The Frightened Beetle

Rita Skeeter showed little respect for other students, even Champion who were about to participate in the Four-School Tournament.

She's a journalist, a Daily Prophet, and even the Ministry of Magic takes notice of her articles—but these kids are none of Rita Skeeter's concern.

That was what Ms. Beetle originally thought.

Or rather, that's what she thinks now.

However, once she saw the person's face, Rita Skeeter could no longer maintain her haughty demeanor.

As an illegal Animagus, she has always been proud of her ability to transform into a beetle, an inconspicuous creature, which is also a major advantage for her in obtaining information that other journalists cannot.

However, to this day she still doesn't understand one thing.

Several years ago, I inquired about information from various channels and summarized the findings, and finally found a clue that there was a "special relationship" between Dumbledore and Grindelwald.

Who is that? Dumbledore! Grindelwald!

The two most powerful wizards in the Wizarding World today are also the headmasters of two School of Magic!

If she could dig up some information and add some "artistic flair," her status in the wizarding media would reach an unprecedented level.

So, Rita Skeeter, full of enthusiasm, approached the elderly Old Bathilda. She planned to lie in wait for a while, and only after confirming that there was no new information to dig out would she use some tricks to get the Old Bathilda to reveal more information—like Veritaserum or something...

As she Transfiguration a beetle and lay in wait, the group of children approached.

Rita Skeeter didn't take the children seriously at all. Who would notice a tiny beetle that's everywhere? Not to mention the children, even the great wizard wouldn't have realized his identity.

Her only concern was that the children might stay in the room for too long, affecting her excavation progress.

Then, the most handsome boy, a little boy with an innocent smile—he was probably only twelve or thirteen years old, right? That's what Rita Skeeter thought.

It slammed itself, which Transfiguration a beetle, under the vessel!

At first, she thought it was just mischievous behavior from a naughty child, and that they would probably throw the beetle away when they got tired of playing with it—she even pretended to be dead.

But the boy wasn't playing with her like he would with a beetle; he actually locked himself inside a bottle!

This hurdle is...

Rita Skeeter had forgotten how many days she had been imprisoned; all she knew was that she had nearly starved to death.

She even thought that she, the famous journalist in the Wizarding World, was really going to die in that little glass bottle.

In the end, the boy let her go. Rita Skeeter even thought it was a trap when the bottle was opened, until the boy spoke.

"It's time to go out, Miss Skeeter."

He always knew his true identity!

From that moment on, the boy, who was only twelve or thirteen years old, became Rita Skeeter's nightmare—after escaping the den of evil, she did not turn into a beetle again for two whole years, and even now she dares not use any products related to glass bottles.

And now, that boy has grown up and is standing in front of me...

Nothing has changed! That seemingly gentle and sunny smile is all a facade!

This demon...

"Ms. Skeeter? Ms. Skeeter?" Ludo Bagman called out to Skeeter, who was in a daze. He saw the cold sweat dripping down Skeeter's forehead and her pupils, which were sometimes large and sometimes small, as if she had been hit by the highest level of fear spell.

But nothing happened here?

"Ms. Skeeter?" he called again.

Sean smiled inwardly, stepped forward, and gave a concerned and worried smile, "Madam, are you alright?"

When Skeeter saw the other person's face zoomed in, he almost thought he was going to faint.

She instinctively took a step back, and shakily pushed up her glasses. "N-nothing..."

"That's good," Sean said with a smile.

Ludo Bagman glanced at Skeeter with some confusion, then patted Sean on the shoulder. "This young man is here too, Ms. Skeeter. It's time to begin your interview."

During the interview... Skeeter almost collapsed to his knees.

"What's wrong? Didn't you say you wanted to interview, uh, this extra participating team separately?" Bagman asked, puzzled.

Skeeter inwardly wailed, wondering why he had ever interviewed this devil alone... why he had ever made such a suicidal request...

She quietly turned her head and sized up the devil's expression. He was smiling, but the look in his eyes... was he threatening her?!

