Defeated Fair and Square

Krum had barely left when Hermione was immediately surrounded by a cluster of gossip-hungry faces.

There was not much to watch during the final awards ceremony anyway. Fresh gossip was far more interesting.

"Ooh~ our know-it-all Miss Granger is quite charming, huh? You had the World's Number One Seeker completely smitten~"

"Seriously—old Vin moved fast~"

"I'm more curious about how you two met~"

With a helpless expression, Hermione told everyone how she had met Krum.

At the time, the Magical Projection at the stadium had malfunctioned, so she had rushed over from the Ministry of Magic with the blueprints.

"Who is Bo Ye?"

"And who is Fanny?"

"Bo Ye and Fanny are both employees of Wayne Enterprises. They're the head of the after-sales maintenance department and the deputy director of security, respectively."

Not long after she had brought them the blueprints, Krum had come over by himself.

"Premeditated." Daphne looked thoroughly amused. "Are you sure that was your first time meeting him?"

Hermione thought carefully, then nodded with absolute certainty.

"Hmm?" She remembered what had happened when she went to the Bulgarian Ministry of Magic with Vincent last month.

After the two of them had finalized their cooperation with Oubransdeng, they came downstairs and found that the once-quiet lobby had become incredibly lively. It seemed some important figure had arrived.

If that person had been Krum...

Daphne leaned in with a face full of curiosity. "What? Did you remember something?"

Hermione quickly shook her head.

"No, nothing at all."

"Really?"

"Re... really."

"Are you sure?"

"Abso... lutely."

Seeing how guilty she looked with every word, her friends' thirst for gossip immediately flared up. Even Cho, who was usually so refined and gentle, was no exception.

The twins at the very front of the gossip battlefield each pulled out a piece