Opening Ceremony
The start of the school year is fast approaching.
Skylar, Daphne, Astoria shared a carriage. With one person missing and an empty seat, they all felt a little uneasy.
Before entering the carriage, Skylar saw Draco, Goyle, Crabbe, Pansy, and their group in the aisle and greeted them.
Inside the carriage, Skylar looked preoccupied, his brow furrowed, as if deep in thought.
"What's wrong, Skylar?" Astoria asked.
"It's nothing..." Skylar shook his head, as if trying to banish a thought from his mind.
He sensed something unusual about Draco. He had seen something similar long ago when he first awakened his Magic Eye.
He had seen strange, dark gray shadows on Lucius's magic, which he initially attributed to the presence of magic his father carried that wasn't his own (the Dark Mark Voldemort had left on him). Now, he saw similar shadows on Draco. What did this signify?
The thought that his family was hiding something from him made him feel uneasy.
It wasn't that he believed family members couldn't have their own secrets; for example, he himself had kept many things from his family. However, this time, he had a very bad feeling, and that dark, gray shadow made him extremely wary.
Having reached Skylar's level in both mental and soul magic, he possessed an intuition far beyond that of ordinary people, and he believed that his senses were infallible.
"Skylar, did you know? I heard Gallup Lestrange applied for a leave of absence from school. This time, the House of Lestrange has lost its most important direct descendant (he was removed from the family register after becoming Werewolf), and has also suffered heavy losses. It's truly come to an end." Daphne, knowing the grudge between Skylar and them, said with a hint of schadenfreude.
Skylar sighed, saying with a heavy heart, "Including Mei, the so-called Sacred Twenty-Eight have gained two more declining families... Pure-blood families can't withstand much more turmoil..."
What he didn't say was that what awaited the Pure-blood families next was likely only more turmoil...
Before Gallup was turned into Werewolf, his memories had already been completely wiped clean by Bathory's Hypnosis Magic and Annis's nightmare magic, erasing this particular memory. Gallup was on the same side as Miles Bletchley Family of the House of Bletchley, and the mastermind behind them— Irina Selwyn, the Prefect of the House of Selwyn.
A cold glint flashed in his eyes; next it was the two of them.
Inside the Great Hall, first-year students were lining up, waiting to be sorted into their respective houses by receiving the Sorting Hat.
At the Slytherin table, Gemma Farley and Marcus Flint had already graduated.
The new Quidditch captain is Draco. The newly elected Prefect are Terence Higgs Family and a female minor Prefect.
At the Sorting Ceremony, Slytherin admitted Malcolm Bardock, Graham Pritchard, Emma Dobbs, and others; Skylar did not notice any particularly outstanding individuals, and this year's Slytherin also happened to have no members from powerful families.
Instead, it was a short Ravenclaw boy who caught Skylar's attention. His name was Gabriel Clydeway, which didn't sound like he came from a long-established magical family, but for some reason, the surname seemed familiar to Skylar —ah, while reading the Daily Prophet on the train today, he seemed to have seen a news item about Dirk Clydeway being promoted to head of the Ministry of Magic's Goblin Liaison Office yesterday.
Skylar remembered: Dirk Clyde was a character from the original story. He was very talented, knew how to speak Gobbledegook, was highly regarded by Slughorn, was an innermost member of the Slug Club, and often informed Slughorn of Gringotts' innermost secrets.
Skylar had corresponded with Slughorn quite a bit during the summer vacation, and the two had developed a fairly close relationship. Therefore, he already knew some of the important figures in the Slug Club. According to Slughorn's information, Dirk Clysway had two sons, and the eldest was just starting school this year. It seemed that Gabriel was his eldest son.
There was an empty seat on the instructor's desk.
"Skylar, do you know who the new teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts class is this year?" Daphne asked.
Everyone else sitting nearby pricked up their ears to listen intently. Everyone knew that Skylar was a member of the Faculty Hiring Committee, and naturally had the right to priority access to information.
Daphne's father actually knew, but Daphne never asked. She thought she would find out naturally when she arrived at school, but she didn't expect to see an empty seat, so she asked.
