"An evil presence has invaded Hogwarts," Dumbledore said gravely. His expression beca more severe than Adrian had ever seen it.
"He—or rather, they—are extrely cunning and experienced, leaving almost no traces and hiding themselves perfectly, but I'm certain... soone has already gotten inside the grounds. Multiple soones, perhaps. I've felt disturbances in the wards."
The night air suddenly felt colder.
"There's an intruder?" Professor McGonagall exclaid sharply, her voice rising despite their need for discretion.
Her hand instantly tightened around her wand, and her whole body was tensing into a defensive posture.
For Hogwarts to be infiltrated at this particular ti, during a major international event with hundreds of witnesses and visiting dignitaries, ant it was absolutely connected to the Triwizard Tournant sohow. This wasn't random.
"How did they get past the wards?" Adrian asked imdiately, his mind racing through possibilities and scenarios. "The protective enchantnts should have alerted us imdiately. The detection spells alone—"
Just then, interrupting his analysis, a figure ca hurrying over sowhat clumsily from the direction of the judges' stand, nearly tripping over his own robes in his haste—it was Ludo Bagman, breathing heavily and looking panicked.
It seed he had noticed Dumbledore's quiet, suspicious departure from the judges' stand and had rushed to follow, probably worried about being left out of important decisions or perhaps sensing trouble.
"An intruder?!" Ludo's eyes widened enormously, nearly bulging from his flushed head, having clearly overheard at least part of their conversation.
His gaze darted frantically between Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Adrian like a trapped, cornered animal, cold sweat already flushing at his temples and running down the sides of his face.
"What intruder? Where exactly are they? When did this happen? rlin's beard! How is this even possible? Isn't Hogwarts supposed to be the safest place in the entire wizarding world? Safer than Gringotts!"
His voice had gone high and panicked.
Seeing Ludo in this increasingly agitated state, watching the man's terror, Adrian felt with growing certainty that the intruder Dumbledore ntioned must be sohow directly connected to him.
Dumbledore slowly turned around, his sharp blue gaze settling directly on Ludo's panic-stricken, sweating face with the intensity of a spotlight.
Rather than directly answering his frantic question, rather than providing any reassurance, he inquired gently,
"Ludo, do you still have that ergency Portkey in your possession? The one I personally provided you months ago when we began preparations? If I rember correctly, you've been using that Portkey to travel quickly to Hogwarts for all your tournant organizational work."
This seemingly blaless question struck Ludo like a bolt of lightning.
His entire body stiffened abruptly and unnaturally, going stiff, the color drained from his ruddy face in an instant, leaving him pale as parchnt, then faintly greenish.
Adrian crossed his arms slowly, watching with interest as Ludo practically froze in place like a statue, like a child caught stealing.
He knew this detail as well—Ludo possessed a special ergency Portkey directly to Hogwarts that Dumbledore had personally created and keyed to bypass the wards for the Triwizard Tournant organizational work.
"I... I..." Ludo's lips trembled violently, unable to form clear words or complete sentences.
His hands were shaking at his sides. "The Portkey... of course... it's completely safe... it's with ...."
His voice grew smaller and smaller with each word, trailing off into almost nothing.
Without a doubt, this was the behavior of soone with a deeply guilty conscience, soone who knew they'd done sothing terrible and was about to be caught.
"Tell us the truth, Mr. Bagman," Adrian sighed heavily, his patience clearly wearing thin. "Who did you give the Portkey to? And don't even think about lying—we'll find out anyway, and it will be worse for you if you make us waste ti."
Ludo fell silent for a mont, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.
"I... I didn't think much of it at the ti," He finally said tremblingly, the words tumbling out in a desperate rush.
"He's the owner of the Sleekeazy's Hair Potion company, very reputable business with shops all over Britain! You know the brand, everyone knows it! Everyone uses their products!
He said he just wanted to experience the atmosphere of the Triwizard Tournant up close as a fan of the gas, that he absolutely wouldn't cause any trouble at all, just wanted to watch!"
Ludo swallowed hard and continued.
