"Is what you said true?!"
Hearing Dracula's voice, Mrs. Diggory seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw and grabbed his sleeve tightly.
"Yes, I can wake him up." Dracula said slowly, "But I need to tell you in advance that this kind of 'waking up' may not be what you think..."
"No matter what, it's enough to let Ced live!" Mrs. Diggory sobbed emotionally, "Ced is only seventeen years old, he is so outstanding and makes us so proud..."
Amos Diggory was weeping secretly, too.
Ever since Cedric was born, he has always been proud of his son. Cedric lived up to his expectations and became an "other people's child", giving Amos Diggory the capital to show off in front of other colleagues and friends.
Just now, he was still showing off to the people near the audience, confident that Cedric would win the trophy of the semi-finals and become the champion of this competition.
Cedric did get the trophy...
However, the way he came back was totally unimaginable.
"Professor Dracula, please, help Cedric..." Amos Diggory pleaded with gloomy eyes.
"You get up first." Dracula looked into Cedric's unfocused eyes and said to the couple calmly, "Don't worry, he'll be fine."
Dumbledore, who was also standing nearby, seemed to realize something and looked at Dracula with a very strange look.
"His body has indeed lost its vitality, Professor Dracula." He said word by word, "There is no way to save a person who has been cursed."
"I know." Dracula said slowly, "But... can't a dead body regain vitality?"
Dumbledore was silent for a moment.
"Professor Dracula, are you sure you want to do this?" His tone suddenly seemed a little erratic.
"I've made up my mind." Dracula nodded slightly, "Please keep an eye on the others for me and don't let them disturb me."
Dumbledore sighed and said nothing more, just waved his wand silently.
An invisible barrier suddenly appeared, surrounding Dracula and Cedric, and blocking everyone else outside the barrier.
Under the burning gazes of the crowd, Dracula raised one arm and stretched it forward.
Cedric's body floated up from the ground, his eyelids slightly closed, covering his out-of-focus eyes.
At this moment, someone suddenly exclaimed.
"Look, Professor Dracula..."
He didn't need to remind her, everyone's attention was already focused on Dracula.
Dracula finally seemed too lazy to hide anymore and completely removed all disguises -
His skin became paler, a hint of blood appeared in his burgundy pubic area, and his earlobes became pointed, reminding everyone present of his true identity!
Dracula's style as a professor gradually faded, and his temperament became colder, but his godly handsome face and dangerous aura were as tempting as poppies. He smiled perfectly and lazily, revealing a pair of sharp side teeth.
"You are actually a vampire?!" Fudge was the first to scream, and then he looked at Dumbledore: "Dumbledore, how dare you recruit a vampire as a professor?"
Dumbledore ignored Fudge and looked at Dracula worriedly.
If Dracula's identity was exposed, even if the students of Hogwarts were still willing to accept him, those conservative and rigid-minded parents would certainly not agree to let a vampire be their children's professor.
Not only that, although the situation has improved a lot in recent years, due to the infectiousness and aggressiveness of vampires, wizards in the magical world still stay away from this group, just like they do with werewolves.
Therefore, Dracula could not gain any advantage in the public opinion of the magical world.
At this rate, given Dracula's lazy character, I'm afraid he won't be able to continue to be the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts...
Dumbledore looked at Dracula with a confused mind, and saw him take two steps towards Cedric, pull up one of Cedric's arms, lower his head slightly, and pierce Cedric's wrist with his two sharp side teeth.
Mr. and Mrs. Diggory cried out in surprise, and instinctively wanted to rush towards their son.
But Dumbledore stopped them.
"Amos, this is the only way." He persuaded softly, "If you still want your child to come back, then don't disturb Professor Dracula."
Mrs. Diggory's lips opened and closed, and Amos Diggory's eyes flickered.
They struggled in their hearts for a long time, and finally realized that Cedric could not come back exactly as he was before. He could only come back to them in another way.
"Just do what Professor Dracula did." Amos Diggory sighed deeply, "No matter what Cedric becomes, we will still love him as before."
Mrs. Diggory nodded as well, tears in her eyes.
No matter what it becomes, it's better than never coming back.
…
At the same time, Cedric's body gradually shriveled up, as if too much blood had been sucked away.
First embrace.
This is a ritual unique to vampires, and is different from the literal meaning of "The Embrace". The Embrace actually represents the person who is about to become a vampire in the ritual, and the human blood in his body blends with the vampire blood.
When ordinary vampires perform the First Embrace ritual for others, it will bring extremely strong feelings to the people participating in the ritual, including fear, heart palpitations, and dangers such as death from excessive blood loss. It is even more impossible to restore activity to a body that has lost its vitality out of thin air.
But Dracula, as the leader of the blood clan, is naturally different from them.
He can transform a human into a high-level vampire without any side effects, and can also directly use his own blood to awaken an inanimate body.
In a moment, Cedric's shriveled body returned to its original state.
His skin looked increasingly paler, but his lips were bright red, and his ears and fingers also showed signs of being a vampire.
Dracula let go of Cedric's hand and took two steps back.
Although he hadn't opened his eyes yet, Cedric stood firmly in place, showing no signs of falling.
"You can wake up now, Cedric." Dracula took out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of his lips, saying softly.
The next moment, Cedric suddenly opened his eyes.
"Run, Harry!" he blurts out as soon as he opens his eyes.
Hearing his words, Harry almost couldn't control the tears in his eyes again.
"Cedric, we are back..." he said, choking with sobs, "I have escaped from Voldemort."
"No... I remember I was under a killing curse, didn't I?" Cedric was stunned for a moment, then frowned, "Why am I still alive?"
He looked around blankly, "Father, mother, Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor Dracula... why are you all here?"
