At the banquet, the three schools gathered in the Great Hall. Oh, Fudge was absent; apparently, he had hurried back to the Ministry of Magic to spar with Barty Crouch.
Ludo Bagman had vanished too. Apparently, he had bet on the wrong side and had already fled to Africa.
There was not a single person from the Ministry of Magic to be found in the enormous Great Hall, but that was for the best.
Kayson sat at the High Table, watching Cedric struggle to hold up the Golden Goblet that Kayson had once again retrieved from the graveyard.
Mr. and Mrs. Diggory sat at the Hufflepuff table as well, applauding their son like mad with pride.
As the banquet ended, Hogwarts returned to peace. Temporarily, of course.
The other two schools had each fled in their own way.
Well, half of them had fled. Somehow, Karkaroff had shamelessly forced his way into staying at Hogwarts, refusing to leave even if it killed him.
He had nearly moved his bed into the Headmaster's Office to become roommates with Dumbledore and Grindelwald.
But in the end, he had not managed it. No one knew why.
Meanwhile, in the office, Kayson sat on the sofa, watching Snape, who was seated across from Dumbledore's desk and talking with Dumbledore.
Well, it could not exactly be called talking. It was more like receiving orders.
Dumbledore gave Snape orders unilaterally, and Snape chose to accept them.
Their conversation soon ended, and Snape turned to Kayson. "If I die, let Harriet remain Harriet for the rest of her life."
Kayson laughed despite himself. "So the effects of that potion really are permanent."
Snape shook his head. "Not exactly. But something that was supposed to be taken by the microgram, you had him drink by the bottle. It