"He paid a fortune... a small fortune..." Ludo's voice dropped. "And I've been so desperately strapped for cash lately, completely broke, those blasted goblins have been hounding constantly for my debts, showing up at my ho at all hours of the day and night, pounding on my door, threatening legal action and worse, driving absolutely mad with their demands..."
Ludo rambled in his defense, his words tripping over each other, his face showing a mixture of fear, sha, and desperate justification.
'The owner of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion company?'
Adrian seed to recall having seen that person at the Quidditch World Cup months ago, though only briefly in passing. He tried to conjure the mory from that chaotic day.
He only rembered the man was completely bald, which had struck him as deeply ironic given his product.
"I only lent him the Portkey for a little while... really! Just for today! Just for the final task!" Ludo continued his frantic explanation. "He specifically said he'd return it to before the match started, promised on his honor..."
"So, where is the Portkey right now?" Adrian interrupted coldly, cutting through the pathetic excuses.
Ludo's eyes shifted evasively, unable to et anyone's gaze directly. "He... he didn't return it to as promised... I can't reach him at all...."
For a long mont, everyone fell into stunned, disbelieving silence.
The only sounds were the distant noise of the oblivious crowd and Ludo's heavy, panicked breathing.
Adrian was sowhat speechless, struggling to process this level of staggering incompetence and stupidity. This fellow had been severely hard by his gambling addiction, his judgnt was completely destroyed by debt and desperation.
How could anyone, anyone with even half a brain casually give soone the Portkey to Hogwarts?
Moreover, to a rchant of dubious origin whose only real qualification was having money to spend.
Even if the Sleekeazy's Boss was genuinely a decent fellow with innocent intentions, there was absolutely no guarantee he hadn't been controlled by soone else through magical compulsion or blackmail or threats.
For Dark wizards, using the Imperius Curse on innocent people carried absolutely no psychological burden at all. It was a tool they used as casually as others used Summoning Charms.
Indeed, people who owed massive gambling debts doing outrageous, desperate, criminally stupid things was all too normal in Adrian's experience. He'd seen it before during his travels and heard similar cautionary tales. Desperation made people reckless.
Dumbledore drew a deep breath, equally exasperated by Ludo's staggering foolishness and disastrously poor judgnt.
He closed his eyes briefly, as if gathering patience from so deep well.
Professor McGonagall also felt a profound sense of helplessness and anger rising over her. Her jaw clenched so hard Adrian could hear her teeth grind.
"The intruders must be connected to Voldemort," Adrian said flatly, looking toward Dumbledore for confirmation. "What should we do? We need to act quickly before they accomplish whatever they ca here for."
Hearing Voldemort's na spoken aloud so casually, Ludo visibly shuddered and went even paler.
"Impossible!" He cried out desperately, his voice cracking and breaking. "What possible connection could this have to You-Know-Who? That's completely absurd! The man was a businessman! A potion seller! He just wanted to watch the tournant! He paid good money!!"
Adrian gave him a cold, contemptuous glance, a look that silenced him imdiately. "Mr. Bagman, we don't have ti to explain any further to you or hold your hand through this. You've done more than enough damage already. Stand aside."
"Adrian is absolutely right," Dumbledore said gravely, shaking his head with disappointnt. "This is far more serious than—"
Just then, cutting sharply through the tense air, an owl swooped down from the black sky above, diving straight toward Dumbledore with remarkable speed and clear purpose.
As if anticipating this arrival, Dumbledore raised his hand calmly and caught the owl's leg precisely mid-flight, neatly retrieving a small, tightly rolled piece of parchnt from its beak with ease.
The owl hooted once, a tired sound, and flew off imdiately into the darkness.
Adrian didn't know who this clearly exhausted, panting owl belonged to, but who would be sending Dumbledore an urgent letter at this specific ti, during the middle of the task?
Nothing good, certainly.
Good news didn't arrive by exhausted owl at night.
Dumbledore unfolded the parchnt carefully, his fingers were working the seal, his eyes quickly scanning the hastily scrawled words written there in what looked like panicked handwriting.