Mr. and Mrs. Diggory burst into tears.
"Take some time to adapt to your current body." Dracula turned his back and waved his hand. "You can ask Potter and your parents to tell you the whole story. When you are almost adjusted, you can come to Bran Castle in Romania to find me."
He glanced again at the Hogwarts Castle standing behind him under the stars and smiled softly.
I've been here for four years, and I've had enough fun. It's time to call it a day...
Dracula chuckled and took a step forward, ready to say goodbye to this place with four years of memories.
However, at this moment, a voice suddenly interrupted his rare emotional thoughts.
"Everyone stay where you are, don't move!" Minister of Magic Fudge frowned and shouted fiercely, "Auror, stop him!"
Dracula turned his head and looked at Fudge in surprise.
He suddenly had a feeling that there was still fun to be found here, so he temporarily gave up the idea of leaving.
"Harry, let me ask you... what were you saying just now?" Fudge forced a smile and asked Harry, "I hope you can organize your words better."
"What did I just say?" Harry was a little dazed. "Didn't I just tell Cedric that we are back?"
"No, it's another sentence." Fudge said nervously.
"I said... I escaped from Voldemort." Harry also remembered what he had said before.
It suddenly occurred to him that he should tell the situation at that time so that the Ministry of Magic could be prepared to deal with Voldemort.
So Harry continued, "Minister Fudge, Voldemort has resurrected and has summoned a large number of Death Eaters... I luckily escaped from Voldemort..."
Harry recounted what happened on Riddle's grave as quickly as possible, then looked nervously at Fudge and Dumbledore in front of him.
"Impossible!" Fudge suddenly shouted, "Harry, think about it again. You must have a memory error, right?"
"No, I know very well that I didn't say anything wrong." Harry said seriously, "Voldemort is back, and the Ministry of Magic must be prepared to fight the enemy, Minister Fudge!"
"That's enough!" Fudge said irritably, "Where are the nurses here? There is a warrior here who is not only injured physically, but also has some brain problems. He needs immediate treatment."
"There's nothing wrong with my brain!" Fudge's behavior made Harry a little angry. He retorted loudly, "I know exactly what I'm talking about!"
"Cornelly, I believe what Harry said." Dumbledore also said seriously, "You'd better be prepared in time..."
"Wait a minute, Dumbledore!" Fudge waved his hand, interrupting Dumbledore. "You... well, you're going to take Harry's words at face value, aren't you?"
"Of course I believe Harry," said Dumbledore, his eyes now blazing. "Harry's account of what happened after he touched the Cup makes perfect sense, and explains everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer."
"You are really stupid, Dumbledore..." Fudge suddenly put on a strange smile, "How could you believe the nonsense made up by a child? He must have been stimulated by something during the game and had hallucinations."
"Fudge, Cedric was under the Killing Curse!" Amos Diggory suddenly turned around and looked at Fudge angrily, "Can you deny this? My son almost died at the hands of the You-Know-Who!"
"You are too impulsive, Amos." Fudge still had that weird smile on his face, and at the same time glanced at Dracula on the other side, "I can totally believe that your precious son was framed by Professor Dracula, just to transform this good seedling into a vampire."
"We all know that most vampires are insidious and cunning, and will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. You and your wife must not be fooled by him!"
"You must be reading Rita Skeeter's articles, Mr. Fudge." Dracula sneered. "Why didn't I realize that the Minister of Magic was so imaginative before?"
Seeing that Dracula was about to come over here, Fudge panicked and quickly waved to the Aurors around him.
"Auror, stop this vampire, he is very likely the culprit of this incident!" Fudge said loudly.
Dracula's grin widened even more.
"Interesting." He laughed coldly, "I want to see what other interesting things you can say."
"Also, I found out," Fudge had something else to say, looking at Dumbledore, "I found out that you have been hiding some of the child's situation from reporting? He is a snake, right? His behavior is strange everywhere-"
"You refer, I suppose, to the pain Harry has been feeling in his scar?" said Dumbledore grimly.
"So, you admit that he has been having headaches?" Fudge quickly found a new entry point. "Headache? Nightmares? Maybe... hallucinations?"
"Listen to me, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, taking a step toward Fudge, with an indescribable power in his eyes. "Harry is as sane and reasonable as you and I. The scar on his forehead has not clouded his mind."
"I believe that Harry's scar only hurts when Voldemort is lurking nearby or when he feels particularly urge to kill."
Fudge took half a step back from Dumbledore, but his expression remained stubborn.
"Forgive me, Dumbledore, but I never heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell before..."
“I saw Voldemort come back!” Harry shouted. “I saw the Death Eaters with my own eyes. I can name them by name! Lucius Malfoy —”
Snape stirred suddenly, but when Harry looked at him, Snape's eyes returned to Fudge.
"Malfoy is acquitted!" said Fudge, clearly offended. "A very old family, generous donors to the good causes of the Ministry -"
"McNeill!" Harry continued to call out the names.
"He was also declared not guilty! He is currently working at the Ministry of Magic!"
"Avery, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle..."
"You're just repeating the names of wizards who were judged not to be Death Eaters thirteen years ago!" Fudge said angrily. "You can find those names in the past trial reports!"
Harry opened his mouth again angrily, wanting to retort, but Fudge didn't give him the chance.
"That's enough. This kid needs to rest. Take him away quickly." Fudge said firmly, "Also, all Aurors, concentrate your strength and catch that vampire!"
Dracula folded his arms and leaned against a street lamp nearby.
When Dracula saw Fudge and many Aurors' eyes turned to his direction, he raised the corners of his mouth in pleasure.
"It's time to have fun again."
…
…