For Dumbledore and most of the professors, tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.
By the next day, Kael noticed that many people were suddenly missing from the castle.
Sirius was gone, as well as Snape and Professor Moody.
Hagrid and Beauxbatons' Ms. Maxime also seemed to have gone to the Headmaster's Office.
"We could have stayed a few more days," Fleur said, "but Ms. Maxime insisted on leaving today. She seems to have something urgent. I asked, but she wouldn't tell me."
They were outside the castle, preparing to see off the Beauxbatons students.
Hagrid's hut was tightly locked, and those huge Abraxan horses, pulling a carriage as big as a house, were parked on the nearby open field.
As for the Durmstrang students... perhaps they had received some news. Another professor accompanied them and had taken a ship back early this morning, taking the injured Viktor Krum with them.
Soon, all the Beauxbatons students boarded the carriage, sticking their heads out of the doors and windows to wave goodbye to the new friends they'd made outside.
After Fleur helped Gabrielle and a suitcase onto the carriage, she turned and hugged Conna.
In her heart, she was reluctant to leave. Her time at Hogwarts had been the best school experience she'd ever had.
The Hufflepuff dormitory also made her very reluctant to leave. Most people there were sincere, and there wasn't any ulterior motive in their interactions.
Although the boys couldn't avoid being affected by her Veela heritage, they didn't do anything inappropriate or annoying.
The girls' eyes also rarely showed jealousy.
The influence of being a Half-Veela was minimized here.
Fleur wasn't sure about the other three houses, but Hufflepuff represented her ideal vision of school life.
Unfortunately, the Triwizard Tournament had ended, and she had to go back. Luckily, she was graduating this year and could come back anytime.
At this time, Professor Rockneil's voice urging from the carriage echoed.
After giving Kael one last hug, Fleur hurriedly turned and ran back to the carriage.
A few minutes later, the massive Abraxan horses took off, pulling the carriage away into the distance.
The carriage grew smaller and smaller until it was out of sight, and people in the field began returning to the castle.
Though only a few dozen students were gone, the Auditorium suddenly felt much emptier.
"I still can't believe the Triwizard Tournament is really over."
"Yes, Hogwarts has been so lively this year..."
"I hope we have more competitions like this in the future, it's more exciting than Quidditch."
"What are you saying?"
"The Triwizard Tournament can't beat Quidditch!"
Similar discussions could be heard in every corner of the castle, but some people weren't in the mood.
Cedric, Cho, Fred, and George had been looking worried since morning.
"Kael, are you sure you're not joking, that You-Know-Who is really back?"
"I'm very sure, Fred," Kael said, "You've asked three times in this past hour, and Mrs. Weasley knows too. You can write to your family."
"We believe you..." George said, "It's just unbelievable, you have to give us time to accept it."
Kael glanced at them, "Honestly, I thought you'd handle it better than Cedric, but he only asked twice."
"Our reaction is pretty normal, right?" Fred said exaggeratedly, "It's You-Know-Who, who can calmly accept his return in the entire Magic Realm?"
"No one," George said emphatically.
"Will we not be able to come to school next year?"
Suddenly, Cho, who had been quiet, said, "If Voldemort attacks Hogwarts, the school would definitely be closed..."
"You don't have to worry about that," Kael waved dismissively, "Even when the Death Eaters were at their strongest over a decade ago, Hogwarts never closed. It was the only place offering students protection, unless you didn't want to come...
"And the scenario you're talking about won't happen in the short term. After all, Voldemort has just returned..."
"Oh, please, Kael, could you stop saying that name?" Fred said with a grimace, "Every time you say it, my legs tremble."
"Hmm... alright."
Kael thought for a moment and suddenly realized that needed to be careful about this... Voldemort had enchanted the name so that he could instantly know where someone was when they said it.
While Kael didn't fear it, the people around him might be affected, so it wasn't good to involve them.
"The Dark Lord..." Kael continued, "He's just been resurrected; there are many things he needs to do... gather his forces, expand his power, he's currently too occupied to bother with us.
"Besides, yesterday Professor Dumbledore gave him quite a surprise, so he probably doesn't have the nerve to come to Hogwarts and cause trouble anytime soon."
"It's a real pity," George sighed, "Why couldn't Dumbledore have finished him off once again?"
"Because Vol... the Dark Lord isn't foolish," Kael said, "He wouldn't fight to the death with Professor Dumbledore right after just reviving."
"I know..." George mumbled, "I'm just saying, it would've been great if that had happened."
"Who doesn't think so." Fred sighed as well.
...
The Ministry of Magic moved faster than Kael had imagined.
By the next morning, a new edition of the Daily Prophet was delivered to Hogwarts.
But it didn't mention anything related to Voldemort. Instead, it focused on Harry, likely under orders from Fudge, portraying Harry as mentally unstable.
It claimed he made up an absurd story for attention, saying he was kidnapped by Death Eaters, trying to use his scar and Voldemort to gain attention.
Then during dinner, Dumbledore came and first refuted the Daily Prophet's slander against Harry, then requested everyone not to disturb Harry or ask him questions.
In the following days, nobody talked about the recently ended Triwizard Tournament or the two schools that had left. Instead, they discussed the newspaper's content or whether Harry was really seeking attention.
However, Dumbledore's words had an effect. Following his request, people didn't hound Harry with questions.
But the effect was almost too strong; most people seemed to avoid Harry, and if they ran into him in the corridors, they'd go out of their way to avoid him, covering their mouths and whispering among themselves.
Without exception, these people sided with the Daily Prophet's view, thinking Harry, unhappy about not becoming a Champion, made up the story for attention.
But Harry himself didn't care, as long as Hermione and Ron didn't doubt him.
Just like Kael telling Conna and Cedric the truth, Harry hadn't hidden anything from his own friends.
Luckily, they believed him.
Despite Fudge thinking it was a joke that his scar hurt and refusing to believe it, Hermione and Ron thought differently. In the dormitory, Ron even cursed Fudge as an idiot.
This made Harry very happy.