Ancient wizards return to Hogwarts.

"So where the hell did Les go?"

Before the final of the World Youth Wizarding Championship began, Daphne and Astoria were talking in a low voice in the contestant waiting area.

"I don't know, but it's definitely not the ridiculous and absurd thing Professor Dumbledore said about going to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Treatment." Astoria responded in a very affirmative tone.

She asked someone and found out that St. Mungo's Hospital did not accept any students named "Les Lint" these days!

Astoria wrote a letter to her father, asking him to investigate Les's whereabouts, but what she got was a scolding from her father.

Mr. Henry gave Astoria a clear warning in his letter, strictly forbidding her to continue investigating the issue.

It was no wonder that Mr. Henry made such a fuss, mainly because he knew the true identity of Les Lint. The adult suddenly left Hogwarts without leaving a note, so there must be something extremely urgent to do.

How could those two stupid girls get involved in a matter of this magnitude?

After being warned by her father, Astoria restrained herself a lot and realized the seriousness of the matter. So she limited her investigation to Hogwarts. Specifically, she went with her sister to harass Professor White.

"Anyway, it's likely that he has something important to do. Sister, didn't you notice? He didn't even take the championship seriously this year. I think we should play the final stage of the game first--" Astoria tried to divert her sister's attention and let her focus on the upcoming game.

To outsiders, Rice was a Hogwarts "seed player" who was unfortunately eliminated in the second round. However, Daphne and Astoria both understood that Rice was eliminated only because he felt there was no need to continue the competition.

As for the reason why he thought so, it might be because he had more important things to do, or it might be because Hogwarts was already sure to win. It is not impossible that it was both.

"Do you think that the big flood during the game was caused by Rice?" Daphne was not distracted by her sister's words, and her thoughts drifted back to the second stage of the game.

The sudden natural disaster left a deep impression on the contestants.

All competitions were interrupted midway, and no matter where they were on the leaderboard, their only mission during those days was to escape and retain their eligibility.

After the disaster abated, they all felt grateful for having survived.

Many people suddenly realized: No wonder there was a competition in the Black Lake before the second stage of the competition! If you don’t have strong enough diving ability, it’s better to withdraw early.

Unlike other confused contestants, Daphne and Astoria had some other ideas in their minds when they saw the flood and the swamp.

They suspected that this was related to Rice, but they had no evidence, and the scene before them was a little too shocking.

"No way, have you forgotten the scope of that flood? Half of the continent was submerged..." Astoria said she didn't believe it, but deep down she was inclined to believe that it was Les who did it.

She felt that even if the flood was not caused by Rice himself, he was definitely responsible.

"That's true." With Astoria's tireless efforts, Daphne finally shifted her attention to the upcoming game.

The players were just told that the organizers would draw lots to group them in pairs, and then they would duel with their opponents on the Quidditch field that had been transformed into a dueling field, and the winner would advance. Then they would continue to draw lots to determine the top four, the champion, the runner-up, and the third place.

"It's really not surprising at all." Daphne shrugged, then looked at her sister, "I hope to see you in the final."

Astoria smiled in response, but in her heart she said, "Sister, I hope you don't get eliminated by Cedric or Hermione halfway."

She felt that her sister had a high chance of not being able to beat Hermione, and Cedric couldn't guarantee a win.

I am very good at restraining Hermione, and my winning rate is more than 90%.

Astoria didn't take the other contestants seriously at all.

Mr. Bagman had a sunny smile on his face and walked quickly in front of the contestants.

He looked around quickly and saw that all sixteen people were present, so he smiled happily.

"Okay, everyone is here. Now follow me to the player preparation room!" As he said that, he took the lead and led the sixteen players to the team lounge at the Quidditch field.

After entering the lounge, the contestants found Mr. Henry waiting inside. Above their heads was the sound of footsteps of the audience entering the venue and the buzz of people talking and chatting.

Mr. Henry held a silk bag in his hand.

Seeing Bagman leading the contestants in, he raised the silk bag in his hand to the contestants.

"Inside the bag are clay statues of the sixteen of you. Next, Mr. Bagman and I will each draw a statue. The two people we draw will be our duel opponents and will need to compete on stage. The winner will advance to the next round of the quarterfinals. I don't have much to say, except to wish you all good luck and that you can get through this competition safely."

The contestants nodded solemnly. Up to this round, there were no weaklings among the contestants. They were all elites from various schools. Those schools with weak strength were simply eliminated.

I am talking about the two schools of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. In Russia's Kodostoriz, only the vice-principal Ekaterina is left.

They are also the bottom three schools in this competition.

The draw has begun.

Mr. Henry first drew out his wand, pressed it against the silk bag, and then took out a clay doll using a levitation spell.

"Ms. Ekaterina." Mr. Henry looked at the vice-principal of Kodosdoriz School of Magic.

The faces of most of the players in the lounge became serious.

Although there are no weak contestants, there are always differences in strength. Ekaterina is undoubtedly the most difficult contestant.

Ekaterina walked up to Mr. Henry with an expressionless face.

Kodosdoriz had already lost miserably in the championship, and now she had to win back the ground in the individual competition.

Mr. Henry drew his lots, and then it was Bagman's turn.

He also took out his wand and used a levitation spell to randomly draw a clay sculpture of a contestant.

After seeing the face of the clay sculpture clearly, most people present breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time believed that there was really no shady manipulation in this competition.

Because the contestant Bagman drew was Hermione Granger from the host Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

In the eyes of contestants from other magic schools, Hermione had been eliminated.

How could this little girl, who was not even seventeen years old, be a match for Ekaterina? When she graduated from Kodos Dorez, did Miss Granger receive the admission letter to Hogwarts?

