Chapter 198: The Warrior's Private Life

"That is only one matter." After a slight pause, Sirius spoke of the content Harry cared about most, "You should be more interested in the Stasis Charm."

"That's right," Harry said. "The Chrono-Momentum seems to have developed a problem; I must consider whether I can use the Stasis Charm as the decisive spell."

"Setting aside the issue of magical consumption, I believe it is entirely possible," Sirius said. "The Stasis Charm can be used on a wizard, sealing them within a painting. According to the subject, he felt as though only three or four seconds had passed inside, but in reality, I had kept him in there for three days."

"Three days?"

"Perhaps it could be longer, but I ran out of magic," Sirius said, looking slightly troubled. "The larger the sealed object and the longer the duration, the greater the consumption. This is a problem that must be solved; otherwise, given your level of magic, you might only be able to trap the Dark Lord for an hour."

"But at least I am capable of using this spell," Harry comforted himself. "Being able to trap him for an hour is good enough; I can think of other ways to extend that time."

In truth, the first thought that leaped into Harry's mind was to use the Chrono-Momentum to stack multiple Stasis Charms. What worried him was that Ollivander had said the Chrono-Momentum itself was quite dangerous, not to mention that the Stasis Charm was a spell with high consumption.

However, he couldn't help but wonder: if an overcharged Chrono-Momentum were used to cast a high-consumption Stasis Charm, would the two cancel each other out, thereby allowing the Chrono-Momentum to operate steadily?

"Don't let your imagination run wild, Harry," Sirius reminded him. "The important thing is to pass the first task; this is an indispensable part of the plan."

"Ah, yes," Harry said subconsciously. "But I already have a way."

"Don't lower your guard. A very important question is: can Donald truly be trusted? What if he gives you the Seven Deadly Sins but exaggerates their effects?" Sirius said very seriously. "If you appear flustered and in constant danger during the first task, will the Dark Lord still view you as a threat?"

"Furthermore, you have already made big claims in the newspapers. If your strength cannot match them, won't the Dark Lord suspect this is a trap set by the Ministry of Magic in collusion with reporters? He will certainly think so; we cannot let him see through our intentions."

"Er, actually..." Harry had originally wanted to say that Voldemort had already seen through their intentions and was preparing to play along, intending to have a showdown with Deng Buliduo.

However, the foundation of this entire chain of schemes should still be that topic placed in the open. If Harry appears to be a rising successor capable of continuing to lead everyone in resisting Voldemort after Deng Buliduo, then Voldemort would have a reason to strike, and only then could he play along to deal with Deng Buliduo.

If, conversely, Harry makes a fool of himself in the Triwizard Tournament, leading people to not believe he is capable of succeeding Deng Buliduo, then Voldemort would not actually have a reason to assassinate him. Voldemort would also worry that taking the initiative to strike would appear suspicious, causing Deng Buliduo to be on guard. Moreover, in a situation where Harry poses no threat to Voldemort, continuing to stall for time and quietly waiting for Deng Buliduo to meet his fated death would be a better strategy.

"You're right; I should practice more with Cedric," Harry changed his tune. "I cannot use the Seven Deadly Sins as my only trump card."

"That puts my mind at ease. But there is one more thing I must remind you of: do you know about the Soviet Union?" Sirius looked around vigilantly, then lowered his voice and said, "It is said that a Soviet spy has infiltrated the Ministry of Magic. We don't yet know what their plan is, but this is not a good thing; the Soviets are playing a very large game."

"I've heard of it, but this might just be a ridiculous excuse the White House found to interfere in the Triwizard Tournament—a nonexistent spy." Harry recalled the conversations he had heard previously; Barty Sr. believed this was just a political means of applying pressure.

"No, you cannot take this news lightly," Sirius's voice was even lower. "The Soviets' layout is very large; they once sent people to Azkaban to monitor me, and there are also their people around the Dark Lord..."

"Azkaban? Monitoring you?" Harry's thoughts were suddenly pulled back to that time travel in his third year. Someone had been hiding in Sirius's cell and attacked Zhang Qiu, who was preparing to help him break out of prison. He had almost forgotten about this incident.

"I will continue to investigate." Sirius signaled for Harry to be quiet. "I have been worrying about this matter for some time; I hope their layout will not affect our plan."

"The champion from Durmstrang, I can try to probe her." Harry wanted to try to help his godfather.

"Renata? You had best not do that," Sirius said slowly. "I have checked her; she comes from the Black Swan Orphanage, which is where the KGB trains death-defying agents. In short, this person is also extremely dangerous."

