The Admiral of Hogwarts

"I have never seen such an annoying person. She wasn't this talkative when she interviewed the Hood family last time!" That evening during dinner, Veneto complained to Hugo about Rita's interview.

"Last time, she only interviewed a best-selling novelist. How can that compare to the Triwizard Tournament, which has been interrupted for hundreds of years?" Hugo shook his head and said.

"To be honest, you shouldn't be the worst off. Because you only have to endure a short afternoon of her so-called interview, while Harry is facing a situation that should be much worse than yours."

The next morning, the newspapers delivered to Hogwarts by owl post confirmed Hugo's guess. Rita Skeeter had indeed put her brain to work and concocted an article that would definitely attract attention.

"What exactly happened?" Just as Hugo was eating breakfast, Harry walked over and asked in a low voice. As soon as he entered the hall, he noticed that everyone was looking at him with a mixture of curiosity, surprise, and admiration.

He had asked the Gryffindors earlier, but unfortunately, the Gryffindor students only looked at each other and gave Harry a strange smile, but resolutely refused to say what had happened.

"Uh—" Hugo exchanged a glance with his sister, then took out the newspaper they had just been reading and handed it over. "The reason is in the newspaper. I hope you're mentally prepared before you read it."

Harry unfolded the newspaper and found Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament published. This article was less of a report on the tournament and more of an embellished depiction of Harry's personal life.

A large portion of the front page was occupied by a photo of Harry. The entire article (continued on pages two, six, and seven) was about Harry. Fleur and Krum's names were squeezed into the last line of the article and even misspelled.

As for Veneto, only her last name was spelled correctly; her full name didn't even appear in the newspaper. It was as if Harry was the only contestant from Hogwarts.

Pages two, six, and seven of the newspaper were all about Harry's love life. It was all about the relationship between Harry and Ron. Rita wrote many nauseating, lengthy passages and even asked others for their opinions of him.

Harry has finally found his first love at Hogwarts. His close friend Colin Creevey says that Harry is inseparable from a boy named Ron Weasley.

Even after Harry was involved in such a dangerous competition this year, Ron remained loyal to him, as brave as a knight protecting a princess.

Okay, it seems that even without Hermione, Harry can still have rumors made up about him. After this report was published, Harry and Ron kept their distance, even trying to avoid being in the same place except for classes.

On the Saturday before the first task, the school approved students in their third year and above to visit Hogsmeade Village.

Veneto, who wasn't worried about the competition at all, naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity. So, after finishing breakfast early in the morning, Hugo and his group left Hogwarts Castle and headed straight for Hogsmeade.

"Seriously, Skeeter is too good at making things up," Veneto said, chewing on a lollipop. "I really didn't expect her to make up a story about gay romance."

"I think it's because this kind of news is most likely to arouse people's curiosity. You know, people always welcome news that goes down the gutter. For example, 'The Sun' has higher sales than 'The Times'."

"That's why everyone at school knows that there's no such relationship between Harry and Ron, but they're still spreading these things in private."

"I admit that some Slytherin students may be deliberately causing trouble by taking this opportunity, but most people are probably spreading that article out of a gossipy, troublemaking mentality."

The group bought some things in the shops and then left the commercial district to head back to their restaurant. When they arrived at the restaurant, they found San Giorgio waiting there. "

The four dragons that the Romanians prepared have already set off today." After entering the safe private room, San Giorgio said, relaying news he had received no more than an hour or two ago.

As he spoke, San Giorgio took out more than a dozen photos from his pocket.

These photos were obviously taken by personnel sent by the Ministry of Magic of the Western Balkans. After all, dragons are a very powerful creature even in the magical world, so neighboring countries need to be notified when they are moved.

"Chinese Fireball, Swedish Short-Snout, Welsh Green Dragon, and Hungarian Horntail." Looking at the photos, Hugo and the others quickly identified the dragons. Then, the group looked at Veneto together.

"Even the most powerful Hungarian Horntail, I can take it down in three to five minutes without deploying my ship equipment, so there's not much need to worry about safety."

"No, I'm actually a little worried about the safety of those dragons," Hugo said with a smile. "Seriously, if you really kill a dragon, the scene would be too bloody."

"You mean—beat them to death with a stick without drawing blood?" Veneto smirked. However, Hugo could see from her burgundy eyes that she wasn't just joking.

After all, those warships were created for killing from the moment they were born, and this characteristic naturally extended to the ship girls. At least, in the ship girls' eyes, battles with fewer than three-digit casualties are more like games.

Perhaps for those intelligent humanoid creatures, ship girls, as beings inclined to kindness, would normally still have a bit of compassion. But killing non-intelligent creatures like fire dragons is no different from killing a chicken in their eyes.

"Try not to cause incurable wounds," Hugo said, staring seriously into Veneto's eyes. "After all, this is a competition, and there are many people watching, so there's no need to make the scene so terrible."

"Understood, this isn't a war with the enemy after all." After confirming Hugo's thoughts, Veneto nodded seriously. "So, I will control my level of violence as much as possible to avoid making the audience uncomfortable."

Over the next period, the three tasted some of the new dishes and drinks that the restaurant had launched. These included many Japanese dishes and drinks made with fruit and honey.

The reason there were no alcoholic beverages was simple: the British Ministry of Magic issued very few alcohol licenses, and the Ministry itself was monopolized by pure-bloods, making it almost impossible for Notus and the others to obtain a liquor license.

"It's good that there are no alcoholic beverages." Hugo turned to look at the no-smoking sign on the wall and said, "At least with no smoking and no alcohol, this restaurant is more suitable for Hogwarts students to come and spend money."

"You're right. For example, we have more female customers coming to spend money now. Compared to men who prefer to drink alcohol, they are more willing to spend more money on food," Notus nodded.

"More importantly, with such a hotel, we can collect all kinds of meaningful information from the guests, thereby strengthening our understanding of the wizarding world."