"Is that so?" Hermione gave Ivan a suspicious look, but didn't say anything more, because the other little wizards were also curious to look over there.

After talking to Dumbledore, Lady Maxime left the carriage to take the Beauxbatons cadets to the castle to rest.

The Hogwarts professors and students continued to wait for Durmstrang personnel to arrive.

The sky was getting darker, the cold wind was getting more and more biting, and just when Ivan and the others were a little impatient, a strange voice was faintly coming from a distance.

It sounded like someone was hitting a leaky drum, accompanied by a slight sucking sound.

"Ah, it looks like Karkaroff has finally arrived!" Dumbledore shouted with joy.

"Where?" Ron looked around, left and right, and then to the sky, but there was nothing nearby.

Ivan stared at the black lake closely, the originally calm and waveless surface of the lake suddenly seemed to be agitated, making a huge splash, and the waves crashed against the damp shore.

In the center of the Black Lagoon there was a large whirlpool, from which something resembling a flagpole was slowly rising, followed by sails fluttering high, and finally a huge sailing ship rushed directly out of the water, splashing everywhere like a light rain.

Ivan looked up at it, the ship looked old, even a little shabby, like the remains of a wreck that had just been salvaged.

A misty glimmer could be seen on the portholes, flickering in the darkness, and if there were a few more skeleton pirates on deck, it would be like the ghost ship of Muggle stories.

After a few minutes of sailing, the big boat slowly stopped on the shore of the lake, and with a muffled sound, a sturdy plank extended from the boat and landed on the shore of the lake.

A group of tall and mighty wizards descended from the ship along the planks, all dressed in thick fur cloaks, covering their bodies, and only when they got closer they took off their hoods.

At the head was a tall, thin old wizard with short white hair, a thin chin with a curly goatee at the end, and a pair of cold and piercing eyes, but he showed great enthusiasm when he approached Dumbledore.

"See you again, my dear old fellow! How have you been? Are you okay? The old wizard laughed and stretched out his hand, his voice mellow and sweet.

"I'm fine, thank you, Professor Karkaroff." Dumbledore held out his hand and shook his hand.

Karkaroff let go after holding it for a few seconds, turned his head to look at the towering Hogwarts Castle, and said with emotion. "Ah, Hogwarts! It's really nice here...... I really regret not coming sooner! ”

"It's not too late, is it? You're going to have to stay here for months, you can hang out more......" Dumbledore said with a smile.

"That's right, this year's Triwizard Tournament is going on for a few days." Karkaroff nodded, and then, as if suddenly remembering something, patted his head and turned to look at the students behind him.

"Oh, speaking of which, I almost forgot... Victor, come here, warm up, don't get cold......"

A boy of seventeen or eighteen years old walked out of the cadets of Durmstrang, who looked very stocky, and wore a cloak with the coat of arms of the Bulgarian team painted on it.

"You don't mind, Dumbledore? Victor has been catching a bit of a cold lately...... I can't let him stay outside in such a cold place for too long! Karkaroff's words were full of apologies, but there was a slight smug expression on his face.

Before Dumbledore could reply, the young wizards of Hogwarts began to stir up, and many recognized the boy, the legendary Seeker of the Bulgarian team, Krum, a world-class Quidditch star!

"Oh my God, Harry, Ivan, Hermione! It's Krum, he's at Hogwarts! Am I not mistaken? Seeing his idol standing in front of him like this, Ron was so excited that he shook Harry's arm vigorously and his words were a little incoherent.

"I really didn't expect Krum to be a student, his ball skills are so good!" Ron muttered a reply.

"I know it's Krum!" Harry reluctantly pushed Ron's hand away, admitting that Krum's skills were good, but it didn't have to be like this, right?

Ivan also looked at Ron in surprise, not quite able to understand his behavior, but when he thought of Lockhart in the second year, he stopped talking, and there were so many crazy people at that time.

There are not a few little wizards like Ron, many of them are excited to see Krum, and several senior girls even complain about why they don't have a pen and paper with them, so that they can go up and ask for an autograph as soon as possible.

Naturally, such remarks were also listened to by Karkarov, and the smile on his face suddenly became stronger.

Krum didn't react, he had experienced too many occasions like this, and he was used to it.

"Very good, I watched the report of that game and you played very well!" Dumbledore looked at Krum and said appreciatively.

