Chapter 455: 7 Participants

Chapter 455 Seven Participants
After the contest between Sherin and Seferis came to a temporary end, the curtain of the tent was lifted again, and new contestants arrived one after another, bringing the atmosphere of their respective countries.

The first person to come in was a blonde girl who looked young and petite, with a shy look in her eyes. She was wearing the blue and gold school robe of Ifamony, with her blonde hair hanging softly on her shoulders, and her blue eyes nervously scanned the people in the tent.

"Um, hi… I'm Alison Baker from Ifemoni," she said softly, a little sheepishly, her fingers tightly gripping the strap of her bag.

"Welcome, Alison." Bran nodded, and Fleur smiled and held out her hand, saying softly, "Don't be nervous. Everyone here is just like you, an excellent representative of their respective schools."

Alison smiled sheepishly and whispered, "Thank you... I'm just a little nervous. I've never participated in a competition like this before."

"Don't worry." Xie Lin said softly, his eyes gentle, "Relax."

Alison blushed slightly, nodded, and found a corner to stand quietly, as if she was not used to too much attention.

Then, the tent curtain was suddenly opened, and a dark-skinned boy with flamboyant curly hair strode in, wearing the iconic crimson magic robe of Ugadu with a confident smile on his face. He glanced around and then whistled exaggeratedly.

"Wow! This scene is quite explosive. It feels like I'm attending a legendary gathering of the wizarding world." The boy grinned, walked briskly into the tent, raised his hand and made a hip-hop gesture, "I'm Mara Cainda, the representative of Uagadou - there's no need for much introduction, anyway, I will definitely be the winner in the end."

As he spoke, he leaned casually on the armrest of the sofa, his eyes showing a hint of cunning and confidence, without any nervousness at all.

Furong couldn't help but chuckle, "Your confidence is quite impressive."

"I'm not just confident, sister." Mara winked at her, showing her bright white teeth, "I'm capable."

Seferis snorted coldly, his eyes showing a bit of disdain: "Strength is not something that can be expressed with words alone."

"Oh? A tough guy from Durmstrang?" Mara raised her eyebrows and smiled even more brightly. "Yes, I like a challenge."

He held out his fist and motioned for Xie Ling to punch him: "Brother, you are quite impressive."

Xie Ling smiled and bumped fists with him. Mara laughed and said, "Okay, I've decided. I'll keep an eye on you two in this match."

At this moment, a heavy sound of footsteps was heard, the tent curtain was roughly opened, and a sturdy boy strode in.

He looked much taller than his peers, wearing a heavy dark blue Kodosdoriz magic robe, with golden embroidery outlining solemn Russian patterns. He had a pale face, deep brow bones, sharp and wild eyes, and exuded a sense of oppression.

"I'm Igor Morozov." The boy introduced himself in a low voice, his eyes scanning the surroundings sharply, as if he was examining his opponent.

When his eyes fell on Sherin and Seferis, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly: "I hope you won't let me down."

Seferis responded coldly: "I'm afraid you will disappoint me."

Igor sneered: "Then wait and see."

Furong couldn't help but mutter in a low voice: "Why are these boys from Durmstrang and Kodostoriz all the same..."

"It's more fun to be a little arrogant." Mara interjected with a smile.

Just then, a lively voice sounded from outside the tent: "Oh, it's so lively here!"

Everyone turned around and saw a dark-skinned girl walking in. She was very beautiful, but her outfit was... too different - her face was covered with green and brown camouflage patterns, her arms were covered with tattoos, and she even had a few strings of feathers hanging around her waist. She looked more like someone from a witch tribe than a representative of a regular magic school.

"Hey! I'm Rafaela Correa, a Brazilian warrior." She said with a hearty smile, showing her white teeth, "But you can also call me 'Rafa', my friends all call me that." She glanced at the atmosphere in the tent and said with a curled lip, "Why are you all so serious? Relax! It's just a potion competition, not a battlefield."

She sat down on the chair, crossed her legs, picked up the cup of tea on the table, sniffed it, and wrinkled her nose: "Uh, this tea is too elegant, right? Don't you have something stronger to drink?"

Mala laughed: "Sister, do you want to consider Vagadu? I think you are more suitable for the style of our school."

"Oh?" Rafaela raised her eyebrows and looked at him playfully, "Are you teasing me?"

"Of course not." Mara waved her hand quickly and added with a smile, "At least not yet."

Fleur couldn't help but chuckle, while Alison was obviously frightened by Rafaela's aura and shrank in the corner, not daring to speak.

By now, all the representatives had arrived and the atmosphere in the tent was gradually becoming more complicated.

Xie Ling observed the people in front of him——

Shy Alison, flamboyant Mara, arrogant Seferis, rebellious Igor, free and easy Rafaela... I'm afraid this game will not be easy.

Beside him, Furong raised her teacup gracefully and chuckled softly, "This is such an...interesting party."

Xie Lin smiled lightly, picked up the teacup, and clinked it with hers: "Indeed."

An hour later, no one came into the tent, indicating that there were no other contestants.

To be eligible to participate in this Potions Championship, one must be an outstanding magic school selected by the Education Department of the International Confederation of Wizards. There are currently only eleven such schools. As far as Schelling knows, one is in Japan, where he has a pen pal studying, and another is in Australia. He has never paid attention to the remaining two.

There are currently seven participating teams. The other four schools did not come for some reason, which means they gave up this Potions Championship.

Xie Lin was not surprised at this at all. This was the tradition of the Potions Championship. If a school could not find a particularly outstanding student in this competition, it would not participate in the Potions Competition to avoid bringing shame to the school.

Hogwarts has given up the Potions Championship several times.

Afterwards, the host of this competition, Hector Dagworth-Granger, finally appeared on the stage. Three judges over seventy years old entered the tent at the same time as him. The three judges were all celebrities in the potion industry. They had all invented or improved potions that were enough to change the wizarding world. They had long since retired from the potion industry. Although Sherin had never seen them, he had heard of their names.

They first asked the professors who led the school team to leave the tent. In order to be fair, the professors would be placed in a bar in the village to wait for the end of today's game.

Then, Hector began to explain the rules of this competition:

It is now 9 o'clock in the morning. The contestants will have nine hours to go deep into the magic garden to collect raw materials and return with the found ingredients within the specified time. Then they will rest for a night and use the ingredients they found to brew a potion tomorrow morning.

The list of ingredients that everyone needs to collect is the same, which means that the contestants will need to brew the same potion tomorrow. So what is really tested in today's competition is the contestants' understanding of the growth environment and habits of various magical plants and animals, so that they know where to find them, how to identify them, and how to select high-quality, mature ingredients and collect them correctly.

Even if everyone collects all the raw materials completely, raw materials of different qualities and years, as well as different collection methods, may lead to different final results.

Everyone can only bring their own magic wand and the medicine box and dry food that will be distributed later. Contestants are not allowed to bring or use other foreign objects to cheat.

At the same time, contestants are prohibited from attacking each other, or snatching other contestants' potion ingredients, or destroying or stealing the environment and rare herbs of the magic garden.

If you encounter danger, you can shoot red sparks into the sky, and the surrounding patrols will rush to help you as soon as possible, but shooting sparks means losing the qualification to continue the competition.