Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 399 The Competition Begins

In mid-November, it was raining continuously.

The fervor surrounding the Warriors selection process has temporarily subsided. Following Mrs. Pince's strong protest, the fervent fan club has calmed down and no longer disrupts the school's normal teaching order. Apart from the participating students, the daily routines of other teachers and students returning to school have returned to normal.

Besides attending classes, Melvin was also busy coordinating match-related matters with Barty Crouch. This middle-aged wizard harbored thoughts of atonement but had no intention of redeeming himself or reducing his punishment; he simply wanted to complete his work.

Every day, he shuttled between Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic, discussing the arrangements for the upcoming competitions with other national ministries of magic, gathering opinions from other schools, connecting with various media outlets, and inviting Ollivander to the school to conduct wand tests.

He single-handedly took on almost all the work of the competition committee.

Melvin, who used to slack off, also became busy and had no time to pay attention to the gossip on campus. Some interesting stories had to be relayed by Christine.

The warriors were all preparing for the impending dragon, while the other three schools already had their answers. Harry and the others were still racking their brains, spending their days in the library looking worried.

Professor Moody's classes were too daring and the content too stimulating, even attracting a group of Durmstrang students, whose school was known for its Black Magic courses.

Hagrid's romance is in an ambiguous, unspoken stage, the best time for dating. Every time they walk by the Black Lake or in the Forbidden Forest, they talk about the differences between the two schools, various strange animals, and the ferocious fire dragon in the forest.

The two shared a tacit understanding about each other's giant bloodline, and neither mentioned their family history. Hagrid felt it was unnecessary to bring it up, but Ms. Maxim was unwilling to discuss it.

Hagrid always walked with a smile on his face. His pleasant romantic experiences more or less influenced his teaching, causing him to lower his guard against past lessons and begin to engage in illegal experiments in hybridizing magical animals.

The Exploding Tail Snail is a product of illegal animal experiments. It is the offspring of a hybrid of a human-headed lion-bodied scorpion-tailed beast and a fire crab. Its blood is like explosives, and it can explode with the slightest stimulation.

Unsurprisingly, a student reported the matter to the Board of Trustees. Professor McGonagall received a notice to rectify the situation and was so worried that she pulled out several strands of hair.

On Friday morning, as a member of the competition committee, Melvin received an interview request from The Prophet's Newspaper, scheduled for the same time as the Ollivander wand test, during the lunch break that day.

After lunch, the unused classrooms on the second floor.

This is a small classroom. After the house-elves arranged and cleaned it, most of the desks and chairs were moved to the back of the classroom, leaving plenty of open space in the middle, with a few chairs placed on the side.

When Melvin arrived, several adult wizards, four headmasters, newspaper reporters and photographers were already seated on the chairs, as was Bagman, who had come to join the fun. The contestants were also present, and it seemed they had been waiting for some time.

Harry's green eyes were glistening with tears, indicating that the interview was over.

Several desks were pushed together side by side in front of the blackboard, covered with a velvet blanket. Ollivander stood behind the desks with a parchment registration form in front of him.

The top of the wand displays the name, wand size, material, and core material.

"Hibiscus de la Cour, 9 inches, Maple, Veela hair."

“Rosalind Tibbers, 10 inches, sycamore, bird snake feathers.”

"..."

“Viktor Krum, 10 inches, hornbeam, dragon’s nerve.”

“Nikolai Volkov…”

“Pickley Grevis, 12 inches, giant spruce, thunderbird feathers.”

“Nancy Boots, 9 inches, cherry wood, cat and leopard whiskers.”

"..."

The Hogwarts warriors were last in line. Cedric's wand was the longest, a full 12 inches long, made of Suzuki wood and adorned with unicorn tail hair. Perhaps it was the unique wands of the previous wandmakers that challenged the old wandmaker's preconceived notions, as Ollivander talked about his prized creation for a long time.

Next, Hermione handed over the unique grapevine wand, and Harry showed off the holly wand behind the bond with another famous wizard, which made Ollivander mutter to himself for a few more minutes.

The final group photo took some effort. Maksim was too tall and burly, easily blocking others and making it difficult to fit him into the frame. In the end, he could only sit in the center of the first row and let the photographer capture the moment.