"It's Mad-Eye Moody," Skylar replied calmly.
"What?" Many of the young wizards present couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Mad-Eye Moody was a retired Auror who was so famous that he was said to have filled half the cells in Azkaban, and he had captured almost exclusively notorious dark wizards. Many of the Slytherin wizards' families had ties to the Death Eaters, so the name of Mad-Eye Moody was extremely intimidating to them.
A glint of shrewdness flashed in Draco's eyes, but he feigned displeasure and complained, "No offense, Skylar, but since you're a member of the Faculty Hiring Committee and have the power to veto faculty hiring, how could you let Mad-Eye Moody, that lunatic, pass the selection process?"
Skylar was incredibly astute, and with his Divine Insight of Amaterasu, he noticed Draco's subtle changes in expression. A bitter feeling welled up inside him; Draco's apparent complaint was actually an attack on his prestige within Slytherin!
If Skylar were to vote for Mad-Eye Moody to pass the selection, it would undoubtedly discourage many Pure-blood students. If Skylar were to say that he was powerless to stop Mad-Eye Moody from becoming a professor, it would undoubtedly reveal that Skylar's abilities were not as strong as everyone imagined.
With just that one short sentence, Skylar found himself in a dilemma. Is this... really Draco?
Putting aside the fact that Draco's brotherly bond with him over the years is genuine, when did this little brat Draco become so cunning?
Skylar forcibly suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his mind and gave a natural smile, saying, "Don't overthink it. There's a reason why Mad-Eye Moody is coming to teach. Dumbledore convinced me with a reason that no one could refuse—many of you probably know about the Triwizard Tournament this year. Regardless of Mad-Eye Moody's character, his strength is undeniable. Having him as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor will increase our school's chances of winning."
"Don't forget, we Slytherin have been the best performing class for the past few semesters, and barring any unforeseen circumstances—" Skylar's smile radiated strong confidence, "This is also a great opportunity for us Slytherin to earn glory!"
"Yes! Skylar, you're right..."
"We were so stupid, we never even thought of that..."
The Slytherin boys immediately understood and agreed with Skylar's words.
The newly Prefect Terence, also came over and said, "By the way, if Skylar, you sign up, I think you have a very good chance of being selected as a representative of Hogwarts." Terence's words were agreed upon by most of the young wizards nearby.
The conversation ended after Dumbledore stood up and gave a speech. Skylar succinctly deciphered the underlying reputation crisis in the dialogue.
After the Sorting Ceremony, Dumbledore stood up to deliver his speech. In addition to the annual school rules, he continued, "I regret to inform you that there will be no Quidditch House Cup this year."
"What?" Draco gasped in surprise. He turned to look at his Quidditch teammates Montague and Warrington. They were both staring at Dumbledore with their mouths agape, speechless with astonishment.
A glint of light flashed in Skylar's eyes; Draco's behavior was becoming increasingly unpredictable.
Dumbledore continued, "This is because a large event will begin in October and continue throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy—but I am confident that you will all enjoy it greatly. I am very pleased to announce that this year at Hogwarts— "
"This is probably the Triwizard Tournament Dad mentioned before... but I never imagined this event would last the entire school year, it's outrageous!" Draco said with some disappointment, because it meant that his Quidditch captaincy wouldn't be officially recognized until the next semester.
Just then, a deafening clap of thunder rang out, and the Great Hall door was kicked open with a bang.
A man stood in the doorway, leaning on a long cane and wrapped in a black travel cloak. The people in the Great Hall turned to look at the stranger, and a forked bolt of lightning flashed across the ceiling, causing everyone to gasp.
The lightning illuminated the man's face with uncanny clarity, revealing a terrifying face, as if carved from a piece of rotten wood. The sculptor seemed to have only a vague concept of what a human face should look like and was not very skilled at using the carving knife.
Every inch of his face seemed to be scarred, his mouth was a large, crooked gash, his nose was missing where it should have been, and what was most terrifying about this man was his eyes.
