Chapter 313: There is a Problem with the Competition However, Bruce quickly shook his head and put his previous guess out of his mind. "No, I'm a little crazy." Is it any wonder that magical animals are highly intelligent? Katoom's group of owl brothers are not even magical creatures, but they can play house with Katoom. "Creatures in the magical world are all very smart." Bruce thought, "They just don't want to get close to humans, so they look like other animals." Unless there are things like crawling and talking mouths, it is difficult to feel the specialness of those creatures. "It's all because of the bat sense last night. It makes me suspicious of everything now." Bruce raised his head and looked at the transparent dome, thinking silently in his heart: "Katum, you must investigate the weird truth behind this game!" ……
At this moment, in the stands of the Quidditch field, everyone else was looking at Bruce's performance with some surprise. why? How could he act so relaxed and not seem nervous at all? Although he had clearly seen through the plan to hunt down the fire dragon, he still handed the weak fire dragon over to the enemy without any intention of taming it himself. In the crystal ball, the fire dragon is already a very powerful creature, and it would be difficult for Bruce to find a better choice. Why isn't he in a hurry? unless-- Hermione frowned and muttered, "Bruce looks like he doesn't want to participate in the competition at all." It's just muddling along. Why on earth? …… Katoom stood at the top of the owlery at Hogwarts Castle. He summoned all the owls to search every corner of the castle for him. "My lord, what exactly do you want us to look for?" one of the younger brothers asked. Katum's explanation was somewhat vague. "I can't describe it to you. You should just observe and see if there are any extra things in the castle, such as boxes or cabinets." The little owls all had question marks over their heads, but they didn't dare to ask any more questions. They could only fly away aimlessly, looking for things that shouldn't be in Hogwarts Castle. Katoom sighed after all the owls left. In fact, he was not very clear about what he was looking for. But there should be a box that can hold people, just like the one that Barty Crouch Jr. imprisoned Moody in the original book. There was something wrong with this match, this was the result of Bruce and Katum's discussion. There is no evidence for this speculation, it's just Bruce's bat sense. Just yesterday, the day before the game started, Bruce experienced an unprecedented sense of danger, so strong that it was like palpitations and almost made Batboy faint.
This kind of situation has never happened before, which can only mean one thing: the next danger is likely to kill Bruce. It's not even just Bruce, I'm afraid Katum won't be immune. Of course, Owl takes this very seriously. He discussed many possibilities with Bruce and came up with various countermeasures. But whether we can get through this hurdle is still unknown. We can only do our best and leave the rest to fate. Katum didn't have to wait long before a little owl came flying over and yelled, "My lord! I found something!" "What discovery?!" Katum jumped up, "Take me there!" He followed the little owl as it flew quickly down the corridor, and saw what the other party had said was wrong. At this moment, Katum was very upset. What was in front of him was indeed a cabinet, but it was filled with all kinds of colorful women's clothing, some of which were covered with sequins, looking extremely ostentatious. This is something that belonged to Rita Skeeter. There have been many guests in Hogwarts Castle recently, and their luggage certainly does not belong to Hogwarts. "I--" Katum felt like cursing because he had made such a wasted trip, but he held himself back. After all, it was my fault that I didn't explain things clearly, so I can't blame others. "That's not it." Katum stroked the little owl's head, his attitude was better than ever, "Go look for it again, and tell me if you find anything new." "Ok!" The little owl nodded vigorously. He didn't expect that the king, who had such a bad temper, would be so nice to him. I guess it’s because I was the first to make the discovery that the king treated me differently! At this time, some strange ideas popped up in the little owl's mind. After all, King Katoom is a student owl, not a native of Hogwarts, and he will graduate and leave eventually. By then, the throne that originally belonged to Katum would naturally become vacant. The title of King of Owls will fall to another owl. Who would that be? Could it be me? Thinking of this, the little owl trembled all over. He felt that a road to progress was laid out before him and a bright future was beckoning him. He was suddenly full of fighting spirit!
"Don't worry, my king!" The little owl solemnly assured Katum, "Even if I turn the entire Hogwarts upside down, I will find the thing you mentioned!" After saying that, he flew away without looking back, full of energy. Then, just as he was leaving, another little owl flew over and shouted that it had found something. Katum went over to take a look and saw that it was also someone's luggage. He searched through it and found nothing special, so he restored it to its original state. "That's not it." Katum smiled and comforted the little owl, "It's okay, you continue to look for it, and report to me if there is any situation." Like the previous little owl, this one seemed to have thought of something strange and flew away full of energy. "What a stupid idea." Katum couldn't help but complain that this was extremely inefficient. But there was no way. After all, he didn't know as much about Hogwarts Castle as these little owls did. If he went to look for it by himself and missed something, the result would be fatal. I can only put in more effort. At this time, Hogwarts Castle was basically empty, and everyone gathered on the Quidditch field to watch the game. And it was obvious to the naked eye that this game would not end anytime soon. The wizards were mentally prepared for this, and would not be surprised even if it dragged on for a longer time. After all, there was once a Quidditch match that lasted for three months, and they all persisted. This gave Katoom time. Although he didn't expect it to be as long as three months, it was enough for him to search the entire Hogwarts Castle. Soon, half a day passed. Katum didn't know how many people's luggage he had checked, nor how many little owls he had encouraged. But finally, the discovery of a little owl brought a surprise. Katoom was delighted when he saw the owl. "Bubbles, it's you." This was the first little owl he bullied, and it had once entered the Room of Requirement with him. Unexpectedly, from then on, Bubble remembered the method to open the Room of Requirement. At this time, when all the owls were searching the classroom and other people's rooms, only Bubble ran into the Room of Requirement. Then he made a different discovery. It was a shabby green box with a faint symbol engraved in a very inconspicuous place, which would be easily missed if one was not careful. Katoom had seen that symbol before. The symbiosis of pythons and skeletons appeared at the Quidditch World Cup, and it is not a very dark mark. "After all this time, I'm still in the Room of Requirement!"
