The sky slowly brightened, and light climbed the towers of Hogwarts, turning their peaks into quiet torches. Below, frost covered the grass, bare trees lined the grounds, and a thin mist lingered over the lake in the soft calm of a late autumn morning.
For now, the school remained mostly asleep, its tall tower windows dim and showing no signs of activity. But that silence would not last long. Breakfast begins precisely at seven, and even earlier than the students, the professors would usually be up and already getting started with their day.
Most of the professors' chambers, their offices, are set within the towers, spread across the first three floors, with only the Headmaster and his deputy living higher above the rest.
And tucked into the northernmost corner, with a clear view of both the inner grounds and the world beyond, sits the Professor of Alchemy's office, and at this early hour, like the rest of the castle, it rests in quiet peace.
At a glance, one couldn't guess it belonged to a renowned mage. The space was brightly lit, not a single candle in sight, and the only fire came from the fireplace on the eastern wall, set neatly between two shelves filled with books.
The quiet, then, was broken when a sudden bloom of bright orange light opened in the middle of the room, shimmering and turning as it formed a glowing doorway.
Footsteps echoed, unhurried, and the owner of the office stepped through, hair mussed, dressed in nothing but a shirt and shorts, looking very much like someone who had just woken up.
In fact, that was exactly the case. He had just arrived after spending the night with his fiancée. Fortunately, Mother Magic cared little whether one's loved one's bedroom was next door or on the other side of the continent.
The shimmering light closed behind him in a soft scatter of sparks as soon as both his feet touched the floor, just in time for early sunlight to filter through the windows where the calm of morning settled around the room.
It had indeed been a night to remember, not only because he had been with Isabella, but also because he had taken care of an important step in his grand plan on the other side of the continent. He let out a quiet sigh, though there was no tiredness in it. Instead, a small smile touched his lips as he crossed the room and dropped into the long-backed chair behind his desk, leaning back comfortably once he had settled.
Then, with a casual wave of his hand, four small identical rectangular boxes appeared on the large oak desk in front of him, each bearing the same printed image of what looked like a modern-day smart phone.
Well, they were really mobile phones, the latest models his company had released, unveiled the night before during the keynote held in Los Angeles, America.
If anyone from present-day Earth were to see one, they would undoubtedly recognize the design at a glance and assume it was a smartphone. However, it was still not advanced enough to be labeled smart just yet.
After all, it had only been last year that his company introduced the first generation, Caesar One, and at this time, the only truly cutting-edge features available to the public were the touchscreen and the camera, both of which would have taken another decade to arrive if Maverick had not pushed it.
As such, the second generation, labeled Caesar Two, was not a dramatic leap forward either.
That said, if Maverick truly wanted to, and if he committed the resources, manpower, and collective brainpower under his command, he could easily replicate a proper smart, smartphone and introduce it to the world. But he had no intention of doing so.
First of all, it would be a foolish decision, both from a long-term profit standpoint and from his personal perspective as someone who understood the general trajectory of this world's fate.
Introducing an all-touchscreen device with a camera was already a massive step, especially in a world where mobile phone technology was still in its infancy. If he released everything a modern smartphone could offer at once, the world would practically lose its mind.
And in terms of monetary benefits, stuffing every idea he knew into a single product would leave him with very little room to grow in the future. More importantly, people's expectations would spiral out of control. They would come to demand another groundbreaking, world-changing release the following year as well, and that was not a cycle he intended to start.
In any case, the new features he had chosen were more than enough.
What truly separated the second generation from the first came down to two key points. He had introduced multimedia messaging, and he had introduced wireless data transfer.
Infrared. Just infrared, no Bluetooth, no Wi-Fi, nothing like that. This was still the 1990s, after all.
For the general public of the time, it was still a game changer. By simply touching two phones together, users of the second-generation model could now share the photos they took without having to go through the slow process of transferring files to a PC first and then back again.
As for MMS, it might seem primitive, but it was worth noting that wireless communication was still limited to basic telecommunications. Long-range multimedia transfer simply did not exist yet. Even so, these two features were more than enough, and judging from the audience's reaction, there was no doubt it would be a success.
And speaking of MMS, it was also important to note that it had not been accomplished by his company alone. Caesar Technologies was not a telecom carrier, after all. Instead, his team had partnered in advance with most major carriers around the world, and only through that cooperation had it become possible.
All Maverick had done was introduce the hardware into his product and present the idea to the carriers, then work with them to make it usable.
And competitors would undoubtedly add the feature to their own devices in the future, but he did not mind that in the slightest. In fact, he would be happier if they did it sooner rather than later.
In the end, though, the most important reason he had introduced both multimedia messaging and wireless data transfer had little to do with advancing the world's technological progress. It was for none other than the drama that would unfold next year.
