The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

Scott looked in the direction of the boos and, sure enough, it was his fellow members of the Hogwarts delegation.

At this moment, Fred and Roger both stood up and kept making rather unseemly gestures in Professor Hartman's direction.

But such protests clearly could not change Professor Hartman's score.

Finally, it was Dumbledore's turn to give scores, and he decisively gave Scott a score of 10.

"Oh! Scott Trolop from Hogwarts has scored a total of 48 points in the first round!"

Mr. Joley's voice echoed throughout the hall.

Cheers and applause erupted again.

"Scott! You're the best!"

Scott heard his fellow Hogwarts students screaming loudly; the voices of just over twenty people were not drowned out by the voices of the hundreds of spectators.

He laughed and waved at them.

"Leadership!" Mr. Jolly shouted.

On the high platform where the judges were located, a huge stone slab slowly rose behind their seats.

Several lines of writing appeared on the stone slab, making them clearly visible to everyone.

Mr. Jolly turned his head and read aloud—

"Let's see what's happened so far..."

"First place, Scott Trolop, Hogwarts, 48 ​​points!"

"Second place, Viktor Krum, Durmstrang, 45 points!"

"Third place, Fleur Delacour, Beauxbaton, 43 points!"

After reviewing the scores, Scott stepped down from the platform and walked towards a passageway on one side.

"And that concludes today's competition! Please look forward to the second event, which will be held on February 24th next year! Goodbye!"

"Oh! Please leave in an orderly manner, do not crowd!"

As the audience began to leave, Scott walked into the passageway beneath the seating area.

Both Furong and Krum, who had already finished their matches, are here.

“It seems what the newspapers said back then was true!” Fleur looked at Scott with a complicated expression. “You truly are a genius who surpasses most people!”

Scott gave her a questioning look.

Furong explained, "Oh! There were related reports in the French newspapers at the time, but they didn't publish your name!"

Scott nodded; it seemed only the British newspapers had published his name.

Fleur added, “Everyone’s attention is on that terrible Dark Lord and Dumbledore who stepped up to save everyone. They don’t think your actions made much of a difference, after all, you were just following Dumbledore around, and the reports only mentioned you briefly.”

At this point, she turned to look at Krum.

"You should have known something all along, Viktor. You were there, weren't you?"

Krum nodded silently, then shook his head.

"What?" Furong didn't understand what he meant.

Scott explained, "At the time, all the players, including Viktor, were busy saving people. Only those with flying brooms could safely fly over the flames and save many children."

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know that.” Fleur was a little surprised, so she apologized to Krum.

“It’s okay,” Krum said.

Just then, Professor Russell, still wearing a white robe, walked over from the other side of the passage.

"Professor Russell."

Furong quickly and respectfully greeted him.

Professor Russell nodded slightly, but his gaze remained fixed on Scott.

“Your performance has impressed me greatly, Mr. Trollope,” he said.

"Thank you for your compliment," Scott said politely.

Russell continued to stare at him and said in a deep voice, "There must be a great wizard teaching you. I'm sure that person is neither Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts, nor your headmaster Albus Dumbledore."

Scott looked at him with some surprise upon hearing this.

Professor Russell smiled slightly. "Your Transfiguration is no longer just simple Transfiguration. The wizard who taught you must be a true master of alchemy."

Upon hearing his words, both Fleur and Krum showed expressions of shock.

Professor Russell told Scott, "To achieve the most fundamental transformation of matter in alchemy through transmutation, while the method is somewhat ingenious, is not something that can be accomplished casually. There must be a master alchemist helping you; otherwise, with your level of alchemy..."

The implication is that Scott alone could not have achieved such perfection.

Scott nodded in agreement.

Without the help of his Ravenclaw mentor, his Transfiguration skills could not have progressed so quickly.

He confirmed Professor Russell's guess, "You are right, my mentor was indeed a great alchemist."

Upon hearing his words, Professor Russell's usually calm eyes finally softened.

He even asked somewhat urgently, "As far as I know, there isn't a single alchemy master like this at Hogwarts, or even in all of England. Can you tell me who your mentor is?"

“This…” Scott hesitated.

"What's wrong? Is there something you can't say?" Professor Russell asked.

