Hogwarts Summoning Guide

Filch walked over to Dumbledore and whispered something to him. Dumbledore quickly went outside to greet them. A moment later, the representatives of the Ministry of Magic also came in, and the one leading them was none other than Barty Crouch the Elder.

Bai Lin was having an awkward, half-hearted conversation with Karkaroff, trying to get some useful information out of him, when he looked up and saw Old Barty. Bai Lin suddenly jolted and almost stood up.

If Bai Lin were Barty Crouch Jr., and he had to choose to disguise himself as someone, infiltrate the Triwizard Tournament, manipulate the entire competition without anyone noticing, and be thoroughly familiar with the person he was impersonating, then Bai Lin would definitely choose Barty Crouch Jr.'s father—the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Barty Crouch Sr.

The entire Goblet of Fire tournament is supervised and organized by the Ministry of Magic, not just Hogwarts. The Goblet itself is also under the Ministry's supervision. Putting aside how difficult it would be for Barty Jr. to capture Mad-Eye Moody, even Moody himself, as an Auror who has been retired for over a decade, would try to pull off so many underhanded things under the Ministry's supervision, including stealing the trophy to make a Portkey. It just shows how careless the Ministry of Magic is, and how the staff they've hired are all incompetent fools.

However, it would be much easier to ambush one's own father—in the original story, Barty the Elder imprisoned his son at home, but he escaped during a Quidditch match. In the world where Bai Lin lives, all Barty the Younger needs to do is steal a wand, have Shiny take him home, and subduing Barty the Elder would be a piece of cake.

It would be too easy for Old Battier to tamper with the trophy, and he could even decide what the competition would be—as long as it wasn't outrageous, the three principals wouldn't raise any objections, lest their own Warriors appear to have weaknesses.

When Bai Lin saw Old Barty walk into the auditorium, he immediately understood. He could jump out right now and expose Old Barty's identity, but after thinking about it, he did not act rashly.

Bai Lin's greatest advantage in dealing with Voldemort was his familiarity with the plot. As one of the ultimate bosses, Voldemort was best dealt with by taking a steady and methodical approach.

Now that Bai Lin had seen through his identity, the situation had shifted from the enemy being in the dark while he was in the light to the enemy being in the light while he was in the dark, which made things much easier for Bai Lin.

His attention was quickly drawn to the table at Beauxbatons, where Yuxi and Catherine were sitting close together, chatting happily with their junior classmates, making it the most beautiful corner of the entire auditorium.

This scene made Bai Lin somewhat embarrassed. One was Catherine, with whom he had been intimate and had been dating for more than half a year, and the other was Youxi, who had snuggled into his bed and cuddled him to sleep last night.

Bai Lin scratched his cheek and turned his head to the side. Harry was also looking at girls, but not at the Beauxbatons table. Instead, he perfectly skipped Hermione and was peeking at Cho Chang at the Ravenclaw table. Bai Lin felt like his mouth was watering... What a wonderful adolescence.

The teachers from the three schools frequently raised their glasses, but "Old Barty" drank very little. Halfway through the dinner, Moody was already quite drunk and started snoring against the back of his chair.

Dumbledore and the other two headmasters stood up and walked up to the podium. Dumbledore said, "Quiet, quiet down." He pointed his wand at his throat, and his voice suddenly became as loud as thunder, so the students quieted down. Only Moody turned over and continued to sleep.

"Today, we are honored to have guests from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang gathered with us. This is a momentous occasion for the entire European magical community! Let us raise our glasses in celebration! They will be spending the next school year with us; let us learn from each other and forge lasting friendships!..."

"I believe everyone is already familiar with the Triwizard Tournament, so I won't go into its history and significance," Dumbledore said after sharing a drink with the crowd. "Everyone is very interested in how the champions are chosen. Now, watch!"

Several Ministry of Magic staff carried up a huge object, two or three meters tall, and placed it in front of the platform. They lifted the curtain, revealing a radiant golden tower inside, inlaid with various gems. The students sitting nearby were practically blinded by its brilliance.

Bai Lin also looked at the treasure with great interest, but what he was thinking was: This is obviously a treasure containing a lot of magical power. I wonder if melting it down could forge a divine artifact...

However, Bai Lin only thought about it; he still had his own moral standards. After experiencing the Shadow Dream twice, he felt even more strongly that one shouldn't do anything against one's conscience...

