It was not until the Halloween feast that Beauxbatons and Durmstrang truly came into official contact with Hogwarts.
The two schools had completely different styles, and the way they entered left a deep impression on everyone.
Once inside, the students from both schools spread out and took seats among the four House tables. The Triwizard Tournament was meant to encourage exchange between the three schools, and with a full school year ahead for that exchange, it made sense to get acquainted as early as possible.
Among the students from the two visiting schools, the ones drawing the most attention were naturally the Seekers, Viktor and Fleur.
Viktor sat at the Gryffindor table, where the enthusiastic Weasley twins promptly ushered him into the middle.
As for Fleur, under the eager gazes of countless boys, she walked straight over to Leonard's side.
"May I sit here?" Fleur asked Ernie beside Leonard with a smile.
"O-of course. No problem." Ernie leapt to his feet in excitement. The instant Fleur spoke to him, he was so thrilled he had practically already picked out names for their future children.
Then he watched as Fleur naturally took his seat and leaned against Leonard's side.
The scene instantly caused a stir.
"Miss Delacour, do you know Leonard?" Hannah Abbott, sitting nearby, waved at Ernie's stunned face to help him out of the awkwardness, then asked curiously.
"Yes, we've known each other for a long time." Fleur flashed a sweet smile, leaving the boys utterly spellbound. Even quite a few girls were dazzled by how charming that smile was.
Leonard remained perfectly calm under the crowd's jealous and envious stares.
"Oh, right." As if suddenly remembering something, Fleur leaned close to Leonard's ear and whispered amid a chorus of heartbroken groans.
Warm, damp breath brushed against Leonard's ear.
"Where are we meeting tonight?"
She still remembered that she was supposed to help Leonard with something.
"No need," Leonard replied softly. "Go sign up for the Triwizard Tournament first. After it's over, a raven will come find you and bring you to me."
A raven would come get her?
Fleur thought that sounded rather interesting.
Leonard wanted to add a few more instructions, but suddenly he sensed something. Thoughtfully, he looked toward the outside of the castle, then turned to the group of headmasters near Dumbledore.
Over there, the wooden Goblet of Fire had been brought out. Under Dumbledore's magic, it looked as if it had been upgraded, turning into a glittering, rainbow-lit "Goblet of Fire +10," with blue flames dancing inside the cup.
A faint glimmer flashed in Leonard's eyes. At the base of the wooden Goblet of Fire, a fragile little sapling emerged.
The sapling shattered into faint specks of light that no one noticed and drifted onto Durmstrang's headmaster, Karkaroff.
Karkaroff's body trembled slightly, and the aura around him became elusive and unreadable.
No one present noticed the change. Only Grindelwald, hidden in a corner, seemed thoughtful as he looked once at Leonard, then out beyond the castle.
He had sensed a faint reaction.
At the same time, outside Hogwarts, the gray mist that had been quietly spreading shuddered slightly, as though it had sensed something, and stopped of its own accord.
Within the gray fog, amid the snarling, grasping souls, Voldemort's figure slowly emerged.
"Another Eternal Wizard's aura?" His tone was uncertain with suspicion. "Could this be a trap?"
Damn it. Since when had Eternal Wizards become so cheap? Why were they popping up one after another?
"This aura... feels a little familiar. But the power of this Eternal Wizard is strange to me, and it feels somewhat lacking in follow-through."
Voldemort hesitated for a long time, but in the end, he still did not dare attack Hogwarts while facing the power of two Eternal Wizards at once.
The mist slowly receded. Voldemort decided to postpone the attack and first find a way to probe what was really going on.
Inside the castle, Leonard let out a quiet breath of relief.
His setup was not finished yet. If Voldemort had attacked now, Leonard would have had no way to respond, and because some conditions were still missing, everything fell short of perfection.
In a plan where every link depended on the next, imperfect meant failure. And that meant a greater chance that Leonard himself would fail when facing Odin's final attack.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Leonard had used the power of the World Tree to draw out the Einherjar aura inside Karkaroff, simulating Odin's aura and frightening Voldemort into retreat.
Of course, it was only temporary. Voldemort would definitely realize that the Odin aura was fake.
But it would buy Leonard a little more time, and that was enough.
...
That night, the carriage door of Beauxbatons quietly opened, and Fleur peeked her head out. Under the carriage lamps, her pale golden hair seemed to glow.
After making sure no one was around, Fleur jumped down from the carriage. She had just begun to move farther away when she suddenly heard a voice behind her, and her body stiffened.
"Where are you going, Fleur?" The tall Beauxbatons headmistress, Maxime, stood beside the carriage, looking at Fleur with a stern expression.
"Madame Maxime..." Fleur's face stiffened, and she gave Maxime a curtsy. "I'm just taking a walk nearby."
"You're not going to meet your little sweetheart, are you?" Maxime sighed.
"N-no, we're only friends." Fleur blushed and had just started to explain when Maxime, looking oddly excited, cut her off.
"This is a great opportunity," Maxime said seriously. "Talk to that person more and gather information. When the Triwizard Tournament begins, we'll definitely have the advantage."
"Ah... well..." Fleur blinked, completely caught off guard by Maxime's sudden display.
Fortunately, Maxime had not completely lost her reason. She patted Fleur on the shoulder and said earnestly, "But Fleur, don't get yourself too tangled up in it. Be careful of those rotten men and their sugar-coated words, understood?"
"Uh... I understand." Clever Fleur found the headmistress especially hard to deal with in her current state, so she very wisely cut off the conversation, brushed her off with a few perfunctory words, and hurried away.
She had not gone far before a series of caws came from the sky.
Accompanied by the sound of beating wings, a small raven descended from above and landed lightly on Fleur's shoulder, hopping twice and letting out a couple of cries.
"Did Leonard send you to pick me up?" Fleur tilted her head toward the raven on her shoulder and reached out to tap its little head with a finger.
"Caw." The raven cried out, flapped its wings, and a whirlwind wrapped around Fleur. In the next instant, she vanished from where she stood.