The next morning, on their way to the Great Hall for breakfast, Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione, "We have to tell Professor Greengrass about what happened last night."
"What?"
Ron stopped, his face full of surprise. "But Harry, didn't we promise Professor Moody last night that we wouldn't tell anyone?"
"Ron," Hermione interjected calmly, "this is a special situation..."
"I thought a promise was a promise!" Ron insisted, frowning. "How can you go back on your word so quickly?"
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Didn't we also promise Professor McGonagall that we wouldn't break school rules again? But you lost twenty points just last week for talking back to Snape."
"That's true." Ron's eyes immediately lit up in understanding. "So when are we going to 'tattle' to Professor Greengrass?"
"It's not tattling," Hermione corrected, her face flushing. "It's reporting!"
The three of them hurried to Sagres's office and recounted everything that had happened in the cellar the previous night.
Sagres listened calmly to their somewhat disjointed account.
Barty Crouch had appeared in Snape's storeroom late at night?
He quietly observed the children's anxious expressions, picked up his teacup, and began sorting through his thoughts.
Snape had previously told him about the theft from his storeroom, in which boomslang skin and lacewing flies had been stolen.
Of all the Potion recipes Sagres knew, only one used both ingredients: Polyjuice Potion.
Why would the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation risk stealing these ingredients at Hogwarts?
Could he not have obtained them through official channels without leaving suspicious procurement records?
Hermione quietly filled in a few more details. Sagres's gaze passed over her worried face before settling on Harry and Ron.
As for Moody taking the Marauder's Map... he considered it reasonable if it was for the sake of the investigation.
But...
"Professor," Harry's voice interrupted his thoughts, "do you think Professor Moody..."
Sagres looked at Harry and said calmly, "Alastor Moody is an experienced Auror. He knows what he's doing."
But he left the second half of his thought unspoken.
And precisely because Moody was so experienced, some of his actions seemed all the stranger.
A brief silence settled over the office.
Sagres's gaze shifted toward the window. The castle looked quiet and peaceful beneath the morning light, yet he could clearly sense the undercurrents beneath that calm surface.
Karkaroff's late-night conversations with Snape, Barty Crouch's strange behaviour, Moody's elusive attitude... countless clues intertwined in his mind.
Too many people with their own agendas had gathered here.
He set down his teacup and lightly tapped his fingertips against the table.
"I will look into this matter," he finally said. "What you need to do now is focus on preparing for the competition."
His gaze lingered on Harry for a moment. "The first task is almost here. Don't let other matters distract you."
Seeing that the three of them still looked worried, Sagres sighed inwardly.
These were not burdens they should have to bear.
After the three of them left, he slowly walked over to the window, his grey eyes narrowing slightly.
There were some things he needed to confirm for himself. At the right moment, Legilimency might reveal the truth behind Crouch's abnormal behaviour.
As for Moody... he recalled that sharp magical eye. Perhaps he should also find an opportunity to test him.
The castle bells chimed in the distance.
Sagres turned, picked up his lesson plans, and left the office.
Over the next few days, the Hogwarts Library became the place Harry, Ron, and Hermione visited most often.
They huddled around a long table near the edge of the bookshelves, surrounded by brick-thick tomes: Common Dragons and Their Characteristics, A Guide to Dragon Training, One Hundred Ways to Survive an Unfortunate Encounter with a Dragon... Just reading the titles was enough to send shivers down their spines.
"We need to find the weakest point," Hermione whispered, tracing a beautifully drawn dragon anatomy diagram with her finger. "The eyes are usually the best target, but they're also the riskiest..."
Harry was struggling through a complicated description of the venom in a Hungarian Horntail's tail spikes when he suddenly noticed movement nearby.
He looked up just in time to see Beauxbatons champion Fleur Delacour and Philinda Lorenia walking gracefully past the neighbouring bookshelf.
Fleur's slender fingers pulled a copy of Studies on the Habits of Mediterranean Dragons from the "Magical Creatures: Dangerous Species" section, a rare trace of worry visible on her face.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, both seeing the same surprise and suspicion in each other's eyes.
Not long afterwards, an even more shocking scene unfolded.
Viktor Krum, also looking grim, borrowed three thick books about dragons under Madam Pince's watchful eye.
As he passed their table, his gaze briefly met theirs. There was no surprise in his eyes, only the intense focus of someone preparing for battle.
Soon afterwards, they noticed that all the champions from the other schools had begun flocking to the Library, moving in and out of the shelves containing books about dragons.
"They all know."
