Chapter 824: Cheating Accusations
Chapter 824: Cheating Accusations
No one knew what had transpired the night before.
At least, no one publicly acknowledged it.
Albert felt a bit groggy that morning, having been woken up by Bard in the middle of the night. He yawned and leisurely flipped through the pages of the Daily Bull.
The bottle of Felix Felicis from the previous night had been proven safe after Idus personally tested it. He had also successfully collected the remaining 1000 galleons from the Daily Bull, and together with the initial 200, Albert received 600 galleons and an additional two-day supply of Felix Felicis, plus he had completed the panel task.
"You look tired," remarked Diana, the pub owner, as she approached Albert to inform him about the gathering, "By the way, where's Mr. Bagman?"
"He's probably still sleeping. We chatted till late last night," Albert replied, setting down the newspaper.
"Oh, and one more thing," Diana turned back just before leaving, "There will be a small banquet after the Barnabas Finkley Outstanding Spellcaster Award ceremony, specifically for you and the judges. Please make sure to attend the banquet before leaving."
Albert watched her leave, raising an eyebrow. He recalled something Bard had mentioned to him.
Just then, Albert sensed that someone was observing him. He picked up the newspaper again as a cover and discreetly glanced in a certain direction.
There sat the special correspondent from the Daily Bull.
Albert suddenly understood why the guy was sneaking glances at him—he was looking for signs of excessive Felix Felicis consumption.
"Should I mess with him a bit?"
A mischievous idea popped into Albert's mind, but he quickly dismissed it.
It would be best for him to distance himself from this matter.
After all, it was all Idus' fault.
He was the one who had deceived and fled with the money from the Daily Bull's gambling scheme.
What did it have to do with him?
The tracking spell that was supposed to be on Idus had been forcefully blocked by Albert using magic. The mastermind behind this scheme would surely be furious when they realized they had been played like a fiddle.
"This feeling is great."
A slight smile curved Albert's lips as he finally understood why there were so many old schemers.
It was truly delightful! Albert met the gaze of the special correspondent, Lucian, and smiled, nodding at him. He then averted his eyes, feigning indifference, as he continued to browse the latest issue of the Daily Bull.
Speaking of which, he found the headline of the newspaper quite embarrassing.
It was all about singing his praises.
However, as he reached the end of the article, Albert noticed that they had left a backdoor for themselves.
If he were to be found using a large amount of Felix Felicis, he would instantly become the target of public condemnation, and many would be eager to see his downfall.
How vicious! If he were to be framed, his reputation would be ruined!
Indeed, shearing those guys was the right decision. I should've had the house-elves bring more galleons! What a pity.
When the time was right, Albert stood up and followed the other contestants upstairs to the gathering.
The living room from the day before had been transformed, now featuring comfortable sofas arranged in a circle, with small round tables holding beverages and desserts in front of them.
Several judges had already taken their seats, and the contestants sat in between them, engaging in one-on-one conversations.
Albert remained calm and collected, drawing from his extensive experience in socializing with the older generation. The man who resembled an Auror adapted quickly, and the other lady judge soon followed suit. However, Mr. Noe, with his disheveled appearance, struggled to find his words, making him the most flustered of the four.
Albert casually chatted with the lady judge beside him, and they conversed in Italian. Through their brief interaction, Albert learned that her name was Monica, and she had been working as a judge for 63 years.
They discussed Italian cuisine, and their rapport grew stronger.
Monica observed the eloquent Albert with surprise, aware that he was a Muggle-born wizard. Although she had read his profile, Albert didn't fit the typical image of a Muggle-born wizard, and what surprised her the most was his social circle. He casually mentioned several Italian experts in various fields, and from his tone, it seemed like he was on good terms with them.
As their conversation progressed, they delved into the topic of spellcasting techniques, and Albert drew from the knowledge provided by his panel skill to impress—well, not exactly impress, but enlighten—her.
Throughout their exchange, Monica often found herself speechless, astonished by Albert's unique insights into spellcasting techniques. Even Mr. Yavor, the Bulgarian wizard sitting next to Albert, turned to engage in conversation with him.
