#214 - Section 214

The difficulty wasn't too high, but its scope was quite broad.

However, Ethan had already learned this potion and brewed it many times himself.

However, the class had barely started when the classroom door was knocked.

Before Snape could even let them in, Colin Creevey squeezed into the classroom sideways.

After giving Harry a smile, he walked towards Snape's desk at the front of the classroom.

"What is it?"

Frowning at the little wizard who was interrupting his class, Snape asked impatiently.

Snape had already decided that if it wasn't anything serious, he would deduct all of Gryffindor's house points today.

It had been years since a little wizard had dared to barge into his classroom like this.

"Sorry, sir, I need to take Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Ethan Adair upstairs."

Facing Snape's gaze from above his hooked nose, the smile disappeared from Colin Creevey's eager face.

His past fear of Snape resurfaced in his heart.

Snape refused without hesitation.

"Potter still has an hour of Potions class."

"He can go upstairs after class."

Colin Creevey's face turned red and he said somewhat uneasily:

"Sir… sir, Mr. Bagman wants him to go, all the champions have to go, I think they're going to take pictures…"

Colin Creevey had volunteered for this task himself, which also included his idol, so he naturally didn't want to fail.

"Very well, very well, Potter, leave your things here, I want you to come back later and test your antidote."

Snape had said at the beginning of the class that he would choose someone to test the antidote they made.

If it were the previous year, Harry wouldn't have had this chance, it would have been Ron or Neville.

But this year, although Snape was still targeting the two of them, his love had returned to Harry.

Although he hadn't said who would test the potion just now, everyone knew who the person would be in the end.

As for the other two, Ethan didn't care much about them now. Ron had already lost him a hundred points, and the goal of this class had been overachieved.

"Sorry, sir, he has to take his things, all the champions do."

Colin Creevey looked nervously at Snape. At this moment, he wouldn't have felt so much pressure if it were any other professor.

In the end, under Colin Creevey's insistence, Snape still let Ethan and the others leave.

This concerned the Triwizard Tournament, and even Snape had no reason to stop Harry, the champion, from going.

Otherwise, no matter what the reason, Harry would definitely be the test subject today.

Just as Harry and Ron went out, Neville couldn't help but shiver. He sensed that something big was about to happen to him.

Led by Colin Creevey, the group soon arrived at the door of a classroom.

They pushed the door open and walked in. It was a small classroom, most of the desks had been pushed to the back, leaving a large open space in the middle.

However, there were three desks lined up side by side in front of the blackboard, covered with a long piece of velvet.

Behind the velvet-covered desks were five chairs, one of which was occupied by Ludo Bagman, who was talking to a witch in magenta robes. This person was undoubtedly an old acquaintance of Ethan's—Rita Skeeter.

After the Quidditch World Cup, Ethan had even had her do an exclusive interview.

Besides the two of them, the champions from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had also arrived.

Viktor Krum stood in a corner with his usual gloomy face, not talking to anyone, while his two classmates were excitedly discussing something.

Clearly, Krum was still upset that the honor of being the Durmstrang champion was shared by his two classmates.

Ethan had noticed this when the two people from Durmstrang entered the shack.

He didn't expect that Krum still hadn't let it go.

Fleur and the other two Beauxbatons girls were standing on the other side. Opposite them, a portly man was holding a large black camera that was slightly smoking, taking pictures of them.

Electricity was not allowed at Hogwarts, but after cameras were invented by Muggles, wizards also modified them, and they were now relatively common in the wizarding world.

Ethan couldn't understand why cameras weren't listed in the Register of Proscribed Charmable Objects.

Many things of a similar nature to cameras were prohibited by the Ministry of Magic, and Arthur was always sneaking around when he researched Muggle objects.

When Ludo saw Ethan and the others arrive, he immediately stood up enthusiastically and invited them:

"Champions of Hogwarts, come in quickly, nothing to worry about, just a wand check, the other judges will arrive soon."

"Wand check?"

Harry looked at Ludo somewhat uneasily.

"We must check if your wands are fully functional and in good condition, because in future competitions, wands are your most important equipment."

Bagman explained to them.

If there was a problem with the wands, there would definitely be accidents.

Moreover, it was also possible that wizards would later disapprove of their results, believing that the wand had a problem and caused them not to perform well. These were phenomena that had occurred in the past.

So the process of later competitions became more and more detailed, just to prevent such situations from happening.

"By the way, the experts are upstairs, with Dumbledore. Then there are a few photos to take. This is Rita Skeeter, she's writing a short article about the tournament for the Daily Prophet…"

Ludo also introduced the witch in magenta robes next to him to Ethan and the others.

Until now, Ludo still didn't know that Rita Skeeter was a colleague of his.

However, Rita Skeeter didn't quite agree with Ludo's introduction.

"Maybe not so short, Ludo."