Producing a seventeen or eighteen-year-old world-class star is indeed something to brag about, and it's no surprise that Karkaroff will mention it in front of him.

"It's just a pity, I remember the Bulgarian team lost the whole game in the end!" Dumbledore made a look of regret.

"That's just ten points!" Karkaroff emphasized, complaining dissatisfiedly. "And there's no blame for Krum, he's done good enough! The Bulgarian team will definitely replace those unqualified players next time, and they will definitely win the championship by then! ”

"That's right, I'm here to congratulate Krum in advance!" Dumbledore just smiled.

Karkaroff raised his eyebrows proudly, even Krum smiled, Dumbledore is known as the strongest white wizard in Britain, and it is naturally a happy thing to be praised by him.

However, it didn't take long for the two to be happy before Dumbledore continued.

"By the way, I think there should be more communication between good students, and Krum needs some friends at Hogwarts, so please allow me to introduce you to ......"

"Hals!" Dumbledore turned his gaze to the Hogwarts team and found Ivan.

Ivan, who was watching the excitement, suddenly heard his name and looked confused, but he was stared at by Dumbledore, he still reacted quickly, Shi Shiran walked out of the queue, looked at Karkaroff, and said politely.

"Hello, Principal Karkaroff!"

Looking at Ivan who came over, Karkarov's eyes narrowed, and his face became a little unpleasant, but he still pulled out a smile and patted Ivan on the shoulder, and spoke.

"Ahh I know you, Mr. Hals! I hear your name in Durmstrang. ”

Krum next to him was also looking at Ivan, and the happy look on his face had been put away, and he had become very dignified.

He knew he had a tough task to make a name for Durmstrang by beating Hogwarts and Beauxbatons over the two schools of witchcraft and wizardry, winning the Triwizard Tournament!

But Krum had also read the report of the Nordic Times, and knew that Ivan was a Merlin medalist, and the value of this status was higher than that of him, a well-known Quidditch player!

Despite the various thoughts drifting in his mind, Krum still looked personable on the surface, and he took the initiative to step forward and say hello.

"Hello, Hals, nice to meet you. I once read about you in a column that said you were awarded a Merlin Order of Merlin, 2nd degree, right? ”

Hearing this, Ivan's face became a little embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, Krum, Headmaster Karkaroff, I think your message may be wrong......" Ivan said hesitantly.

"Is it a reporting error?" Krum was stunned, and subconsciously asked, feeling even more relieved.

Karkaroff's face was also much softened, and he smiled and said comfortingly. "Haha... It doesn't matter, I understand the nature of those newspapers, they always have a habit of exaggerating things..."

"No, Headmaster Karkaroff, I mean your news is long outdated, and I am now the recipient of the Order of Merlin of the 1st degree!" Ivan corrected.

Professor Karkaroff's smiling expression froze suddenly, and he didn't react for a long time.

"It's... Is it? That's remarkable," Krum stammered after a long pause, as if the words had been squeezed out of his mouth.

"Wait, Albus... I remember that the Order of Merlin, 1st degree, would be awarded to wizards who had made significant contributions to the wizarding world, how could they... How would it be given to a fourteen-year-old? Karkaroff was a little incredulous, he suspected that there was an inside story!

"Yes, because of Hals, the Merlin Knights made a rare exception!" Dumbledore said with emotion, paused, and continued.

"Not only did he develop a wolf poison potion that would keep werewolves awake, but he also solved a major problem in the wizarding world. At the end of last year, he caught a Death Eater who had been hiding for many years, and by the way, he pointed out a major mistake by the Ministry of Magic! ”

When talking about the Death Eaters, Dumbledore deliberately accentuated his tone.

Karkaroff's face changed.

Ivan's mind moved, and then he remembered that Karkaroff was also a Death Eater, or a particularly cowardly traitor, who betrayed Voldemort in the Great Trial more than ten years ago and gave up a large list of Death Eaters.

Thinking of this, Ivan secretly muttered that Dumbledore was not an ordinary bad, and he specialized in digging other people's pain points.

On the surface, Ivan was polite, he sighed and said very modestly. "Actually, I've only done some minor work, and I'm really ashamed..."

The corners of Karkaroff's mouth twitched, and Dumbledore looked at him playfully, waiting for Karkaroff's response.

Karkaroff opened his mouth to say something, but finally closed it again, and it took a long time for a word to pop out of his mouth. "It's a bit windy today, so let's hurry inside!"