Lupin Takes a Hidden Loss, Pre-Match Preparations

"Harry, someone's waiting for you inside," Aaron called from the doorway of the Meeting Room.

Harry stood up somewhat blankly, wondering who would want to watch him compete; the Dursley, of course, were definitely out of the question.

When he pushed open the door and saw Remus Lupin, all his doubts were answered. "Professor, I never expected you to come and watch my match."

"Miss Klein specially invited me."

I wouldn't call myself your relative, but I'd barely qualify as your uncle or aunt.

Harry nodded excitedly, then looked at Lupin's bluish-purple left eye and frowned subconsciously. "Professor, what happened to your eye?"

"He bumped into it," Aaron interjected. "He was so excited that he accidentally bumped into the doorknob."

"Really?" Harry asked skeptically.

That's it.

Lupin rubbed his eyes, looking embarrassed and a little awkward.

Just now, Aaron displayed his amazing magical talent, Illusion Magic to deceive the sight of others, a silencing spell to block out sound, and then a fist rapidly grew larger in his vision.

The combo was so smooth and fluid that he didn't even have time to react before he was hit with a heavy punch.

He thought that explaining the letter would solve everything; his original intention was simply to prevent Aaron from going astray. But he never expected... that Aaron would actually dare to lay a hand on his teacher.

Although he felt aggrieved, he really couldn't say anything, since he was in the wrong first.

Moreover, apart from Adrian and Jeans, no one else in the Illusion Magic Meeting Room saw through it, which is quite intriguing.

As for Jeans, even though he was Butler, he was completely unfathomable and overly mysterious.

Adrian's abilities could be explained by her exceptional talent, though it's also possible that Aaron unilaterally dispelled the Illusion Magic she was under.

Besides the two of them, there were several middle-aged Warlock in the Meeting Room. Cedric's father, Amos Diggory, was the Director of the Ministry of Magic, and his strength was beyond doubt; at the very least, he was no less capable than Cedric himself.

None of these people saw through Aaron's Illusion Magic, which directly proved Aaron's magical power.

The problem is that neither Adrian nor Jeans paid any attention to Aaron's punch, so he couldn't find a way to seek justice and had to suffer in silence.

Adrian and Jeans had no idea what Lupin was thinking; they both knew Aaron.

He wouldn't act without reason; Lupin must have angered him in some way. This punch wiped away all past grievances, and they didn't bother to stop him.

Harry nodded with some skepticism, then walked up to Adrian and said, "Thank you so much for bringing Professor Lupin here."

"You're welcome, it's what a referee should do," Adrian said calmly. "Besides, it seems like someone is deliberately targeting you in the Triwizard Tournament."

Inviting Remus Lupin, someone we know well, was also to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.

Harry felt a sense of relief and turned to talk to Lupin about his experiences this school year, feeling incredibly relaxed.

With Dumbledore and Moody in charge, it wouldn't be easy for Voldemort's henchmen to sabotage his Third Task and harm him.

With Lupin as an insurance policy, this game is absolutely safe, no doubt about it!

"Let's go for a walk outside; it's a bit inconvenient to talk here," Adrian suggested, then walked out of the Meeting Room on his own.

Aaron shrugged helplessly and followed behind her.

"You should know how to fulfill my request, right?" Adrian teased.

"Zhiyu," Aaron said irritably, "the First Task put me in charge of dealing with five dragons all by myself. I was lucky enough to barely survive."

In the Second Task, besides making difficult choices, I also had to clean up the mess left by others. Fortunately, I managed to fool the Merpeople leader and manage to get ashore.

Isn't this Third Task a bit too much to ask? Sister, are you targeting me specifically?

"You could say that," Adrian readily admitted. "The choice is entirely in your hands."

"I already said I'm not interested right now, I'm only fifteen."

"It's just a blind date, at most an engagement, there's no need to make such a fuss."

"Easier said than done, I haven't seen you be that enthusiastic!"

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "If you can find someone suitable, you can introduce them to me!"

If not, then shut your mouth. Besides, my younger brother is the heir to the Klein Family, so it doesn't matter if I stay single for life.

Aaron's lips twitched slightly, and he took a deep breath. "If I fulfill your request, how much time can you buy for me?"

Adrian held up one finger and said calmly, "One year."

"No, that's too little."

"You can get married when you're ten," Adrian said somewhat anxiously. "It's an unspoken agreement between the Gaius and Darwen families. Whether you and Clea are married or not, you must try dating for a while."

"I know," Aaron sighed, "But this time is really too short. How about three years? At least let me finish my studies at Hogwarts!"

"You're pushing your luck! I gave you a year to prepare for bargaining, but don't you think three years is too much?" Adrian said speechlessly. "Two years at most, because Clea will be ten years old in two years."