Hermione put down her quill, frowning. "Everyone knows."
Ron's mouth fell open as he watched Krum walk away. "No way... How did they find out? Hagrid wouldn't have..."
He abruptly stopped speaking.
"Clearly, secrets spread faster than we imagined."
Hermione pursed her lips, disappointment and anxiety mixed in her eyes. "The Headmasters wouldn't care about fair competition when their own school's champion is involved."
A wave of frustration and worry swept over Harry.
He looked around the Library, suddenly feeling that it was no longer a sanctuary of knowledge but a silent battlefield.
Every corner held competitors, and every borrowed book about dragons felt like a declaration of war.
The secret they had worked so hard to keep was apparently no longer a secret at all.
Just then, his gaze inadvertently fell on Cedric Diggory, who was sitting by the window.
The Hufflepuff prefect was buried in a pile of History of Magic essays, his brow slightly furrowed and his expression focused, clearly unaware of the approaching dragon challenge.
Dumbledore obviously wouldn't secretly reveal the contents of the task to the champions as the other Headmasters had, and Cedric didn't have a friend like Hagrid...
A more complicated feeling rose in Harry's heart.
Cedric was his fellow Hogwarts champion and also his competitor. Telling him would undoubtedly weaken Harry's own advantage.
But...
"He shouldn't be kept in the dark," Harry suddenly said, his voice quiet but firm.
Ron spun around, staring at him in disbelief. "What did you say, Harry? You're going to tell him? He's your opponent! Have you forgotten how people from his house treated you?"
"Exactly," Harry said, meeting Ron's gaze. "That's what makes it unfair. Everyone else knows, and he's the only one who doesn't. That's not right."
Hermione looked at Harry, approval shining in her eyes, though she still spoke cautiously.
"Harry, I understand what you mean, and it's very noble of you. But we have to be careful. We can't let anyone find out that we leaked the information, or Hagrid could get into serious trouble."
"We don't have to tell him directly," Harry said, already forming a plan.
He looked at Cedric's solitary figure and lowered his voice.
"We can just give him an obvious enough hint. Like how we 'accidentally' noticed that all the other champions were reading these books."
During the short break that afternoon, Harry stopped Cedric in the corridor leading towards the Hufflepuff common room.
Cho Chang and several of his friends had just parted ways with him. Cedric was alone now, carrying several History of Magic books.
"Cedric," Harry called, feeling his throat tighten slightly. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"
Cedric stopped and turned around. When he saw Harry, a trace of surprise appeared on his handsome face before quickly giving way to a friendly expression.
"Of course, Harry. What is it?"
Harry hurried over and made sure no one else was nearby.
"It's about the first task," Harry said quietly, speaking a little faster than usual. "I don't know if you've noticed, but over the past few days, books from the 'Magical Creatures: Dangerous Species' section of the Library have been getting borrowed a lot by the champions from the other schools."
Cedric raised an eyebrow slightly, confusion appearing in his grey eyes, but he didn't interrupt.
Harry's gaze deliberately fell on the History of Magic books in Cedric's arms.
"Especially the books about dragons. Almost all of them have been borrowed. The other champions seem to be concentrating their research on that subject."
He stared closely at Cedric's face, hoping to see some sign that he had understood the hint.
The confusion on Cedric's face gradually disappeared, replaced first by realisation and then by a grave expression.
He wasn't a fool. Harry's obvious hint, combined with the crucial information that all the other champions were researching the same subject, made the answer almost self-evident.
He remained silent for a few seconds before looking at Harry with a complicated expression. There was surprise in his eyes, along with a faint trace of gratitude.
"I understand..." Cedric said steadily, though Harry could hear the emotion beneath his calm voice. "Thank you for telling me this, Potter. I really appreciate it."
He didn't question the information. He simply nodded solemnly.
"I won't forget that you helped me."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief and felt strangely lighter, as though a burden had been lifted from his conscience.
"It's nothing," he said with a shrug, trying to sound casual. "Everyone else knows, and you were the only one still in the dark. I just thought you should know too."
A brief silence fell between them.
"Well," Cedric finally said, a genuine smile appearing on his face, "it looks like I'll have to change my reading list. Thanks again, Potter."
He patted Harry on the shoulder, then turned and quickly headed towards the Library.
Harry watched him leave, an indescribable feeling stirring in his chest.
He had expected Cedric to panic and become anxious after hearing the news, just as he had.
You really are more like a proper champion than I am, Harry thought. You've probably already started figuring out how to deal with the dragon.
He couldn't help speculating about it.
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