Hogwarts: I'm the only cultivator here!

Dumbledore: (???)

"Is it another Chinese holiday? Foreign holidays are great, high-end, mysterious, and with a long history. Let's celebrate!"

"Okay, you can draw up a detailed plan later. But I think four dragon boats are a bit too few. We need at least five. Even though we professors are old and frail, we still want to join in the fun."

Ye Feng: (? ? ?)?

Upon hearing Dumbledore's words, Ye Feng immediately felt that everything was settled. As for the construction of the dragon boat, he only needed to draw up the sketches and formulate the competition rules, and that would be enough. The rest would be taken care of by the others.

Chapter 160 The Lively Black Lake

Ye Feng doesn't know how to build dragon boats, but he doesn't really need to, because there will be people who will build them according to his ideas. What he needs to do now is to formulate the competition rules and select his dragon boat crew. After all, dragon boat racing is a team sport, and it is necessary to be uniform and obey orders.

However, Ye Feng wasn't the only one doing this. After hearing the news, others also began designing their own unique 'dragon boats,' and many started recruiting, because they hadn't forgotten the last flying broom race.

The last competition was still fresh in their minds, and those who achieved good results benefited greatly. For example, Harry and his friends, after taking those pills, their physical fitness, memory, magic reserves, and understanding of spells all improved by more than one level.

Therefore, after hearing that a dragon boat race was going to be held, many people started calling on their friends and preparing to form teams. Some even came to Ye Feng to ask how many people a team needed, which was also a source of trouble for Ye Feng.

A traditional dragon boat team typically consists of eighteen people: sixteen paddlers, one drummer, and one steersman. However, a few substitutes are also needed, so a qualified dragon boat team usually requires around twenty-five people.

Twenty-five people isn't a lot in a village, and even less so in a school, but that's when a problem arose.

Does each college send one team to participate in the dragon boat team, or does each college send one team from each grade?

If a college only sends one student, the lower-year students will almost all be eliminated, because dragon boat racing requires strength. In terms of strength, boys have a natural advantage over girls due to differences in physiological structure, and among the same sex, older students, that is, those in higher grades, also have an advantage.

The result of this is that if each college only sends one dragon boat, then almost all the lower-year students and girls will be eliminated, and the dragon boat race will eventually become a special event for the upper-year students.

After some thought, Ye Feng decided that he could reduce the number of people slightly, compressing the number of people in the dragon boat to ten. This way, each grade, or even each college in each grade, could send a team, allowing everyone in the school to participate.

When Ye Feng made the suggestion, he received support from the entire school almost instantly. However, the trees he brought back were not enough. Fortunately, Hogwarts may not have many other things, but it certainly had plenty of trees.

To Ye Feng's dismay, the next day he heard news that left him speechless.

In order to build their own dragon boat as soon as possible, the students of a certain college set their sights on the Man-Beating Willow that Ye Feng had stolen, and put it into action that very night. And the result was...

The "Beater Willow" is called that because it actually hits people. If you're even a little slow and get hit squarely, it's not impossible for you to be sent flying. And those unlucky guys, if Filch hadn't heard the commotion and found them, Ye Feng and his group would probably be eating a feast today.

With these 'predecessors' in mind, other students who had the same idea immediately gave up the idea, after all, there were precedents to follow.

Two days later, Ye Feng's dragon boat appeared on the surface of Black Lake. Needless to say, Harry and the others were definitely not going to escape. After that, Zhang Qiu and the others were also pulled up. But even so, it was still not enough, because there were only seven of them in total. Even with Neville, there were still two short.

Of course, it's impossible to confirm Ye Feng's team, because joining his team is basically equivalent to securing a winning spot. After all, Ye Feng's strength is no joke, and Zhang Qiu and the others, despite being girls, are just as strong as, if not weaker than, other boys of the same age in the academy.

In the end, Ye Feng gave the choice to Harry and the others. Ye Feng's original intention was to recruit two more boys because boys could train as hard as they could, and he could even scold them if they didn't train well. Ye Feng really couldn't bring himself to ask girls.

