Cassandra couldn't help but laugh in exasperation at Astoria's words.
But since this wasn't an official competition, she didn't press the matter further. Instead, she grew eager for the challenge.
This was a perfect opportunity to gauge just how formidable a Unicorn's combat abilities were—knowledge that might prove useful in future matches.
Though Diana appeared soft, fragrant, pink, and utterly adorable...
Cassandra had no intention of holding back!
Yet this resolve quickly evaporated.
At Astoria's command, Diana transformed into a streak of light, charging forward.
The hastily erected Shield Charm was pierced instantly by the Unicorn's horn. Before Cassandra could react, the sharp tip had already halted mere centimetres from her chest.
"Taht speed!" Hagrid exclaimed, having appeared at some point unnoticed.
The other professors' eyes widened in astonishment.
While Unicorns were known for their swiftness—common knowledge to anyone with basic education—Diana's velocity had surpassed all expectations. In the blink of an eye, she'd traversed from Astoria's side to right before Cassandra.
"Yay, I win!" Astoria cheered, calling Diana back and hugging the Unicorn's neck affectionately.
"Is that child truly a beast-tamer?" Zaka muttered, eyeing the pair with uncertainty.
Their school's archives mentioned ancient wizards who fought alongside magical creatures, even commanding entire forests' beasts.
Professor McGonagall offered an awkward yet polite smile. She hadn't the faintest idea how to respond to that question.
Even if there were beast-tamers, shouldn't it be Wayne rather than Greengrass?
...
Cassandra departed in frustration. Both matches had been exasperating—victories feeling like defeats, and defeats resembling instant obliteration.
Learning later that this Unicorn was actually Wayne's three-year-old pet only compounded her irritation.
"How did Diana become so fast?"
During dinner, Hermione voiced a question that puzzled many.
"I made some minor modifications to her horn," Wayne explained. "It trades stamina for greater speed."
As the most important part of a Unicorn, the horn on its forehead possesses immense energy, yet Unicorns don't know how to utilise it properly, only using it for charging or performing simple healing abilities.
With Wayne making some minor modifications—adding a few acceleration and sharpening enchantments—its power was dramatically enhanced.
Hermione suddenly understood. "No wonder she charges faster than a Firebolt."
Then she chuckled. "By the way, that 'Beast Tamer' nonsense you mentioned earlier—the two Headmasters seemed to take it seriously. They've been pestering Professor McGonagall with questions nonstop."
Wayne laughed too. "I was just teasing Astoria. Who knew she'd actually remember it?"
"But if she ever really needs it, I can just release Ho-Oh and the others. Let's see who dares say that's not beast taming."
Ho-Oh, Thunderbird, Unicorn, Iron-eating Beast, Zouwu, and the soon-to-arrive dragon...
With that lineup, even Grindelwald wouldn't dare raise his voice.
...
After dinner, Wayne went to tutor Harry and Malfoy. Unbeknownst to him, Fontaine and Zaka had already approached Dumbledore, demanding changes to the tournament rules.
The original rules had no restrictions regarding magical creatures, but now they insisted on adding them.
Dumbledore didn't object and readily agreed, on the condition that the amendment would pass unanimously once the other school Heads arrived.
Satisfied with the response, the two Headmasters left the office.
Dumbledore gazed pensively out the window at the night sky.
Earlier that afternoon, Moody had received a letter—not for him, but from Voldemort to Barty Crouch Jr.
Written entirely in code, Dumbledore had only deciphered its contents after using the Imperius Curse on Barty Jr. Unfortunately, he couldn't trace Voldemort's current location from it.
The message was simple: Barty Jr. must ensure Harry participated and won the tournament. Nothing particularly useful.
Yet what troubled Dumbledore now was precisely how to guarantee Harry's victory.
Knowing the tournament tasks, he couldn't possibly ensure Harry's success.
Voldemort... Couldn't he have chosen a simpler method?
Just have Barty Jr. kidnap Harry directly and reveal the location. Delivery guaranteed that very night.
Must he make everything so convoluted?
For once, Dumbledore felt uncharacteristically restless. A sense of foreboding gnawed at him—one unrelated to Voldemort, but concerning the entire wizarding world.
Hogwarts' student numbers grew yearly, an extremely abnormal trend.
While the wizarding population increased, their living space shrank. This imbalance would inevitably lead to disaster.
In a country of tens of millions, hiding a miniature society of ten thousand posed no difficulty.