Even he, usually so controlled and unflustered, frowned deeply upon reading the letter's contents, his expression was darkening further.
"It's an urgent ssage from Fudge," Dumbledore's voice was sowhat heavy and grim as he looked up at Adrian and Professor McGonagall. "There's been a mass breakout from Azkaban prison earlier this evening. Multiple prisoners. At least a dozen, possibly more. So of the Dentors have apparently turned traitor and aided the escape."
"Death Eaters?" Adrian asked, though he already knew the answer with certainty.
"If Fudge's information is correct, and I have no reason to doubt it," Dumbledore nodded in confirmation, his voice tight. "Yes. Multiple Death Eaters. So of Voldemort's most loyal and dangerous followers from the first war."
After receiving this terrible confirmation, Professor McGonagall drew in a sharp, hissing breath, her eyes filling with shock and fear.
Her hand flew to her mouth. "rlin's rcy... the children..."
Adrian rely shrugged. "Looks like we know the identity of our Hogwarts intruders then."
Without a doubt, it must be those escaped Death Eaters, using Bagman's carelessly given Portkey to bypass all the protections that should have kept them out.
As for Ludo, the mont he heard the words "Azkaban" and "Death Eaters" spoken aloud, his body went completely limp.
He staggered, catching himself on a nearby tent pole.
He seed to have... caused enormous, catastrophic trouble.
But at this critical mont, no one had the attention or sympathy to spare for him or his problems.
"We must evacuate the crowd imdiately," Professor McGonagall's voice was urgent, snapping into crisis mode. "Get everyone to safety. The children first. All the children."
"Yes, Minerva, do it at once!" Dumbledore didn't hesitate for a second. "Notify all the professors imdiately through Patronus, activate ergency evacuation protocols, prioritize escorting students back to the Great Hall in the castle—there are strong protective enchantnts there that should hold against attack! Have Filius and Pomona assist you. Tell Severus... to make all necessary preparations for defense."
Professor McGonagall didn't hesitate for even a second, didn't ask for explanation or confirmation. She imdiately turned and ran toward the judges' stand and spectator seating.
"Adrian," Dumbledore said quietly, gripping his shoulder. "Co with to the courtyard. We need to see where they arrived."
Adrian followed Dumbledore away from the maze in the opposite direction, toward the castle, to inspect the courtyard—that was where the Portkey's designated arrival point was located, where the intruders would have first appeared on Hogwarts grounds.
Around the maze.
Professor McGonagall's voice, amplified by a powerful Sonorus Charm, carried throughout the entire area with clarity and authority.
"Everyone, your attention please! This is an ergency!"
She stood on a slightly raised up stone platform near the judges' stand, her wand was pointed at her throat, her expression absolutely stern.
"Hostile wizards have infiltrated Hogwarts grounds. All students and spectators are required to imdiately and orderly follow your House prefects and professors back to the Great Hall in the castle's main building!
I repeat—!"
The crowd instantly erupted in confused commotion and panic.
The excited tournant discussions turned imdiately into confused and uneasy whispers and shouts as many people looked around in alarm, not knowing what was happening or where the danger was coming from.
"What's going on?"
"Is this part of the tournant?"
"Where's the danger?"
"I want to leave! Now!"
"Where are the champions?"
"Soone said Death Eaters—"
Mada Maxi rose from her specially reinforced oversized chair, her face was filled with surprise and deep suspicion.
"What's happened?" Her voice was booming and demanding, clearly audible even amid the growing commotion and panic. "Where is Dumbledore? Ludo? What is this about intruders? Explain yourself, Minerva!"
From the mont the alert had begun, both Dumbledore and Ludo had completely vanished from the judges' stand, and she had naturally noticed this highly suspicious situation imdiately.
"I'll explain everything in detail later, Olympe," Professor McGonagall said sternly, her voice cutting through the noise. "Right now, our only priority is ensuring everyone's safety. Please help organize the Beauxbatons students and get them to safety imdiately."
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