One of his eyes was small, black, and sparkling, while the other was large, round like a coin, and a bright, vivid blue. That blue eye moved incessantly, darting up, down, left, and right, completely unrelated to his normal eye. Then, the blue eyeball rolled back and disappeared into the man's head, leaving everyone with only a large white eyeball.
The young wizards all covered their mouths with their hands, looking at the man who had just barged in with fear. His image perfectly matched the most terrifying villain in their minds, like a dangerous dark wizard.
"May I introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Dumbledore cheerfully broke the silence, "Professor Moody."
Normally, when a new teacher meets everyone, everyone applauds to welcome him, but now, apart from Dumbledore and Hagrid, not a single teacher or student applauded.
Dumbledore and Hagrid clapped a few times, but finding the applause echoing lonely in the silent Great Hall, they wisely lowered their hands. Everyone else seemed stunned by Moody's strange appearance, staring intently at him.
Moody seemed unmoved by the lukewarm response. Ignoring the large jar of Pumpkin Juice in front of him, he reached into his travel cloak, pulled out a curved bottle, and took a large gulp.
"Skylar, what's wrong?" Daphne asked with concern.
"This shouldn't be happening," Daphne thought, puzzled by Skylar's somewhat dazed reaction. Moody's face was indeed frightening to the young wizards, but given Skylar's temperament, he shouldn't be reacting so strongly. Who was Skylar? He was a man who dared to confront hundreds of Dementor head-on, a man who could calmly handle the resurrected Feathered Serpent statue. Compared to them, what was Moody?
Unbeknownst to her, in Skylar's eyes, Moody exuded a violent black aura, which he recognized almost instantly as the Shadow of the Magic Dragon!
What? Where's Barty Crouch Jr.? And who is this "Moody" anyway? What happened to the promised Fawley?
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "As I just said," he said with a smile, looking at the large group of students before him, "We will have the great honor of hosting a very exciting event over the next few months, an event that hasn't been held for over a century. I am delighted to announce that the Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts this year."
The tense atmosphere that had hung over the Great Hall ever since Moody entered was suddenly broken, and almost everyone burst out laughing.
Students born into wizarding families all know more or less about the Triwizard Tournament. They may not know the exact details, but they all know that it is one of the three great honors for students in the international wizarding world.
The other two honors are the "Wizarding Schools Potions Championship" and the "Cairo International Alchemy Conference." Compared to the former two, the Triwizard Tournament, which highlights practical skills, courage, and heroic spirit, is undoubtedly more popular among young wizards.
The Muggle-born students were also busy inquiring about the Triwizard Tournament. After learning what it was all about, they were all amazed and excitedly discussed it.
Dumbledore, knowing some students had never heard of the Triwizard Tournament, explained, "The Triwizard Tournament is a friendly competition between the three Europe magic schools: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. Each school selects a Champion, and the three Champion compete in three different magical events. It was a wonderful platform for showcasing talent and helping young wizards from different countries build friendships. It was once a tradition, but later, due to the high death toll, the Triwizard Tournament was discontinued."
"For centuries, there have been several attempts to revive the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "But none have been successful. However, our Department of International Magical Cooperation and the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry of Magic believe the time is ripe for another attempt. This summer we have done much work to ensure that every Champion is safe and sound."
"In October, the headmasters of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will lead their Champion to the selection ceremony, which will take place on the eve of Halloween. A fair referee will choose three Champion to compete for the Triwizard Cup, bringing honor to their respective schools, with each warrior receiving a prize of one thousand Galleon."
"I know you all yearn to win the Triwizard Tournament trophy for Hogwarts," he said, "But the participating schools and the Ministry of Magic have agreed to set an age limit for this year's competitors. Only students seventeen years of age and older will be allowed to register."
Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, as some people protested angrily after hearing his words, "This measure is necessary because the Triwizard Tournament events are still very difficult and dangerous, and students below the sixth or seventh year simply cannot handle them."
"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will arrive in October and spend most of this school year with us. While they are here, I expect you all to be warm and friendly, and to wholeheartedly support the Champion of Hogwarts once they are finally selected. Well, it's getting late, and it's important that you enter class refreshed and clear-headed tomorrow morning. Go to bed! Now!"