Homecoming from Hogwarts

Ron stared at the stone on the ground in silence for several seconds before he understood what Hermione meant.

"so--"

Ron said with difficulty,

"Give us the fake school emblem that Krum conjured from that piece of stone?"

Hermione nodded grimly.

Harry was also looking at the stones rolling to the ground. He felt complicated. He was angry, but also a little helpless and amused.

"We've definitely become a laughing stock."

Harry said, meaning that their every move was being broadcast live, so the audience outside must have also seen them go to great lengths to defeat the Durmstrang team, only to be tricked by Viktor.

"How clever--"

Ron also shook his head and sighed, surprised that he was not very angry. Perhaps he no longer had the energy to get angry.

Now, all three of them realized that they could no longer act so recklessly and blindly.

The project that Professor Brian came up with is not that simple, they have to use their brains carefully.

Three people climbed out of the pit one by one, supporting each other, and staggered away in the direction away from the Slytherin pursuit group.

"This will never end."

Harry's voice was muffled.

"Malfoy will definitely chase us or Neville next. Even if they lose the ability to move quickly, we have consumed a lot of energy. With our position exposed every half an hour, we have no way to rest properly. Sooner or later, we will be caught up."

"I'm more concerned about the conditions for victory and where the other students in the gym class are."

Hermione and Harry supported Ron on both sides. She said expressionlessly,

"If we can't figure out these two issues, our actions will have no direction."

Ron looked sad.

"The condition for victory is that Fleur lost her school badge but was not expelled from the competition, and her school badge was taken away by Malfoy. Krum and the others must have encountered Malfoy, so Malfoy has two school badges in his hands."

"uncertain."

Harry said suddenly, with a straight face,

"Although Krum and his team can't fight Malfoy, he might push the blame on us. I mean, he might tell Malfoy that their school badge was taken away by us.

If Krum really said that, Malfoy would definitely believe it, because he knew very well the gap between the other two teams and us. "

Ron thought about it and nodded.
"But even so, Harry, at least we know that Fleur's school badge is in the hands of Malfoy and his men. If we need to collect all four school badges to end the game, we must defeat Malfoy and his men. It's impossible, right? They have twice as many people as us."

The position was refreshed again, this was the fifth time since the start of the game.

Harry squinted at the map. Now, there were only two blue spots left on it.

"Krum probably met up with Fleur and the others."

Harry said as he stared at the point of light a little closer to them, and Hermione and Ron nodded in agreement with his point of view.

What surprised the three of them was that Cedric, Neville and Luna, who had been wandering around the edge of the arena, began to approach the anxious center of the arena.

"Are they finally willing to join the game?"

Although they were on the same Hogwarts team, Ron couldn't help but sneer at the manager over the past two and a half hours.

"They may have judged that the school badges in the hands of our three teams may have been gathered in the hands of one party, so they decided to join the battle."

Hermione looked a little worried.
"It is definitely not appropriate for us to meet Cedric and the others now, right? Once we meet, we must fight. Otherwise, it would be too despicable. So many people are watching us. But if they meet Malfoy, judging from their actions, they may not know yet."

Harry's mind was racing.

Currently, they have several options to choose from.

The first was to avoid Neville who was coming towards them, as well as Malfoy and his crew who would soon catch up to them, go back in a roundabout way, find Krum, and snatch back the real Durmstrang school emblem.

After some rest and food replenishment, their physical strength and magic power were restored. However, the people from Durmstrang did not bring any food into the forest, and their physical strength was also greatly consumed. Comparing the two, the possibility of successfully snatching the school emblem again was very high.

Second, meet Cedric and the others.

In their current state, it is impossible for them to defeat Cedric, Neville and Luna. So, even if their school badges are taken away, at least Hogwarts will benefit. Moreover, they can also remind Cedric to retire and be careful of Malfoy's pursuit.

Third, learn from what Cedric and his friends did before and stay away from the battlefield completely. Wait until your body is almost recovered before re-entering the melee. However, by then, I'm afraid that Cedric's school badge will also fall into Malfoy's hands.

"Whatever."

The light on the blackboard went out and they had to make a decision quickly.

