Hogwarts wizards who signed in to Middle-earth.

Chapter 307 The Final Round of Assessment
This second test is a test of willpower.

Edward brought all the more than one thousand people who had passed the first test into an empty room.

Under the puzzled and tense gazes of the crowd, he took out a bottle of dark purple potion and smashed it directly on the ground.

The bottle shattered, and the liquid inside, under the influence of magic, rose into a purple mist that quickly filled the entire house.

Caught off guard, everyone was enveloped in the purple mist and inevitably inhaled the purple aura.

Some people reacted quickly, covering their mouths and noses, but even if the purple mist didn't enter through their mouths and noses, it seeped in through their exposed skin.

All the people being assessed in the room quickly fell into a hallucination and forgot that they were being assessed.

Everyone felt as if they were in the castle, entering the cauldron to undergo a wizard transformation.

The scalding, blood-red potion, as hot as magma, caused everyone excruciating pain, as if their bones were being torn apart and their very marrow was being ripped out. The scalding potion not only seemed to melt their bodies but also seemed to penetrate deep into their bodies, burning their internal organs.

Such pain caused countless people to scream, even though the lord said that as long as they persevered, they could transform into wizards.

However, many people could not bear such pain and struggled desperately to escape the cauldron, or simply fainted.

The next second, those who hadn't persevered regained their senses.

Only then did I realize that I was still in the room taking the test. The incredibly painful feeling from before vanished instantly, as if it were a very real dream.

"You have failed the test and may leave." Edward's cool and calm voice broke the illusion of those who had not yet recovered.

Regardless of their resentment or what they were thinking, those who failed the assessment could only walk out of the room dejectedly.

In a short time, fewer and fewer people remained in the room, leaving only a small number who were still struggling to stay afloat in their hallucinations.

Butler Edward and Mayor Lucky were also in the room, but they had used protective charms beforehand, so they were not affected by the potion.

Mayor Lucky looked at the people who were in pain and immersed in their hallucinations, and asked with great curiosity, "Mr. Edward, what kind of potion did you just use? Was it a gift from Lord Duir?"

Edward shook his head, his tone somewhat smug, and said, "This is a confusion potion I made myself. Of course, Lord Duir also gave me a lot of guidance. It was specially prepared for this assessment, so that people can be immersed in the process and personally experience the process when we became wizards."

Mayor Larch gasped, unable to suppress a few seconds of sympathy for these people.

He still feels lingering fear when he recalls the pain of transforming into a wizard, and he doesn't even have the courage to try it a second time.

And those being assessed are now about to experience this pain firsthand.

That's too harsh! Aren't they worried about leaving psychological trauma on the people conducting the assessments?
As if knowing what Mayor Lucky was thinking, Edward explained, "Don't worry about them. The confusion drug won't leave them with any side effects. Once they've sobered up, it'll be like a dream, and they'll quickly forget it and won't remember the pain at all."

Upon hearing this, Mayor Lachri breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, after the effects of the confusion drug wore off, only 240 people remained who had successfully passed the test.

Mayor Larch was clearly dissatisfied with the result.

This was only the second round of assessments, and there were already only 240 people left.

After the third round of elimination, how many people will be left?

He wanted to increase the number of people in his city, but the person in charge of the selection was the butler Edward, so he couldn't show favoritism even if he wanted to.

Edward ignored Mayor Lucky's thoughts and immediately started the third round of assessments.

Just as everyone who had passed the first two rounds of assessments was anxiously awaiting what the third round would bring, Edward didn't subject them to any further trials. Instead, he took out a glass spinning top and slowly walked past the first row of examiners.

Just as everyone, including Mayor Lucky, was puzzled, Edward stopped in front of one of the men in the first row.

He looked at the spinning top in his hand, which was faintly glowing, and announced expressionlessly, "You are eliminated!"

The person who was eliminated was stunned for a moment, then looked unwilling. He wanted to say something, but fearing Edward's identity, he dared not argue and could only walk out of the line with his head down and head towards the door.

Mayor Lucky became anxious, because every person eliminated from Brie City meant a profit for Hogsmeade!
If Bree's wizarding quota is less than Hogsmeade's, his old rival Luke will definitely take the opportunity to mock him.

He quickly grabbed Edward, "Hey, Mr. Edward, give me a heads-up, what exactly is this third round of assessment? We haven't done anything, so why are we eliminating Hal? He's a good young man in our city of Brie, and he's usually very outstanding."

The young man who had been eliminated, who was walking towards the door, paused and turned around when he heard the mayor's words, also wanting an explanation.

Edward glanced at Mayor Lucky, then swept his gaze over the crowd, and explained calmly, "This third round of assessment tests loyalty."

He held up the glass top in his hand. "This is a spyglass made by the lord. It can discern people's hearts. Only those who are most loyal to the lord can pass the third round and obtain the spot to become a wizard."

Upon hearing Edward's words, everyone stirred, staring at the glass spinning top with various thoughts in their minds.

Mayor Lucky had no objections now; otherwise, would he have to select disloyal people to become wizards?
The person who had been eliminated at the door looked guilty and dared not complain anymore, so he quickly lowered his head and fled.

People have different hearts. Even the people under Dui's command are not all loyal and devoted. At most, they are just ordinary people who want to rely on the protection of the strong.

If one day Fengyun Peak faces an insurmountable crisis, these people will not have the determination to fight to the death, but will scatter like monkeys when the tree falls.

And such people actually make up a significant proportion.

But we can't say they're wrong, after all, this is the survival philosophy of many ordinary people.

So even when Edward used a specially made spyglass from Dui to detect that the person was disloyal, he didn't make a fuss.

After explaining, Edward continued to examine individuals one by one using the endoscope.

Each person being assessed looked nervously into the spyglass, fearing that their disloyalty would be exposed and they would be eliminated.

Even the most loyal people are somewhat insecure, worrying that their loyalty is not enough.

Edward is like an emotionless elimination machine; with a flash of his spyglass, he mercilessly eliminates a person.

The brightness of each person's speculum is different; some are quite bright, while others only emit a faint glow that is not noticeable unless you look closely.

All of this depends on their loyalty to the lord; the lower the loyalty, the brighter the light.

But no matter how little brightness the scope emitted, Edward would reject it without hesitation if it was emitting light.

As the most loyal steward to Duir, he would not allow anyone who was disloyal to receive the lord's favor.

As the number of people dwindled, Mayor Lachri looked distressed.

Edward continued his surveillance, and when he came to a middle-aged man, the spy scope suddenly became very bright, started rotating automatically, and emitted a piercing shriek.

Upon seeing this, Edward's calm gaze instantly turned cold, revealing a sharp edge.

(End of this chapter)