At this moment, Bagman almost wanted to kill Ollivander.
He had just told Link that Ollivander was one of their own, and that he would go easy on Link during the wand inspection.
But Ollivander turned right around and spilled every last detail about what kind of magic Link was good at.
This was simply a slap in the face.
He turned his head and glanced toward the judges' seats, only to see Karkaroff and Maxime both wearing an expression of secret glee at having "accidentally" learned something important. This made him even angrier.
As for why a Hogwarts student like Link would be skilled in curse-type dark magic, Bagman didn't find it strange.
After all, the Flamel family had a background of dark wizards.
Inherited family tradition. Normal.
Meanwhile, Ollivander himself was so nervous that cold sweat was running down.
Being a wandmaker was actually an extremely dangerous profession.
Because the Ministry of Magic often invited wandmakers to examine the subtle traces on wands in order to determine what spells their owners had cast before, or how many people they had killed.
So after committing evil deeds, many dark wizards would casually kill any nearby wandmakers to silence them.
Ollivander's grandfather had died exactly this way.
And now, Ollivander felt he was about to follow in his grandfather's footsteps.
Because just now he had discovered not only a large number of traces of high-level curse-type dark magic on Link's wand…
He had also found the aura of death that only appears on corpses.
Ebony wood naturally absorbs the free-floating aura of death from the surrounding air, so this discovery wasn't strange in itself.
The problem was, the aura of death clinging to this ebony wand was far too thick.
Considering Link had only been using this wand for a few short years, the truth was obvious.
Link Flamel had killed more than one person with this wand.
After coming to this conclusion, Ollivander's hands were shaking so badly he could barely hold onto the wand.
His only comfort now was that Bagman had stopped him in time just now, before he said anything about the aura of death.
Otherwise, with the ruthless methods of the Flamel family, he figured his corpse would be lying in the street within days.
"Mr. Flamel, your, your wand is in excellent condition. Absolutely no problems at all."
Link took back his wand from Ollivander without saying a word and returned straight to his seat.
He didn't think Ollivander's leaking of information about him was any big deal.
After all, he knew very well that his own strength already far surpassed that of ordinary students. Under the crushing weight of absolute power, even if others knew more about him, it still wouldn't cause him any trouble.
What came next was much simpler.
Frightened by Link like that, Ollivander had no more mood for playing games.
In just a few motions he was done with Harry's wand inspection, and then he shouldered his toolbox and fled Hogwarts as if his life depended on it.
Even Dumbledore didn't stop him.
"All right then, it's photo time!"
Bagman returned to his excited manner, gesturing as he called out, "Come on, everyone together!"
The crowd slowly gathered.
Rita Skeeter, perhaps noticing Link's displeasure, quickly leaned in close and whispered to him, "Mr. Flamel, the article I'm writing this time won't only be published in the Daily Prophet, but also in the International Confederation of Wizards Gazette, circulated to wizards of other countries."
"And the photos we're taking now will be used as the cover image. So please, if you could just..."
Link raised his hand to cut her off and walked into the group.
In his mind, it was only a photo. Shouldn't take long.
But reality proved that wizard photographers were far less professional than Muggle master photographers.
Just the small issue of Madame Maxime being too large and blocking the others took nearly half an hour for this group of Daily Prophet photographers to resolve.
In the end, it was only solved reluctantly when Madame Maxime herself found a stool and sat in the back.
Though it wasted a long time, everyone remained patient before the cameras.
Fleur was perhaps the happiest of all.
Because Rita Skeeter, for some unknown reason, directly placed Link in the middle "C position," then had Fleur stand right next to him, posed to look like a delicate, dependent little bird.
Dumbledore and the others didn't object. In fact, Madame Maxime even seemed pleased with it.
As for Krum, Link had thought that as a sports star, Krum would already be used to flashes and cameras.
But unexpectedly, Krum kept trying to squeeze into the back, clearly not wanting to be in the shot at all.
Surprisingly shy.
"All right! Thank you everyone for your cooperation!"
With a sudden flash, the bearded cameraman carrying the heavy camera wiped his sweat and spoke.
He had been terribly anxious just now.
Luckily, no one blamed him, and everyone began filing out of the classroom.
Harry left especially quickly, looking preoccupied.
Seeing this, Link couldn't help but feel concerned. He caught up and said, "Harry, are you all right?"
"Me? Of course I'm fine."
Seeing Harry's confused expression, Link wanted to ask further, but Harry went on, "Oh, you mean about those badges, right? Don't worry, I won't take it to heart. If they want to say things, let them say them."
As he said this, Harry's face was calm. Using his Legilimency, Link could tell Harry wasn't lying.
He really didn't care.
That was strange, because in Link's impression, Harry had always been a sensitive kid.
"Then why were you leaving in such a rush?" Link asked.
"It's Hermione," Harry sighed.
"Right before Potions we ran into Draco. You know how that guy always loves to mess with me. So we had a little conflict, and in the middle of it an accident happened, Hermione was hit by a spell."
"She's still in the infirmary. I'm just anxious to see her. But don't worry, she's fine, it's just that her front teeth grew a lot longer."
"As for those rumors, you really don't need to worry. Sirius already wrote to me, gave me some advice. And I remember what you told me earlier too, if I need help, I'll come to you."
Harry mumbled on for quite a while.
Hearing this, Link finally nodded in relief.
If it was Sirius Black, then maybe he really could help Harry see things clearly.