But what about a hundred thousand? Several hundred thousand? Even a million?
Sometimes... too many wizards could become a problem.
Like during the World Cup finals, a mere hundred thousand wizards gathering for one day caused unprecedented chaos. More people meant greater risks of incidents.
Dumbledore still hadn't identified the root of this issue. That uncertainty unsettled him most.
...
On Monday, when the students arrived at the Great Hall after their morning lessons, they discovered that the students from Koldovoretz had already arrived.
They wore snow-white fur school uniforms and felt hats. The male students were exceptionally burly, while the female students were tall and slender, most of them with striking golden hair.
Many students couldn't help stealing glances at those blonde beauties.
"The Russians are really good-looking," Toby whispered to Wayne.
"Short shelf life, though. They'll age in a few years," Wayne replied dismissively.
Dumbledore stood up and introduced Koldovoretz's Headmaster—Katerina, a woman in her fifties whose height rivalled Dumbledore's own. Her fiery red lips drew more attention than her bearskin waistcoat.
Perhaps to welcome them, today's lunch included borscht.
Wayne took a few sips before losing interest. The sweet and sour taste was odd—probably due to the added cream—and not to his liking.
The beef in it was decent on its own, though.
Suddenly, Cedric's nose twitched. "Do you lot smell alcohol?"
"I do."
"Me too. It's strong."
"Which professor's drinking?"
The little badgers looked up at the staff table. Moody wasn't there, and none of the other professors were drinking... except Koldovoretz's Headmaster.
But one person couldn't possibly produce such a strong smell. After glancing around, they finally located the source—and gaped in astonishment.
Were all the Koldovoretz students drinking?
"Good heavens!" Professor McGonagall had also noticed the issue, staring in shock as a student took a large swig, their face rapidly turning crimson.
"Alcohol is prohibited for minors! Professor Katerina, aren't you going to intervene?"
Katerina rattled off a stream of Russian, but fortunately, Professor McGonagall's extensive knowledge allowed her to understand.
"That's British law - it doesn't apply to my students. At Koldovstoretz, any student can drink if they wish, though only teachers may do so during lessons."
Having said this, she took another sip herself and sighed contentedly.
Professor McGonagall was dumbfounded. "Dumbledore, what should we do?"
"Respect their customs," Dumbledore replied helplessly. It was their tradition, and he had no right to interfere.
Eventually, after struggling for words, Professor McGonagall managed only: "Madam Rosmerta will be absolutely delighted," thus ending the conversation.
She simply couldn't comprehend what state of mind would permit students to drink at school.
...
Over the next two days, the students from three schools brought renewed liveliness to Hogwarts. None were happier than Wayne and his Celia Store.
Nearly six hundred new customers ensured he, Cedric and the twins were coining it, with points on the system panel rising steadily.
Maps, prank items, and most expensive of all - gacha games - were gradually emptying these young wizards' purses.
The wealthiest were undoubtedly the nouveau riche from Ilvermorny. Their vast lands and sparse population meant abundant resources, and due to legislative reasons, there were very few Muggle-borns at their school - most came from wizarding families with exceptionally generous allowances.
Take Cassandra - she'd already spent two hundred galleons in just a few days, making Wayne regard her with considerably more warmth.
"Are you that short of money?" The blonde girl squirmed under Wayne's benevolent gaze.
"I seem to recall you asking that before," Wayne said suspiciously. "Didn't I explain already? I simply enjoy the process and pleasure of making money."
"Weirdo," Cassandra muttered under her breath, watching as Wayne refilled the machine's card packs again.
I've got even stranger habits than that.
Wayne nearly said it to scare her, but thought better of it - no need to actually be labelled a pervert. Instead, he changed the subject: "Haven't you had any classes these days? Just wandering around school constantly - aren't you worried about falling behind?"
Cassandra shook her head slightly. "Headmaster Fontaine said they'd arrange a unified schedule after students from the other schools arrive."
A cold smile flickered across her face. "I can't wait to meet Sakura..."
Seeing her expression, Wayne silently mourned for Sakura's impending fate.
...
On Wednesday evening, the final three schools were due to arrive at Hogwarts.
This time, the welcoming party was even larger, with students from Ilvermorny, Uagadou and Koldovstoretz standing alongside Hogwarts' contingent under their headmasters' supervision.
First to arrive were the Beauxbatons students.
They'd barely taken their positions when Dumbledore called out: "Ah, if I'm not mistaken, the Beauxbatons delegation approaches!"