After some discussion, Hermione and the others decided to bring in the remaining two roommates from Harry's dorm, Dean and Seamus. As for why Hermione and the others didn't bring in their own roommates, Ye Feng wasn't quite sure.

Ye Feng's roommate... originally existed, but during his first year, he would often take out a pill-refining furnace taller than a person in the middle of the night and throw in some 'strange' materials to refine pills. After frequently getting up in the middle of the night to tinker with some things, he would disappear.

Of course, Harry and Ron had mentioned that they could share a dormitory with him, but Dumbledore refused. The reason, of course, was that he didn't want to hear the news in the middle of the night that some 'savior' had been inexplicably blown up.

In fact, there is almost a consensus in the academy that when there is danger, it is safest to hide near Ye Feng. Even if Voldemort comes, your life will be guaranteed. But when there is no danger, if your heart is not strong enough, it is best not to get too close.

So even though staying by Ye Feng's side might bring considerable benefits, no one wanted to move into Ye Feng's dormitory, so he naturally didn't have any roommates.

With teammates selected, it's time to start practicing.

Generally, when you first start practicing dragon boating, you should do it on the shore, because dragon boats are relatively narrow and it's easy to capsize if you don't maintain your balance. But Ye Feng and his friends don't have this problem, because magic can solve most of the problems.

As a result, on the very next day, numerous and varied 'dragon boats' appeared on Black Lake, but the scene was simply appalling.

Ye Feng and his group fared a little better, as they were all familiar with each other and had a good understanding of each other. After a brief discussion, they were able to start paddling slowly according to the chant. Although they were not fast, at least they could move. As for the others, they either stood still, went around in circles, or moved in a serpentine pattern. They could capsize five or six dragon boats in just forty or fifty meters.

"That's terrible. Luckily, we rowed far enough in good coordination, otherwise we would definitely have been capsized by now." Ron couldn't help but sigh as he looked at his classmates who had been drenched in their boats. Hermione and the others nodded in agreement.

On the other side of the lake, the people on another dragon boat nodded in agreement.

"As expected of Albus, I was wondering why we were assigned to this area, but now that I see the little wizards in such a chaotic state, I finally understand."

"Alright, let's practice quickly too. We don't want to be outdone by our students and not even get a ranking. That would be too embarrassing." After saying that, the group of professors continued to row, but if you looked closely, you would find that each of them was covered in magic, and even the dragon boat was enchanted.

As professors and principals who are supposed to be learning, it would be bad if they were to capsize and end up soaking wet in front of their students. So, while practice is important, the necessary preparations still need to be made.

Chapter 161 Start

"Hey Lao Xu, have you noticed that the bamboo leaves for making zongzi are harder to pick this year? Is something big happening at someone's house? Why are all the bamboo leaves being picked everywhere?"

"How could I not have noticed? I noticed it a long time ago. But I also noticed something: although these bamboo leaves have been picked, many of them were only half picked and left half. Otherwise, we would have had to go to several more places to pick enough."

"Sigh, really, who's so mean? Couldn't you have picked them all at once and then stopped picking them elsewhere? Now we're stuck with this situation: if we pick them from one place, it's not enough, and if we don't pick them, we don't know if there will be any left in the next place. In the end, we have to carry a bunch of zongzi leaves around everywhere."

"Alright, stop complaining and hurry up and go. If we're any later, there might not be half left. Before we came, I saw Old Huang and his wife going out at the village entrance."

"Why didn't you say so sooner! Hurry, we can't let those two get ahead of us, or we won't even see a single leaf."

...

The footsteps faded into the distance, and after the two people left, the wild grass swayed, and then several figures that were very familiar to the villagers appeared at the edge of the zongzi leaves.

"We should have picked enough. Let's go, it's time to deliver it to that brat surnamed Ye."