As he watched Albert become the center of attention at the gathering, a subtle smile played on Lucian's lips.
17 was indeed under the influence of Felix Felicis; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to converse so comfortably with the judges.
Now, it was time to disqualify him.
This was Lucian's primary purpose for being here.
As long as 17 was detected to have consumed Felix Felicis and disqualified from the competition, he would receive a substantial bonus.
Lucian couldn't wait to see it happen.
However, he was perplexed as to why 17 hadn't shown any signs of weakness yet.
Taking a large dose of Felix Felicis should make one arrogant and proud, alerting the judges to something amiss. But why were there no signs at all?
"This is strange."
In Lucian's opinion, Albert was exhibiting many signs of Felix Felicis consumption.
But why wasn't anything happening?
The gathering lasted for two hours, and Lucian followed the contestants out of the living room, his eyes clouded with confusion. He couldn't understand why the situation was so different from what he had expected.
Finally, Lucian hurried back to the Daily Bull to report this anomaly and inquire about activating the backup plan.
The so-called backup plan involved disguising themselves and reporting that Albert had consumed Felix Felicis.
Yes, reporting him.
Then, an investigation would follow.
As for who made the report, well, that didn't really matter.
After all, in such a large competition, there were always procedures in place to check for the use of Felix Felicis, although it was quite time-consuming and laborious.
Upon receiving the report, the Spanish Ministry of Magic sprang into action, portraying themselves as the guardians of fairness and justice in the competition.
This incident caused quite a stir.
Coupled with the Daily Bull's headline that intentionally left room for suspicion, many began to doubt if contestant 17 had secretly used Felix Felicis. After all, he was incredibly young, and there were plenty of young wizards who envied his youth and were eager to see him fail, fanning the flames and demanding a fair resolution, calling for fairness among the contestants.
"I've realized that some people will do anything for money," Albert sighed softly, "And it looks like they've gone through with it."
"As you expected, isn't it?" Bard found the whole situation increasingly amusing. The Daily Bull had truly kicked a steel plate this time by messing with Albert.
"No, the changes in the others were beyond my expectations." Albert paid no heed to the suspicious gazes around him and replied in a soft voice, "Do you think the British magical world would be the same...?"
"That foolish?" Bard didn't find it surprising at all.
"They just don't want to admit that I'm a genius. They'd rather believe that I cheated by secretly using Felix Felicis." Albert was completely unfazed.
"The British magical community is actually similar in that regard. People only want to see what they wish to see; it's in their nature." Bard sighed, knowing what Albert was referring to. "If Voldemort were to return one day, the entire British magical community would probably deny his existence vehemently."
"It's more due to the Spanish Ministry. They prefer civilians to be easy to manage, and idiots are undoubtedly easier to manage than smart people." Albert spoke quietly, "However, I think this is more interesting."
To be honest, Albert didn't consider himself a magnanimous person.
So, he was now especially looking forward to seeing the expressions on the faces of those who had suspected him of cheating with Felix Felicis when they learned the cruel truth.
After lunch, the four contestants were gathered in the living room, along with several judges, the pub owner Diana, the special correspondent from the Daily Bull, and three officials from the Spanish Ministry of Magic.
"I'm sorry to have called you all here, but I think you may have heard some unpleasant rumors." Diana frowned, unhappy about the situation.
"For the fairness of the competition, the organizers feel it necessary to take action."
"How do you intend to test us?" The man who resembled an Auror frowned and asked, "Will you use Legilimency or Veritaserum?"
"We're leaning towards Legilimency." Diana said, "Mr. Diggle is a Legilimency Master; he can... Please speak, Ms. Camelin."
"How can you ensure that he won't rummage through my memories?" The lone female contestant asked.
"Do you have a problem with that, Mr. Noe?"
"How can you ensure that he won't lie?" Noe had sniffed out the scent of a conspiracy, "Don't tell me he's an official from the Ministry; anyone could lie for whatever reason."