"We can't escape Malfoy and the others in the end." Harry lowered his brows and thought for a while, then said slowly.

"Definitely."

Ron also said with a gloomy expression,
"Even if we keep playing them in circles until Christmas, we will have to face them eventually, unless we just give up the game."

"So."

Harry's voice was soft, and his green eyes kept flashing.

"This means that we can't avoid killing Malfoy and the others. We can also try to get information from them."

"Only if we can actually defeat them, Harry."

Hermione warned, fearing that Harry might do something impulsive.

Harry raised his head. His face was still pale, but the twinkle in his eyes was brighter.

"I know we can't do this normally, Hermione, but if..."

Harry suddenly clenched his fists, his expression determined.
"I have an idea. Let's go. We won't meet up with Neville and the others. Let's go back."

"Where?"

Ron immediately asked,

"You planning on going back to Krum?"

"No"

Harry shook his head slowly.

"Even if we get the Durmstrang school badge, it will eventually be taken away by Malfoy. Let's go to the place where we just appeared in the Forbidden Forest!"

As he said this, Harry turned around, changed direction, and walked forward.

"To where we emerged in the Forbidden Forest?"

Ron looked surprised and followed.
"But why are we going there? There's nothing there but a lot of damned Devil's Snares, Harry."

By noon, Hogwarts, who had anticipated that the competition would be long, arranged for the elves to provide lunch for the spectators and referees.

It might not be possible to have a sumptuous banquet in the cramped viewing area, so Amosta had already instructed the house-elves to prepare mainly fast food.

At the referee's table, Amelia simply took a few bites of the sliced ​​grilled sausages without touching the sandwich on the plate and stopped eating.

To be honest, this way of watching the game is really novel. Even the knowledgeable wizards in the referee's seat are unusually excited.

"They had just experienced a 'bad defeat', but they were able to cheer themselves up and take the next step immediately. Such tenacity is very admirable."

Amelia looked at Hermione, Harry and Ron on the big screen, tilted her head with interest and asked Amosta,

"But I really can't guess their next plan of action."

"Young minds always come up with some brilliant ideas to help them overcome difficulties, Amelia, and it's unrealistic to expect me to guess."

In fact, Amosta already knew what Harry was going to do, but he didn't need to say it, otherwise Maxim and Dregorn might think he was secretly helping the Hogwarts warrior.

"If I remember correctly, Amosta, you are not more than twenty-five years old."

"Yes."

Amosta spoke briskly;

"You're already in your thirties, you're not young anymore, are you?"

Amosta's joking words caused several people in the referee's seat, whose average age was over 70, to roll their eyes. Dumbledore, who raised the average age of everyone, laughed. However, his smile suddenly disappeared when Rufus Scrimgeour appeared under the referee's seat. The expression on his old face was calm and majestic.

Scrimgeour is quite famous in the British wizarding world. Anyone who knows him is deeply impressed by his tough and tenacious character.

However, at this moment, Scrimgeour appeared under the referee's seat looking a little disheveled, his light yellow hair stuck to the side of his face by sweat, and his usually sharp eyes now revealed a sense of panic!
Amelia immediately realized that something was wrong. Without saying a word, she quickly left her position and went down to the referee's seat.

People curiously saw the Head of the Auror Office of the Ministry of Magic leaning over and whispering in the ear of the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and then Mrs. Bones' face gradually turned pale.

As Scrimgeour straightened himself again, Mrs. Bones swayed suddenly as if she were about to be blown over by the wind.

In the stands, Sirius, Amelia, Remus and Mr. Weasley glanced at each other, then stood up and walked towards Madam Bones. In the referee's seat, Dumbledore and Amosta also left their seats and walked quickly down the platform.

"What happened, Amelia?"

Behind Dumbledore's half-moon frame, his deep blue eyes looked deep and his inquiring voice sounded a little old.

"Rufus just told me."

Mrs. Bones's horrified eyes swept over the people surrounding her, she gasped a few times, and finally fixed her eyes on the faces of Amosta and Dumbledore.
"Azkaban has been breached!" (End of this chapter)