Katum found it a little funny, but soon thought that maybe the box was not originally placed in the Room of Requirement. It's just that Bubble's desire to find something was too strong, so the Room of Requirement responded to his wish. "Okay, so you are the little owl who takes my orders most seriously." Katum hugged Bubble and patted his head, being extremely affectionate. "From today on, you are the Chief Owler of Hogwarts, second only to one eagle, and above all the eagles!" Katum's reward made Bubble feel a little dizzy. This huge wealth finally fell on his head. "Let me see what's in this box!" Katoom released Bubble and tried to open the box. He first tried to solve the problem using a wizard's method, but after trying several spells, the lock of the box could not be opened. "Really annoying." In that case, it’s no wonder that Katum used other methods. He stretched out his wings and began to spin in circles. Soon, a golden teleportation array appeared in front of him. This was the magic of Kamar-Taj. At the other end of the teleportation array was the interior of the box. Katum did not open the box, but directly established a teleportation channel at both ends. He stuck his head in. Inside the box, there was a different world. There was a big pit at the bottom of the box, like a basement. About three meters deep on the floor, there lay a person, skinny as if he was asleep. "really!" Katum laughed loudly. The methods used by this group of black magicians were similar. It was the same for Barty Crouch Jr. and the mastermind behind this time! "Let me see who you are!" Katoom flew in and came to the prisoner's side. The other party was not Katum's acquaintance, they had only met each other a few times. It took Owl a lot of effort to recognize the other party's identity from this face that did not resemble a human. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Sports and Sports at the Ministry of Magic! "So the problem is you!" Katum shouted, no wonder the competition system has changed so much! After all, he is the director, so he certainly has the power to adjust the content of the competition. If it were someone else, they would not be able to achieve such an effect. Now, there is a Bagman in the box, and there is also a Bagman on the podium outside the arena. Katoom flew out of the box without any hesitation, without even bothering to save Bagman. This guy is not a good person either. He is a compulsive gambler. In the original book, he deliberately bet that Harry would win the competition, and then abused his power to help Harry win, hoping to win a large sum of money by creating an upset. A gambler should get what he deserves. It is only right for such people to continue to suffer.
Katum flew out of the box and wanted to fly outside out of his owl instinct, but he quickly stopped and slapped his forehead. "I'm so stupid! Just Apparate!" He stayed there for a few seconds but did not disappear from the spot. "Ok?" Katum noticed something was wrong, "Why can't I Apparate?" Inside Hogwarts Castle, there is a counter-spell to prevent students from Apparating, but it is ineffective against owls and house-elves. But now, the Apparition didn't work. "No, that's not right!" Katoom noticed something was wrong and tried to Apparate again. He immediately disappeared and appeared on the other side of the room. Apparition is available! "There's something wrong with the finish line!" Katum understood instantly that the problem was not with Hogwarts Castle, but with the Quidditch field! That area may have encountered some accident and has been blocked off! "Damn it Bruce, when something as serious as this happened, why didn't you just contact me telepathically!" Katoom cursed and flew towards the Quidditch pitch at high speed. Although he was cursing, Katum was constantly trying to contact Bruce in his heart. But there was no response. Before, Owl always read Bruce's messages without replying, and Bruce was always very dissatisfied with this. Now, Katum finally felt this feeling, and it was indeed not pleasant. Although Owl could confirm through telepathy that Bruce had not encountered any accident, this silence did make Katum a little worried. "Bruce, what happened to you?" …… Let’s go back to an earlier time. At the Quidditch field, everyone was looking at the magic curtain nervously, especially the teachers and students of Hogwarts. Several warriors have already found their own magical creature partners, but Bruce, who was given high hopes, still has nothing. He had many opportunities to tame a powerful enough magical creature, but in the end he chose to give up. This attitude has caused dissatisfaction among delegations from other schools. "Hmph! Young and frivolous." Karkaroff sneered, "You must be conceited and think that only the strongest creature is worthy of you. I have seen many people like this!" "Igor." Dumbledore still had that faint smile on his face, but there was no emotion in his voice.
"Don't assume that about a child." "I..." Karkaroff was choked for a moment. He thought about it and finally did not refute. Just a little objective comment on Bruce made Dumbledore so angry. It seems that old man Albus is very partial to Bruce! "I won't argue with you." Karkaroff thought, "I treat all my students equally, even Krum." As soon as this thought came to mind, Krum's face appeared on the magic curtain. Karkaroff's face immediately lit up with joy as he looked at his favorite student. However, he soon discovered something was wrong. "and many more!" He stood up suddenly, bumping into Madame Maxime, the headmaster of Bubbaston, in the process, without even apologizing. "Krum's condition is not right!" Karkaroff shouted, "He's under someone's control! It's the Imperius Curse! It has to be!" He could recognize it because he had used this spell many times when he was a Death Eater and had extensive experience! "The Imperius Curse?" There was a sudden uproar at the scene, and everyone immediately looked at Krum on the screen. I saw that the other person was indeed in a bad condition and his walking movements were very mechanical. At this moment, he came in front of Bruce and Harry. (End of this chapter)