“Harry, Hermione…”

Melvin called out to the two warriors he was focusing on: "You've been in the library for almost a week now, have you found out how to deal with the fire dragon?"

Harry and Hermione stared wide-eyed, their expressions incredulous. They had thought that knowing the question beforehand was a secret and a violation of the rules, but the professor had just asked it so openly.

"Knowing the questions and still actively preparing is a sign of courage in itself. Besides..." Melvin smiled, "Cheating has always been a fine tradition of the Goblet of Fire."

The two breathed a sigh of relief. Harry's eyes were still a little red, while Hermione seemed hesitant to speak.

They bravely faced the challenge and made active preparations, but there have been no results in recent days. They have searched through all kinds of information about the fire dragon, which is full of information about the food the fire dragon likes, the color of its scales, and its appearance. There is no way to deal with the fire dragon at all.

There's also a keeper's guide. Over this time, she's learned to use magic to trim the dragon's nails, treat its scale ulcers, and provide postpartum care for the mother dragon.

Some of the content mentions that the keepers may use a stun spell, and it is specifically noted that the dragon's magic permeates their thick skin, and only spells practiced repeatedly by adult wizards can penetrate it.

"I learned a spell that hardens a dragon's tongue, which should give it another weapon," Hermione answered honestly.

"I can't tell you the answer. I'm an advisor to the tournament committee and I can't help the Warriors cheat."

Melvin spoke slowly, noticing the light in the little witch's eyes dimming, perhaps Wormtail had replaced Barty. Professor Moody didn't give Harry any hints at that moment.

“However…” Melvin paused slightly, “As an elective professor at Hogwarts, I can give you some trivial advice, such as when facing an invincible enemy, it is more important than finding the enemy’s weaknesses to play to your strengths, talents, and what you do best.”

Hermione fell into thought.

Harry blurted out, "I have no strengths."

"As far as I know, when you were in your first year, you were exceptionally recruited into the team by Professor McGonagall because of your outstanding flying talent."

"Yes, but... that requires a broom, and the competition rules state that we can only bring wands into the arena."

"You might want to ask Neville about this; he's very good at this kind of thing." Melvin patted the two on the shoulder and turned to leave. Rita was waiting to report to him.

……

"An ugly scar, a mark left by a tragic past, marred the boy's once handsome face." "When we mentioned his long-deceased parents, the Potters, who perished 14 years ago, his strikingly green eyes filled with tears."

"According to Harry Potter in an interview, I believe my parents gave me life and strength, and they would be proud of me if they saw who I am today."

"...Harry Potter wept bitterly and said: I know nothing can hurt me in the game, because they are watching over me from the shadows."

Melvin smiled and shook his head, closing the latest edition of the Daily Prophet. The taverns across Britain would probably be buzzing with discussion; Rita's report on the Goblet of Fire tournament had been published.

The front page of the newspaper featured that group photo, and the second page had Harry's solo picture. Of the other heroes, only Fleur had a photo published. The majority of the article was about Harry, with the other names only mentioned briefly at the end.

Because of Melvin's specific instructions and Hermione's two-month summer internship, the report removed content about the Warriors' private life, and the news content was still fairly standard.

He wiped his mouth with a napkin, returned to his office, found paper and pen, and began writing a letter to Dumbledore. The first match was about to begin, and the resurrection ceremony should be put on the agenda.

……

The rustling sound rose and fell as the newspapers turned page after page.

"Would you like a handkerchief, Potter, so you don't break down in tears during Transfiguration class?"

"When did you get good grades, Potter?"

The article was published in the best-selling newspaper, and of course, the students at Hogwarts could see it. In the following days, Harry had to face gossip from others, some of which were good-natured jokes, while others were mockery and ridicule.

"Hey, Harry!" another voice called out as someone passed by.

“Yes, that’s right!” Harry couldn’t take it anymore and turned around to shout impatiently, “I just cried my eyes out for my dead mother, and now I’m going to cry again…”

“Uh, no…” Qiu Zhang squatted down, picked up the quill pen, and handed it to him. “I just meant… you dropped your stationery.”