Scott thought for a moment and said to him, "I cannot make this decision on my own, so I hope you will ask Professor Dumbledore. If possible, he will tell you."

“I see.” Professor Russell nodded. “I’ll ask him.”

After saying that, he walked past Scott and the other two and headed towards the front of the passage.

A little while later, Mr. Jolly came up to them in a hurry.

"Oh, come with me, three warriors. There are some things to note and preparations to make regarding the second event of the championship that I need to explain to you now."

Scott and his group followed him out of the passageway and came to the back of the building.

A light blue carriage drawn by two divine horses is parked here.

"Come on, get in the car."

Mr. Jolly nimbly climbed onto the carriage and lifted the curtain in front of it.

Scott saw that the members of the judging panel were already seated inside the carriage.

He climbed into the carriage and sat down next to Dumbledore.

Once everyone was seated, the divine horse quickly started moving, pulling the carriage into the sky.

“We’re going to the Blessed Horse Ranch in Beauxbatons,” Mr. Jolly said with a smile. “In the second round of the competition three months from now, each of you will need a partner, which is a Blessed Horse.”

Scott asked with some surprise, "So, we're going to choose our partners now?"

“That’s right!” Mr. Jolly said. “You need to choose your competition partners in advance. Of course, in order to have enough chemistry with your partners during the competition, you also need to do some extra preparations in the three months before the competition.”

Upon hearing this news, Scott and Krum both reflexively turned to look at Fleur, who was sitting next to Mrs. Maxim.

Because Mrs. Maxim was so large, Fleur, sitting next to her, looked exceptionally petite, and it took Scott two extra seconds to find her.

Furong clearly understood the meaning behind their gazes, and she glared at them somewhat angrily.

"I swear, I didn't cultivate any rapport with the Divine Horse beforehand!" she said, dissatisfied.

Mrs. Maxim also frowned, saying, "We have always upheld the principle of fairness in organizing this competition."

“Yes,” Mr. Jolly said quickly, “everything is fair and just.”

Dumbledore smiled and said, "Of course, I have full faith in all the efforts that the French Ministry of Magic and Beauxbatons have made for this event."

“That’s right, we have no objection,” Hartman echoed.

Hearing the professors say the same thing, Scott and Krum looked away.

Fairness and justice?

Whether Krum believes it or not, Scott certainly won't completely believe it.

However, to be fair, at least Mrs. Maxim, as the organizer, was indeed very fair in her scoring.

“Oh, right, there’s one more thing,” Mr. Jolly said with a smile. “You’ve probably all guessed it, haven’t you? Yes, the second competition is related to flying.”

This time, both Fleur and Krum focused their attention on Scott.

Indeed, when it comes to flying, Scott's Animagus is a peregrine falcon, giving it a huge advantage.

Scott remained unmoved by the gazes fixed on him; he knew Mr. Jolly had something to say about it.

Sure enough, Mr. Jolly followed up with, "I'm sorry, Mr. Trollope, but this was Mr. Dumbledore's suggestion. We've decided to ban your Animagus transformation in the second competition."

Scott turned to look at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore nodded at him and said with a smile, "That's not bad either, rather, it's more interesting, isn't it, Scott?"

Before Scott could comment, Mr. Jolly added, "Yes, it is indeed somewhat unfair, because Animagus is also proof of your own strength, Mr. Trolop. If you disagree, you can protest to the jury."

“I agree,” Scott said.

Although it's unclear why Dumbledore imposed these restrictions on him, the inability to transform into Animagus doesn't seem to have a significant impact on him.

If he wants to fly, that's not the only way.

“Oh, you agree?” Mr. Jolly raised an eyebrow playfully. “Then it’s decided.”

He looked at the other two contestants and said, “Of course, we also prohibit the use of flying props such as flying brooms. When you compete in the air, all you can rely on are your magic wands and your divine horse companions.”

high altitude?

Scott quietly extracted a keyword.

He also noticed that Furong secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Banning Animagus and flying brooms effectively shuts down Scott and Krum's strengths, putting Fleur at a disadvantage in high-flying competitions.

Although they didn't know what was going on, neither Dumbledore nor Professor Hartman spoke up, and Scott, like Krum, remained silent.

As they spoke, the carriage began to descend to the ground.