"Then I should pay even closer attention to her; clearly, she did not come to participate in the competition knowing nothing," Harry said earnestly. "Don't worry, as her competitor in the Triwizard Tournament, targeting her is reasonable and justifiable."

"You must be careful, but I believe you can do it," Sirius said, glancing at his watch. "I have told you the most urgent matters; I must go. You can continue to write to me, but you must never say things that require confidentiality in the letters; we cannot take that risk."

"Good, you take care too." Harry watched blankly as Sirius transformed back into a black dog and ran toward the depths of the woods. Intertwined branches let through fragmented light spots, and the early morning sun spilled onto the path his godfather had taken. A hummingbird flew past, a squirrel ran past, and a weasel stood on a dead tree, poking its head out—in the blink of an eye, everything returned to the appearance of no one having ever been there.

Harry walked slowly toward the train alone. Luo En and Zhang Qiu were already gone; they had left a note indicating for Harry to meet them at the library.

When Harry arrived at the library, he saw a group of people huddled together at a table at a glance: Luo En, Zhang Qiu, Cedric, and Donna. Each of them was holding a newspaper, their expressions quite relaxed.

"Oh, where did these come from?" Harry asked in a low voice, glancing at the newspapers written in various languages.

"Ah, you're here, Harry." Zhang Qiu put down the Chinese newspaper in her hand. "We have collected reports from various countries regarding the Triwizard Tournament. Although most of them are repetitive nonsense, we have still summarized some intelligence."

"Yes, for example, that Elena is very likely a lesbian and she is coveting our Fleur, that Harry and Cedric might also have different feelings for each other, and that there is only a pure 'revolutionary friendship' between Renata and Krum, who have already kissed," Donna said, rolling her eyes.

"What?" Harry widened his eyes in surprise.

"Sina Hot Search believes that you and Cedric very likely have a thing going on because Cedric is extremely handsome, and 'since ancient times, the national sentiment of Great Britain has been like this,'" Zhang Qiu explained with a half-smile.

"The Planet Daily says that Elena trusts Hermione a bit too much and that they are very likely a couple," Luo En put down the newspaper in his hand with annoyance; the headline was a photo of Hermione and Elena hugging. "Given that Hermione vehemently denies this, the editor speculates that Elena has actually fallen for Fleur."

"And the Truth Daily roughly says that it praises the respectful comrade friendship between Renata and Krum, as well as arguing for the superiority of the socialist education system," Cedric raised the dictionary in his hand with slight confusion.

"This is clearly lying with eyes open." Donna held up the "Paris Wizarding Newspaper" in her hand; a high-definition moving image of Renata and Krum kissing was shaking before Harry's eyes over and over again.

"Truly idle," Harry commented. "But I didn't know before, have Renata and Krum progressed so quickly?"

"You don't need to be surprised; I'm not surprised," Donna said. "A middle school girl and a gorilla who studies sports—I wouldn't be surprised if they gave birth to a daughter tomorrow."

"No, I think there might be something fishy about this," Harry recalled the mode of their interaction. "It seems Renata is the proactive one, but you see, Krum's charm lies mainly in Quidditch, but Renata is clearly not a person keen on Quidditch."

"But, besides watching the fun, we don't seem to be able to do anything right now," Zhang Qiu closed the newspaper and said slowly.

"And I estimate that even if Renata has ulterior motives, there is nothing on Krum worth her plotting for," Luo En said. "It should be that for her, the most important thing is still the competition; perhaps it is that she intends to make Krum more invested, which is why she did this."

"Speaking of the competition, we are supposed to compete the day after tomorrow," Cedric said. "Do you have any clues or ideas? Or are you really planning to deal with all the dragons by yourself, Harry?"

"Just as we agreed, we can go on the field together and attack the dragons in the manner of an air force." Harry still considered the Seven Deadly Sins the best plan in his heart, but before using the Seven Deadly Sins, appropriate posturing was still very necessary.

"Yes, I have indeed learned a little about air force techniques, but we might not have handy spells; we must have seven or eight wizards cast the Stunning Spell simultaneously," Cedric's expression was somewhat troubled.

"We could each take a sword..." Harry's voice began to grow smaller; he had to admit that he had never seriously considered the plan of "attacking from the air with Cedric."

"Let me take a look at the divination." Zhang Qiu flipped through her diary and began to help Harry out of the predicament. "Harry needs to tell Cedric about the dragon news, and then he can get help from a certain professor."

"Professor, this information is a bit vague," Luo En said. "Who do you intend to find, that Jack? But you are the Hogwarts champion; he might not necessarily help you."

"If you put it that way, there is someone here who will always help us." Harry suddenly had an idea. ===== CHAPTER 199 =====