Dumbledore waved his wand, and the magnificent golden tower began to transform, its outer shell retracting into the base, finally revealing the object inside—an ancient trophy of unknown age, with a blazing blue flame burning within.

"As you can see, this is an ancient artifact, containing the highest oath and glory of wizards—the Goblet of Fire!" Dumbledore's voice became very solemn, a far cry from his usual lighthearted and humorous tone.

"Before tomorrow night, all students who wish to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, win the ultimate glory, and are over seventeen years old, may write their names and schools on parchment and drop them into the Goblet of Fire. The Goblet of Fire will then select the most suitable warriors for us!" Dumbledore said solemnly.

The students were in an uproar. They speculated on countless methods for selecting warriors. Malfoy even considered using his family's power to make himself a warrior. However, no one expected that they would choose people using an ancient magical artifact. What the hell was the difference between this and drawing lots?

Bai Lin, meanwhile, was full of complaints: If the Goblet of Fire were a mindless magical artifact, how would it distinguish whether the names belonged to students? Would teachers' names work? What standards did the Ministry of Magic set for it? If a school had a significantly large number of outstanding students, would they select three champions from the same school?

Assuming the Goblet of Fire possesses a certain level of consciousness and can communicate with wizards, then what the hell is the point of a fourth person appearing in the original story? Is the Goblet of Fire just going to go along with this mistake? And the wizards are expected to accept it unconditionally?

The text repeatedly mentions that the Goblet of Fire contains extremely powerful magic, and even a great wizard like Dumbledore had unwavering faith in its selection. Bai Lin felt that it was impossible for Barty Jr. to arbitrarily change the original characteristics of the Goblet of Fire according to his own will.

Moreover, judging from the appearance of the Goblet of Fire, its history is probably even older than the three magic schools. Bai Lin concluded that this magical artifact is somewhat similar to the Olympian flame, possibly existing and being used in ancient times, perhaps forged for competitions between kingdoms or city-states. However, with the development of civilization and the rise of the three magic schools, it was gradually given new functions by wizards.

If ancient times also used the method of throwing slips of paper to select warriors from different kingdoms or city-states, then it's very likely that parchment from different regions was used for differentiation. This could explain why Barty Jr. was able to successfully elect Harry in the original story; as long as Harry Potter's name was written on parchment from a country different from the three schools' locations, he was guaranteed to be elected, because he was the only candidate in that region. To verify this, Bai Lin had a fresh idea.

The latter half of the banquet ended amidst the students' noisy discussions. Students and teachers dispersed one after another, and the Goblet of Fire was placed in the Great Hall, guarded by four guards from the Ministry of Magic. An age line was drawn around the Goblet of Fire, and children under the age of 17 were not allowed to cross it.

However, for an adult wizard like Bai Lin, this level of barrier is really not enough. Do you think you can stop Death Eaters from attacking your house by drawing an age line at the door?

Bai Lin looked at the age line and started to have wild thoughts. If the above situation really happened, the Death Eaters could of course use a spell like Fiendfire to burn the people and the house to the ground. However, thinking of this, Bai Lin suddenly figured out how to deal with Marvolo Gaunt's ring.

In the original story, Marvolo Gaunt's ring was imbued with Voldemort's extremely powerful curse magic, which would cause fatal damage to anyone who touched it. Even Dumbledore was affected, his arm turning black as if charred. Despite Dumbledore's immense magical power, it only delayed his death by a year, and he still faced death.

But I could just cast a Fiendfyre spell outside the house, and theoretically, it would burn down the house and the Horcruxes. Bai Lin thought it made more and more sense, so he quickly opened his book of dark magic, found the Fiendfyre spell, and learned the incantation. He had always thought that this thing was difficult to control and slow to take effect, but now he realized it was a good way to deal with Horcruxes.

Bai Lin cast a disguise spell on the black magic book, making it appear to others as just an ordinary notebook. So, seeing that no one was around, he began to study it in a corner of the hall.

However, he attracted the attention of one person. Karkaroff walked up to Bai Lin with a serious expression: "Let me see, Professor White seems to have something extraordinary..."

