The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

Cedric laughed, though somewhat reluctantly.

He sighed, "Maybe so. These days, I thought we were one entity, with no barriers between different colleges."

Roger said, "That's only because we're in Beauxbatons now. Once we get back to Hogwarts, we won't be eating at the same table anymore."

No one disagreed with what he said.

The rivalry between Hogwarts schools has been going on for so many years that it's deeply ingrained and not so easy to change.

“I hope Professor Dumbledore comes back soon,” Scott said.

He was powerless to do anything about it, and he didn't have enough prestige to make everyone feel at ease.

Dumbledore returned in the afternoon, and he seemed to be in a good mood, which eased the students' tension somewhat.

Despite noticing everyone's concerns, Dumbledore maintained an optimistic and cheerful demeanor.

"It seems you all already know what happened at Hogwarts," he said. "There was a breach in Hogwarts' defenses, and that's my responsibility. But please rest assured, this won't happen again."

His optimism was infectious, and everyone seemed to feel relieved.

“Professor Dumbledore,” Ethan asked, “we’ve heard that Walton was cursed with the Imperius Curse. Where was he cursed?”

Dumbledore did not hide anything: "Based on our investigation and Mr. Walton's recollection, we have confirmed that he was cursed before the Christmas holidays, during a weekend in Hogsmeade."

Fred asked, "Are we going to cancel the Hogsmeade Village weekends next?"

Dumbledore smiled and said, "Please rest assured, the Ministry of Magic will send a team of Aurors to be stationed in Hogsmeade Village. In addition, the protective magic of Hogwarts has been strengthened, and the magic will automatically detect people entering and leaving the castle to ensure that they are in good condition."

Upon hearing this news, everyone couldn't help but feel happy.

The days that followed returned to calm.

After the Christmas holidays, Scott's brewing work successfully entered the next stage.

After two major processes, fermentation and distillation, and a dozen or so minor processes, his pure malt whisky was successfully produced at the end of January and entered the storage stage.

As for the quality of the wine...

Scott tasted it himself, but being a wine connoisseur, he couldn't discern anything from it.

In short, after completing the extremely tedious task of brewing, Scott couldn't help but breathe a huge sigh of relief.

His two rivals, Fleur and Krum, were at a similar pace to him, having completed the production of their single malt whisky by the end of January or early February.

Judging from their expressions, it seemed that none of them had failed.

Only on February 24th, when the second round of the competition begins, and Shenfu Ma tastes the wine, will we know whose wine is of better quality.

As February arrived, aside from Valentine's Day on February 14th, nothing particularly interesting happened in Beauxbatons.

But at Hogwarts, sixth-year students are taking Apparition lessons and qualifying exams this February.

George boasted to Fred more than once about his progress in learning Apparition.

This made Scott and his friends, who were in sixth grade at Beauxbatons, feel a bit anxious.

Apparition—this is definitely a magic that everyone is eager to learn.

This is a kind of magic that can manifest itself wherever it is convenient, and it is an extremely profound kind of magic.

Wizards must pass the Apparition exam administered by the Department of Magical Transportation before they can use this magic.

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long; Dumbledore announced that he would personally teach them the magic.

All they need to do is return to Hogwarts at the end of the school year and take the qualifying exams organized by the Ministry of Magic.

This made Scott and his classmates in sixth grade very excited.

After the lesson began, Dumbledore led them to a meadow further away from Beauxbatons Castle.

The seventh-grade students also came.

Although they had already obtained their Apparition certification last year, they were still curious about Dumbledore's personal instruction.

“Perhaps they want to take this opportunity to learn some more techniques, so that they don’t end up with a part of their body stuck in place after a failed Apparition,” Fred said.

Dumbledore walked to the edge of the meadow, turned around, and spoke to everyone.

“Very good. I consulted Mrs. Maxim, and there are no Apparition restrictions here.”

He clapped his hands.

"Now, I will begin to guide you through the practice. Now, please stand in your positions and leave at least five feet of space in front of you."

Scott and the others separated, each occupying a piece of land on the grass.

"very good……"

Dumbledore drew his wand and waved it.

A shimmering circle immediately appeared on the grass in front of each student.

"Please remember the three most important points when practicing Apparition!"

"Dumbledore said loudly."

"Goal, determination, composure!"

"The first step is to focus your attention on your goal!"

"Your goal is inside the circle in front of you!"

"Remember to focus all your attention on your goal."

Scott focused his attention on the circle in front of him.

Dumbledore continued his explanation.

"The second step is to resolve to occupy the space you desire!"

"Use your emotions to unleash the magic, let the desire to enter overwhelm every part of your body!"

Scott tried his best to do so, focusing his attention on his goal and not looking at anything else.

"The third step is to spin in place after I give the order, so that you enter a void state!"

"Remember, move calmly! Now listen to my command... One!"

"two!"

"three!"

Scott started spinning in place.

Instantly, everything went black before his eyes, and his body seemed to be subjected to intense pressure from all directions, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

Immediately afterwards, he felt as if he had been squeezed out of a very narrow rubber tube, and his vision returned.

He appeared within the target's circle.

After moving his arms and legs to make sure he hadn't lost any part of his body, Scott confirmed that he had successfully performed a close-range Apparition.

Although this attempt was several times more difficult than the past when he was Apparated with others, he succeeded without a doubt.

Only then did he have time to look at the other people.

Fred succeeded, but he seemed to have lost a leg.

Dumbledore was busy putting his leg back in place.

Not only him, Roger also lost an arm, and Cedric lost an ear.

The seventh-grade students were all busy helping out.

Of course, some people didn't succeed and just went around in circles.

Dumbledore moved swiftly, waving his wand, and quickly healed the student who had split into two.

"Separation, that is, the separation of a part of the body, occurs when the determination is not firm enough."

He explained the key points loudly.

"You must always keep your focus on the goal, don't panic, stay calm..."

"Goal, determination, and composure—remember these three elements firmly. Okay, let's try again!"

Scott stepped out of the circle and began his second attempt.

He succeeded again this time.

After gaining experience in performing it myself, the discomfort lessened.

After several practice sessions, everyone successfully performed Apparition, and no more splitting incidents occurred.

This is normal, after all, these are some of the most outstanding students at Hogwarts.

after an hour……

"Very well, that's all for today."

Dumbledore clapped his hands again.

"Next time we can try a longer distance. Remember, never practice alone without supervision; that's extremely dangerous!"

On the way back, Fred said excitedly, "It seems Apparition isn't so difficult after all. I'm going to tell George that I'll be able to surpass him soon!"

He was quite annoyed when George boasted to him earlier, but now he couldn't wait to tell George about his progress.

“Oh, I won’t tell George,” Scott said with a laugh, “about you losing your leg.”

Fred retorted, "He's no better than me; he just didn't tell us about his failure during the first practice session."

Throughout February, Scott not only had to learn Apparition from Dumbledore along with his companions, but also prepare a birthday present.

Luna's birthday is February 13th.

He prepared a set of materials using the alchemy he had learned in Beauxbatons and then used a transmutation spell on the materials.

Impressed by the chorus of forest fairies at the Christmas ball, Scott conjured up a talking, singing forest fairy and named her Sereno.

After drinking the magic-enhancing potion, Scott was able to create these "creatures" that could exist for a long time using polymorph and rune circuits, even without a Philosopher's Stone.

Of course, while Sereno cannot compare to Rimbaud, Scott also gave it the "skill" of invisibility through the rune circuit.

Caught off guard, this little thing can also hurt a wizard.

After putting Sereno to sleep, Scott sent it to Luna.