Hermione looked quite nervous. Under the sympathetic gazes of the other contestants, she walked out of the common room with Ekaterina and headed to the dueling arena accompanied by Mr. Henry and Mr. Bagman.

A few seconds later, there was a commotion above everyone's heads, which meant that the two contestants had entered the venue.

Then the voice of Madam Bones, the Minister of Magic, rang out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the first round of the quarter-finals of the final stage of the Global Young Wizarding Championship is about to begin. Please welcome our contestants: Miss Hermione Granger from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Miss Ekaterina Feodorovna from Kodostoriz School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!

Now that everyone has seen our contestants, let us welcome our referee, the dueling tournament champion, Professor Filius Flitwick!"

There was a burst of applause and cheers in the arena. Minister Bones raised his voice, forcing himself to speak over the applause and continued to preside over the match: "The duelists bow to each other. Three - two - one, the duel begins!"

Astoria frowned as she listened to the cheers from above her head that were much louder than usual.

"How can the school allow so many people of questionable character to come in?" She complained unhappily, "It's ok for teachers and students from other magic schools, but why are they letting in even people from the Secret Society?"

Daphne waved her hand.

"It's okay. Professor Dumbledore and so many headmasters are here! If they dare to cause trouble, they will be sent to Azkaban. Besides, their boss, Mr. Gryffindor, also said that it was all a misunderstanding before. Now that he has come to apologize in person, the misunderstanding has been resolved."

Astoria was speechless. Although her sister's words made sense, she still felt uneasy deep down.

Bagman and Henry returned to the lounge while Minister Bones presided over the game.

Just as they were preparing for the second round of drawing lots, a cry of surprise suddenly came from above their heads.

Both of them couldn't help but stop and try to figure out what was going on.

Soon they found out.

Another male voice sounded - it was the voice of the host of the famous American wizard radio station "Global Magic Voice", and he was the commentator of this competition.

"Oh my god, what did we see?! Ekaterina fell down in an instant! What happened? I didn't even see what spell Miss Granger used - but no matter what, the first quarterfinalist of this competition, and also the dark horse, was born! She is Hermione Granger from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry -"

boom!

A thunderous cheer erupted in the Quidditch pitch, and listening to it in the lounge, it sounded like an earthquake.

Bagman couldn't hide his smile at all. He said to Mr. Henry with a smile: "Let's draw the lots quickly, so as not to keep the audience waiting..."

"Okay." Mr. Henry didn't waste any words and directly took out the clay sculpture of the next contestant.

This time it was Astoria who was touched.

It is not surprising that Hogwarts was selected in two consecutive rounds, because they are the magic school with the largest number of people entering the top 16, with five people, accounting for more than a quarter of the total number of contestants.

Astoria's opponent is the albino wizard Yamashita Ying from the magic institute.

Seeing that he was chosen, Yamashita Ying smiled at Astoria, his eyes narrowed into a line.

Astoria ignored him and walked straight to the duel arena.

After the identical announcement, Astoria calmly looked at the Japanese wizard in front of her.

"Give up, or you might lose your life." Astoria was ready to go, quietly making preparations.

She didn't expect that just one or two words would make her opponent give up, but delaying time was in her favor.

"Oh my, what a terrifying statement." Yamashita Ying was still smiling. "I have observed you in that world before. Your magic is terrifying - the ability to manipulate blood, right? You are not lying."

Astoria's face darkened: It was not good news that the other party knew her information.

But she doesn't think it will have any impact on the outcome of the game.

"If it was before the second stage of the competition, I would have admitted defeat without hesitation, but now... I also had adventures in that world." Yamashita Ying said in English with a heavy accent.

At the same time, he reached into his robe and pulled out a long knife from it - God knows how he hid such a long knife on his body.

Astoria's eyes suddenly widened. She felt a very strong fluctuation of magic from the knife, as if there was a domain attached to the knife.

"Rise, Yunwuwan!"

In an instant, a thick mist burst out from the blade and enveloped Yamashita Ying's body in just a few seconds.

"Sweep away the whirlwind!" Astoria attacked without any hesitation.

Having been taught by Rice, she could not allow her opponent's mist to spread, so she immediately used magic to try to disperse the mist, and at the same time used her ability to manipulate blood to try to interfere with Yamashita Ying.

Yamashita Ying suddenly felt a sweetness in his throat, and his nose was suddenly filled with the smell of blood.

But he was prepared. He directly wrapped the mist emitted from the knife around his body, forming a protective layer on his body surface, which immediately reduced Astoria's influence on him by half.

However, he understood that this was only a temporary measure. If the stalemate continued, the fog's protective effect on him would only become weaker and weaker. But it was not a big problem, because his goal was not to win the game.

Astoria's spell shattered the mist emitted from the knife, but something unexpected happened: the shattered mist turned into thousands of thin white threads, floating in the air, and then expanded instantly. Soon, the entire arena was filled with mist.

Her spell actually helped Yamashita Ying disperse the fog!

The spectators who were watching the game were shocked at first, but later realized that the fog was just an ordinary cloud, which did no harm except making their robes wet.

Little did they know that Godric Gryffindor, who was standing with the students of Gryffindor House, had already curled up the corner of his mouth.

Hogwarts destruction plan, launched!

The fog is just a decoy, the real trick is hidden behind it!

Faced with the thick fog, many viewers took out masks from their pockets and put them on their faces. No one knew why they carried such things with them.

What the audience didn't know was that white smoke was also coming out of a few inconspicuous small boxes in the corner of the stadium. The smoke mixed with the white mist that filled the entire stadium and gradually spread from top to bottom.

----

Here is the update, good night!

The next update will be at midnight tomorrow night!