words in its mouth, and swam towards the castle. ——The night passed quickly.
It was the evening of the next day. After another sumptuous Halloween dinner, it was finally time to reveal the champion. Dumbledore happily picked up the spoon and knocked on the wine glass in front of him. The little wizards all fell silent, and more than a thousand pairs of eyes watched -
In fact, much more than that!
In order to let the whole world see this game, Cyrus had already set up a magic drone to record everything at all times. At this moment, through the International Confederation of Wizards, all the details of the competition were being watched by the Ministry of Magic of each country and six other magic schools.
"The Goblet of Fire is about to make a decision. Today is Halloween, and I hope there will be no accidents." Dumbledore turned to Cyrus and said. He made a little joke, but even he didn't care much.
He walked up to the Goblet of Fire, took out his wand, and waved it vigorously.
Immediately, all the candles except those in the pumpkin lanterns were extinguished, and the auditorium fell into a state of semi-light and semi-darkness.
The Goblet of Fire now shone brightly, brighter than anything else in the entire Great Hall, and the blue-white flames with sparks were almost blinding. Everyone watched and waited... Several people kept looking at their watches...
"Let us witness the birth of a warrior!" he shouted.
The flame in the goblet suddenly turned red again, and sparks flew out. Then, a tongue of fire jumped into the air, and a piece of burnt parchment flew out of it - everyone in the hall held their breath.
Dumbledore took the parchment and held it high: "The first champion of Hogwarts is Cedric Diggory."
Applause and cheers filled the entire auditorium.
Cedric, swept by the glory, was pushed forward by all the badgers. He was tall and shy, and strode to Dumbledore's side. Dumbledore was about to say a few words of encouragement to him, but at this time the Goblet of Fire exploded again! This time it was more violent than before. The Goblet of Fire seemed to have turned into a huge volcano, spewing hot magma and hot sparks! The flying flames burst in the air like fireworks, and finally formed many bright words.
However, the brightest and most eye-catching names leave people speechless.
Dumbledore froze, like a man speechless.
Everyone subconsciously stood up from their chairs.
At this moment, only Babajid remembered the progress of the game. The old wizard frowned and announced loudly: "The champion of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore!"
"Gellert Grindelwald, the champion of Durmstrang!"
"And the warriors of Ilvermorny—" He paused slightly and looked at Cyrus who was smiling, "Cyrus!"
(End of this chapter)