— — — — — —
The dragon was bound so tightly it could barely move.
Then... Like Snape, Professor Sprout had produced a collection of small bottles and was now standing beneath the restrained beast, carefully gathering dragon blood drop by drop.
It was a bizarre sight.
Silence seemed to engulf the world. Only the dragon's furious yet helpless roars echoed through the stadium as an uneasy quiet fell over the crowd.
The Hogwarts students, in particular, felt chills running down their spines.
Was this really the same friendly Herbology professor they knew? The one who always wore a warm smile and treated everyone kindly?
A dragon that enormous was being handled as effortlessly as a Flobberworm, completely powerless to resist.
So... the most terrifying professor at Hogwarts wasn't Snape.
It wasn't Moody, either.
It was Professor Sprout, the seemingly harmless Herbology teacher.
For a few moments, the Dream Arena sat in stunned silence.
Then an explosion of cheers shook the entire venue.
Most of that noise came from the Hufflepuffs.
Every single one of them looked ecstatic. Their faces glowed with pride as they deliberately sought eye contact with students from the other houses.
Weren't they always called weak? The invisible house? The forgettable house?
Well, look at this. Their Head of House had just annihilated a dragon using nothing but plants.
And this wasn't just any dragon. It was a Dragon of Dragons.
The excitement was contagious. Even the students sitting near the Hufflepuff section found themselves clapping mechanically.
Draco Malfoy, however, felt cold all over.
His face had gone deathly pale.
Among the Slytherins, he had always been one of the people who looked down on Hufflepuff the most. In his opinion, the house was filled with muggles, half-bloods, and leftovers that the other houses didn't want. He had never shown Professor Sprout much respect, either.
A horrifying thought suddenly crossed his mind.
Oh no.... She wouldn't hang him up like the dragon and drain his blood, would she?
The image flashed through his head, and his complexion turned even whiter.
He shifted restlessly in his seat, wishing he could immediately run back to the Slytherin common room and hide.
After recovering from his initial shock, Tom turned expressionlessly toward Snape.
At last, he understood. Professor Sprout hadn't entered the assessment to prove Hufflepuff's worth at all.
She had come for the dragon blood.
And there was no doubt who was responsible for that.
His dear Head of House, Severus Snape.
If Snape hadn't started this trend, would Tom have ended up getting milked for free twice in a single day?
Unfortunately, Snape didn't notice Tom's glare.
At that moment, his attention was fixed entirely on Professor Sprout.
He watched as she happily tucked away her fifth bottle of dragon blood and immediately felt a twinge of regret.
Five bottles? Seriously?
If he'd known she was going that far, he wouldn't have held back earlier. He would've collected five bottles himself.
Sigh~ Too late now.
Still, three bottles would last him a very long time.
And so the competition came to an end—one filled with surprises for the audience, regret from Snape, and delight for Sprout.
...
Under McGonagall and the other professors, the students slowly returned to the castle.
Tom, however, was intercepted by Fontaine in one of the castle's lounge corridors.
"Riddle, the match is over now. Surely you can release Professor Joseph?"
His calmness caught Tom off guard.
According to Tom's expectations, Fontaine should have come storming out long ago.
Instead, he had waited until now. And judging by his expression, he didn't seem particularly angry, either.
'Did something distract him?'
Though puzzled, Tom didn't let a hint of it show on his face. Calm and unhurried, he said, "Professor Fontaine, I was actually on my way to see you."
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"This is the kind of professor Ilvermorny sends to participate in my assessment?"
"I could overlook not knowing the rules. But openly questioning my fairness in front of everyone? I have every reason to suspect he was acting on your orders, attempting to completely ruin my plans for the bright future of the wizarding world."
Fontaine's mouth twitched.
"Riddle, let's not play games with each other. Joseph was only worried that, because he's from Ilvermorny, you'd deliberately target him. There was absolutely no intention of disrupting the Wizard Assessment."
He took a deep breath, his tone softening considerably. "You've made your point. You've established your authority. Ilvermorny and I have both lost face. How about we leave it at that?"
"Honestly, Riddle, there was never that much bad blood between us in the first place. Most of it came from misunderstandings piling up over time. And even that came from MACUSA, not Ilvermorny."
"I assure you I hold no hostility toward you or Hogwarts. If anything, I am open to cooperation. There are many areas in which our schools could exchange knowledge and learn from one another in the future."
"So let's put the past behind us. From now on, we stay out of each other's business. How does that sound?"
The offer of peace had actually come from Scott.
(A/N: You might be wondering—who the hell is Scott? Well, you might want to reread Chapter 642. He's the old wizard who held a high position among the Sun Chasers.)
...
Thanks to Andros's recent interference, countless wizards around the world were searching for traces of the Sun-Chasers, trying to uncover the secretive group hiding in the shadows.
With pressure mounting each day, and the organizations under them still wasting time fighting Tom and Dumbledore, how were they supposed to find the mysterious figure who had framed them?
Scott's instructions were simple: keep Dumbledore and Tom occupied, steer their attention, and avoid further conflict whenever possible.
"Oh..."
Tom didn't know about the deeper reasons behind Fontaine's sudden change in attitude, but he was quite pleased by it.
"Professor Fontaine, I've always believed that harmony is the key to prosperity." A smile appeared on his face. "If you'd said that earlier, we never would've ended up in this mess. Fine. I'll return Professor Joseph to you right now."
After all, he had never planned to do anything serious to Joseph.
If Fontaine wanted to ease tensions, then so be it.
Better yet, it might make the man lower his guard.
Smiling to someone's face while stabbing them in the back later wasn't exactly a bad trick.
Fontaine happily extended his hand. Tom did the same.
The two shook hands amiably before Tom led him to where Joseph was being held.
Joseph had been pinned down the entire time. Aside from still being restrained, he hadn't suffered any real injuries.
The moment he saw Tom enter, his eyes widened furiously.
He clearly wanted to say something. Unfortunately, his mouth was completely plugged by the massive body of a python, leaving him capable of producing only muffled, incoherent noises.
Tom casually dispelled the magic.
Without lingering for even a moment, he turned around and left the lounge.
Whatever Fontaine needed to say to calm Joseph down was none of his concern.
Daphne had taken first place today. He still needed to get back and prepare a proper victory banquet for the young lady tonight.
And, more importantly... He needed to think very carefully about how to make Snape compensate him for everything he'd lost today.
.
.
.