The faces of the three officials from the Spanish Ministry turned ugly, especially with the strong distrust emanating from the contestants.
"Please speak, Mr. Anderson." Diana nodded towards Albert.
"As far as I know, major competitions usually have their own methods for checking for cheating." Albert, of course, knew what the method was.
A minuscule amount of Veritaserum, which wouldn't cause any harm to the person.
However, many large competitions didn't like using Veritaserum because it was itself a prohibited substance, and it was troublesome to use. Moreover, there were ways to circumvent its effects, such as the user being unaware that they had consumed Felix Felicis or even taking the antidote for Veritaserum beforehand.
The atmosphere in the room became somewhat stiff, and even Diana didn't know what to do. She hadn't encountered such a situation before.
"Don't worry." One of the five judges stepped forward and said, "Actually, the judging panel has a way to discern whether Felix Felicis has been used."
Everyone turned to look at the judges.
"To be honest, we don't advocate using it." As he spoke, one of the judges opened a box that contained a transparent potion.
"As you all know, consuming too much Felix Felicis in a short period can lead to some terrible symptoms, and it cannot be continuously ingested, or there will be serious consequences." Ms. Monica introduced to everyone, "If one has consumed Felix Felicis recently and then takes this potion, they may experience dizziness, poisoning, and other symptoms. Of course, if one hasn't taken Felix Felicis, this potion is harmless."
"How short of a period are we talking about?" Albert asked. If it was within a year, he thought he might as well give up now.
"Within a month." Monica replied.
"What if someone gets poisoned?"
"We have emergency medicine here."
The four contestants exchanged glances and finally looked towards the three officials from the Spanish Ministry.
"We need to prove the efficacy of this potion." The leader among the three officials said, "You know, this concerns a gambling event, so we have to be cautious."
"We have some Felix Felicis here." One of the elderly judges took out a small golden bottle and handed it to him, "Just a drop will do, otherwise, if the poisoning is severe, there might be trouble."
The faces of the three Ministry officials turned ugly, and in the end, one of them drank a tiny bit of the Felix Felicis, then drank the testing potion, causing him to stumble and almost fall to the ground. Moreover, his face turned deathly pale, as if he had fallen ill.
"Drink this, it will make you feel better, although with that small dose, you should recover soon anyway."
Saying so, they took out another bottle, dripped some of its contents into the water, and had the Ministry official drink it, after which his complexion improved.
"Alright, either you admit it, or you drink this?"
"I'll go first." The man who resembled an Auror stepped forward and finished the cup in one go.
There was no reaction.
The second contestant to go was Ms. Camelin.
Again, there was no reaction.
"I'll go next."
Noe vaguely sensed that all these shenanigans might be targeting Contestant 17.
However, he didn't think the other man needed to use Felix Felicis.
Once again, there was no reaction.
All eyes turned to Albert, who directly took the cup and drank it in front of everyone.
Still, there was no reaction.
"How is this possible!"
Both the officials from the Ministry and the special correspondent from the Daily Bull were shocked, as if they had been certain that someone had consumed Felix Felicis and then participated in the competition.
"It seems this was just a joke. Perhaps the Ministry should thoroughly interrogate the person who made the false report."
Anyone who couldn't figure out what was going on now would truly be an idiot.
It was obviously targeting Contestant 17, and this matter had something to do with gambling.
"Alright, everyone has seen that no one cheated by using Felix Felicis." One of the male judges said to the three officials from the Spanish Ministry, "I think this was just a joke."
Just a joke?
The three Ministry officials left with ugly expressions, unable to comprehend how the situation had turned out this way.
The special correspondent Lucian's face turned even uglier, and his body swayed slightly. He reached out to steady himself on a chair, or he would have fallen to the ground.
Wasn't it said that Contestant 17 had used Felix Felicis?
Were the judges deceiving them?
Or... had that bastard Idus deceived them?
Lucian couldn't imagine how much the Daily Bull would lose if Contestant 17 won the championship.
(End of Chapter)
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