Chapter 708: Fairness
Chapter 708: Fairness
Although Albert considered Catherine merely an ordinary friend, her slightly intimate gesture still made him feel a bit uncomfortable.
"Long time no see. I didn't expect to run into you here."
Albert sneaked a glance at Isabelle and then composed his expression, greeting Catherine with a friendly tone.
"That's your girlfriend, I presume? She's more beautiful than I imagined."
Catherine appraised Isabelle with a scrutinizing gaze, a teasing smile on her face. "But I'm surprised to see you bringing your girlfriend to a competition. Some might say you're rubbing it in."
"How did you become the leader of the team from the Institute of Magic?" Albert attempted to steer the conversation away, afraid that Catherine would lead him into a dangerous topic, such as asking him to compare their looks—a question he'd rather not answer.
"My grandfather has a good relationship with the principal of the Institute of Magic. He persuaded the school to let me be the team leader. Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I'm now an assistant professor of Potions at the Institute of Magic." Catherine turned her attention from the competition and back to the unique young man before her. He seemed even more confident than before.
"That's quite a surprise. I thought you would..."
"I need to keep myself busy, and it's just a nominal position at the school anyway." Catherine interrupted. With her high attainment in Potions and her exquisite looks, she was well-liked by the students. More importantly, she had connections, which made certain things much easier.
"I hope you don't mind if I borrow your boyfriend for a moment."
As Isabelle approached, Catherine offered her a friendly smile, her tone tinged with humor.
"Not at all. I'm used to it by now. There are always so many pretty girls around Albert that I've become accustomed to it." Isabelle gestured to the girl from Beauxbatons, Miss Miaow.
Undeniably, in terms of looks alone, the girl who appeared to have Miaow blood was indeed more beautiful than the two of them.
"My intuition tells me that she's not a nice girl. Perhaps you should stay away from her." Catherine gave Albert a quirky smile. "Unless you want to end up like that unfortunate student from Durmstrang. Even if it's hot in Africa, I don't think the heat would be enough to fry someone's brain like that."
"She's right. Witches with Miaow blood have a natural talent for allure magic, and most boys can't resist it." Isabelle agreed with Catherine.
The two of them clearly didn't have a good impression of the pretty girl, especially after what she had done earlier.
Professor Slughorn was quite curious about Catherine's identity and even more curious about their relationship.
Speaking of which, this Mr. Anderson was quite popular with the ladies.
"The competition is almost over. Aren't you going to comfort your student?" Isabelle hinted that it was time for her to leave.
Earlier, a student from the Institute of Magic had made a mistake during the preparation of the Cheering Potion and had to abandon the competition.
Such cases were not uncommon here.
"He doesn't need my comfort."
Catherine didn't seem to care much about the outcome of the competition, or perhaps she believed that Albert was very likely to win the final championship and take home the Golden Cauldron.
That man was extraordinary.
Catherine had asked people to investigate Albert, and when she received a stack of magazines and books about him, her feelings were quite complicated.
All signs indicated that Albert had already surpassed the students participating in the competition when it came to Potions. This was evident from the previous match, and even the judges seemed to know him. Despite being underage, he had already earned the recognition of more than one Potion Master.
"How's the research on the beauty potion going?" Catherine lowered her voice to ask about something she cared about. "Or have you been too busy with your love life to remember it?"
"There haven't been any major breakthroughs yet." Albert signaled for Isabelle to explain their current progress.
"Essential oil extracts?"
Catherine frowned slightly, seemingly pondering the feasibility of this direction.
The sound of the ending whistle suddenly interrupted their chat.
The potion masters who had been whispering among themselves on the judges' stand also fell silent. They got up from their seats and began inspecting the Cheering Potions prepared by the contestants, some even tasting small amounts with a spoon to evaluate the color and flavor.
The contestants were nervous, their eyes fixed on the judges as if they were prisoners awaiting their final verdict.
"86 points."
After some discussion, one of the judges held up a sign displaying the final score.
The red-haired boy from the Institute of Magic frowned slightly, clearly unsatisfied with the score.
The judges only chose the best potion from each table for scoring.
Indeed, this could be quite unfair to some contestants, but that was the current competition rule.
Yes.
They had changed the rules of the Potions Championship.
Otherwise, in a situation like today's, things would have been awkward.
Everyone could see that the two Cheering Potions from Hogwarts were of exceptionally high quality, far surpassing the other schools' entries.
This meant that one school would be pushed out, which could be quite embarrassing. After all, such an arrangement would be unfair to the other schools.
