— — — — — —
Tom was in a foul mood.
It wasn't because he regretted missing out on a few Galleons from Snape. What really annoyed him was that he'd been the one taken advantage of.
The tables had actually turned. Usually, he was the one freeloading off other people. Today, someone had managed to do it to him.
Still, as irritated as he was, he had to accept it. Snape had simply found a loophole within the rules Tom himself had created.
As for today's "losses"… they weren't really losses at all. He had already made a fortune just from Snape and the other professors participating. If the magical world were a bit smarter, they would've charged him appearance fees. Fortunately for him, they weren't.
...
Meanwhile, Snape understood exactly what Tom was planning—or what he would plan next.
Who was he kidding? He knew Tom too well.
With a heart as small as the eye of a needle, the boy was probably cursing him out in his head right now.
Fortunately, Snape knew when to stop.
After filling three bottles with dragon blood, he decisively called it quits. No point pushing it and making Tom snap.
The last thing he wanted was for Tom to ambush him on the way home, steal all the dragon blood, and then help himself to the collection Snape had spent years building.
Of course, even while exercising restraint, Snape's hands weren't exactly clean.
As a final parting gift, he blasted off a considerable number of dragon scales.
Then Fawkes once again served as the transport crew, carrying away the heavily panting Hungarian Horntail.
By then, the sun was already setting. The audience had spent the entire day watching, yet no one seemed ready to leave.
At some point, the main attraction had stopped being the Inter-School Tournament itself.
The real highlight was the incredible battlefield Tom had created.
The Howling Abyss felt like a genuine miniature world.
Combined with the astonishing strength displayed by the professors, it had left everyone thoroughly captivated.
Only now did many people truly realize just how vast the gap between wizards could be.
Faced with those terrifying dragons, plenty of them could barely remain standing.
They couldn't even look directly at these dragon.
Even if they found the courage to attack, their spells amounted to little more than tickling against the protection of dragon scales.
Yet each of these professors had found their own way to overpower monster-tier dragons through sheer personal strength.
In terms of intimidation alone, any one of them was worth more than a dozen Aurors.
A quiet sense of awe took root in countless hearts. In the past, only figures like Dumbledore and Grindelwald stood so far above ordinary wizards that people could truly feel the difference.
From this day forward, Apex Wizards would earn that same respect.
As the ranking system gained credibility and acceptance, status differences between wizards would inevitably grow more pronounced.
The hierarchy would become increasingly clear.
Come to think of it, that made Tom sound like the villain who had destroyed an equal and harmonious society.
Well... That was exactly what he had done.
What was so great about everyone pretending to be equal, anyway?
Besides, Tom hadn't closed off opportunities for advancement.
All he had done was emphasize distinctions in status. He hadn't granted anyone special privileges.
...
"Professor, that was a wonderful performance."
Tom was the first to approach Snape when he returned to the waiting area.
A warm smile rested on his face.
To everyone else, it looked perfectly friendly.
To Snape, however, it was deeply unsettling.
'He's definitely holding a grudge. I'd better be careful for a while.'
"It was mostly luck," Snape said with rare modesty. "I borrowed quite a few tactical ideas from the other professors."
He nodded politely toward the group.
Tom had no intention of settling the score right then and there. Taking his time would be much more entertaining.
And just as he was about to give a few closing remarks and officially end the day's matches, a professor suddenly approached him.
"Professor Sprout?"
Tom looked at the newcomer in surprise, "Professor, is there something you need?"
A warm smile spread across Sprout's round, kindly face.
"Nothing serious. I just thought the competition looked rather fun, and now I'd like to sign up as well. Do you still have any dragons available for the assessment?"
She paused, then added hopefully, "If you do, could I give it a try?"
A professor who wasn't known for combat suddenly wanted to take the test?
Tom was briefly stunned, but quickly nodded. "Of course. The dragons from earlier weren't seriously injured, so they're fully recovered by now. The only issue is that they'll probably be a lot more irritable than before, so the difficulty will naturally be higher."
He offered the warning in good faith.
His attitude toward Sprout was worlds apart from the way he'd treated Snape.
Professor Sprout was one of Hogwarts' universally beloved figures. Almost every student liked her.
Even Tom's Whomping Willow had benefited from her care and expertise. Thanks to her, it had grown to nearly the same size and vitality as the original.
Tom guessed she was probably entering for Hufflepuff's sake.
Hufflepuff students were practically invisible most of the time. The house had plenty of capable students, but everyone instinctively viewed it as the weakest of the four houses.
Before the Arcane Wizard assessment, there had even been rumors that Professor Sprout wouldn't be able to pass. Only after the results came out had those rumors finally disappeared.
"That's wonderful."
Seeing Tom agree so readily, Sprout beamed.
Then she Apparated directly into the Howling Abyss and calmly waited for her dragon.
Tom headed back and brought out the now fully recovered Norwegian Ridgeback.
Even then, he couldn't help feeling a little concerned.
Professor Sprout wasn't exactly known for combat.
Most of her time was spent tending plants and experimenting with magical flora. In the original story, she didn't have any particularly impressive battle feats to her name.
Through his magical vision, Tom could see that her reserves of magic were substantial, but raw magical power didn't necessarily translate into combat ability.
Still, for her to volunteer so confidently, she must have had something up her sleeve.
At least... that was what he hoped.
With that thought, Tom released the dragon.
Then he rose into the air and announced to the crowd that there would be an additional exhibition match.
The stadium immediately erupted into cheers and applause.
Nobody had gotten their fill yet. Who would complain about getting another match for free?
What happened next, however, shattered more than a few people's understanding of the world.
Some even started questioning their entire lives.
The Norwegian Ridgeback and Professor Sprout quickly met in the center of the battlefield.
Sprout held her wand in one hand and a handful of seeds in the other.
With a casual flick, she scattered the seeds across the ground.
Then she began murmuring an incantation.
The seeds immediately started growing at a terrifying speed.
In the blink of an eye, tiny seeds transformed into vines five meters tall.
Then ten meters. Then dozens of meters high.
The dragon opened its jaws and unleashed a torrent of fire.
But when the flames struck the vines, they didn't burn. Instead, the fire seemed to nourish them.
The vines grew even faster.
Within moments, they wrapped around the dragon from every direction, binding it tightly.
The dragon struggled furiously. But it couldn't break free.
In fact, the harder it fought, the worse things became.
Sharp thorns protruding from the vines pierced through its tough scales and sank deep into its flesh.
Blood began pouring from countless wounds.
Gulp.
The sound of people swallowing echoed throughout the arena.
Everyone stared blankly at the battlefield.
This...
How long had that taken?
Ten seconds?
Had it even been ten seconds?
A Head of House, widely regarded as a non-combat specialist, had subdued that monster of a dragon in less than ten seconds.
Was that... normal? Was that even fair?
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