Harry's ears turned red instantly, and his face flushed: "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay. I've never thought that shedding tears for my parents is something that can't be said. Good luck and have a good game on Thursday."

Watching that departing figure, Harry suddenly felt that the reports weren't so bad anymore, and even the long-range summoning charm that had been bothering him seemed to have become simpler.

……

Ladies and gentlemen! It's been a long time!

Bagman's hysterical shouts echoed throughout the arena: "Welcome to the Goblet of Fire semifinals!"

The banners on the spectator railings were unfurled, and the bright light dispelled the gloom and cold brought by the thick clouds. The magnificent mountain dragon field was a hill with twelve caves carved around its foot, where twelve fire dragons lived.

Terraces were built around the area, accommodating nearly a thousand teachers and students.

Melvin, dressed in a simple suit, sat in the audience, surrounded by four deans: Christine and Barty Crouch.

He looked up at the sky and felt that it was a bad day. The air was humid, and the rain of deep winter could come at any time. Thick clouds covered the sky completely, and the whole place was shrouded in a faint shadow.

Teams from the four schools waited in the tents below. Twenty men were already fully prepared and ready to go. At this moment, these warriors were all pale, their faces devoid of color, and their eyes flashed with fear and panic.

Bagman amplified his voice, still shouting at the top of his lungs, unable to contain his excitement: "Today, twenty warriors have gathered here to face the most dangerous magical beasts in the world, twelve thirsty fire dragons!"

Charlie walked out from behind the audience and stood next to Ron, glancing at the golden lion banner he was holding up: "Don't listen to his nonsense. These dragons are well-fed and watered, and their feed even has a trace amount of life-and-death water added to it."

"Now let's announce the rules of the game!"

Commentator Bagman, full of confidence and charisma, announced: "The Fire Cup, which has been restarted after two hundred years, has a new theme for its first event: Courage. Warriors will venture into the dragon's lair to steal dragon eggs! Scores will be calculated based on the dragon eggs!"
There are three types of dragon eggs in total.

"Among them, there are four golden eggs, which have the lowest score. They contain clues to the next game and can give the warrior who gets the golden egg an advantage and prepare for the game in advance."

"The most rainbow-colored dragon eggs are the ones that represent the middle section of the score, with the score increasing sequentially from red to purple."

"There are also the rarest black and white dragon eggs, one of each color. The first team to get them will win the match!"

Whispers immediately broke out in the warriors' tents; the black and white dragon eggs, like the Golden Snitch in Quidditch, had captured everyone's attention.

"However, please note that different dragon eggs have different levels of difficulty!"

Bagman then changed the subject: "The rainbow eggs are fake eggs that the keepers just put into the nest this week. The dragons don't care that much. If someone is careful enough to take the eggs without angering the dragons, they might not mind and let the egg thief leave."

"Golden eggs are toys that dragons like. They are reluctant to part with their toys, but they won't risk their lives for them."

"And the most important ones are the black and white dragon eggs! After being carefully disguised by the keeper, the fire dragon will think that they are its own children. If anyone steals its children, these sharp-toothed creatures... will fight to the death!"

The warriors exchanged glances, and the commentator's introduction caused some students to change their goals.

"To reiterate, any form of cheating is prohibited. Only wands and glass balls provided by the organizing committee are allowed in the competition. Breaking a glass ball in a crisis will be considered a forfeit, and the organizing committee will provide immediate support."

"The match begins now!"

As the commentator's voice faded, the tent flaps quietly opened, and the warriors faced the low hill where the fire dragon dwelled.

A stench of sulfur and dragon manure hit them, and Harry paused, realizing they were about to face a dragon.

He turned his head and saw Hermione clutching the hem of her clothes with both hands, closing her eyes and taking deep, rhythmic breaths. Further away, Fleur was doing something similar to ease her tension.

Durmstrang's students had already set off, with Krum leading the way towards the nearest cave, followed by the Slytherin Chosen.

Ilfamoni and Beauxbatons’ students then set off, with Ravenclaw’s Roger Davis following Fleur.

Harry's heart skipped a beat as he recalled the information in the handbook that allowed warriors to form teams, leaving only the three of them as fools.

“Harry, Hermione, let’s work together,” Cedric said solemnly.

(End of this chapter)