As Dumbledore began explaining the rules of the Youth Wizard Championship, the entire Great Hall fell silent.
Everyone pricked up their ears.
The young witches and wizards whose native language was not English focused even more intently on Dumbledore's lips, afraid of missing even a single word.
Even the shock brought by the appearance of the legendary wizard Godric Gryffindor was overshadowed.
After all, no matter what, Gryffindor himself would not be competing, would he?
Godric had laughed and said that now that they had stepped into the light, calling his faction The Secret Order was no longer secret, and he had revealed the name 'Order of the Mystics'.
Well, that didn't change anything, and surely, the ones taking part in the tournament would ultimately be the seven students provided by the organisation known as the Order of the Mystics, right?
The vast majority of those present had never even heard of the Order of the Mystics, so naturally they did not attach much importance to it. The little respect they did show was only out of regard for Gryffindor.
"With the assistance of various parties in the magical world, the competition venue has already been prepared. Starting tomorrow, the tournament will officially begin. Contestants from the major magical schools, as well as independent participants from across the magical world, will be placed into the prepared competition grounds and tasked with completing designated objectives within them."
Dumbledore spoke at an unhurried pace and enunciated clearly, ensuring that everyone in the Great Hall could understand him.
In truth, the competition grounds had been created mainly through the combined efforts of Rowena and Helga. However, the two had instructed Dumbledore in advance that they wished to keep a low profile, so he deliberately omitted their contributions.
Upon hearing that the competition would officially begin tomorrow, the young wizards below erupted into a low buzz of excitement. They had not expected things to proceed so quickly.
However, considering that tomorrow was a rest day, they soon accepted it. They could all watch the tournament together without affecting next week's lessons.
"We will provide each contestant with a crystal ball to broadcast their experiences within the competition grounds. Contestants may choose to turn off the crystal ball, but they must report their current condition and progress on their assigned tasks through it every day. We will publish each contestant's status on the school notice boards according to the number of points they have earned."
Dumbledore also informed everyone that several giant screens had been installed at the Quidditch pitch to broadcast the contestants' activities live. Any students interested in watching could head there at their leisure.
"Because the contestants vary in skill, their initial deployment locations will also differ. This is something I must remind everyone of before the competition begins."
The moment Dumbledore said this, Rhys frowned.
He smelled the scent of something targeted.
Surely this assessment of a contestant's strength would not be based on actual strength, would it? If it was, he did not even dare imagine what he would be facing. If it was merely based on the paper evaluations given by the Sorting Hat and the magic crystal sphere, then things would be much easier.
At that moment, he noticed Rowena smiling at him.
Rhys immediately understood that there was no need to wonder which method would be used.
He would definitely be facing extremely difficult challenges.
Perhaps he would even have to clean up another one of Rowena's messes.
He knew that smile all too well.
"Professor Dumbledore, may I ask how exactly the 'skill level of contestants' will be determined?" Karkaroff's voice came from behind Dumbledore.
He narrowed his eyes, as though suspecting something.
Karkaroff's concerns were perfectly understandable. After all, Hogwarts was hosting the tournament, and it was being held in Britain. It would be far too easy to slip some favouritism into the proceedings.
For example, they could simply classify the students of a particular school as high-level contestants and give them a "hellish start", eliminating them all in the very first round.
Putting himself in their shoes, Karkaroff felt that if Durmstrang were hosting the competition, he would certainly do the same.
In a sense, Karkaroff had voiced the thoughts of the other headmasters. Those seated at the staff table all cast concerned looks toward Dumbledore.
They cared a great deal about how the contestants' abilities would be classified.
"There is no need for concern, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore said, as though he had anticipated the question. He took out the Sorting Hat and the magic crystal sphere from within his robes and explained their functions to the visiting headmasters.
"Really?"
"Can something like that actually exist?"
The headmasters felt as though their horizons had been broadened.
"Of course." To prove it, Dumbledore even passed the crystal sphere around and invited the headmasters to test it for themselves.
As they watched the light emitted by the crystal sphere in their hands pale in comparison to the brilliance it had displayed in Dumbledore's, the headmasters fell silent.
Was the gap between themselves and Dumbledore truly so great?
Previously, while they respected Dumbledore, most of them had never possessed a direct understanding of how far ahead he was on the path of magic. In fact, some had even believed that Dumbledore was already in his twilight years while they themselves were still in the prime of life. Given enough time, they had thought, victory in battle would eventually belong to them.
That was understandable.
Dumbledore's greatest achievement had been defeating Grindelwald.
As a Dark Wizard who had once dominated the world, Grindelwald had left an unforgettable impression upon the magical community. Consequently, Dumbledore's fame had reached its peak after defeating him.
But half a century had passed since Grindelwald's era. Most of the wizards who had witnessed his might firsthand had long since been laid to rest.
Voldemort, who inherited the title of Dark Lord, had not spread his influence so widely and thus lacked the terrifying reputation Grindelwald had possessed. More importantly, Voldemort had not been personally defeated by Dumbledore. Though Dumbledore's reputation for keeping Voldemort from crossing certain boundaries was widely acknowledged, he had nevertheless stood by while Voldemort ravaged Britain for decades.
As a result, many had begun to believe that Dumbledore was no longer what he once had been.
Only now did they realise just how mistaken they had been.
Still, Dumbledore's brilliance was not entirely overwhelming.
The light emitted by the crystal spheres held by Seraphina Picquery, Headmistress of Ilvermorny, and Gendanxi, Headmaster of Mahoutokoro, was only slightly dimmer than Dumbledore's.
If Dumbledore stood alone in the first tier, then those two occupied the second tier. The other headmasters belonged to the third tier, and some of them even ranked below the Heads of House at Hogwarts.
Headmistress Yekaterina of Koldovstoretz was an exception.
She was very young, yet her performance placed her firmly among the middle ranks of the headmasters. That alone was astonishing and drew considerable attention.
Because unlike Godric, who had been relegated to the spectators' seats, she was actually eligible to compete.
The other headmasters understood all too well what that meant.
Thus, after the crystal sphere had made its rounds, Karkaroff turned his attention upon Yekaterina.
"Speaking of which, could us headmasters form a panel of judges to ensure the fair operation of the tournament?" Karkaroff did not state it outright, but the headmasters present, as well as the two Ministry officials, all understood what he meant.
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI