Two Worlds: I studied abroad at Hogwarts

Chapter 144: Rumors from the Ministry of Magic
The Gryffindor common room was bustling on Tuesday night.

Because tonight is the time when Hermione and the others will make new terracotta figurines.

This time, many people joined in the production of the hand warmers at short notice, making the whole process even more uncontrollable.

However, these have little to do with Moon. He only needs to make the mold, and then after the terracotta figurines come out of the oven, he can light the [Hand Warming Spell] on them.

The whole process is very simple, just a matter of waving a magic wand.

After helping Ron set fire to a terracotta mouse figurine that had finally grown a tail, Moon pulled his knowledgeable partner aside and asked him about the Barnabus Finkley Excellence in Spellcasting Competition.

"Oh, how did you know about him?"

Ron was very surprised, as he had already known that Moon was a Muggle wizard.

A competition like this is not very famous, and only those who have lived in the wizarding community for many years know about it.

"It was Professor Flitwick. He suggested I enter this spellcasting competition."

Hearing that Moon was planning to participate in the competition, his roommates and Hermione gathered around curiously.

Seeing more and more people coming to support him, Ron happily explained the origin of this competition.

"The Barnabus Finkley Competition for Excellence in Spellcasting.

You know, competitions named after wizards usually mean that either the wizard himself is very good at that skill, or his family is very powerful."

"So what is this competition?"

Seamus came over curiously and asked.

"I don't know much about Barnabus Finkley, but his family is actually quite famous in the British wizarding world."

With Ron's introduction, Moon learned that the Finkley family would hold such a spell-casting competition every five years.

This competition is not very competitive. The organizers will find some well-known magicians to evaluate the contestants' spell-casting process.

One of the most attractive parts is that at the end of the competition, the organizer will set up sudden and unexpected situations to test the contestants' ability to cope with temporary situations using spells.

"Every year, many wizards buy tickets to watch this emergency game.

Because the setting is so bizarre, the Daily Prophet often says, "This is the most unlikely accident in the wizarding world."

Hearing Ron say this, Moon suddenly felt that he had been a little careless.

Even the wizards themselves thought that it was an impossible accident, which made Moon unable to imagine what kind of bizarre accident it would be.

"Most of the contestants are students from magic schools who are about to graduate. The Finkley family often extends olive branches to the winners of the competition."

"Is this family still doing business?"

Moon asked curiously.

"Of course! I think they hold this competition just to attract business for their family."

The Finkley family's business is to open various training classes for wizards.

There are fast spell training classes, family practical magic training classes, elementary transformation training classes, and potion making training classes.
"Aren't these taught in school?"

Hearing Ron mention so many familiar magic learning courses, Moon became even more curious.

He really didn't understand why any wizard would spend money to sign up for such a training class.

"Don't say that, Moon. In fact, there are not many wizards like you and Hermione who can learn all the courses well in school."

Ron spoke with a hint of envy about the true situation of most students.

"Okay, actually, I'm just a little curious. Can this kind of business really make money?"

"Of course, you don't know that the employment environment in the wizarding world is not very good. Many people will pay money to learn a skill from them in the hope of finding a good job."

Moon had only been in the wizarding world for a short time and didn't know much about employment.

However, he felt that Ron's logic was flawed. "Ron, didn't you just say that the Finkley family held this competition to recruit some graduates to serve as teachers for the training class? But how can students teach adults?"

Using graduating students as teachers is not very reasonable in Moon's opinion.

But Ron gave an unusual but very reasonable reason.

"You don't know that for many wizards, the last year of school is often the time when their magical abilities are at their best in their lives.

After all, many people no longer use the magic knowledge they learned in school after graduation."

Although Moon didn't understand, he could vaguely feel that what Ron said might be true.

"Well, it seems that this competition is specially designed for those students who are about to graduate."

After listening to Ron's explanation, Moon knew that getting the 100 gold galleons might not be an easy task.

After all, the Finkley family had their own considerations for hosting such a competition.

"Don't say that, Moon. I actually think you have every chance of winning. As far as I know, Percy isn't as good as you at the [Petrification Spell]."

Ron's statement was confirmed by Harry, Seamus and Neville.

They had all seen Moon continuously cast the [Petrification Curse] in the spell practice classroom, beating [Snape] until he cried loudly.

Hermione thought the same. Although she envied Moon for being selected by Professor Flitwick to participate in the competition, it did not prevent her from affirming Moon's strength.

“Are there any requirements for this competition?”

Hermione also asked Moon eagerly.

"Oh, Professor Flitwick said there are no other restrictions except that you can't be over 18."

Seeing that Hermione was very interested, Moon repeated the rules of the game that Professor Flitwick had told him.

On the other side, Ron continued to tell the secret story of the Finkley family.

"In fact, if you pay attention to the news from the Ministry of Magic, you will know that the Finkley family had always supported Barty Crouch before the current Minister Fudge came to power. But they bet on the wrong horse."

Men seem to be naturally interested in political matters, and young wizards are no exception.

After Ron brought the topic to the Ministry of Magic, more and more young wizards joined in the discussion, and the rumors about the Ministry of Magic became more and more outrageous.

Neville said that his uncle had always warned him to stay away from people in the Ministry of Magic because there might be werewolves lurking there.

Fred said that the Ministry of Magic has been carrying out secret activities and even controlling Muggle political elections.

George said that the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic hides the greatest secrets of the wizarding world, and dark wizards often go there to steal.

Moon guessed that most of what they said was untrue.

After all, the twins had just said not long ago that the ultimate secret of the wizarding world was the Lesser Knave, and this time it was the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic.

Listening to the little wizards talking more and more outrageously, Moon gradually became interested in this mysterious department.

"Does the Department of Mysteries really hold so many secrets?"

"Of course, everything they do, including the people who work there, is classified at the highest level of confidentiality."

Ron introduced his father to two friends from the Department of Mysteries.

When they came to visit their home, no one was asked to ask about their work.

Moon noticed that Harry was visibly tense when everyone was talking about the Department of Mysteries.

Especially when Ron mentioned the Hall of Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries.

Harry unconsciously touched the lightning scar on his forehead.

(End of this chapter)