"Mr. Krum if you will."
Followed by the sound of rustling was what Cassius heard next.
He'd done the same when Fleur had chosen as unlike in the movies their choices were hidden from one another, adding to the intrigue should the task truly have been hidden from them.
Fleurs draw however was not the same as it should have been, was that because she was now aligned with him, or because there were more than the four seen in the movie within that bag making it truly random.
Afterall Fleur in the media hesitated when reaching in while his Fleur had not.
But what he heard next changed his thoughts again.
"The Chinese Fireball, ooooooo"
Krum's pick had been the same as in the works.
So someone was working against them then?
Cassius had long expected this, his forces had been building up for years, as an open secret only no one knew who truly commanded them, but now with the arrival of Grindelwald and his announcement that Cassius was his pupil.
All focus in Britain worried that they had two different dark lords to contend with at once.
Voldemort still hiding in the shadows with his Death Eaters becoming more and more active in recent months.
While Grindelwald has just appeared, while the Arcana is a growing wizarding organization that no one could find the founder of.
The coincidences were lining up almost a little to well for comformt.
Dots were being connected.
And without even confirming anything, the public had come to believe that Grindelwald was indeed leading a third faction, one which Cassius must belong to as his student.
A competitor to the forces of light, and the forces of darkness.
The ministry tolerated the forces of light due to Dumbledores own personal power and position, but the Arcana, that was a thorn in their side that had been growing larger and larger with each passing year.
Many within the ministry itself were even leaving their positions to go and join this burgeoning masterpiece, since they were actually doing something, not simply keeping the status quo.
If an election was to be held for the position of magical governance, it would be gobsmacking to see Fudge eek out a win, even with Dumbledores support at this rate.
Krum had set forth into the arena, his spell work a masterclass in brute force.
Even from his position dozens of meters away the shockwaves of his casting reverberated and shook everything.
But Cassius didn't care.
Krum would advance just like he had done before.
The real question would be, how to deal with Harry.
Technically speaking either of their blood could be used in the ritual to resurrect Voldemort, though Harry was no doubt the target, unless their lineage was openly exposed for all the world to see, but that was a secret he planned to hold onto a while longer, one to be used at the penultimate moment to bring Lily Evans to her knees right in front of her sons.
Voldemort needed to be resurrected, that much was clear.
There were no horcruxes to deal with which meant Voldemort would be at his strongest and most sane having a near complete soul housed within his new body.
And if all he truly chased after was a means to escape death, perhaps Cassius could help him with that.
Though some manner of spiritual cleansing would be needed to bring him back from the dark side he had fallen down into.
The death eaters…
Hah they were a joke.
The inner circle was all but broken already with the loss of the three most important Azkaban breakouts, then followed by the deaths of dozens at the World cup.
It would be surprising if even resurrected that Voldemort could use fear to incite another civil war at all.
He would avoid the Arcana for quite some time, since it rivaled Hogwarts in terms of the power stored within.
Of course he could choose to flee, get what he wanted from harry before departing from these lands, building up forces abroad before returning to seek his vengeance kind of like what Grindelwald himself had done almost a century before.
But pride, that would stop him.
The man feared more than most, would not flee, he could not flee, his entire name was built upon lies he fed others.
If he fled those lies would unravel, his secrets would become known, and from that no one would openly chose to follow him any longer.
Minutes passed and finally Crouch returned this time summoning Cassius.
Getting up from his cot, and striding across the open terrain, Grindelwald ceased his discussion with Dumbledore and trailed after.
In the new section of the champions tent, Ludo bagman stood off to the side, while Mr. Crouch held out a Velvet bag.
"Reach in and choose your opponent, Mr. Snape."
Cassius stepped forward.
His fingers slipped into the velvet sack, and began searching.
He could feel a few different forms wriggling around from within, but he didn't want ordinary.
There.
Something considerably larger than the others.
He wrapped his hand around it before withdrawing the dragon he had deemed as the most challenging to deal with.
As he opened his hand to reveal it, it's wings unfurled revealing a black dragon.
Jet black, like its very hide was cut from the night sky itself.
Its leathery wings, folded up tight to its body, Its long tail ended not with a simple club... But with cruel, arrow-shaped barbs, just like the Horntail.
The tent grew noticeably quieter as the four wizards stared at the choice resting in young Cassius's hand.
Even Bagman's smile stiffened.
"...The Hebridean Black."
Cassius maintained a stoneface, hiding his knowledge of the beast in his hand.
The Hebridean Black, is a Scottish dragon species tied for first against the Hungarian Horntail for being the most aggressive of all dragon species.
However while the Horntail is listed as being aggressive, the Hebridean is more so, to maintain safety the Hebrideans are given 100Km^2 territories in which to manage, entering that territory is to acknowledge certain death.
But the other rivalling point is that the Hebridean's are the largest of modern dragon species.
Easily growing to be 30ft or more, while the Horntail at its largest is just over 30ft.
To have included this species alongside the Horntail itself when two of the competitors are only fourth years students, well it was very clear someone or something was trying to weave a web behind the scenes.
But next to him, Grindelwald seemed pleased with Cassius's pick, declaring it a fine test to pit his skills against.
Cassius couldn't help but agree with his teacher, the harder the dragon was to face, the more impressive victory would be once the dragon was beaten.
Though surprisingly there were some rules Cassius was made aware of that the other two had not.
First of which it was stated to be against the rules to slay the dragon.
Effectively they were trying to handicap him, preventing his use of the most deadly spells probably taught to him by Grindelwald.
Next up Dark magic likewise was not allowed.
Citing the fact being they would be watched by all grades of students and they didn't want anyone picking up his dark magic spells to try on a whim later.
Then a few other about how he could not leave the boundaries of the arena, could only fight with the wand registered to him and no outside tools.
After hearing all the meddling that either the Dark Forces, or even the Light were putting on him through the ministry itself.
Cassius wanted to burst out in laughter.
It was absurd.
Pit him against the strongest of known dragon species, then reduce him to fighting almost like a muggle in 1-1 combat.
And they had the call to call this tournament Honorable, and Just?
Well when he had his turn in the spotlight, Cassius would shock the world as he shows he doesn't need any of his taught skills to take down a welp of a dragon like the Hebidean.
He afterall had a secret weapon, one he'd been working on for years thanks to help from his Godfather Sirius, Business partner Lupin, and even involvement from his own Father Severus.
The latest advancement in research being conducted by the Arcanum institute.
And so with his selection made, he was ushered forward.
Headed down a long tunnel that led him underground.
Earthen walls on the sides until they turned from soil to rock.
And a hole of light could be seen.
Like he had walked through the tunnel from one location to another, having left the grassy knoll, for a rocky outcropping instead.
The view even a few feet back from fully emerging into the arena was surreal.
He'd seen this exact point of view before in the movie, and yet actually standing here.
Caused his heart to flutter more than it had during the Quidditch World Cup finals.
This was the true start of his journey, the place where his might of magical means was put out before him for all the world to see.