There's an Inside Man

The group arrived at the edge of the Hogwarts enclosure, where many wizards were already busy at work.

This group of people from the British Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards will be responsible for setting up the venue for the final match of the Triwizard Cup.

Watching the towering earthen wall slowly rise under the spell's influence, Hermione said, "It looks like a huge arena—I even saw someone casting spells below the wall; judging from the gestures, it's reinforcement magic...and there are people casting spells on the outer perimeter too, hmm? Why are they casting spells on the stands..."

Upon hearing this, Sean looked over and, sure enough, not only in the center of the arena, but also along the edge of the stands where the audience cheered, there were many wizards casting spells with their wands.

"It looks like defensive magic?" Sean said after observing for a while.

"Why cast an extra spell? There are already protective spells in the stands, and the professors and referees will be there too. They should be able to help if anything goes wrong..." Hermione asked, puzzled.

Sean glanced at the rising earthen wall and said thoughtfully, "Generally speaking, even if a fight breaks out between students, the aftershocks of the spell shouldn't affect the stands, unless..."

He and Hermione exchanged a glance. "This competition will affect the stands and may even pose a life-threatening risk to the spectators."

Hermione's brow furrowed immediately. "What is the organizing committee thinking... Although the Triwizard Cup has always been very dangerous, it generally rarely directly affects the audience. In the information I've looked up, the ones that do affect the audience are usually the Magical Creatures used in the competition that suddenly go berserk, but the First Task already used Fire Dragon."

Sean stroked his chin, deep in thought. In the original story, the final challenge was for the participating Champion to navigate a dangerous maze, but the building rising before him was still in its infancy and he couldn't make a judgment.

However, if even the stands are dangerous, Sean is more inclined to believe that the last venue itself is very dangerous and has a wider impact.

Examples include pervasive poison gas, widespread hypnotic spells, or widespread illusion spells.

The five teams that enter the competition are in competition with each other. While being wary of other teams, being distracted by dealing with dangerous situations on the field can easily lead to accidents. The curse of shooting wildly but missing the mark is most likely to cause an explosion, which may cause the danger on the field itself to spill over significantly.

This is the only guess Sean can think of regarding the final event.

A large group of students stood around the edge of the playground for a while, but they couldn't see anything.

Students from the other three schools also came to the edge of the playground, but they didn't observe much useful information either.

Although the final game is approaching, the organizers have not informed the Champion about the details of the last game, and it seems they will only be notified at the last minute.

"Let's go. If they don't reveal anything, we won't get any information just by looking around here," Sean said, and the group headed back towards the castle.

They had only gone halfway when suddenly, a commotion arose behind them, and at the same time, an explosion caused by the curse rang out.

Sean and his friends exchanged glances and quickly turned back.

When they arrived again, the commotion had subsided, and the students were gathered together looking at the center of the construction site.

There, several sections of the newly erected earthen wall had collapsed, leaving behind huge craters blasted open by the curse.

In the center of the construction crowd, seven or eight wizards were being pointed at with magic wands.

They raised their hands, their facial expressions were not clear, but they appeared to be arrested.

Because several guard wizards were stepping forward to bind them, and several important figures who had not appeared before were now at the edge of the arena.

This included Madame Maxime, Professor Rosier, Professor Karkaroff, Professor McGonagall, Amelia Bones, the Director of the Ministry of Magic Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Department for International Magical Cooperation the Ministry of Magic, who was in charge of the Triwizard Cup, and Ludo Bagman, the Department of Magical Games and Sports, who had a good relationship with Sean.

They didn't look too happy and seemed to be arguing about something.

"Hey, George, Fred, what's going on?" Sean called out when he saw the Weasley twins in the crowd.

The two men turned around and, upon seeing Sean, immediately walked over. Each of them put their arm around one of his shoulders and whispered, "Hey, buddy, the Triwizard Cup isn't behaving like this, can't you feel it?"

"Of course." Sean nodded.

It's more than just abnormal; every corner you open reveals a multitude of conspiracies. The abnormal atmosphere has long since spread, and even the most ordinary students have sensed it.

Fred said in a low voice, "Didn't you see it just now?"

"Yes, Hermione and I left earlier, thinking there wouldn't be much to see."

George leaned closer and whispered, "There's a mole—"

"Um?"

"Fred and I were right at the front, so we saw it all clearly—the group of wizards who were raising the earthen wall suddenly started fighting. We initially thought it was just some conflict among the construction workers—but then one of the leading wizards dug up a strange thing that was buried under the earthen wall."

Fred continued, "Not just one, at least three were dug up. It's obvious someone deliberately buried them, and it's definitely not part of the competition—the leading wizard started questioning a few people, I guess he was asking what was going on, and then..."

George pushed past his brother and blurted out, "It suddenly started fighting. Those wizards who were being questioned probably couldn't hide any longer. They suddenly attacked several people and then prepared to run away."

"I reckon you can guess what happened next. After all, this is Hogwarts, and a lot of people rushed over immediately. A lot of people ganged up on those suspicious guys. Look, we just caught them, those few people—but these guys are pretty ruthless. Many of the construction workers were injured, and some of them are even completely dead."

Sean looked over and saw that the wizards with their hands raised looked badly injured. All their spells had been taken away, and they were now firmly bound by magical chains.

Beside them, several times their number of construction workers lay on the ground, some groaning in pain, others unconscious, being carried onto stretchers to be taken for treatment.

Burying something under the earthen wall?

Sean immediately thought of the Triwizard Cup, which had once been used Portkey. Its original glory had become an aid to a conspiracy. Of course, this was in the original story, although Sean had been tricked by the Triwizard Cup before.

Now suddenly a group of people are planning to sabotage the final match... Sean naturally thought of the Returners.

