"...It's over?"
The spectators present still had not quite reacted.
They had only blinked after being dazzled by the light. How had that entire group of Dark wizards all collapsed?
What happened to the dozens of vicious Dark wizards? What happened to the realistic, tense, thrilling final battle?
It was just... over?
And among the baffled crowd, Fleur and Krum were the most bewildered of all. They were still blankly touching the edge of the shield, having yet to understand what had happened.
They had been properly fighting the match, so why had they suddenly been thrown out? Then the inside had flashed once, and everything was over?
What happened?
"Ahem... In that case, I hereby announce that the third task of the Triwizard Tournament has officially concluded."
Dumbledore gave a dry cough, his aged voice carrying a faint trace of bewilderment as it echoed across all of Durmstrang.
"However, considering that during the course of the match, there was a small... er, accident, the judges will first suspend the tallying and announcement of the scores, as well as the explanation of the many incidents and twists that occurred during this match. We will first inspect whether any issues arose with the competition facilities, and use that to determine our judgment on certain matters... Please wait for a moment."
After saying that, he shut off his Sonorous Charm and walked down from the judges' stand together with the other three judges, whose expressions were equally complicated. They went straight to the edge of the shield, then looked up at Avada, who was still standing on the high platform...
"Can you come out on your own?"
"Yes."
Looking at Dumbledore, as well as the mixture of bafflement and resentment in the eyes of the other three judges and the two champions, the corners of Avada's mouth twitched. Then he slowly controlled the shield to lower himself down, before shutting it off completely.
The Dark wizards inside, who had originally been piled up into a small mountain, suddenly lost the restraint of the shield. With a clatter, they scattered in all directions, spreading all the way to beneath the feet of the judges and champions...
"..."
The corner of Dumbledore's eye visibly twitched. When he looked at Avada, he also forcibly kept his voice steady.
"This shield... was cracked by you?"
"Yes... It didn't violate the rules, right?"
"It seems not. Did you rely entirely on your own ability to crack this shield?"
Dumbledore asked again, and his tone carried a hint of probing.
"Did anyone else, through any other means, secretly tell you about the structure of this shield and where its weaknesses were?"
"...No."
—No, Professor, it would be one thing for everyone else to be surprised, but why do you look as though this was completely unexpected too? Could it be that aside from revealing that I was about to become a student of Leach University, Grindelwald didn't tell Dumbledore anything else at all, such as the matters concerning souls and the Deathly Hallows?
"We need to inspect the structure of the shield."
Dumbledore took out the Elder Wand and crouched down, then lightly touched the ground. The grass covering the ground instantly transformed into countless ropes, binding the Dark wizards scattered all over the place in an instant. Then it neatly packed them up and lifted them to the side, leaving the land that had carried the shield empty.
This move also made Avada's pupils constrict slightly.
This ground had been specially reinforced with magic. Even while mobilizing the power of his soul, he absolutely could not complete such large-scale and precise Transfiguration as casually as Dumbledore had.
Sure enough, he still could not get too inflated. He had to always remember that he was only a researcher, and did not possess power on the level of those top-tier wizards.
After that, the other three judges also took out their wands and aimed them at the ground, sensing the structure of the shield. However, Avada noticed that Old Barty Crouch lowered his head under the cover of drawing his wand. His lips moved slightly, and he whispered something into the air.
Then, a few seconds later, Ludo Bagman—who was actually Barty Crouch Jr. and had still been lying among the crowd—suddenly vanished without warning.
As expected, he already made a deal with Dumbledore and Leach University in advance. The Disillusionment Charm on that house-elf is far more sophisticated than the magic house-elves innately possess, to the point that even Karkaroff and Maxime, who are clearly so close, didn't notice anything...
After seeing this scene, Avada became even more certain of his guess.
As a high-ranking Ministry official with a fatal weakness, Leach University naturally could not possibly let go of such an opportunity to get him firmly in their grip and plant an inside contact within the Ministry. And Barty Crouch Jr.'s escape was practically a pillow delivered right to their doorstep.
Since those Death Eaters had dared to contact Grindelwald, they must have already let him learn of Barty Crouch Jr.'s existence. And once this matter was exposed, it would also have an extremely fatal impact on Old Barty himself.
So he could only choose to ask the university for help. And Dumbledore, who had known about Barty Jr.'s existence to begin with, naturally could not be bypassed either...
The reason all of this was still only conjecture was because the Nathan Clarke avatar he had left at the university had not participated in this plan.
First, this project did not require too many people to begin with. Second, he had only just finished a major project and was currently in a vacation state where he would not participate in missions unless there was an emergency. In addition, Avada himself might need to draw his mental power back to the avatar at any time, so rashly participating in important events would only add more instability...
"That should be about enough."
After a while, Dumbledore was the first to stand. He looked toward Karkaroff and Maxime, who still seemed reluctant to get up.
"The two of you should have seen it as well. The structure of the shield was entirely according to the design. No hidden doors were added, nor were there any traces of it being broken open or operated by external force. All previous changes originated from inside the shield... It is difficult to believe, but that is reality."
"..."
After seemingly checking once or twice more out of unwillingness to admit defeat, Karkaroff and Madame Maxime finally put away their wands and stood up, sweeping their extremely complicated gazes across Dumbledore's and Avada's faces.
"You really have taken in a good student, Dumbledore."
Karkaroff sighed, his tone unclear as to whether it was jealousy or helplessness.
"No wonder he was chosen so early by—"
"That's enough, Igor."
Dumbledore gently shook his head, cutting off Karkaroff's remark.
"Since no problems were found, we can go announce the results. Our students probably still have quite a few questions waiting for us to explain."
"And Mr. Crouch... How is Mr. Bagman now?"
"Very well."
Crouch seemed to grit his teeth.
"He has been secretly recuperating for several months already. Your Memory Charm worked extremely well... He got off far too cheaply!"
"Now, now. Mr. Bagman was merely bewitched. Besides, you could also be considered to have indirectly made him suffer, couldn't you?"
Dumbledore looked at Old Barty with a faint smile that was not quite a smile, causing the latter to tremble almost imperceptibly.
"You're right, Albus. Let's go back."
(End of Chapter)