Chapter 39: Chapter 39: First Encounter
Words: 2,157
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[3rd POV]
"The moment you've all been waiting for has arrived, ladies and gentlemen."
Headmaster Dumbledore announced.
After he spoke, there was complete silence in the hall.
Dumbledore cast his gaze over those gathered here, and his eyes seemed to sparkle, or perhaps it was his glasses, but with magic anything is possible.
It had been almost a month since the arrival of the two other schools at Hogwarts to participate in the Triwizard Tournament.
A month full of new acquaintances, new friendships, and perhaps even love.
This event was meant to be competitive, but everyone in the hall was looking forward to the announcement of the Triwizard Cup selection.
Dumbledore raised his hand, and sparks flew along it, and the fire in the hall brightened, illuminating every dark corner.
Headmaster Dumble simply wanted to put on a show for the kids, but those knowledgeable would shudder at such an obvious display of powerful magic.
The professors seated felt the significance of the moment and watched the students with their eyes to ensure they didn't do anything dumb.
The Weasley brothers especially.
After the three participants were chosen, the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang Headmaster awaited the Triwizards Tournament's start.
The three would compete for first place and face worthy challenges.
"Without further ado, let's proceed to the Cup's decision."
Headmaster Dumbledore said it mischievously with his eyes falling on the cup.
Suddenly, it changed color from bright blue to a reddish-pink that lit up, and a piece of slightly burned paper flew out and landed perfectly in Dumbledore's palm.
"The Champion of Durmstrang..."
Headmaster Dumbledore paused and looked at Igor Karkaroff.
Headmaster Karkaroff was clearly impatient but tried to maintain his composure in front of the students and other professors.
"...is Viktor Krum!"
He thundered for all to hear, his words echoing off every brick in the hall and reaching everyone's ears no matter how far they were sitting.
"Yes!"
The Durmstrang students exclaimed and began to support their champion with cheers and friendly slaps on the back.
Viktor himself was a tall guy with short-cropped hair who was wearing his school's usual uniform.
He shook hands with the Headmaster and headed to the champions' room.
"That's Krum! I didn't expect anything else from him."
Ron said it as if he were his friend, with a silly smile on his face.
"Uh-huh..."
Hermione only uttered nervousness about the approaching event.
She couldn't talk to Dumbledore because he was too busy because of the arrival of students from other schools, and she decided not to approach the other girls.
Hermione had already tried, and now she didn't want to prove anything. After all, they would soon see for themselves that she was right.
Hermione's gaze fell on Professor Moody who was also in the room with the other professors, and as long as he didn't touch his drink... a few more minutes, and he would take a sip.
"The Champion of Beauxbatons will be... Fleur Delacour!"
Dumbledore announced the second champion.
Now, there was noise from the Beauxbatons' side.
Fleur proudly stood up without even looking at the students while approaching Dumbledore who smiled at her.
A lot of the guys in the hall gave her obvious looks of desire.
Fleur's graceful walk while swaying her hips and the expression on her face seemed to attract everyone.
"Idiots, she's a Veela."
Hermione gently tapped Harry on the shoulder with care, not to harm him. She had already checked to see if she had become physically stronger.
Harry looked at her with interest because she was the champion of another school, but Ron looked at her because she was Veela and had a weak will.
"And the third participant, the champion of Hogwarts..."
Harry stared at the cup and swallowed while believing his friend.
They had been watching Professor Moody, and he did notice something strange about him.
"... is Cedric Diggory!"
Headmaster Dumbledore announced.
All Hufflepuffians stood up and applauded immediately. The other houses clapped later, with Slytherin showing the least enthusiasm.
"Hermione, your vision is very accurate."
Harry said this while clenching his fists and staring intently at the cup.
They tried to make sure Professor Moody didn't approach the cup but who knew?
"Only one will hoist this chalice of champions this vessel of victory."
Dumbledore continued, and at that moment the cup of fire hummed, and flames burst upwards.
Dumbledore immediately frowned when noticing the fourth piece of paper.
"No..."
Harry spoke tensely while picturing what was going to happen.
On the other hand, Moody took a sip and choked which drew attention to himself.
Moody's face contorted in a grimace of confusion, and he grabbed his throat.
Professors jumped up and started checking on Moody, but his face shifted, causing Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape to frown.
"...Was this planned to distract us from the fourth participant, Mr. Dumbledore?"
Headmistress Maxime said it with a strong French accent. She was very tall, a descendant of giants.
"No, I assure you it wasn't."
Headmaster Dumbledore shook his head and headed towards the now-transformed Moody.
"It's Barty Crouch Jr.!"
One of the Ministry officials said this and drew his wand.
Barty only had time to be frightened and reach for his wand when he froze due to a spell from the stern Albus Dumbledore.
"Calm down, I will sort this out. Harry, my boy, please go to the other champions."
Headmaster Dumbledore said and stopped those who wanted to start protesting from the Headmaster of the other schools with his gaze.
"I still don't fully understand the situation, so let me figure it out first. Obviously, things are not as simple as they may seem."
At that moment, Hermione looked as if she were staring through the entire hall and ignored what was happening.
Shinoa Hiragi: This Dumbledore really looks like a parody wizard from books.
Hermione Granger: Headmaster Dumbledore!
Rias Gremory: So everything is going "according to the plot" for now, but you tried to do something, right?
Hermione Granger: Moody was discovered much earlier, and now Headmaster Dumbledore will definitely listen to my words!
