Study Days at Hogwarts

  Chapter 974 Dark Horse

  The suburbs at night are eerily quiet, as if everything has fallen into silence, and even the houses on both sides of the street have turned off their lights.

  However, some figures were faintly seen walking by the side of the road.

  As long as you take a closer look, you will find that there are several Spanish policemen. If an unsuspecting Muggle passed by, they would think that something happened here.

  However, the wooden sticks in the hands of these "policemen" have already exposed their identities.

  Employees of the Spanish Ministry of Magic are performing the task of patrolling the building. Although the surrounding area has been released to expel Muggle enchantments, possible accidents cannot be avoided.

  As soon as Albert apparated to the open space near the gymnasium, he saw someone walking towards him. It was a male employee of the Spanish Ministry of Magic. The other party came to him for identity registration.

  He directly identified himself as a contestant, and after taking out his contestant ID, the wizard said formulaically: "Contestants, please go to entrance No. 9. From there, go to the contestant waiting room. There are special registration personnel at the entrance."

  Albert walked in the direction of the wizard's finger, and soon saw a "signpost" written in many languages, telling the players where the No. 9 entrance was.

  As soon as we arrived at the entrance, a loud noise rushed towards us.

  There is a table at the entrance, on which there is a box similar to a lottery, and there are four grids next to the box, which are marked with 1, 2, 3, and 4, which are divided into 4 areas according to the player waiting room.

  The wizard took out a card from the box with the number 1 on it, and then threw it back into the box, signaling Albert to draw it himself.

   Albert took a card from the box at random, the mark on it was "3", that card was placed in the 3rd area, and Albert was signaled to go to the 3rd area.

   The area inside the passage is very large. There are about two or three Hogwarts halls, which are divided into four areas. There are many small round tables in each area, a bit like a coffee shop.

  In fact, you can really order drinks here, but it’s not free.

  As soon as he arrived in District 3, Albert saw a few Aurors maintaining order, wearing serious robes, a bit like civil servants.

  The existence of this group of guys should be more deterrent.

  He doesn't think that these Aurors will be able to maintain order if there is a riot here!

  Before entering the 3rd area, you need to draw again, this time is the order of admission.

  The Spanish Ministry of Magic obviously has a lot of experience in organizing duel competitions, and arranged the entire competition process properly without any confusion.

   Albert glanced at the round number in his hand, the number on it was: 17.

  After he stuffed the number plate into his pocket, he found an empty seat and sat down. Many people around him cast curious glances at him, obviously surprised at Albert's youth.

  Of course, no one really takes him seriously. Young wizards like Albert are the opponents that other contestants like to meet because they can easily advance.

Albert took out a chocolate-flavored toffee from his pocket and threw it into his mouth, chewing slowly. According to Bard, only in the top sixteen, the competition will test whether the players take Felicia or not. cheat by other means.

   Well, the test method is also very simple, that is, under the watchful eyes of the referees, drink a little diluted Veritaserum.

   Then, someone will ask you if you cheated.

   As for cheating in the previous knockout rounds, it doesn't really matter.

   Also, don't think that after drinking Felicia, others won't be able to see it.

   If you jump up and down during a game, you can easily be suspected of taking Felicia.

  In the end, he was pulled to the test. Once he was found to have taken Felicia, he would be banned from participating in the International Wizarding Duel Competition, and he might be banned from other competitions forever.

  Time passed by a little bit, and after midnight, countless fireworks bloomed over the gymnasium, kicking off the International Wizards Duel Competition.

  The players also entered the field in order. The space of the football field is large enough to accommodate four games at the same time. Tonight, the top 16 in each district will be quickly selected.

   Albert waited for a quarter of an hour in the third area, and it was his turn to play.

  His opponent is a middle-aged brown-haired wizard.

   After finding out that his opponent was a young wizard, this guy seemed to be in a good mood. When Albert smiled and greeted him in English, he also replied a sentence in German, but that was not a friendly greeting.

