The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

Scott turned and looked out the window.

They arrived at a vast pasture nestled among mountains.

Although it is winter, this grassy pasture presents a vibrant and peaceful scene.

A group of divine horses, their bodies gleaming with golden light, were frolicking on this grassland.

They ran across the grass with agile movements, flapped their beautiful pure white wings and flew in the air, emitting bursts of joyful chirping.

After the carriage landed, Mr. Jolly was the first to jump off.

"Come on, follow me, this way."

He greeted everyone warmly, including Mrs. Maxim and Fleur, as if he were the master of the house.

The group followed him in silence to the stables located at the edge of the pasture.

“Look here, I guarantee they are the most beautiful and strongest in this meadow.”

He gestured for everyone to look at the three exceptionally fine divine horses in the stable.

A fragrant aroma wafted over, clearly indicating that the three Pegasus horses were enjoying single malt whisky.

“We chose them specially. Look, their names are written here: Pegasus and Chrysaor. By the way, they are brothers. The last one is called Hippocrates.”

Scott looked up and carefully examined the three Pegasus horses, named after Medusa's two children from Greek mythology and the Fountain of Inspiration.

However, from his perspective, he could only see that they were all equally strong and could not distinguish any differences.

"Now, start choosing your partners," Mr. Jolly said in a cheerful tone. "The order is based on points, so Mr. Trollope, you go first."

“I choose Pegasus,” Scott said.

Unsure of which to choose, he selected the one named after the mythical celestial horse.

"Mr. Krum, it's your turn."

Krum was silent for a few seconds before saying, "I choose Chrysaor."

He chose Pegasus's brother.

“Very well, then Hippocrine is Miss Delacour’s companion,” said Mr. Jolly. “What a coincidence, Hippocrine is also a lady.”

"What should we do next? Get along with them and build a rapport?" Scott asked eagerly.

The competition in the air is different from the underwater competition in the "original work". Although he didn't know how the competition would be conducted, he had already begun to look forward to it.

It shouldn't be horse racing—

After all, given the horses' enormous size, no one but Hagrid and Mrs. Maxim could ride them like normal horses.

“Oh, no rush, I’ll explain it to you,” Mr. Jolly said. “Next, let’s go somewhere else.”

As he spoke, he walked toward the carriage.

Scott was somewhat confused, but he still used his senses to record Pegasus's magical fluctuations and followed the crowd back to the carriage.

Soon, the carriage took off again and flew away from the mountain pasture.

Inside the carriage, Mr. Jolly smiled meaningfully and looked at the three warriors.

"What I'm saying is that for the next three months, you will not be allowed to have any contact with your partners."

Scott blinked.

This was completely different from what he had guessed.

"We can't have any contact?" Furong asked in surprise. "How are we supposed to develop chemistry with our competition partners?"

Mr. Jolly held up one finger. “Now comes the key to the problem, and also a test for you.”

Everyone listened attentively.

Mr. Jolly said, "I think everyone knows that Godfather only drinks single malt whisky, which is the only food they can eat."

Scott and his team nodded.

“What you’re going to do…” Mr. Jolly said, “is brew wine!”

"What?" Scott was genuinely surprised.

what is this?

Fleur and Krum also opened their mouths to speak.

"Calm down." Mr. Jolly pressed his hands down. "I must emphasize that the procedure of the competition has been approved by all the judges."

Scott glanced at Dumbledore.

The old headmaster sat quietly the whole time, only winking at him when he looked over.

Ok.

Scott looked back at Mr. Jolly, waiting for further explanation.

“Very good, it seems you have all accepted this fact.” Mr. Jolly grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.

I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but Scott always felt that his smile was a bit sly.

At this moment, the carriage landed again, stopping at the edge of a grove of trees on the outskirts of Beauxbatons Castle.

After getting off the bus, Mr. Jolly led everyone into the woods and stopped in front of three small wooden houses that were built in a row in the woods.

"Look, this is your brewery!"