After all, having been wrongly accused and carrying infamy for more than ten years, Sirius had plenty of experience with gossip and slander.
After a moment of thought, Link remembered how Hermione and the others had often visited him when he was hospitalized before, and said, "Let me come with you to see Hermione."
Since the two hadn't stopped walking while talking, they had already arrived at the infirmary door by this point.
Harry froze for a moment, glanced up at the door, then spoke awkwardly, "Better not."
"What's wrong?" Link frowned. "Didn't you just say it was only her teeth? Madam Pomfrey shouldn't keep us out."
"Uh… it's not that. I just think Hermione won't want to see you. Honestly, she doesn't even want to see me right now."
Link, "?"
"Think about it," Harry spread his hands, "Hermione's still a girl. Do you really think she'd want us to see her looking like that?"
Harry's words left Link speechless.
For the first time, he realized, Harry actually had emotional intelligence.
———
In the days that followed, Link returned to his school routine.
Every day was just lessons and being glued to Emily.
Of course, Link didn't forget Hermione.
The day after her injury, he specifically went to Gryffindor to visit her, and even brought her an automatic quill made from peacock feather as a gift.
The whole visit went very well.
But whenever Link thought back on that scene, he silently thanked Harry.
Because according to Harry, when he had gone alone to visit Hermione in the infirmary earlier, he had been beaten terribly.
Four days after the photo session, Rita Skeeter's article was finally published in the Daily Prophet and the International Confederation of Wizards Gazette.
Rita Skeeter had fully understood Link's hint, or warning.
In that article, she basically praised Link as the only real candidate for the Triwizard Cup, filling nearly seventy percent of the article with flowery but meaningless flattery about him.
Of the remaining thirty percent, Fleur alone took up half.
That was also thanks to Link.
Because in the article, Rita Skeeter publicly revealed Fleur's veela heritage in suggestive and ambiguous terms.
She painted Fleur as flirtatious, a scheming girl infatuated with Link's family and talent.
Most importantly, under Rita Skeeter's brilliant wordplay, anyone who read the article would feel that Fleur had practically already succeeded, had won over Link, and that Link was drowning in her charm.
This was, in fact, a kind of public-opinion attack on Fleur and Beauxbatons, because it would inevitably stir readers into criticizing Fleur.
As for Krum and Harry, they were brushed over in just a few words.
Rita Skeeter even spelled Krum's name wrong.
Once this issue of the paper was released, Link was immediately hit by another wave of fan frenzy.
Large groups of younger students would gather outside the Hufflepuff common room every day after class, waiting for Link, then mob him.
Within Hufflepuff it wasn't too bad, since everyone saw him daily and was familiar with him.
But when Cedric actually cut out that article and posted it on Hufflepuff's bare "honor wall," Link's last quiet refuge was gone.
Now, basically every time he stepped outside, he was surrounded by crowds.
The fanatic students even edged toward him during Potions, despite Snape's murderous glare.
Unable to stand it anymore, Link quickly decided, he would take Emily to Hogsmeade.
At least there, they could enjoy a peaceful weekend.
But what he hadn't expected was that, since the Triwizard Tournament was Hogwarts' absolute focus this year, it had also become a hot topic for the residents of Hogsmeade.
After all, the villagers made their living off the Hogwarts students.
Whatever students liked, they would sell.
So in shops all over Hogsmeade, Rita Skeeter's report about Link was posted.
Walking down the bustling street, Link looked troubled. He quickly turned a corner and led Emily into Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.
In his mind, this quiet couple's tea shop shouldn't stoop to posting his picture just to attract customers.
But he was too naive.
Not only had Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop posted Rita Skeeter's article, it was a giant enlarged version.
Hung right on the ceiling.
Every person who walked in only had to look up slightly to see the article, along with the group photo of all the champions and judges.
"Pfft!"
Seeing Link's despairing expression, Emily couldn't hold back her laughter.
Then, perhaps feeling a little guilty, she stroked his hair and said, "Don't worry about it. At least they took a good picture of you."
That was the truth.
Since Rita Skeeter had always intended Link as the main star, she had ensured the angle and lighting put him in the best position. The result perfectly showed his handsomeness.
The only awkward part was that Fleur was standing very close beside him. In the photo, it looked almost as if she were pressed up against him.
Staring at the picture for a while, Link finally asked, a little uneasy, "You're not mad?"
"Mad?" Emily's eyes curved into an amused, meaningful smile. "Do you mean mad about the rumors of you and Fleur being a couple? Or mad about you sneaking off to see Hermione without telling me?"
Hearing this, Link froze up, about to make excuses, when Emily continued, "Actually, I'm not a petty person. You're a perfectly normal boy, I understand, I won't fuss."
"But. When this term ends, we'll be getting engaged. After that, this kind of thing absolutely won't be allowed. Otherwise..."
Emily didn't finish the sentence, but the killing intent in her words made Link break out in goosebumps.
He nodded at once, like a hammer striking a drum.
After all, Emily had grown up under Lady Flamel's teaching.
Sometimes she might act silly, but when it came to methods and ruthlessness, she was definitely among the top in England.
Link was confident that even if he really did something, Emily wouldn't do anything to him directly.
But the girls involved with him would be doomed.
Emily would skin them alive.
Seeing Link's terrified reaction, Emily giggled, then clung to his arm, looking no different from all the other girls in the tea shop with their boyfriends.
And just then, Link saw a familiar silver-haired girl suddenly walk into the shop, heading straight toward him and Emily.
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