Basically, when his plans finally converged, he wanted the entire world to witness it, the news spreading so fast and so uncontrollably that it would be impossible to contain.
That aside, the response to his second-generation phone was simply fantastic. The keynote had been just as spectacular as last year's, and Isabella had done her job beautifully, presenting with effortless confidence and holding the audience from start to finish.
No doubt the major non-magical headlines would soon buzz with the news, and the excitement would linger for days to come.
He glanced down at the four boxes on his desk and smiled once more, then with a casual wave of his hand, sent them back into his storage ring.
They were gifts for his colleagues. One for Dumbledore, one for Flitwick, one for McGonagall, and one for, well, Olympe as well. Why not.
He'll give them to them later, and certainly not at breakfast in front of the other professors, because that would only make him look like a prick.
Besides, in three days, the first task of the Triwizard Tournament would take place, and his schedule was already packed until then. Then, with a light shrug, he rose from his chair and headed for the bathroom. It was still a little early for breakfast, so he decided to take a quick hot bath first and relax for a while before the day truly began.
---
Time passed slowly. Over the past three weeks at Hogwarts, many changes had taken place, both in ways visible to the naked eye and quietly behind the scenes, affecting the general student body and the six champions alike.
For regular classes, not much had changed aside from the new students from the visiting schools settling in. For the champions, however, daily life looked very different.
Teachers took turns training them every day, putting them through rigorous sessions in Charms and Transfiguration, along with basic spell theory, proper dueling, and spell casting.
From there, they moved on to movement techniques, learning how to dodge and evade incoming spells. At a glance, it almost looked like they were being prepared to face a great enemy, and in a way, that was not entirely false.
Though no clear details had been given about the first task, enough clues had slipped through to let everyone realize it involved a dragon, either facing one directly or surviving its claws for a set amount of time.
And tonight, it was Maverick's turn to lead the training, which would also be the final practice session before the task two days later.
After finishing dinner, Maverick walked through the quieter corridors and made his way to a classroom on the second floor.
The room had been prepared beforehand, its space magically expanded until it was larger than even the Great Hall, and completely cleared of desks and chairs.
When he entered, he found all six champions already there. Yes, it wasn't just the Hogwarts duo there, but the pairs from the other two schools as well.
He silently cursed Dumbledore and Maxime for dumping the trouble on him. At first, it had been meant for Hogwarts alone, but Maxime had somehow convinced Dumbledore to let her witches join as well, and since it would not have been fair for Beauxbatons only as a foreign school to receive guidance alongside Hogwarts, Karkaroff had also been invited to send his champions.
Naturally, the man had agreed. Why wouldn't he?
With a quiet sigh, he walked to the front of the group and glanced around.
Harry and Cedric looked the most at ease, while Krum and the other boy, whose name he could not quite remember, seemed a little nervous. After all, Maverick was not just anyone.
Fleur Delacour, on the other hand, was staring straight at him, as though he were some kind of precious treasure.
Weird, he thought.
The other witch, like the Durmstrang boys, looked uneasy, unable to meet his eyes for more than a moment. Merlin's beard, he thought, letting out another slow breath as he glanced from the corner of his eye toward one side of the large room, where three familiar presences stood unseen, quietly watching.
His brow twitched slightly, and at last, he addressed everyone.
"Alright then," Maverick said, folding his arms loosely. "How much have you managed to figure out about the task so far?"
His question acted like a switch, prompting Harry to speak up immediately.
"I think… no, I'm pretty sure we're fighting a dragon. And there's a chance we're allowed help from our friends?"
"Oh?" Maverick lifted an eyebrow and glanced toward the others.
"That's what I figured too, Professor," Cedric said after a moment.
Maverick nodded once, then turned to the four from the other schools. "And you?"
"May I ask something first?" Fleur said calmly, her soft French accent coloring her words, as though she were in the middle of a polite negotiation. "By doing this, aren't we giving other schools an advantage? Not everyone may have understood the clues so far." She briefly glanced at her counterparts on either side.
Her words drew an immediate scoff from Krum, his arms crossing as he looked at her coldly. "If anyone hasn't been able to decipher the clues, it certainly isn't us."
"Speak plainly, Monsieur Superstar." She was not the least bit intimidated, lifting a brow at him in the same indifferent tone.
"Alright. First things first. If you're worried that what you've learned might give another school an advantage, you're free to walk out." Maverick cut in, stopping their little bickering. "Otherwise, share everything you've figured out. This is a joint practice session. And just so you know, even if I told you the exact details of the task right now, it wouldn't help much at this point."
He gestured toward the door with one hand, the other settling into his pocket.
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Author's Note:
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