Half an hour later, several large dogs gathered near Ye Feng's house. Anyone who saw what they were doing would be incredibly shocked, because they were actually putting a small mountain of zongzi leaves into a small bag and then hanging the small bag around the neck of a 'crane'.

"Pigeon~"

With a long whistle, a white light flashed into the sky. Half a day later, Ye Feng, who was beating the drum to control the rhythm of rowing, saw a white light flying towards him. This startled him, and this moment of surprise caused Harry and the others to get stuck in their rowing. In the end, the rhythm was disrupted and the boat slowed down.

"Ye Feng, what just happened?" Zhang Qiu, who was closest to Ye Feng after stopping the boat, asked.

"It's nothing, I'm just picking up a package." As he spoke, Ye Feng reached out and caught the 'light' falling from the sky. When the light dissipated, Zhang Qiu and the others realized that it was a paper crane with a small bag hanging around its neck.

"It's alright, let's continue." After putting away the paper cranes, Ye Feng picked up the drumsticks again. At this moment, the vast Black Lake was already filled with 'dragon boats' painted with all sorts of patterns.

In the evening, the students, who had been practicing for almost a day and were already exhausted, came ashore one after another. Ye Feng and his group had come ashore even earlier. After all, their teamwork was quite good and everyone was in good physical condition, so they could not only row in unison, but also at a very fast speed.

Of course, they're not quite good at drifting around corners like they do online, but they have absolutely no problem going straight. So they went back to the shore a long time ago to fish while watching others practice.

Although they were all fishing, Ye Feng was a little different from Zhang Qiu. He was pulling the fish trap back in, and when he saw the full trap, he immediately smiled. This Dragon Boat Festival was all set.

Three days later, Ye Feng took out the bamboo leaves from his storage space early in the morning and asked the house-elf in the kitchen to boil them. This would not only remove the raw taste of the bamboo leaves, but also make them softer and less prone to breakage.

Of course, after cooking, Ye Feng kept some for himself and left the rest to Dumbledore to handle. As for whether he distributed it to the students to wrap themselves or to the house-elves, that was none of Ye Feng's business.

Ye Feng is from the south, so he eats savory zongzi with meat filling, the kind that's enough to fill him up. Therefore, he prepared a lot of filling beforehand.

Besides peanuts, sesame seeds, mung beans, and red beans, there was also shelled lobster meat. And this lobster wasn't a small crayfish, but a genuine giant lizard that Ye Feng had personally caught from the ocean.

If you don't like that, there are also traditional pork belly, beef, and tendons stewed until tender beforehand, among many other options.

Of course, Ye Feng also prepared some surprises for them, such as beef rice dumplings that had been soaked in chili oil overnight and were thoroughly marinated, and rice dumplings with sesame, peanut, and pumpkin fillings that were stir-fried with concentrated bitter melon juice.

Ye Feng was prepared, and Harry and his friends were not to be outdone. However, they were much 'gentler' than Ye Feng, but Ye Feng found them even more unorthodox because they actually added strawberries, blueberries, and other fruits to their zongzi, as well as mustard, ham, and cheese!

Seeing the things Harry and the others had added, Ye Feng became a little hesitant. In the end, he released all the zongzi with added ingredients as a kind of challenge blind box. Those who didn't like them could eat the normal zongzi directly. This was well received by Luna because she loved the food Ye Feng made and didn't want to have to be on tenterhooks when she tasted it.

Night fell completely in no time, but Hogwarts was even more lively than before, because Dumbledore decided to let the young wizards make their own rice dumplings. However, the fillings and soaked glutinous rice were prepared by the house-elves. All they had to do was wrap the rice dumplings and mark them with their own unique symbols.

Dumbledore and Grindelwald were naturally unwilling to miss such an interesting opportunity. Moreover, Dumbledore felt that this could promote team cohesion, so he also invited Snape and the others to join in making zongzi. However, once they got started, they realized that making zongzi was not so easy, so they decisively went to Ye Feng for "advice".