"If this drags on any longer, not only will Clea have a problem with me, but both of your families will also have a problem with me."

Aaron gritted his teeth. "Fine, two years it is."

"That's more like it." Adrian smiled meaningfully. "As for the Third Task, if your performance doesn't meet my requirements, then you won't even last two years. When you go home for vacation, you'll be going on blind dates!"

Aaron was speechless, knowing only that he had to give it his all in tomorrow's game.

"Uncle Jeans, what's the progress on the divine weapon that my Argus Ancestor forged for me?"

"All the parts have been manufactured; only one last material is needed for assembly."

Aaron nodded slightly. This progress was about what he had expected. As for the last material, it was his own blood, which would naturally be fine after the blood was returned.

Getting four divine weapons at once is still quite exciting.

"How's the progress on that Divine Artifact?" Aaron continued to ask.

"One-third is complete."

"What?" Aaron's mouth dropped open in shock. It wasn't that the progress was slow; on the contrary, it was much faster than he had expected.

"What happened?"

"Didn't the young master send back two sets of materials?"

Ghost Crystal is a natural material for conducting magical energy, but more importantly, it's Black Crystal, a versatile fusing agent that can combine the properties of all materials, fusing them perfectly together.

Aaron paused for a moment, then turned to look at Adrian. The Black Crystal was the Christmas gift Adrian had given him.

"Sister, you're much better to me than my stingy ancestors."

"Be polite," Adrian said, half-laughing and half-crying. "Gaius's ancestors were responsible for their descendants, and you are just one of them."

Aaron nodded hastily; he was just grumbling.

"Has anything major happened in the Magic World lately?"

"Aside from the disappearances of Barty Crouch and Bertha Joggins from the Ministry of Magic, there's nothing noteworthy for the time being," Jeans said. "However, due to the rather suspicious circumstances surrounding Crouch's disappearance, Percy Weasley's role as acting referee has been revoked, and Cornelius Fudge has taken over."

"Not bad." Adrian shrugged. "I don't think Fudge is particularly capable, but compared to the ambitious Percy Weasley, he's quite pragmatic."

Aaron and the Thought Form sat facing each other.

The Shadow Ninja stood respectfully to the side, ready to fetch whatever his two masters needed.

"Nika Mask, Lycoris, ten bullets made from Unicorn feathers, ten bullets made from Hippogriff, ten bullets made from Thestral Tail Feather, ten bullets made from Phoenix Feather, and three bullets made from Ghost Crystal and Thunderbird Tail Feather." The Thought Form counted the items on the table, and the speechless Yi Shi was also somewhat helpless. "I know this Third Task is dangerous, and I understand your thoughts, but isn't this a bit too much?"

"Excluding me, with your current Magical Energy, you can only fire twelve shots at most before you're completely at someone's mercy."

"That's assuming you unleash your full power," Aaron corrected. "If you infuse less Magical Energy, I could fire twenty, thirty, fifty shots, or even..."

"Stop talking," the Thought Form hurriedly interrupted. "Fifty shots are acceptable to me; bullets fired at full power are far more effective than spells released by magic. But if you're talking about a week's worth of shots..."

"Its power is still stronger than a spell!"

"But it's a loss!" The Thought Form rolled its eyes and said, "These bullets aren't the training bullets we usually use, which we can easily create with Transfiguration."

The cheapest of them all use Copper Knut as their main material, many are made from Gold Galleon and Silver Sickle, and then they're adorned with Fantastic Beasts feathers and my own painstaking enchantments. You could say every shot they fire is pure gold.

"I know," Aaron said seriously, then changed the subject, "But do you think my older sister wouldn't do anything underhanded?"

Don't forget that my first two projects were several times more difficult than I expected, and the Third Task was even more difficult than the first two.

The last person to pass the event must not suffer too much damage to the other Champion and must win the championship... but the first person to touch the trophy is the champion.

To meet these stringent conditions, all the Champion must be secured, and everyone must touch the trophy at the same time. This will result in either a tie for the championship or a winner determined by the scores of the first two events.

In other words, the maze is full of enemies, but that's the worst-case scenario. What if Adrian has some other surprises in store for me? Well, that's another story.

The Thought Form clicked its tongue in surprise; this possibility was not nonexistent, but rather quite high.

After hesitating for a moment, he gave a wink to the Shadow Ninja beside him, signaling him to bring a box of bullets.

"These are bullets made from Unicorn feathers, Thestral Tail Feather, Hippogriff feathers, fifty of each, all enchanted twice."

This is half of our current stock; once it's used up, it's gone. You'd better use it sparingly.

"Uh..." Aaron blinked. "I won't use the Lycoris unless it's an emergency, since so many people are watching. But I won't be stingy when I need to use it."