Especially regarding her writing articles.

Rita Skeeter has been thriving in recent years, already a star reporter for the Daily Prophet, and every article she writes is a page-turner.

As always, her hair was styled into elaborate, stiff, and bizarre large curls, which looked particularly awkward paired with her large-chinned face. She still wore her bejeweled glasses, and her thick, fleshy fingers clutched a crocodile-skin handbag, her nails painted bright red and two inches long.

In front of outsiders, Rita Skeeter, according to the rules, couldn't act too familiar with Ethan, as if they had only met for a few interviews.

Immediately, Rita Skeeter questioned Ludo, but her eyes were fixed on the three young wizards in front of her.

"Before we begin, could I have a few words with them?"

"You know, the three champions from Hogwarts are all quite young, which will add some color to the article."

"It's possible, but they have to agree."

Ludo didn't dare to make decisions for Ethan.

"Uh!"

Harry blinked blankly, was he going to be interviewed?

"You agreed, great!"

Seizing the opportunity, Rita Skeeter didn't wait for Harry and Ron to react, and immediately took them to the small broom closet next door.

As for Ethan, she selectively skipped over him.

Although the final report about Ethan would take up a considerable amount of space.

With nothing to do, Ethan ran to Fleur's side.

At this moment, it was her turn to be photographed. Fleur kept shaking her head, making her silver hair shimmer with dazzling light.

Following behind Fleur, Ethan also took a couple of photos, which would be published in the newspaper later.

After doing these things, Ethan pulled Fleur to a corner to chat.

As for the other two Beauxbatons girls, Fleur didn't have a good relationship with them, and Ethan didn't need to care about their feelings.

Before long, Dumbledore pushed the door open, accompanied by Ollivander, as well as Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, and Barty Crouch.

"Harry and Ron, haven't they arrived yet?"

After entering, Dumbledore glanced around, finding that two people were missing.

Dumbledore knew about the Hogwarts courses, and they should be in Potions class right now.

Ethan had arrived, but the two of them hadn't, did Snape not let them go?

"They're inside, Rita Skeeter is doing an exclusive interview with them."

Ludo pointed to the small broom closet.

Dumbledore's mouth twitched, he knew Rita Skeeter's interview style.

She could turn white into black, even he couldn't stand it, let alone Harry.

Immediately, he walked over there.

The other judges went to sit at the velvet-covered table.

Soon, led by Dumbledore, Harry and Ron, with long faces, were brought out.

Unlike the two of them, Rita Skeeter had a satisfied smile on her face.

Obviously, this exclusive interview had been very rewarding for her.

After Dumbledore sat down at the judge's table, he said to the champions:

"Allow me to introduce Mr. Ollivander, he will be checking your wands to ensure they are in good condition before the competition…"

Although the young wizards from Hogwarts knew him, there were still students from other schools, so a brief introduction was necessary.

First up was Fleur.

Taking Fleur's wand, Ollivander twirled it between his slender fingers like a baton, and the wand emitted many pink and gold sparks.

Then he held the wand close to his eyes, examining it carefully.

"Good, nine and a half inches… quite flexible… made of maple… contains… oh, my goodness…"

Faced with Ollivander's fuss, Fleur generously said:

"It contains a Veela hair, it's my grandmother's hair."

Fleur didn't intend to hide her Veela heritage, anyway, Beauxbatons already knew, and it would be known with a little inquiry.

After carefully checking for scratches and abrasions, Ollivander tested the smoothness of the spellcasting, and after confirming there were no problems, he returned it to Fleur.

Subsequently, he checked the wands of the other two Beauxbatons girls and the Durmstrang student.

The wands were all fine. As long as they were normal wizards, they took great care of their wands. If there were no accidents, it was likely a companion that would accompany them for a lifetime.

Soon it was the turn of the Hogwarts champions.

"Yew, tail feather of a Thestral, fifteen inches, possesses considerable power, it is my masterpiece."

Taking the wand from Ethan's hand, Ollivander gently stroked it.

He had put a lot of effort into completing this work.

With Ethan's current performance, his choice to take out this wand in the first place was indeed correct.

Moreover, this wand was very well maintained, indicating that Ethan also cherished it very much.

"Excellent condition, do you maintain it regularly?"

"Of course, every summer I go to your shop to buy maintenance kits."

Here, I have to say, the maintenance kit is more expensive than the wand, of course, this is the price after the wand subsidy.

Hearing Ethan say this, Ollivander grinned directly, he was indeed giving him enough face.

Then he released a flame charm to confirm the status, and then returned it to Ethan.

After Harry and Ron's wands were tested, the group began to take photos.

It's just that there was a small problem in this process.

No matter where Madame Maxime stood, she blocked everyone else, and the room was too small for the photographer to stand far enough away to get her into the shot; in the end, she had to sit down, and everyone else stood around her.