He must be trying to keep all of this quiet!

Thinking of this, Skeeter swallowed hard, forcing a stiff smile, even getting lipstick stuck to his teeth. "This, this way, Mr. Wallop."

Huh? Why so decisive? Sean was a little surprised.

However, he readily followed Rita Skeeter into the cubicle.

Skeeter huddled in the corner of the cubicle, her quill pen, too, losing its arrogant and annoying air, drooping on its owner's shoulder.

"Um, um, Mr. Wallop?"

She asked tentatively.

Sean scratched his head. "Let's get straight to your interview."

"Okay, okay..." Skeeter swallowed hard. "Um, shall we follow the procedure?"

Is there a procedure for this? Sean glanced at the quill pen and nodded thoughtfully.

"Let me introduce myself first... Rita Skeeter, a reporter for the Daily Prophet..." The other person's smile was more like a grimace.

The quill twitched, and then began to write on the parchment.

The glamorous blonde Rita Skeeter, 43, has a fiery pen that has exposed many empty and pretentious names.

"Pfft..." Sean couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Skeeter explained with a pained expression, "Sir, this quill pen is already set... I, I will revise this manuscript properly."

Sean suppressed a laugh and waved his hand, signaling her to continue.

"So... Mr. Wallop, what prompted you to participate in this Four-School Tournament?"

The quill pen's nimble tip glided across the paper, leaving behind this line of text:

With deep, lake-blue eyes and an exceptionally handsome face, this was Sean Wallerup, currently the most popular student at Hogwarts School of Woolf. His eyes were so captivating, his curly hair so elegant, that anyone who looked at him felt their heart pounding...

Sean: "..."

This quill pen is really daring...

"Um, remember to be true—" Sean mentioned, Skeeter nodded quickly.

"My reason for participating in the competition is simple: on the one hand, it's a very interesting adventure, and on the other hand, I also want to win more glory for Hogwarts."

The quill pen continued: What a mindset this brilliant wizard has to treat the Four-School Tournament as a grand adventure! No wizard would dare to utter such a casual remark without exceptional mental fortitude, formidable magical power, and unwavering self-confidence...

This quill pen is pretty weird...

Skeeter gave a fawning smile, "Mr. Wallop, what do you think of this?"

"No need to write those pretentious, empty platitudes to flatter me, just keep recording as usual..."

"Okay, okay, no problem. I'll write another copy. When it's time to send the manuscript out, I'll send an owl to let you review the final draft..."

Sean scratched his head. Why was Skeeter so afraid of him? Didn't he just capture her and lock her up for a while back then?

However, it's a good thing that we don't have to deal with Rita Skeeter's usually tricky and demanding questions.

While the eerie interview continued inside the cubicle, the students outside huddled together and talked.

The three men in Durmstrang didn't seem to be very close. Krum stood alone by the bookshelf, lost in thought, looking rather simple-minded than tough.

Meanwhile, Reinhardt Nott, who had been quite annoyed by Rita Skeeter, was impatiently shaking his leg and looking irritable, while another Durmstrang member, Leon Schneider, stood in the corner, seemingly unwilling to communicate with anyone.

Phoebe chatted with the other two Beauxbatons students every now and then, but she seemed more interested in Cedric, and the two of them talked about something with smiles on their faces.

Among the students of Newmontgard, Daniels stood there silently, while Patricia and Hugo, also members of the Golden Dawn, were chatting animatedly with the Weasley twins. Patricia even put her arm around Daisy, who was standing next to her, and teased her from time to time.

As usual, Stephanie found a seat and started reading.

Footsteps came from the corner of the stairs, and the judges and Mr. Ollivander came down.

"I assume you've all arrived?" Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Oh, oh, Ms. Skeeter is interviewing Mr. Wallop, they should be here soon... Oh, they're out," Bagman said.

Sean and Skeeter emerged from the cubicle, Skeeter following behind, nervously scanning the press release he had just jotted down, terrified of making a mistake—if he had copied Wallerup's exact words incorrectly, he'd be in big trouble...

"Oh, you're all done?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, sir." Sean nodded, and Skeeter nodded vigorously in agreement.

"That's good--"

"Please allow me to introduce Mr. Ollivander," Dumbledore said to all the Champion after taking his seat in the referee's box. "He will be checking your wands to make sure they are in good condition before the match."

Grindelwald wasn't there; he seemed to have other things to do.

An elderly man with two large, light-colored eyes was standing in front of them; he was Mr. Ollivander.

Checking his wand... Sean suddenly remembered something: his wand wasn't the original one anymore...

My original elm wand with the tree-peaked dragon and heartstrings should still be with Grindelwald. It was switched with his during the Paris Nights—of course, the purpose of the switch was to give his own tree branch wand to Sean, which was later given to young Grindelwald.

Sean, on the other hand, bought a large number of wands and experimented with his wand modification skills, which he did once a month.

Wandmaker's Glory (Gold): For ten hours after use, you will gain a keen observation of wand wood and core materials, and the [Embedding] ability. Cooldown time is one month.

[Embedding]: You can embed a second magical material into a completed wand. The wand's power, controllability, etc., will be improved. The extent of the improvement depends on the compatibility between the second material and the original wand.

Additionally, you can embed various cores into a brand-new wand blank (a wand without a core), the number of cores depending on the wand wood and the compatibility of the different cores.

Note: Recklessly inserting the wand may destroy both the wand blank and the wand core. Please be careful.

This ability is the foundation of Sean's ability to modify wands. However, because he has not systematically studied it, although the ability exists, its efficiency in use is not very high. Sean has probably modified five or six wands to the point of explosion.

He was now using the first successful wand he had ever modified, made of oak with Unicorn Hair and Phoenix Feather, and with a fang of the Selma Lake Monster —a contribution from the little lake monster he kept.

After being inlaid, Sean will be more powerful when using spells underwater and will also have some ability to swim.

Of course, Sean usually concealed the true nature of his wand, and apart from Hermione and others, everyone thought he was still using his Elm Wand.

However, Sean was confident he could fool the wand detection device, but if it was Mr. Ollivander ... Sean wasn't so sure...

That might cause some trouble...

Sean looked up at Mr. Ollivander, who was examining Cedric's wand.

"Ah, this is my product, isn't it?" Mr. Ollivander said, much more excited than before, as Cedric handed him the wand. "Yes, I remember it very well. Inside is a hair plucked from the tail of a particularly beautiful male Unicorn ...it must have been five or six feet long. I plucked the Unicorn's tail hair, and it almost poked a hole in me with its horn. Twelve and a quarter inches...made of ash...very flexible. In excellent condition...do you take care of it regularly?"

"I just wiped it down last night," Cedric said, grinning.

Just then, a small voice sounded in his ear, "I'll give Grandpa a hint."

It was Stephanie, who was holding her slender, pale blue wand.

Sean was slightly surprised; he hadn't mentioned it, but she had found out?

"I'm very sensitive to wands; it's a talent of the Ollivander Family," Stephanie whispered, explaining.

"I see..."

After everyone in front had been checked, Stephanie handed over her wand before Sean.

Mr. Ollivander smiled at his granddaughter, holding up the strange, pale blue wand. "Your own creation... The shaft is made of bold acacia wood, a powerful but underrated wood because it only opens its heart to the gifted... The core is Dragon Heartstring, but mixed with some material I don't recognize. Without any surprises, it's even more powerful than before... Thirteen and a half inches... Exquisite craftsmanship, even coated with magic... Yes, your own invention..."

Mr. Ollivander's tone was full of pride.

Happy National Day everyone! Have a great holiday and relax if you have time off. If you don't have a holiday and have to work overtime, hello everyone, but I'm here with you all 2333.

Happy new month! I hope everyone has a good mood. By the way, please vote for me this month! I'm going to write a masterpiece about the Triwizard Cup this month!