"Where?"
"There! Above the Forbidden Forest!" shouted a sixth-year.
Everyone turned towards the sound to see three enormous shapes rapidly crossing the deep blue sky, heading straight for the castle.
They were three massive powder-blue carriages, each extravagantly decorated with twelve crystal lanterns, pulled by twelve winged Abraxans whose neck bells jingled merrily.
The sheer spectacle left everyone stunned.
The carriages touched down, one slightly ahead with the other two following side by side.
A boy in light blue robes leapt down, bent to fumble with something, then unfolded a golden staircase before stepping respectfully aside. A gleaming high-heeled shoe emerged from the carriage.
The sight of that shoe drew gasps - it was large enough to serve as a sled. Just how tall must its wearer be?
Soon enough, Madame Maxime descended gracefully. Today, she was swathed head-to-toe in black silk, with magnificent jewels adorning her neck and thick fingers.
Dumbledore and the other headmasters began applauding, and the students quickly joined in.
"My dear Madame Maxime," Dumbledore took her proffered hand, barely needing to bend to perform the hand-kiss, "welcome to Hogwarts."
"I trust you're well, Professor Dumbledore," Maxime said in her deep voice.
The same boy now opened the other two carriages, from which students emerged in orderly fashion, all dressed in silk uniforms, many girls with scarves or headscarves covering their hair.
"Have Karkaroff and Kuga arrived?" Madame Maxime inquired.
"They'll be here presently," Dumbledore said softly. "Would you prefer to wait here or go inside to warm up?"
"Together," Maxime smiled. It wouldn't do for her to lead her students in alone while all these headmasters waited outside.
With an absent wave, the Beauxbatons students formed neat lines.
Maxime and Dumbledore discussed the care of several dozen Abraxans - they required malt whiskey, though whether that constituted drunk driving for horses remained debatable.
Students from various schools couldn't stop glancing towards the Beauxbatons contingent.
Well, specifically at the Beauxbatons girls.
The blue silk accentuated the girls' slender figures - undoubtedly the most beautiful uniforms they'd ever seen.
A few girls stood out particularly - they were tiny, like little beans, clearly not yet of enrolment age.
One kept looking around as if searching for something.
"Mr Lawrence!" Madame Maxime scanned the crowd. "Do come here. We barely spoke last time."
At this, students buzzed with whispered conversations as surrounding badgers simultaneously turned towards the named boy, parting to create a path.
Under everyone's gaze, Wayne had no choice but to approach Madame Maxime. Mirroring Dumbledore, he performed a hand-kiss. "Madame, welcome."
Madame Maxime smiled warmly. "Thank you, Mr Lawrence. How have you been?"
"Very well indeed, thank you for asking."
"Someone's been pining for you so desperately they've been counting down the days," Maxime teased with a smirk, glancing at her students.
"Fleur, Gabrielle, come along now. Oh, Dumbledore, you wouldn't mind letting the children catch up first, would you? Standing around waiting is dreadfully dull."
"Of course not," Dumbledore chuckled. "I'm no stubborn old man who enjoys interrupting young people's... pleasant reunions."
"Splendid."
As they spoke, Fleur was already leading Gabrielle forward.
The moment they reached the boy, Gabrielle wriggled free from her sister's grip and dashed into Wayne's arms, declaring in fluent English:
"Big brother, I missed you so much! Even more than sister did~"
She punctuated this with a loud kiss on Wayne's cheek.
Wayne laughed, bouncing the little girl in his arms. "You've grown quite a bit, Gabrielle."
Suddenly, a collective sharp intake of breath rippled through the crowd.
Fleur unwound the scarf around her neck, revealing her increasingly breathtaking features. Her silver-glinting emerald eyes, like embedded gemstones, shone with delight as they fixed on Wayne.
She then removed her headscarf, and a cascade of shimmering silver hair tumbled down, nearly reaching her waist.
"Move aside, move aside!"
Hermione, forgetting all about discipline, elbowed her way to the front of the line alongside Cho and Astoria, staring at this 'rival' they'd only heard about from Wayne and Fleur's letters.
A massive, flashing "DANGER" sign lit up in her mind!
Fleur shot a discreet glare at the little girl still clinging to Wayne and pulled her down, taking her place against the boy's chest instead. Softly, she murmured:
"Don't listen to Gabrielle's nonsense. No one could possibly have missed you more than I have..."