Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 292 The Battle for Supremacy Arrives
Time quickly passed and it was almost the end of October—

Tyella, Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly spent the first two months of their fourth year at school in a flurry of activity.

All the fourth-grade students noticed that they had significantly more homework to do this semester.

When the students complained loudly about the excessive amount of homework Professor McGonagall assigned for her Transfiguration class, she explained why.

“You are entering a crucial period of your magical education!” she told them, her eyes gleaming authoritatively behind her square glasses. “Your OWL exams are just around the corner—”

“We don’t take the level exams until fifth grade!” Dean Thomas said angrily.

"Perhaps so, Thomas, but believe me, you need to be fully prepared! In this class, only Miss Granger and Mr. Lockhart have ever been able to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. Thomas, I should remind you, your pincushion will still cower in fear when someone approaches it with a needle!"

Hermione's face flushed red again. She lowered her head, suppressing her laughter and trying her best not to show too much smugness.

On the other hand, Professor Binns, the ghost who taught them the history of magic, assigned them this week to write a paper on the 18th-century goblin rebellion.

Professor Snape pressured them to research an antidote. They dared not be careless, for Professor Snape hinted that he would poison one of them before Christmas to see if their antidote would work.

Professor Flitwick asked them to read three more books in preparation for learning the Spell of Succubus.

Even Hagrid added to their burden—

The blasting snails grew so fast that almost everyone except Tiera was struggling to keep up.

The other Gryffindor students couldn't understand how Tyrell had managed it—

Because Tiera not only cared for the two Blast-tailed Snails, but also caused them to mutate—

The two blasting snails that Tierra was taking care of were clearly several sizes larger than the other blasting snails.

Moreover, hard, snake-like scales began to grow on the exposed parts of the two blasting snails that Tiera was taking care of.

In addition, the mucus from the two blasting snails began to exhibit corrosive toxicity and became even more ferocious.

"How did you do that?" Hagrid couldn't help but ask.

“Oh, this,” Tierra said. “They are like my babies, and to keep them healthy, I feed them a little bit of the tonic I make.”

"It looks like the effect is too strong!" Hagrid said, squatting down and observing Tierra's two Blast-tailed Snails.

Hagrid no longer dares to touch those two blast-tailed snails.

After class that day, when Tyrell, Harry, Ron, and Hermione reached the foyer, they found themselves unable to proceed further, as a large group of students were crowded around a large notice erected at the foot of the marble staircase—

Ron, the tallest of the three, stood on tiptoe, peering over the heads of those in front of him, and read the words of the notice aloud:
"Three-way Battle"
Representatives from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will arrive at 10 p.m. on Friday, October 30.

The class will end half an hour early.

"Great!" Harry interjected. "Friday's last class is Potions! Snape won't have time to poison us all!"

"Students, please return your bags and textbooks to your dormitories and gather in front of the castle to welcome our guests and then attend the welcome banquet," Ron continued reading.

“Less than a week!” Ernie McMillan of Hufflepuff School pushed her way through the crowd, her eyes sparkling. “I wonder if Cedric knows yet. I’ll go tell him…”

The notice that appeared in the foyer had a significant impact on the people living in the castle—

For the next week, wherever they went, people seemed to talk about only one thing: the three-way battle for supremacy.

Rumors spread rapidly among the students, like a highly contagious virus, spreading through the population: who would compete to become the Hogwarts Champion, what the tournament would consist of, how were the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang different from them, and who exactly was that mysterious fourth champion?

In less than a week, the castle appeared to be undergoing a thorough cleaning. Several dirty portraits were scrubbed clean, much to the displeasure of the figures depicted.

They sat huddled in the picture frame, muttering sullenly, wincing in pain every time they touched the newly exposed pink flesh on their faces.

That caused the armor to suddenly become shiny and no longer creak when moved.

The janitor, Argus Felch, would fly into a rage whenever he saw a student forget to wipe their shoes clean, which terrified two first-year girls so much that they became hysterical.

Other teachers and staff also appeared extremely nervous.

"Longbottom, have some mercy! Don't let your guard down in front of Durmstrang's men and let them see that you haven't even mastered a simple Transfiguration Charm!" Professor McGonagall roared as the Transfiguration class was about to end.

The lesson went terribly wrong; Neville accidentally grafted his ear onto a cactus.

This enraged Professor McGonagall, who flew into a hysterical rage.

On the morning of October 30th, when they went downstairs for breakfast, they found that the auditorium had been renovated overnight.

Huge silk banners hung on the wall, each representing a house in Hogwarts: Gryffindor with a red background and a golden lion, Ravenclaw with a blue background and a bronze eagle, Hufflepuff with a yellow background and a black honey badger, and Slytherin with a green background and a silver boa constrictor.

Behind the teacher's desk hung the largest banner, bearing the Hogwarts emblem: a lion, an eagle, a snake, and a honey badger joined together, encircling a giant letter H.

That day, the air was filled with a joyful sense of anticipation.

In class, almost no one paid attention. Even Tyella had to admit that he was a little distracted. He couldn't wait to start watching the drama unfold!

Everyone was thinking that Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's men would be arriving tonight.

Even Potions class wasn't as unbearable as usual, because it ended half an hour early—

When the bell rang early, Tyella, Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed to the Gryffindor Tower, put down their bags and textbooks as instructed, put on their cloaks, and then hurried down the stairs to the foyer.

The college deans are ordering their students to line up.

“Weasley, put your hat on properly! Don’t let it slouch. You’re a Gryffindor student, not some hoodlum from Knockturn Alley!” Professor McGonagall said sternly to Ron. “And Miss Pettier, take that ridiculous thing off your hair.”

Parvati frowned unhappily and took a large butterfly headdress off the end of her braid.

“Alright, very good! Now please follow me.” Professor McGonagall looked everyone over with her hawk-like eyes again and said, “First-year students, please go to the front… don’t crowd…”

They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, crisp evening; night was falling, and a bright, translucent moon hung in the sky above the Forbidden Forest.

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Hi everyone, I'm back again! Here's the third update. Happy April Fool's Day!

You thought I'd only post one or two updates, but you didn't expect it, did you? I actually posted three!

So, have I fooled the fate of renewal?
Alright, that's all for now. I'm going to drink the Fool's Potion. See you all later—

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(End of this chapter)