Fortunately, according to the competition rules, the judges didn't score Isabelle's potion, thus avoiding this awkward situation.
As for Albert's Cheering Potion, it naturally received a high score.
Even if there were wizards who wanted to cause trouble for him, they couldn't deny that Albert was the first to finish, and his final product was far superior to that of most of the other competitors.
If a potion of such caliber didn't receive the top score, it would call into question the fairness of the judges.
Of course, the wizards who were chosen to be judges all had a sense of integrity. Naturally, none of them would show bias, giving each competitor the score they deserved, lest they become a laughingstock among the wizarding community.
And so, Albert received a high score of 99 points, causing a whole bunch of contestants to gape in astonishment, like frogs with their mouths wide open.
They all knew that this was an unbeatable score.
There was hardly any difference between 99 points and a perfect score; it just meant that one of the judges didn't want to give a perfect score and deliberately deducted one point.
The second-highest score went to Guy Bernard from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic.
This guy scored an impressive 94 points.
Albert was sure that this score was definitely inflated due to the association with the Master Apothecary Association President's grandson.
However, it was undeniable that Guy Bernard had displayed a high level of skill.
If it weren't for Albert, he would have been the star of the first round, but unfortunately, he had met Albert and was mercilessly crushed without an ounce of mercy.
As for Miss Miaow, she also demonstrated a good level of skill in potion-making. In fact, Alice represented the normal caliber of students participating in the Potion Championship.
But alas, she had encountered a few cheaters and didn't even have the slightest chance to fight back before being ruthlessly eliminated.
The third-place contestant was the girl from Castelobruxo, the one with whom Albert had chatted about "green hats" in the morning. Her Cheering Potion was significantly less impressive than the top two, earning her 89 points.
The fourth-place contestant was the red-haired boy from the Institute of Magic, reportedly of Scottish descent, with a rather fiery temper. He glared at Albert, his eyes filled with envy and jealousy.
Albert's score of 99 points, coupled with the presence of two beautiful girls by his side, earned him a lot of envy from the other competitors.
In fifth place was a flashy guy from the Magic Institute, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a golden tracksuit, who scored 85 points. He was accompanied by two girls who were also secretly observing Albert, their competitor.
After all, a score of 99 points was extremely eye-catching, and it was clear to anyone that the judges didn't want to give a perfect score.
In sixth place was a blonde girl from Koldovstoretz, with a tall and slender figure and a sweet face. Unfortunately, her looks didn't seem to have any effect on her potion, as she only managed to score 81 points.
She glanced at Albert with curiosity, even greeting the group boldly despite the stares of Isabelle and Catherine.
This pretty Russian girl had actually overheard their previous conversation and was interested in the youth potion they had mentioned.
Well, it was only natural for beautiful girls to be interested in potions that could preserve their youth.
After all, the girls from her region tended to age quickly.
Valeria naturally also wanted to maintain her youthful appearance, as she would start to age in just a few years.
However, in the eyes of others, this student from Koldovstoretz seemed to be attracted to Albert.
+1 Envy Point
+1 Envy Point
...
In seventh place was a short and stout girl from Durmstrang Institute, a school known for its dark magic rather than potions. She scored 78 points.
The two unlucky boys who had been enamored with Miss Miaow were swiftly and decisively discarded by her after their elimination.
No matter how one looked at it, Albert was the best choice, but unfortunately, he already had three beautiful girls by his side, and they seemed to be chatting happily, leaving no room for her.
And finally, in last place, was the student from Hogwarts, who barely managed to scrape by with 68 points.
In fact, his potion was only barely passable, and the group of potion masters had even discussed whether or not to let the tall Hogwarts student participate.
To be honest, placing him in eighth place was almost like a mockery of Isabelle or a mockery of fairness itself.
With Isabelle's skill, she could have easily placed in the top three, but she was unfortunately eliminated, and the rule that each school must be represented in the first round added insult to injury.
"That's really fair!" Catherine said to Isabelle. "Aren't you angry? You should have been in the top three."
"Not angry?"
"Why?"
"It doesn't matter anyway. I wouldn't have won the championship, so participating in the first round was just for fun." Isabelle replied without hesitation.
"Oh, that's true. I guess the championship is as good as his." Catherine suddenly understood Isabelle's laid-back attitude. Anyone else in her position would likely feel aggrieved.
Ah!
It may have been fair to the other schools, but it certainly wasn't fair to the individual students.
(End of Chapter)
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