Chapter 286 The Second Match with a Sudden Increase in Difficulty
After the first game, all players had a whole day of rest on Tuesday to adjust themselves and be in the best possible shape for the second game on Wednesday.
After all, starting from the second game, the difficulty of the game rose sharply.
The only information released now is that the second game tests the contestants' abilities to identify medicinal herbs and brew potions.
And unlike the first game, this time the contestants only have one chance to make it, and if they fail they will face elimination.
These restrictions meant that the players had to have strong skills to make it through the second game.
The increase in the difficulty of the competition brings about an increase in the pressure on the players.
The contestants from Castrobusa in Brazil and the Japanese Institute of Magic disliked each other and started quarreling directly on the campus of Ilvermorny, attracting a lot of onlookers from students.
In the end, it was the professors from the two schools who stepped in to finally calm the incident.
The Ilvermorny students who were watching had a great time and they kept complaining about it in private.
"The players from Castrobishe showed no mercy at all. They directly said that the players from the Institute of Magic were useless. Even two of them were eliminated in the first match."
"The students of the Institute of Magic didn't pamper the Brazilian contestants. After all, they couldn't even brew a potion of perfect quality. Their level is not worthy of participating in the competition."
"The students in the magic school don't speak English very well. When they quarrel, they dance around and it looks like they are making hand seals. I thought they were casting some special spells with hand gestures, but it turned out to be nothing."
"If you ask me, why are you arguing? Why don't you just pick up your wands and fight? You are so long-winded and have no blood at all."
In addition to complaining about the performance of Castrobishe and the students of the School of Magic, the students of Ilvermorny also gave many pointers to the other schools.
"The beauty from Beauxbatons is quite eye-catching, but this is a potion competition, not a beauty pageant. I wonder if her potion skills are as eye-catching as her beauty."
"There isn't even a single female contestant from Durmstrang. This is blatant discrimination. I can't imagine how miserable the girls there are."
"And Hogwarts actually brought two junior students. They must be related. By the way, did you observe their performance in the first game?"
"I didn't notice. The shrinking potion itself is a subject for lower grades. They probably just learned it not long ago. It's not surprising that they passed the first game. However, the next ones will be difficult for them."
"What's the big deal? Even if they fail, they can still write in their resumes that they participated in the Potions Championship and lost in the second round. We can't even write that in our resumes."
"These old schools are a thing of the past and cannot be compared with us. I think there is no suspense in the result of this year's competition. The Golden Crucible will definitely be ours."
Feeling that the tension between contestants from different schools had greatly increased, Sebastian directly called all the students back to the dormitory to review in peace to avoid conflicts that would affect their subsequent performance.
On Wednesday morning, the contestants were once again led by staff to the competition venue.
Unlike last time, all the potion ingredients were in a big black box. Before the competition started, the contestants could not see the specific types of potion ingredients.
Harry could only tell that there was the scent of phantom grass based on the smell, and this discovery made him smack his lips.
What a generous act!
Sniffweed is an extremely precious potion ingredient, with just one plant worth hundreds of gold Galleons. He had only seen it once in Professor Snape's collection.
I can remember it so clearly because of its unique fragrance.
If so many students now each have one plant, it can only mean that Ilvermorny is really wealthy.
By the way, Professor Snape said that phantom grass is the main ingredient for brewing potential potions. Could it be that the test question this time is to ask everyone to brew potential potions?
To be finished!
I have never learned how to brew this kind of potion. If I were to do this, I would be completely clueless today.
However, Professor Snape said that some of the ingredients for the Potency Potion had become extinct in the wizarding world, and even he had not collected a complete set of ingredients.
Is Ilvermorny so powerful?
Can you guarantee that all players will be provided with a complete set of potential potion materials?
Besides, Professor Snape has never brewed a potential potion, so how can the students present receive such high-level treatment?
Thinking of this, Harry felt a little relieved.
As the whistle sounded to signal the start of the game, the lid of the black box opened, revealing about thirty kinds of potion ingredients inside.
The rules of the competition are very clear. Contestants need to select all the ingredients for a potion from among the many potion ingredients and brew them.
Harry only took a quick glance and found more than one main ingredient for the potion.
He subconsciously chose to brew the euphoria agent.
However, when he was about to pick out all the ingredients for the ecstasy, he discovered that the ingredients were incomplete.
When he was about to change to endurance potion, he found that the material in the box was still missing a kind of fresh ivy.
It was not until then that he realized that the difficulty of this game was that although there were a lot of potion ingredients in the box, most of them were interference items.
The contestants need to use their knowledge to accurately select the only complete potion material, and the potion corresponding to that potion material is the second step of today's assessment target.
Thinking of this, Harry looked up at the other contestants and found that many students were still frowning as they identified the potion ingredients in the boxes.
Only a few players have already started a fire under the crucible.
The student from the magic institute on the front left may be in a hurry to show off, but he has already started adding materials to the crucible.
Um......
It seems to be one of the ingredients of ecstasy.
Harry silently lit a candle for the other person in his heart, then lowered his head and carefully selected the potion ingredients.
Valerian root, sleepy beans, fish scale grass......
These should all be the ingredients for the Living Hell Decoction. Could this be the target of today's assessment?
He looked carefully and found that the ingredients for the Living Hell Decoction were indeed complete.
very good!
After selecting the ingredients, all that's left is to brew the potion.
There was still an hour and fifteen minutes left in the game, so there was still plenty of time.
At this moment, the contestant from the Magic Institute suddenly shouted "Curatorial belt", then held his head with a painful look on his face. It was obvious that he had discovered that some materials were missing.
Harry shrugged and paid no more attention.
Just as Professor Snape said, carefulness is the most important quality of a potion master.
He picked up the silver knife and began to quickly cut the valerian root.
He then used a scale to weigh out the appropriate amount of valerian root and added it to the preheated crucible.
Soon, light blue steam began to rise from his crucible.
At this stage of the competition, several students had already failed and were walking to the sidelines with sad faces.
Harry paid no attention to the noise around him as he began to squeeze the beans with the side of his knife, then added the moisture from the beans to the cauldron.
Seeing this scene, the corners of Snape's mouth curled up slightly. He knew that if nothing unexpected happened, there would be no problem with Harry's potion making.
The other Hogwarts students were also making good progress; at least there were no major problems with their brewing process.
Now it depends on whether they can brew a potion of perfect quality that meets the promotion standards.
Sebastian's attention was not on the students. In his magical perception, some discord was rapidly magnifying.
He touched Snape's arm and spoke in a voice that only the two of them could hear.
"Severus, get your wand ready. I'm afraid something unexpected will happen in this match."
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