Chapter 475: The Lowered Age Line
Chapter 475: The Lowered Age Line
The Sorting Hat's efficiency was remarkable, completing the Sorting ceremony in just over half an hour.
Finally, after Kevin Witby was sorted into Hufflepuff, the ceremony came to a close.
Dumbledore stood up, smiling at all the students, "Eat up."
Suddenly, the empty plates were magically filled with food.
Michael served himself a large spoonful of mashed potatoes and said, "Although I've seen it many times, I still find it somewhat incredible when these foods appear out of nowhere."
"It's Hogwarts' signature move," Kyle said with a smile.
As they enjoyed the delicious steak and ham, they discussed the possibility of engraving magical runes on the boats and preliminarily set a price.
One hundred Galleons per boat.
For students who hadn't graduated yet, this number was indeed a bit high, but they could negotiate if the price wasn't right.
By the end of the meal, Kyle chose a plate of Yorkshire Pudding from the many desserts.
This traditional British pudding tasted great, and more importantly, it wasn't as sweet as syrup pie, making it the perfect dessert.
Finally, all the food was devoured, and the crumbs on the plates disappeared, leaving them clean and shiny.
At this moment, Dumbledore stood up again, and the buzzing voices in the Great Hall suddenly stopped as everyone turned to look at him.
Following tradition, Dumbledore first emphasized a few points of attention, such as the prohibition for new students to enter the Forbidden Forest... He mentioned these every year, nothing new.
The only difference was that there were a few more items added to the list of prohibited items in the castle, including but not limited to Screaming Mugs, Rapid Boomerangs, and Nibbling Quills... All of these were new products from the Weasleys' Joke Shop last year.
With these additions, the entire list now had four hundred and thirty-seven items.
It must be said that this list was so comprehensive thanks to Fred and George's outstanding contributions; conservatively speaking, the two of them alone contributed over a hundred names.
"I regret to inform you that there will be no Quidditch Match this year!" Dumbledore announced.
The Great Hall instantly became chaotic, with students chattering in disbelief as they looked at Dumbledore.
But before he could explain, the doors of the Great Hall were suddenly slammed open.
A man appeared, leaning on a long cane, limping towards the staff table.
Everyone in the Great Hall turned to look at him.
Thud, thud, with each step he took, an empty sound echoed through the Hall.
Suddenly, a forked lightning bolt streaked across the ceiling, illuminating his face.
Gasps filled the Great Hall one after another.
His face was covered in scars, with hardly any uninjured spots, but that wasn't the scariest part.
The scariest part was his eyes.
He had only one normal eye, while the other was large and round like a coin, and it was bright blue.
"Oh, it's Mad-Eye!" someone exclaimed involuntarily.
Almost instantly, the blue eyeball flipped and drilled into the man's head, as if staring at someone speaking behind him.
The student who had just shouted Mad-Eye's name quickly lowered his head, not daring to look at him.
The man walked up to Dumbledore, and after a brief conversation, he sat down in one of the empty chairs.
"Allow me to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Dumbledore said, happily breaking the silence, "Professor Alastor Moody!"
Embarrassingly, there wasn't a single person clapping below, except for Dumbledore and Hagrid, who patted their hands. The atmosphere was even colder than when Professor Lupin joined last year.
At the Hufflepuff table, Kyle looked down at the parchment in his hand.
Ever since Moody entered, he had opened the Marauder's Map, but strangely, the map didn't show the man's name, and as he walked towards the staff table, none of the names moved either.
It was as if he didn't exist... To be precise, he must have used some kind of method to make his name unplottable.
Hogwarts is unplottable and does not appear on any map.
However, this is quite normal for an old Auror who is naturally suspicious.
There are quite a few spells related to names in the wizarding world, and the most well-known one is Lord Voldemort.
Anyone who utters this name will be detected by him and directly attacked, which is why most people call him the Dark Lord.
To be honest, if Moody's name had appeared on the Marauder's Map, even if it was his real name, Kyle would have suspected that it was someone else impersonating him.
Now that it's not on the map, it's more likely that he's the real Moody... I guess.
Kyle put away the Marauder's Map and continued to look towards the staff table as if nothing had happened.
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Dumbledore also stopped insisting on introducing the new professor.
"Let's continue with our previous topic," he said. "The reason for canceling the Quidditch Match is that in the coming months, we will have the honor of hosting a wonderful event that hasn't been held for over a century.
I am delighted to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts this year!"
The entire Great Hall fell silent for a few seconds, followed by an unprecedented roar.
"You're joking, right..."
"The Triwizard Tournament... Oh my..."
"I can't believe it..."
Someone jumped up in excitement and eagerly explained to the confused students what the Triwizard Tournament was.
In simple terms, if we're only talking about Europe, this is the grandest event, even surpassing the Quidditch World Cup.
Everyone was so excited, shouting and jumping around. Dumbledore also smiled lightly.
"I'm not joking," he said. "Some of you may not know what this tournament is about, so I think it's necessary to explain it briefly...
The Triwizard Tournament is a friendly competition among the three largest magic schools in Europe... Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang."
Then, he explained in detail the origin of the Triwizard Tournament, as well as its dangers and the number of deaths in previous tournaments.
However, except for a few individuals, most people didn't seem interested in those who died over a century ago, and their enthusiasm remained high.
Especially when they heard that the champion would receive a bonus of one thousand Galleons, they eagerly signed up, and the excited screams nearly lifted the ceiling.
"I know you all want to participate in the tournament to bring glory to your school," Dumbledore said. "But the participating schools and the Ministry of Magic have agreed to set an age limit for this year's competitors. Only students who are fifteen years old and above are allowed to sign up, for safety considerations..."
Dumbledore had to slightly raise his voice to drown out some protests. "This decision is necessary. No matter how many precautions we take, students below the fifth grade simply cannot handle it. This is also for your safety..."
"Oh, damn it!" someone from the Hufflepuff table pounded their chest in frustration. "I'm just a few months short... Can't they change the selection to December?"
"Haha, lucky you," said Michael, not caring about his feelings at all. "My birthday is in March, just past fifteen... Kyle, you should be over fifteen too, right?"
"What?" Kyle had thought he misheard, but after hearing Michael's words, he snapped out of his daze and nodded. "Oh, yes, I just turned fifteen last month."
(End of Chapter)
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