He said to Scott and his team.

Scott glanced around and found the cabin, with its door open, empty; there was nothing there.

Regardless of whether they know how or not, how are they supposed to brew wine without any tools?

Mr. Joley clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention.

"It should be noted that you must not rely on any ready-made tools or natural conditions, including sunlight, but only use your own magic to complete the brewing of single malt whisky."

He took turns staring at the three warriors.

"Now you should understand, right? Whoever makes better wine and pleases the horses more will get a racing partner who is more willing to cooperate with you!"

At this point, a sly smile, which Scott found rather obnoxious, reappeared on his face.

"The tacit understanding I mentioned earlier refers to the tacit understanding that can only be formed when the horses you choose actively cooperate with you."

At this moment, Scott and his two companions looked at each other and noticed that none of them looked well.

"What about the ingredients?" Krum finally spoke. "I mean, the wheat for brewing. As everyone knows, magic can't conjure food."

"Of course, we will provide the raw materials, exactly the same raw materials."

As Mr. Jolly spoke, he pulled a small, deformed lizard skin pouch from his pocket and shook it.

He tossed the shapeshifting lizard skin into the air, then pulled out his wand and manipulated the skin to dump three equal-sized heaps of wheat onto the floor of the three cabins.

"All right."

He shook his wand, causing the empty shapeshifting lizard skin bag to fly back into his hand.

“We have set up a spell in this forest. Once activated, no one but the three of you can enter.”

He stuffed the lizard skin bag back into his pocket, thought for a moment, and then added a few more words.

"You cannot bring anything into the woods except your wand; magic will automatically detect if you have violated the rules."

"You can look up the methods and processes for brewing fine wine on your own, or you can ask others for advice."

"You can make your own brewing tools by gathering materials from the woods."

"Please remember, the wheat cannot leave the cabin before it is successfully turned into whiskey, otherwise it is a foul."

"Oh, and also, each of your cabins is for the use of only the individuals in them; that is to say, visiting each other's cabins is prohibited."

He waved his wand again.

creak.

The cabin door was tightly shut, and at the same time, the names of Scott and his two companions appeared on the door.

“Alright, that concludes the explanation of the second competition.” Mr. Jolly put away his wand and looked at his taciturn colleague. “Is there anything else to add, Antoine?”

Mr. Lefebler, who was standing to the side, shook his head. "You've explained it very well, haven't you?"

Mr. Jolly immediately clapped his hands happily, "Very good, it seems our work is finished! Next, we just need to activate the magic here to go back."

The group left the grove and then parted ways.

Scott and Dumbledore walked together toward their tower.

"Any ideas, Scott?" Dumbledore asked him kindly.

Scott shook his head. "I've never brewed wine before, and I don't even know what the steps are. I think if my wine tastes bad, Pegasus probably won't help me in the competition; he'll probably just cause trouble."

Dumbledore laughed. "That's part of the fun of the game, though I was asking about banning the Animagus."

Scott laughed, "Probably no one would have expected that one of the Warriors would be Animagus. If it weren't banned, the outcome of the second game would have been a foregone conclusion."

“You’re right,” Dumbledore said. “When they saw your Animagus transformation, they immediately realized it, and I must say it put them in a difficult position.”

Scott nodded.

He could think of that.

Dumbledore added, "In order not to let their hard work of preparation go to waste, I have offered to limit your abilities."

“It’s nothing,” Scott said. “If I want to fly, there are other ways.”

Dumbledore winked playfully. "Of course, it's precisely because I have complete faith in your abilities that I'm making this suggestion. A match isn't fun if the outcome is completely predictable, is it?"

Scott nodded in agreement.

“However…” he said hesitantly, “I don’t have much confidence in brewing wine.”

Dumbledore, however, was not too worried. "Oh, on that matter, I think everyone at Hogwarts would be happy to help you, just as they have done before."

"I will do my best."

That's all Scott could say.

Although everyone can help him collect good brewing methods, in the end, only he can do it himself.