Cyrus actually had no particular expectations for the difficulty of the semi-finals.

To be honest, unless he, Dumbledore and Grindelwald were to fight each other directly, what difficulties in the world could stop them?

Their magical powers are so powerful that other wizards can't even imagine them.

The dragon that required seven or eight well-trained wizards to subdue was nothing more than a pet dog in Cyrus's eyes. Perhaps the test finally determined by the International Confederation of Wizards was a naked joke in their eyes.

What's more, the International Confederation of Wizards also has to take into account the contestants other than them. After weighing the pros and cons, the competition may not be too difficult.

But Cyrus didn't care much about it.

The process and results of the first two games were not important. What was important was that in the third game, or even after the game, as long as he could defeat Dumbledore in a head-on battle under the watchful eyes of the whole world, that would be enough! Before the official game began, there was a series of complicated preparations, such as the warriors needed to accept an exclusive interview with the Daily Prophet, and this time the Daily Prophet had joined forces with many famous wizard newspapers and magazines in the world. This was an opportunity for the whole world.

However, with Cyrus' guidance, Rita Skeeter did not focus on trivial gossip, but instead focused most of her attention on the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald.

This woman kept emphasizing to Cyrus that she knew some secrets about Dumbledore and Grindelwald, with a mischievous smile on her face. Obviously, she was referring to the private affairs between Dumbledore and Grindelwald.

"If you want, I can publish these things in the newspapers. These are not made up by me..." Rita Skeeter said sweetly, holding her hands tightly together. "This will be a big news!"

"I spent so many Galleons to bail you out of Azkaban, not for you to report those gossips, Ms. Skeeter." Cyrus leaned back on the sofa, looking at the gorgeously dressed woman in front of him with ease.

He needed a flesh-meat trumpet that could make the topic of the tournament a little more heated in the wizarding world. Some small gossips were harmless as embellishments, but once the affairs of Dumbledore and Grindelwald were exposed, the world's attention would probably be diverted from the tournament itself.

Cyrus did intend to defeat Dumbledore, but not in this way.

The higher Dumbledore's international reputation becomes, the more valuable it is to defeat him.

"Are you sure? But gossip is often the most interesting." Rita Skeeter was still a little unwilling to give up. "People want to know about those high-ranking figures, and they look forward to the ugly things behind their bright and shining appearance...

"Sometimes they don't even care about the truth..."

"No need." Cyrus's red-gold eyes swept across. His majestic eyes seemed to pierce through Rita Skeeter's flashy appearance and see through her soul. "You just need to be prepared after the tournament is over. Let the whole world know that Cyrus defeated the greatest wizard, Albus Dumbledore, in 1995!"

Rita Skeeter felt like a shadowy vampire, tortured in the hot sun.

"Well, since you insist..." She twisted a few times in her chair uncomfortably, picked up the teacup with her fingers painted with bright nail polish and put it down again. She glanced at Cyrus several times, looking a little hesitant.

"What's wrong?" Cyrus frowned slightly.

He actually didn't like Rita Skeeter very much, and his dislike for her was almost the same as Lockhart's, or even more, but he was very polite. Now that Rita Skeeter was working for him, he could show due tolerance.

"I was just wondering..." Rita Skeeter twirled the cup in her hand and gave a disgusting look, "Maybe you could do me the honor of having a drink with me?"

Cyrus: ???

Cyrus was stunned. He really couldn't imagine that this Rita Skeeter was ugly. She thought she was pretty and even wanted to have a drink with him. But this was normal. With his looks, he was enough to seduce most girls.

Not even Cedric could match him.

Just... forget about Rita Skeeter.

Fortunately, at this time, the blonde Cassandra walked in. She walked past Rita Skeeter arrogantly, glanced at the whimsical woman with contempt, and then ignored her.

"Professor, the wand test has begun. Madam Bellatrix asked me to take you there."

"I see." Cyrus stood up from his chair and said to Rita without any apology on his face, "I'm sorry, Ms. Skeeter, I guess we'll do it next time."

After saying that, Cyrus left with Cassandra.

The wand test was held in a small classroom where no one was attending classes. When Cyrus and Cassandra arrived, the other warriors were already ready. The judges were sitting upright behind a table covered with black velvet. Grindelwald was leaning on a chair with his legs crossed. He looked more like an inspector than a contestant.

Ollivander was examining Harry's wand. He looked at it for a long time, but did not say much, just confirming that the wand was in good condition.

"Very good, now the wands of all the warriors have been confirmed, except - you three." Babajid turned his head and looked at Dumbledore, Grindelwald and Cyrus who came late.

"Let me go first." Grindelwald took the initiative to step forward. His very aggressive eyes swept across the crowd like a predatory seabird, and then he smiled. "My wand is the most mediocre, not as legendary as yours."

He handed over his wand and Cyrus took a glance at it. Just as Grindelwald had said, it was a wand without any special features. There were no delicate carvings on the surface, nor was it curved like some other wands. It looked like a dry branch that had been casually broken off. It was so ordinary that it seemed unworthy of Grindelwald's identity.

"Pinewood," Ollivander used his wand to conjure a glass of red wine, "It should be the dragon's heartstring. The wand is in good condition."

He handed the wand back to Grindelwald, and then looked at Dumbledore and Cyrus. Grindelwald's words just now actually attracted a lot of attention.

Harry, for example, sneaked up to Cyrus early in the morning, nudged Cyrus' elbow with his elbow, and then asked in a low voice: "What does he mean, what legend?"

Harry was not the only one who was curious about this. Fleur from Beauxbatons and Krum from Durmster all pricked up their ears to see if Cyrus could give an answer to satisfy his curiosity.