Although Ye Feng had seen his parents wrap zongzi and had even tried wrapping them himself, he could only manage to wrap them without leaking rice. He wasn't sure how good they were. So, when Dumbledore and the others went back and wrapped them themselves, they were much better and didn't leak. But as for their appearance, if you didn't say they were zongzi, other people would definitely think they were just a bunch of tied-up leaves.

Although they didn't look very appealing, at least they didn't leak. And after these various kinds of zongzi were boiled in a big pot for several hours, you have to admit, they actually looked quite like zongzi.

The zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) were all wrapped, and the Dragon Boat Festival was fast approaching. So, that morning, Ye Feng officially announced that the dragon boat race was about to begin!

But before the competition starts, they still need to do one thing: feed the fish.

Yes, it's feeding the fish.

Legend has it that the reason people wrap zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) and throw them into the Miluo River during the Dragon Boat Festival is to feed the fish in the river so that they won't eat Qu Yuan's body that was thrown into the river.

Black Lake has no connection with Qu Yuan, but Ye Feng felt that tradition should not be lost. Most importantly, if you don't feed the fish, how can they grow if they don't have enough to eat?

Dumbledore did not refuse Ye Feng's suggestion. After all, the fish in the lake would eventually end up in their stomachs after they grew up, so it wouldn't be a waste. After throwing the food into the lake, the competition officially began.

"Whoosh~~Bang~"

With each burst of fireworks, the dragon boats lined up neatly at the starting point on the lake shore set sail. The most eye-catching of them all was Ye Feng's boat, because as soon as the cannon fired, their dragon boat shot off like an arrow.

However, at this moment, something unexpected happened. Dumbledore and his professors rushed out and collided directly with a dragon boat on the left that was in a hurry to set sail and had not controlled its direction. This caused a chain reaction, and the starting point was instantly thrown into chaos.

"Shit! You pig, get out of my way!"

"Ah! Get out of the way! We're going to crash!"

"Keep your balance! The boat is going to capsize!"

...

Chapter 162 If you can't beat them, call for reinforcements

Dragon boat racing requires not only speed but also stability, because once you lose your balance and capsize, it basically means you've lost. After all, most of the participants are young and strong, so while skills aren't entirely useless, the difference in skill level is already very small.

However, there is one situation where it doesn't matter if you capsize: when everyone is inexperienced and everyone is capsizing. In this case, the competition is not about who is the fastest, but about who doesn't capsize, who capsizes the fewest times, and who can flip the boat back up and start again as quickly as possible after capsizing.

So, a bunch of people were shouting and yelling at the starting line.

Of course, some old perverts have turned their attention elsewhere, but they are ultimately a minority. Most are thinking about how to speed up their restart.

However, there's a saying that you make mistakes when you're in a hurry. Many people suddenly realized after climbing onto the boat and rowing for a while that the rowing team was missing or had an extra person.

Some boats didn't have many people, but as you rowed, you realized that the people on the boats were different. Where were my teammates? Oh, they were on the boat on the other side.

But that's not the most outrageous part. What's even more outrageous is that one of the ships originally belonged to a certain year of Gryffindor when it set sail, but after capsizing two or three times halfway through, it ended up being half Gryffindor, a small portion of Hufflepuff, and two or three Ravenclaws.

But there's no limit to how outrageous it can get. Ye Feng saw that a certain ship started with Slytherin drummers, then gradually became Hufflepuff, then Gryffindor, and finally, their original drummers returned. It was incredibly absurd and explosive!

"Hiss~ Luckily we paddled fast, otherwise even if we were in good coordination and strong enough, we would definitely have been knocked over by those people."

"Hey~"

Ron had barely finished uttering his jinx when a beam of earthy yellow light grazed past his head.

"Shit! What is that?"

"It looks like... a moving ball? I can't see it clearly, it's flying too fast. I only saw a blurry shadow, but it should be a spherical thing."

"Yes, I saw it too, but that thing was golden, so it probably isn't..."

"boom!"