   Albert didn't care, smiled at the other party, and took the lead through the passage to enter the arena.

  The original lawn of the football field has completely disappeared, replaced by a duel stage paved with marble. The scope of the stage is not very large, but it is also enough for people to move around. The rest of the duel stages are far apart to ensure that no other players are involved in the duel.

  The referee is a middle-aged wizard wearing a pointed hat, holding a blue flag in his hand, not far from the stage.

   After the two entered the arena, the referee briefly explained the rules to them, and then let the two players take their positions on the stage.

  After Albert appeared on the stage, his young and handsome appearance quickly attracted a lot of attention, especially after the Fengya wizard clothing store published a photo of him wearing a dragon suit, more people knew Albert.

  Which girl doesn't like handsome and powerful men?

  Of course, Albert didn't care about this. He focused all his attention on the opponent in front of him, held his wand in front of his chest like a sword, bowed slightly towards the opponent, and then listened to the referee's countdown

   "Three, two, one...go!"

  The two raised their wands violently at the same time, ready to use magic at each other, but Albert's movements were obviously faster than the middle-aged wizard.

   At least, Albert didn't chant the spell, and almost as soon as he raised his wand, the spell flew directly towards the opponent.

  The middle-aged wizard was taken aback by Albert's quick spellcasting, gave up the half-recited black magic, and raised his wand to block the oncoming red light.

However, Albert didn't give his opponent time to react, and the second spell had already followed. Caught off guard, the wizard was directly knocked away by a huge force, and the third spell hit the ground again The target directly disarmed the opponent's wand.

   I have to say that Professor Flitwick's "three axes" are still very useful.

   After the opponent loses the wand in his hand, he is considered to be disqualified from the competition.

   "You lost." Albert said in German.

  The middle-aged wizard struggled to get up from the ground, and looked at Albert with a face full of astonishment. He originally thought that his opponent was a soft persimmon, but he encountered a hard stubble, and this guy can actually speak German. When he spoke earlier, this guy obviously understood it, and he was still smiling there.

"It's definitely on purpose. He's such an insidious guy." The middle-aged wizard was very depressed. He couldn't understand why the guy in front of him cast spells so fast. Of course he would also cast silent spells, but... that kind of casting speed, that kind of magic spell. The power of the spell is not like what he can master at his age, it's almost like cheating.

   That’s right, cheating.

  That guy must have taken Felicia Potion!

   Absolutely.

  When the referee raised the flag and was about to declare Albert the winner, the middle-aged wizard went directly to the referee, protesting against the opponent's suspected use of Felicia.

   Albert looked at the wizard in front of him with a strange expression, and asked the referee, "Do you need to check?"

"No, I know you. I saw you win the championship with my own eyes last year. Let's work hard this time." After finishing speaking, the referee glanced at the guy who couldn't afford to lose in disgust, and said flatly, "I don't want to lose." If there is a problem, he has the strength."

  After the middle-aged wizard finished listening, the expression on his face immediately froze.

   "It seems that someone has an objection to the result of the game."

  The young wizard who was in charge of explaining the duel contest said loudly, "Let's listen to what our referee has to say."

"That young gentleman won the gold medal for spellcasting techniques last year, and I remember the news of his award was published in the newspaper." The referee said plainly, "I don't think he has shown an extraordinary level of duel, just To think he might have cheated is stigmatizing."

   "Okay, maybe we have met a dark horse, let's wait and see where this young player can go!"

   "His fame seems to be great?"

  Katrina listened to the people around him discussing about Albert, and turned to look at Isobel who was not very happy, "What's the matter, you don't seem very happy?"

   "This is not good news." Isobel shook his head.

  Albert has been targeted by mysterious people and Death Eaters, and being famous also means being too ostentatious and easily causing unnecessary trouble.

  If the news that Albert came to participate in the International Wizarding Duel Contest is published in the newspaper, God knows what big troubles will be waiting for him.

  (end of this chapter)