"You'll know soon, Harry." Cyrus didn't decipher it immediately. In fact, it took only a few seconds for Dumbledore to hand over the wand that was as hard as a finger bone.

Ollivander was stunned when he saw the wand for the first time. His eyes were wide open and his eyes seemed to be torn apart. He took the wand with both hands and carefully held both ends, as if he was afraid of breaking it by accident.

But Ollivander took a deep breath, raised his head, and a gleam of light flashed in his eyes: "Is it really that, Dumbledore? Is it the legendary one? The old wand!"

Everyone was surprised by the question Ollivander asked, and the judges were stunned.

Bella's face was full of absurdity: "No wonder even Voldemort was no match for you more than a decade ago. Is the legend of the Elder Wand true?"

Little Barty was stung by Bella's words, but he had no time to feel angry for his master. His eyes looking at the Elder Wand had turned completely greedy.

If he could get this wand, would the Dark Lord still be afraid of the impostor Cyrus?

"What's the Elder Wand?" Harry asked in a low voice.

"This is a very popular legend in the wizarding world, Harry," Cyrus told him. "Almost every child born in the wizarding world has heard the story of Death and the three brothers. It is almost as well-known as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The difference is that Muggle fairy tales are just fairy tales, while wizard fairy tales may be true.

"To put it simply, this is a wand that makes you invincible. A wizard with the Elder Wand will never lose to his opponent in a duel, even if his enemy is Death itself!"

Cyrus's red-gold eyes flickered. He had once mastered a fake Elder Wand during Fitzgerald's trial. At that time, it felt like the wand contained endless power, as if all enemies were insignificant in front of him.

He actually had no idea how powerful the real Elder Wand was.

In the legends that have been passed down for thousands of years, the succession of the Elder Wand holders was rarely completed in fair duels. Most of them were assassinations or sneak attacks.

Perhaps the only exception was the battle between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, but Cyrus had not seen it with his own eyes and could not be sure.

Dumbledore only admitted that he was better at some "skills" than Grindelwald, not that he possessed magical powers far exceeding Grindelwald's.

"Ah——" Ollivander stroked every pattern on the Old Wand as if he were stroking a work of art. He exclaimed in amazement and was overwhelmed by this extraordinary wand.

He always believed that the wand chose the wizard, which was most thoroughly reflected in the Elder Wand, which was able to identify its true owner as if it were alive. So much so that although Ollivander had already felt its extraordinary power, he could not exert its true power.

After several minutes, he reluctantly returned the wand to Dumbledore.

The last one to undergo the wand test was Cyrus.

As soon as he raised his hand, a small dark green snake immediately crawled out from his sleeve. It stuck its head out, and its small eyes were like red gems inlaid on a sculpture.

Ollivander was amazed, and cautiously and carefully reached out his hand to Cyrus. In his eyes, the snake that was moving at this moment was a work of art that was no less than the Elder Wand! Cyrus' mind moved, and the dark green snake turned back into a small but flexible wand, and every snake scale on the wand was exceptionally clear.

"I never dreamed that one day I would see this legendary wand!" Ollivander breathed excitedly, with tear marks on his old white eyebrows.

This is not difficult to understand. Slytherin is one of the founders of Hogwarts. Every little wizard who graduated from Hogwarts, even if he was not from the Snake House, would feel honored when he saw this wand.

"The wand chooses the wizard. Apparently, I have not been recognized by these two wands." Ollivander waved the wand vigorously. He also did not feel what was special about this wand. "I heard that you awakened it in Ilvermorny, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Ollivander, only the true heir of Slytherin can unleash its full power." Cyrus said softly.

He wasn't even referring to just the gift of Parseltongue, but actual ability to be recognized by the wand.

Just like the same Parseltongue, the improvement brought by Harry using this wand and Cyrus using this wand will be completely different. Even if Voldemort himself came, he might not be able to make this snake demon wand more obedient.

"Snakewood, and the horn of the serpent king. The wand is in good condition." Ollivander finished this sentence quickly, because he felt that the wand in his hand seemed to be dissatisfied with being held in the hand of a mediocre person like him. It looked calm, but in fact it was struggling! He quickly handed the wand back. Now all the wands have been checked.

Then Babajide stood up. He looked even more haggard than before. Perhaps he had been racking his brains over the need to change the competition items in the past few days. He walked out from behind the black velvet table and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"There is no change in the time of the competition. Moreover, since we have already made some preparations, it would be difficult to breach the contract, so the first event can only make some minor changes on the original basis." Babajide said in embarrassment.

The International Confederation of Wizards has already contacted the dragon training farm in Romania, and those fire dragons are already on the way. We can't let them turn back, can we?

What's more, as one of the most dangerous magical animals, they couldn't think of anything else they could use except the fire dragon.

but--

Babajid glanced at Dumbledore -

It would be too difficult for the dragons to let these guys snatch dragon eggs, so the content of the competition had to be modified. The original few dragons were naturally far from enough. Fortunately, they received emergency friendly assistance from Newt Scamander, who brought in more kinds of magical animals.

"You will set out from Hogwarts and enter the Forbidden Forest. You are not allowed to use any props other than wands. Flying is prohibited. You must walk through the Forbidden Forest.

"The three warriors who are the principals must obtain a token to pass the test, while the other warriors only need to reach the finish line to complete it," said Babajide.

“During this process, we have stored some items and information related to the second trial. If you can find them, it may be of some help to your trial.

"It is worth mentioning that this time we are adopting an elimination system. You will enter the Forbidden Forest from the moment the first ray of sunlight rises, and those who have not reached the finish line after the sun sets completely will be eliminated."

(End of this chapter)