Rias Gremory: But your friend still became the fourth champion.
Erina Nakiri: When did you even manage to pour something into his flask?
Shinoa Hiragi: Oh, our missing person has been found.
Erina Nakiri: I wasn't missing, I was just busy with my studies and didn't have time to see the Group Chat often. I've been free for some time and noticed Hermione's live broadcast, so I decided to join.
Anthony (Administrator): I'm glad you're with us. Hermione, well done with Moody :D
Winter Schnee: Over these days, I've already understood what's what, so I can agree with Anthony's opinion.
Shinoa Hiragi: You don't chat often... Are you gathering information?
Winter Schnee: Maybe.
...
"It's a beautiful view from above."
Lena said while looking down at Gotham City through the airplane window.
"It only looks like this from above. In reality, Metropolis is better, or at least safer."
I told Lena we were flying in an airplane for the first time, and she was very excited about this event.
However, Anthony hadn't flown either...
But now we were heading to the most dangerous city, where Batman roams, and I can't say I'm pleased about it, but I'm not upset either.
If they're constantly afraid of what might happen, then it's no longer life but survival.
It takes about two hours to fly here from Metropolis on our private plane from LutherCorp.
Gotham is located on the east coast of the country, and it looks gloomy even at first glance.
The city's architectural appearance was formed sometime in the early twentieth century, and its central part was built in the gothic style.
"...The contracts have been signed, and the money has been sent."
Lena listed it as soon as we got off the plane and got into the waiting car.
There are some good things about being rich and having your own plane with a hangar.
We underwent a quick inspection in the hangar and were permitted to leave for safety reasons.
"Lena, relax."
I put my hand on her knee.
Over these days, Lena had started walking again, but she hadn't made any comments so far.
"We have a two-day vacation. Today we'll have a good rest at the hotel and take a walk around the city... although the latter would be quite dangerous if we were ordinary people, and tomorrow we'll go to Wayne Manor."
"Yes, sorry. It's hard to switch so abruptly from work mode."
Lena smiled softly.
It's been just over five weeks since we took over LutherCorp, and it's been hard for her.
We had to go through a lot of bureaucracy to run the business as we were only eighteen years old.
"I can understand you. I will also stay late at my place..."
I looked at the driver and used magic to ignore us. Then, I immediately kissed Lena on the lips, and she happily responded with a passionate kiss.
There was a very beautiful ring that I made for her on her finger.
This ring also has a pocket dimension, but it also somewhat protects her from magical threats, and I can easily find her through the ring.
It wouldn't be fair to say that this artifact is directly on the divine level, but it will be able to protect her from not very dangerous threats.
Moreover, I have ideas on how to improve the ring with the Eighth Metal.
Then it will definitely become a divine artifact.
This should greatly improve its functions and... many other things, but experimentation is needed.
In half an hour, we stopped at the Logerquist Hotel, one of Gotham's most expensive and suitable hotels for the rich in Gotham.
It wasn't important to me where I slept, but it's still better to stay in good condition.
"The girl at the reception desk clearly tried to get your attention."
Lena said this immediately after we closed the door to our room.
The room itself was luxurious, and it was clear that it was huge.
"Well, the fact that we'll have dinner at Wayne Manor is known all over the city just like the other guests. Journalists..."
I shrugged indifferently as I walked down the hotel corridor to one of the rooms.
"What a huge bathroom for the size of our previous apartment."
I noticed this when opening the door.
"Cortana, is everything okay with the company?"
Lena couldn't resist and asked.
"Yes, you were absent for only three hours and twenty-three minutes, nothing serious happened during that time."
Cortana replied.
After looking around the room for a while, we saw another bathroom and a big bed in the middle of the bedroom.
Lena lay down, and I did the same, hugging her and gently kissing her ear.
We have the whole day off today, and Lena has made plans for what to do.
It didn't take long for us to go out onto the street and head to the local park next which is one of the oldest banks in the USA.
"Good thing I brought an umbrella..."
I muttered when it started to rain, and I quickly raised it and moved it to the side to cover Lena from the rain while she was holding my hand and smiling sweetly.
"You know they might misunderstand us from the outside."
Lena decided to say.
"Well not everyone has a perverted mindset."
I immediately remembered the main pervert in the DxD world.
While we were walking to the park, we decided to take a shorter route through a slightly abandoned street.
"Hey."
A rough guy said it with a flushed face.
"Hand over the cash!"
Suddenly, he pulled out a knife from his pocket and started looking around.
"Um... are we being robbed right now?"
Lena didn't immediately understand what was happening. We hadn't been in a situation like this before.
"Hm, this is Gotham, so apparently that's how it is. Congratulations on your first robbery, well, and mine too, I guess."
I said it with a smirk.
"Hey! You damn rich folks, hurry up and empty your pockets!"
He menacingly waved the knife.
"He's quite funny..."
I shook my head and used a powerful magical direction while causing his eyes to glaze over and turning around to walk somewhere.
More precisely, he went to the police station where he confessed his actions.
I have some plans for the criminals of this city, as well as other bad individuals.
I need many souls... for a certain ritual to restrain powerful entities not that I suddenly became a maniac, but if we're getting rid of this kind of trash then my conscience shouldn't bother me.
"Indeed, we haven't even been in the city for a day, and someone is already trying to rob us."
Lena said this while squeezing my hand tighter.
"Let's go, my bodyguard."
Lena said it in a good mood.
...
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