Bai Lin was engrossed in watching, still practicing spells in his mind, when he was startled awake by Karkaroff's words. His tall figure blocked the light of the Goblet of Fire, casting a shadow over his face, making it impossible to discern his emotions.

Bai Lin's expression turned serious. He closed the notebook in his hand, then smiled and said, "You're joking. It's just some of my teaching notes."

Karkarov straightened up, seemingly relaxing considerably, and sat down in front of Bai Lin. In the firelight, Bai Lin could see that his chiseled face seemed to be in pain, and his goat-like beard was trembling.

Karkarov said, "Although this is our first meeting, I'm afraid I'm being a bit presumptuous... but I just quietly inquired about you, and it surprised me greatly..."

Bai Lin's heart stirred, but he didn't think Karkaroff would dare to snatch the Black Magic Book from him; he was more inclined to believe that Karkaroff had come to seek help or cooperation.

Karkaroff is quite righteous in the original books, but he is really cowardly. When Voldemort fell, as a Death Eater, in order to protect himself (in fact, he did not do anything too heinous), he betrayed some Death Eaters, such as Snape and Barty Jr.

After learning of Voldemort's resurrection, he went into hiding and was eventually found dead in a small cabin in the north in the summer of 1996. His body was marked with the Dark Mark, which was likely caused by Voldemort's men hunting him down.

Bai Lin said, "Principal Karkarov, you're too kind. I know you quite well, so you can treat me like an old friend."

Karkaroff was somewhat surprised, but he was quite frank and said, "Then I'll get straight to the point. I've heard that Professor White is only an assistant professor of the Magical Creatures Protection class at Hogwarts, which is a huge waste of his talents. I would like to invite you to be a visiting professor at Durmstrang University to teach my students Dark Magic for this academic year."

Bai Lin was immediately amused by Karkaroff: "Ha, Principal, are you joking? Durmstrang needs to hire external professors to teach dark magic? Aren't you an expert yourself?"

Karkaroff removed his sheepskin gloves and said somewhat somberly, "Perhaps you know something about me. I've been obsessed with the study of dark magic since I was young, not to harm others, nor to uphold justice... In fact, the Ministry of Magic of various countries has an unwritten rule that only dark magic can preserve the status of wizards in the human world, so it's impossible to completely prohibit the study and use of dark magic."

Bai Lin nodded. Karkaroff's words made a lot of sense. If wizards wanted to live well in the human world, they would have to have an advantage in terms of military strength. Once the leaders of Muggle society discovered that the wizarding community was weak and had many security risks, the result would inevitably be a racial cleansing similar to the witch hunts.

Karkaroff continued, "However, years of studying and using dark magic can indeed distort a person's mind and character. Even with a strong will to resist, one eventually discovers that these side effects not only affect the mind but also the body... I can no longer teach dark magic unless I want to burn through my lifespan. This is also my advice to you, even though you are still young."

Bai Lin nodded again and smiled, "What do you intend to use as my reward? As you said, I'm going to burn my lifespan to teach." He knew very well that Karkaroff had only told half the reason. In the end, he still wanted to covet the black magic book in Bai Lin's hands and wanted to achieve his goal indirectly.

Karkaroff said, "Gallons, magic crystals, precious magical ingredients—you can ask for anything. Durmstrang will do everything in its power to satisfy you!"

Bai Lin stood up, shook hands with Karkaroff, and said, "Your sincerity has moved me. I can start work tomorrow!"

"You... are such a straightforward person..." Karkarov also stood up. He was half a head taller than Bai Lin. He smiled, revealing a set of yellow teeth.

As soon as Karkaroff left, another person sat down opposite Bai Lin.

Bai Lin looked up and saw that it was Moody, who had sobered up. His fake eyes were wandering around, and his expression was full of surprise.

"You shouldn't have trusted Karkaroff!" Moody said. He was the one who spent six months hunting down Karkaroff, only to have him released by Barty, a fact that still made Moody resentful.

"Ha, I know. Dumbledore invited you here mainly to monitor Durmstrang's people. After all, it's quite normal for those who practice dark magic to be two-faced," Bai Lin said.

"Since you knew that, why did you agree to it?" Moody asked.

"Believe me, our enemy isn't him; he's just a pathetic wretch. But there's someone else we should be careful of..." Bai Lin said, leaning closer to Moody.

The latest chapter has ignited the plot! Stay tuned for more updates.