The other side must have planned some kind of conspiracy, and the things buried under the earthen wall must be some important Magical Item...

Of all the Champion participating in this competition, only the Returners' team, Sean, is a match for them.

They're after me... Sean narrowed his eyes.

"What is that buried underneath?" he asked.

The twin brothers shook their heads. "We only took a peek from afar and don't know the details, but now they've all been put away."

"And what about the professors? They seem to be arguing about something."

George and Fred chuckled, then pulled Sean into a corner.

They handed over a wriggling ear, saying smugly, "Improved Extendable Ears. None of those warning spells can detect this little cutie—of course, it's a bit slow, but it should have moved over to them by now."

The group leaned closer to their ears, and sure enough, the voices inside were gradually getting louder.

"This was a premeditated attack. I must bring these people back to the Ministry. The Auror will interrogate them thoroughly." A cool and authoritative female voice rang out. Sean recognized the voice as that of Amelia Bones, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Department for International Magical Cooperation at the Ministry of Magic.

Another female voice rang out, and this time the owner of the voice was someone Sean and the others knew very well— Professor McGonagall: "There are spies among the construction workers brought by the Ministry of Magic. I have reason to suspect something, and I don't think it's appropriate to have the Ministry of Magic interrogate them."

"What do you mean by that? Professor McGonagall, do you think the Ministry of Magic orchestrated this incident?" Amelia Bones ' voice sounded very displeased.

"I didn't say that, I just have a suspicion," Professor McGonagall said calmly.

Karkaroff's shrill voice rang out. "This situation is of course to be handled by your country's Ministry of Magic —however, I will definitely file a complaint afterward. The organizers of this Triwizard Cup are really unprofessional."

Sean and the twins exchanged a glance, and Fred whispered, "Karkaroff and that Bones both want the Ministry of Magic to take them away..."

George snorted, "The Ministry of Magic doesn't have anything good right now... I think the Ministry of Magic must know that those saboteurs are mixed in with the construction workers, and now they want to get their own people back."

Sean nodded; he thought so too.

Moreover, it seems that Amelia Bones is also connected to the Returners.

He now even suspects that the upper echelons of the British Ministry of Magic may have been completely taken over by the Returners.

Sean had initially thought that the minister and those in important positions might have been controlled by the Returners, but now it seemed that they had completely infiltrated the British Ministry of Magic.

Then I heard Madame Maxime's voice again; she seemed to be on Professor McGonagall's side.

"Let's keep them locked up at Hogwarts for now. Their presence here must indicate some kind of conspiracy. I won't feel comfortable letting my students step into the arena of this final match until I find out their plans."

Karkaroff seemed to be getting impatient, and he shouted, "Hogwarts is just a school, and schools don't have the right to use vigilante justice!"

"Oh? Karkaroff, don't you care at all about the safety of your students?" Madame Maxime retorted.

Karkaroff stammered for a moment, then shouted angrily, "That's slander! Of course I care about our school's Champion! Don't forget, Schneider disappeared at your Hogwarts. I don't trust you!"

Professor McGonagall's voice was tinged with anger. "Karkaroff... don't you know this yourself?"

Karkaroff snorted and said nothing more.

Now, both the Hogwarts leadership and Durmstrang's leadership are fully aware of each other's positions, but each side has its own ideas and outwardly wants to maintain the original relationship.

If relations break down, a major battle could erupt—neither side is prepared, so they can only operate within the rules for now.

Sean was missing Grindelwald terribly at this moment. If those accidents hadn't happened to him, there wouldn't have been any of this pretense and pretense. Whether it was taking revenge on the spot or flipping the table, the old man was a master of it—and he even had the confidence to do so.

The argument continued in her ears. Bones insisted on taking the prisoners back to the Ministry of Magic, Karkaroff sided with her, while Madame Maxime agreed with Professor McGonagall that the prisoners should be detained at Hogwarts and interrogated to find out their plans.

Mr. Bagman was caught in the middle, unable to say anything.

After arguing for a while, Professor Rosier, who had remained silent, spoke up, "I just received a message from Mr. Grindelwald that these people should be kept at Hogwarts for now."

The scene immediately fell silent; Grindelwald's name still carried enough intimidation.

Only Sean knew that the map the other party had sent him last time was basically the limit, and he must be wholeheartedly preparing for the day when they would merge into one. However, Professor Rosier was certainly on their side. Whatever Bones and Karkaroff wanted to do, she would prevent them from doing it, and that was definitely the right thing to do.

Finally, the arguing stopped, and Bones and Karkaroff could only acquiesce. Flitwick and several other professors came over, took the wizards from the Auror of the Ministry of Magic, and led them toward Hogwarts Castle.

Construction, which had just begun, was abruptly halted. Not only were there several traitors among the workers, but most of the remaining construction personnel were also injured. Madam Pomfrey was likely in for a busy time.

The crowd gradually dispersed, and Sean went to find Professor McGonagall after returning to the castle.

"Professor, how is it?"

In the office, Professor McGonagall frowned and said, "The Ministry of Magic has been infiltrated more severely than we thought..."

What is buried there?

"It's not clear yet. Professor Flitwick has already taken the things to study, but one thing is certain—" She glanced at Sean worriedly, "The other party may be targeting you."

Sean licked his lips. "As expected... Professor, have trusted people keep an eye on the competition venue. I'm worried there might be a mole among the construction workers. And after the construction is complete, none of them are allowed to stay."

"I know that, and I've already given the order—but those few we didn't catch seem to be unable to talk. Professor Snape went there with the Veritaserum, but he didn't get any information out of them."

"Their usual tactic is to capture people but not get any information out of them. However, we need to keep a close eye on them."

"Well, that's fine—sigh..." Professor McGonagall sighed deeply.