The Great Hall was silent.
Such a shocking entrance left the students barely daring to breathe. They could only exchange glances with their friends.
Rhys lowered his head, the emotions in his eyes unreadable.
After making such a domineering entrance, Rowena stood beside her seat at the staff table, quietly waiting for Dumbledore to introduce her to the students.
Seeing Aries arrive, a faint smile appeared on Albus Dumbledore's face.
"Professor Aries will serve as Hogwarts's Professor of Alchemy. This means that students interested in alchemy may begin applying for Professor Aries's Alchemy classes. However, the course is currently only open to students in fifth year and above who achieved outstanding results in their O.W.L.s examinations. The detailed requirements will be posted on the school notice board. Students who do not meet the requirements may also submit an application to their Head of House, and after review, may still be permitted to take Alchemy."
The moment Dumbledore finished speaking, the Great Hall, which had only just quieted because of Rowena's entrance, immediately erupted into buzzing discussion.
When everyone heard "new professor," they had instinctively assumed that this woman who arrived like the wind was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Yet Headmaster Dumbledore had announced that she was the Alchemy professor. Wouldn't that mean…
The students' gazes all turned toward Professor White at the staff table.
Dumbledore took in all the reactions from the students below. Without explicitly saying it, he merely stated, "There are no other changes in teaching positions this academic year."
That completely confirmed that Professor White would continue serving as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
This was the first Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to remain in the position since Voldemort's rise! The implications required no explanation. And at a time when Voldemort had returned, the symbolic meaning was even greater.
Voldemort's curse had been broken!
Dumbledore watched the murmuring young wizards below with a smile. His eyes swept toward the clock in the Great Hall.
'The time is almost here…' he murmured inwardly.
Seeing that Professor Dumbledore was still standing there, neither continuing to speak nor announcing that everyone could begin eating, the young wizards realized that the headmaster still had more to say. As a result, the discussions in the Great Hall gradually quieted down.
When the clock's hands reached seven o'clock, Dumbledore finally spoke.
"Next, I will announce the most important matter of this academic year.
To inspire young wizards across the globe to love and explore magic, to promote the exchange and integration of magical knowledge between different cultures, and to jointly usher in an even more brilliant new era of magic, after a long period of communication and coordination, Hogwarts will host the first Global Young Wizards Tournament. Of course, it has a more refined and elegant name: the World Youth Wizarding Championship.
The competition is open to all young wizards under the age of twenty-one. Magical schools, individuals, and magical organizations may all register participants. However, in principle, a single magical school may not send more than thirteen participants, and a single organization may not send more than seven…"
As Dumbledore announced the rules of the World Youth Wizarding Championship to all the staff and students of Hogwarts, at the exact same moment, in every corner of the world and across every time zone, the headmasters of various magical schools were gathering their students at seven in the evening to announce the grand event that would be held at Hogwarts this year: the Global Young Wizards Tournament.
Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, Koldovstoretz, Mahoutokoro, Uagadou, Castelobruxo, Ilvermorny…
English, French, German, Russian, Japanese, Portuguese…
Countless languages echoed through the halls of magical schools around the world, all with the same goal:
To achieve the highest possible ranking in the tournament and make their school the number one magical school in the world!
The enthusiasm of the young wizards had been completely ignited.
Who could refuse a chance to display themselves before wizards from all over the world? Especially when doing so could bring honor to their alma mater.
In the past, students from every magical school claimed that their own school was the best. The title of the world's number one magical school had always been disputed. Now, everyone finally had a chance to settle it once and for all.
Every student longed to become one of the thirteen representatives of their school, even if doing so might cost them their life.
The news continued to spread, expanding from the eight great magical schools to wizarding families and magical organizations. Hundreds upon hundreds of wizards would soon flock toward Hogwarts.
…
At this moment, the Great Hall of Hogwarts, just like the halls, assembly chambers, and plazas of other magical schools around the world, had fallen into an uproar. Everyone was excitedly discussing the upcoming Global Young Wizards Tournament.
"Merlin's beard!"
"I really want to qualify for the competition!!!"
"There's no age restriction, so as a third-year student, does that mean I—"
"Keep dreaming!"
Rhys, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes. Each magical school could send up to thirteen participants? That was somewhat different from the proposal he had discussed before, though it wasn't a big issue. It was probably a suggestion from the other magical schools.
Besides, even if there were a hundred slots, as long as he didn't sign up, he naturally wouldn't become a candidate! Rhys remained completely calm and unruffled.
But at that very moment, Rowena on the stage suddenly smiled at him, and Rhys's heart skipped a beat.
This was bad! Why was Rowena smiling at him? Wait, as old friends reuniting after a long time apart, smiling at him didn't seem like anything unusual. He was probably just overthinking it.
Rhys continuously reassured himself inwardly, forcing himself to calm down and not let Rowena's interference throw him into chaos.
On the stage, Albus Dumbledore had already finished explaining the rules of the Global Young Wizards Tournament. He then motioned for Professor McGonagall to bring the Sorting Hat over to him.
"Here, I would like to thank Professor White and Professor Aries. With the assistance of the two of them, we have upgraded the Sorting Hat so that it can help us select students qualified to participate in the Global Young Wizards Tournament. It will comprehensively evaluate all aspects of a wizard and assign them a score. The thirteen highest-ranked students will become Hogwarts's representatives in the tournament… though it seems rather late now. Perhaps we should eat first and conduct the selection tomorrow?" Dumbledore asked tentatively.
"No!"
The students reacted fiercely, shouting that they wanted the selection process to begin immediately. They would rather stay up until midnight than wait until tomorrow.
The moment Rhys learned that the Sorting Hat would be doing the evaluations, he immediately relaxed.
He only needed to deal with the Sorting Hat, and he could avoid becoming a tournament participant!
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI