Study Days at Hogwarts

"It should be right here."

Albert looked up at the sign of the coffee shop, then looked down at the watch on his wrist. After making sure that there was no danger around him, he pushed the door open and walked into the Muggle shop in front of him with his suitcase. His eyes swept over the customers in the coffee shop. , fell on the middle-aged man who was drinking coffee in the corner. He raised his feet and walked towards him, greeting him in fluent French.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

"I've been waiting for half an hour."

"I'm sorry, I was delayed a bit on the way."

If the shopkeeper at the counter could understand French, he would definitely expose this asshole who just came here five minutes ago. It's a pity that he doesn't understand French.

What seems like a normal conversation is actually a code exchange between the two parties.

After all, both of them had drank the compound potion, so they naturally could not recognize each other's identity. They could only use secret codes to communicate with each other. While confirming each other's identity, they also avoided being discovered by others and causing unnecessary trouble to Bard.

This conversation was as ordinary as two friends meeting up. No one would doubt their identities.

After the conversation, the two exchanged business cards, shook hands with a smile, and then paid and left directly under the astonished eyes of the boss.

"The coffee here is terrible," Bud whispered.

"Maybe you should order a cup of hot cocoa." Albert joked with a smile.

"I tried, but the boss told me they don't sell hot cocoa here." Bud looked helpless.

"He didn't kick you out?"

Albert's face twitched slightly, not knowing what expression he should show.

"Are you really going to compete?"

The two of them turned a corner and headed towards the outskirts of the city.

Albert heard something in the other person's words, raised his eyebrows slightly and asked: "Is there any problem?"

"Two days ago, I got some bad news." Bard lowered his voice and said, "Your situation seems not to be good. I'm worried that something will happen during the game. Although there will be many Aurors around, if they If I want to harm you, there are many ways..."

"Don't worry, I just received the news that someone is planning to come over to watch the game." Albert said meaningfully: "The principal and the group of people around him, so I think even if someone comes from the other side, they won't show up. Question. After all, he himself is still a strong deterrent. Moreover, I have secretly placed people on their side. Even if there is any plan, I will know it as soon as possible, at most during the game. It’s a little messy.”

"He didn't stay at school and came to watch the game?" After hearing the news, Bud frowned instead of breathing a sigh of relief.

"Is there something wrong?" Albert asked doubtfully.

"I'm worried that he will drag you into the water." Bud reminded, "That guy's every move is being watched, and... in short, you have to pay attention to yourself. Although that guy is a good person, sometimes in order to achieve a certain He doesn’t mind sacrificing for some purposes. I think you should know something that his club often says.”

"Some things are worth dying for." Albert murmured softly.

Bud was helpless. He asked Albert to participate in the International Wizarding Duel Competition, just to make him gain some fame.

Reputation is actually quite useful for Albert, especially as a Muggle wizard. If the surname Smith is used externally... it is obviously impossible... so Albert needs to use countless halos to shut up others. And he happens to have this ability.

Who knew that Voldemort would suddenly return and target Albert.

After the news about the appearance of the Dark Mark spread in France, although Bard didn't get much news, he wanted to know that this matter had something to do with Albert. Who asked him to go to Nicola Village to visit Nicola Flamel? Bud even suspected that the Dark Mark was placed by Albert, and only he could come up with such a cunning operation.

"Okay, I'll take you to a temporary residence first, and give up the game if necessary." Bud continued to warn, "Your safety is more important than anything else, you have to promise me."

"I will." Albert comforted with a smile, "I never do anything I'm not sure about."

Bud's safe house is located outside Madrid's suburbs. The house is large, but it looks old.

At first, Bard put a lot of effort into buying this place and using the Loyalty Charm on the house to turn it into a safe house.

As for the use, I understand everything.

I know there are not many people here, and no one would come here usually.

After entering the house, several people were shocked by the scene inside. It looked like a haunted house, and the roof was damaged due to years of disrepair.

"How long have you been here?"

Albert used his wand to brush away the cobwebs above his head expressionlessly, and turned his head to ask Bud.

"About thirty years." Bud said awkwardly, "You know, it's normal for some things to become like this due to lack of maintenance. You don't live here anyway."

"I wouldn't be surprised if a ghost suddenly appeared here." Katrina muttered.

Isobel stared at the several well-preserved portraits of handsome men and women on the walls of the hall, and looked thoughtfully at the old man in front of her. She seemed to have guessed the purpose of this place.

"Do you need Kara to clean up?" the house elf asked sharply.

"No, you have other tasks." Albert glanced at the portraits, then looked at the old man in front of him and asked, "Can these paintings be placed here?"

"Since you don't live there anyway, there shouldn't be any problems in this regard." Bard coughed lightly and changed the subject, "No, just let them stay here."

As if to change the subject, Bard began to tell Albert about the registration methods and precautions for the International Wizarding Duel Competition.

"Are you going to continue betting?" Albert suddenly asked.

"That's not a good idea."

Bud didn't want to place a bet because he didn't want to put any pressure on Albert, lest he be tied up at a critical moment and unable to leave as soon as he encountered danger.

"I saw in the crystal ball my duel championship trophy." Albert hinted.

"This should be considered cheating!"

Katrina understood the conversation between the two and couldn't help but widen her eyes.

"This is called investing in yourself." Albert corrected.

"No wonder you are so rich." