#144 - Ministry of Magic Rumors

The Gryffindor common room was quite lively on Tuesday evening.

Because tonight was the time when Hermione and the others' newly made clay figures were coming out of the kiln.

This time, many people temporarily joined in the making of the hand warmers, making the whole process more uncontrollable.

However, all of this had little to do with Moon; he only needed to make the molds, and then after the clay figures came out of the kiln,

he could cast the [Hand Warming Charm] on them respectively.

The whole process was very simple, just a wave of the wand.

After helping Ron light a clay rat that finally grew a tail, Moon pulled this very knowledgeable partner aside and asked about the Barnabus Finkley Outstanding Spellcasting Competition.

"Oh, where did you hear about him?"

Ron was very surprised; he already knew that Moon was a Muggle wizard.

Such a not-so-famous competition would only be known to those who have lived in the wizarding world for many years.

"It was Professor Flitwick; he suggested that I participate in this spellcasting competition."

Hearing that Moon planned to participate in the competition, the roommates and Hermione and the others curiously gathered around.

Seeing more and more people coming to support him, Ron happily explained the origin of the competition.

"The Barnabus Finkley Outstanding Spellcasting Competition.

You know, generally, competitions named after wizards mean that either the wizard himself is very good at this aspect, or his family behind him is very powerful."

"So what kind of competition is this?"

Seamus curiously came closer and asked.

"I don't know much about Barnabus Finkley, but their family is actually very famous in the British wizarding world."

Through Ron's introduction, Moon learned that the Finkley family would hold such a spellcasting competition every five years.

The antagonism of this competition is not very strong; the organizers will find some well-known wizards to evaluate the contestants' spellcasting process.

One of the most attractive parts is that at the end of the competition, the organizers will set up sudden and unexpected situations to test the contestants' ability to deal with them using spells.

"Every year, many wizards buy tickets to watch this sudden situation competition.

Because the content is very bizarre, the Daily Prophet often says, 'This is the most impossible accident in the wizarding world.'"

Hearing Ron say this, Moon suddenly felt that he was a little rash.

Even the wizards themselves think that those are impossible accidents, which makes it impossible for Moon to imagine what kind of bizarre accidents they would be.

"Most of the contestants are students from magic schools who are about to graduate; the Finkley family often extends olive branches to the winners of the competition."

"Does this family also do business?"

Moon asked curiously.

"Of course! I think they hold this competition to attract business for their family."

The Finkley family's business is to open various training courses for wizards.

There are rapid spellcasting training courses, practical household magic training courses, beginner's Transfiguration training courses, advanced potion-making classes..."

"Aren't these things taught in school?"

Hearing Ron say so many familiar magic learning courses, Moon became even more curious.

He couldn't understand why wizards would pay to sign up for such training courses.

"Don't say that, Moon; actually, not many wizards are like you and Hermione, who can learn all the courses very well in school."

Ron said the real situation of most students with a hint of envy.

"Okay, actually, I'm just a little curious; can this kind of business really make money?"

"Of course; you don't know that the wizarding world's employment environment is not very good to begin with; many people will specifically pay them to learn a skill, hoping to find a good job."

Moon had not been in contact with the wizarding world for a long time and was not clear about employment matters.

However, he faintly felt that there was something wrong with Ron's logic.

"Ron, didn't you just say that the Finkley family holds this competition to recruit graduating students as teachers for the training courses? How can students teach adults?"

Using graduating students as teachers, in Moon's view, was not very reasonable.

But Ron gave an unusual but very reasonable reason.

"You don't know; actually, for many wizards, the last year of school is often when they have the best magical strength in their lives.

After all, many people will never use the magical knowledge they learned in school after graduation."

Although Moon didn't understand very well, he could faintly feel that what Ron said was probably true.

"Okay, it seems that this competition is specifically set up for those graduating students."

After listening to Ron's explanation, Moon knew that getting those 100 Galleons might not be an easy task.

After all, the Finkley family had its own considerations when holding such a competition.

"Don't say that, Moon; actually, I think you have a good chance of winning. As far as I know, Percy is not as good as you at the [Petrification Charm]."

Ron's statement was affirmed by Harry, Seamus, and Neville.

They had all seen Moon continuously cast the [Petrification Charm] in the spell practice classroom, beating [Snape] until he cried.

Hermione also thought the same; although she was more envious that Moon could be selected by Professor Flitwick to participate in the competition, it did not prevent her from affirming Moon's strength.

"Are there any requirements for this competition?"

Hermione also asked Moon eagerly.

"Oh, Professor Flitwick said that there are no other restrictions besides the age limit of 18."

Seeing that Hermione was very interested, Moon repeated the competition rules that Professor Flitwick had told him.

On the other side, Ron was continuing to talk about the Finkley family's secrets.

"Actually, as long as you pay attention to the news from the Ministry of Magic, you will know that the Finkley family has always supported Barty Crouch before the current Minister Fudge came to power, but they bet on the wrong treasure..."

Men seem to be inherently interested in political affairs, and little wizards are no exception.

After Ron shifted the topic to the Ministry of Magic, more and more little wizards participated in the discussion, and the rumors about the Ministry of Magic became more and more outrageous.

Neville said that his great-uncle had always warned him to stay away from the people of the Ministry of Magic because there might be werewolves lurking inside.

Fred said that the Ministry of Magic had been conducting secret activities, even controlling the Muggle political elections.

George said that the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic hid the biggest secret in the wizarding world, and dark wizards often went there to steal it.

Moon guessed that most of what they said was not the truth.

After all, the twins had said not long ago that the ultimate secret of the wizarding world was the Small Curse, but this time it had become the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic again.

Listening to the little wizards becoming more and more outrageous, Moon gradually became a little interested in this mysterious department.

"Does the Department of Mysteries really hide many secrets?"

"Of course, including the people who work inside, anything they do is top secret."

Ron introduced that his dad had two friends in the Department of Mysteries.

When they came to their house as guests, no one was allowed to ask about their work.

Moon noticed that Harry was obviously nervous when everyone was talking about the Department of Mysteries.

Especially when Ron mentioned the Hall of Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries.

Harry unconsciously touched the lightning scar on his forehead.