The Buzz Hadn't Died Down
The Second Task of the competition was conducted entirely without spectators. The judges' scores were actually based on the reports and summaries from the Merpeople. Therefore, the audience that day only saw how the Champion went into the water and the order in which they left the water with the Champion.
So, after the Second Task ended, this situation arose—everyone was eager to know what had happened at the bottom of the lake, so Ron and Daphne became the subject of almost everyone's questions at Hogwarts.
For the first time in his life, Ron was the center of attention, just like Harry. He told the story over and over again, each time with slight variations. At first, what he said was fairly true—in Professor McGonagall's office, Dumbledore used magic to hypnotize the hostages and first assured them that they were in no danger and would wake up as soon as they came to the surface.
However, a week later, Ron told a thrilling kidnapping story, how he fought fifty fully armed Merpeople with his bare hands, who wanted to force him to submit before binding him.
Daphne became Skylar's most cherished person, and inevitably, everyone teased her about it all the time. But by this time, she had long since shed her girlish shyness and naivety, displaying the poise befitting a lady of a noble family. She always thanked everyone for their well wishes with grace and responded to everyone's concern for her, without being ashamed to admit that she was Skylar's official girlfriend.
According to Skylar's original prediction, now that he was already taken, his popularity should have gradually declined, and he should at least have relinquished his title as the top dream boyfriend among girls—but that didn't happen.
The relationship between Skylar, Morrie, and Astoria suddenly became public knowledge, and everyone knew that Skylar had more than one girlfriend. Moreover, rumors about Skylar's close relationships with several girls, such as Cho Chang, Luna, and Susan, also began to circulate.
This has created a strange phenomenon—girls seem to have sensed a hidden opportunity. Well, if they can't be the official girlfriend, isn't being a secret lover exciting enough?
As a result, the popularity of the "Champion Skylar Fan Support Club" has increased again, and it is extremely female-dominated, with female fans accounting for almost 80% of the entire fan club.
This is tough on the male students at Hogwarts. In Hogwarts past, once male students reached the fifth year or higher, they could extend a hand of friendship to younger female students, and then gradually develop feelings through daily interactions, eventually becoming lovers.
This year, many upperclassmen male students suddenly realize that their advantage of being upperclassmen has vanished. The lowerclassmen girls don't pay any attention to them at all. As a result, even though they only have a few years left before graduation, they suddenly realize that they are about to become single dogs and miss out on the essential youthful experience of campus romance.
Cedric Diggory had always had a crush on Cho Chang Skylar, Ravenclaw junior. After hearing about her rumored relationship with Cho Chang, he could only shake his head helplessly and give up on pursuing her. Fortunately, he was good-looking, and soon he was dating Angelina Jensen, a sixth-year Gryffindor student.
After being dumped at the Yule Ball, Roger Davis suddenly found himself in a predicament: he couldn't find another girlfriend, and his former number three spot on the "dream girl" list had become deserted. So, like a devoted admirer, he tried to get back together with his blonde ex-girlfriend, only to be met with a cold shoulder, who didn't even give him a second glance.
Although Valentine's Day has passed, Skylar still receives countless confession cards and date invitations. Some appear suddenly in his dorm room (Skylar has set up a defensive spell in his dorm, but it's ineffective against inanimate objects), some are delivered by owls during breakfast, and some bolder ones are handed to him directly in the hallway...
The messages inside were either confessions of affection and requests to develop a secret romantic relationship, or invitations to meet in some secret corner on the weekend... Skylar looked at a card with a bright red lipstick mark printed on the bottom and was truly shocked by the girls' boldness.
"Brothers, it's not that I want to date every girl in school, it's that the girls want to date me!" Skylar hypocritically apologized to his male compatriots, especially those who were about to graduate and still hadn't found a girlfriend...
This graduating class will likely have the most single people in history. I wonder if this will go down in history and make them infamous for all time?
After a few days of this, the heated discussions gradually subsided, and everyone's lives returned to their usual routines.
Skylar became even busier.
Just the day after the tournament ended, Hogwarts was rocked by a very serious case of mysterious student disappearances, with four students vanishing at once.
What's truly bizarre is that all the missing were Slytherin students, including the 7th-year Prefect (male and female), the 6th-year Prefect female), and the 6th-year Quidditch goalkeeper. Gallup had previously been cursed with Werewolf and had taken a leave of absence; he had sneaked into Hogwarts from Hogsmeade Village, so he wasn't counted as a missing person.
This made it impossible for Dumbledore to suppress the matter. During the Basilisk incident in the second year, all the victims were Muggle- blooded wizards, and their families had no idea what was happening at Hogwarts. Apart from the children writing letters home every day, they had no other way to find out about their children's situation.
However, the situation is quite different now that the children of these Pure-blood families are involved in the incident. Their families receive the news almost the day after the children go missing.
The Fawley Family, Slughorn Family, House of Selwyn, and House of Bletchley joined forces to put Dumbledore through the Ministry of Magic and the media, even going so far as to cause trouble at Hogwarts, demanding an explanation from Dumbledore. It's no joke; those who disappeared were all the elite direct descendants of their four families, the future pillars of their households. It would be a lie to say they weren't worried.
The Ministry of Magic has also launched an investigation. Although Fudge still has to give Dumbledore face, he still has a bottom line in his actions, after all, he needed the resources of Pure-blood families to rise to power.
After some negotiation, he finally decided to send two elite Auror to be stationed at Hogwarts long-term to facilitate the investigation of this strange disappearance. One of the Auror sent was Scrimgeour's confidant, Gadwin Robards, who was well aware of the relationship between Scrimgeour and Skylar, but under Dumbledore's watchful eye, the two had no public contact whatsoever; the other Auror was John Dawlish, Gibbon confidant.
Dumbledore was also puzzled by this bizarre disappearance.
These missing students are quite capable. As the principal, he wouldn't dare say he knows every student inside and out, but he still has a good idea of the strength of those Prefect.
Even Miles Bletchley Family, whose background and achievements were the least remarkable, was quite famous at Hogwarts. He was a restless fellow, and before every Quidditch Grand Final, whenever Slytherin and Gryffindor had a series of conflicts, he could almost always be seen there. He was very skilled at using curses and poisons, and every time he managed to send the young Gryffindor wizards to the Hospital Wing for a few days.
After Dumbledore and the two Auror searched the area, it seemed that some of the missing people were seen on the day of the Second Task. However, the next day, they all vanished Silencio.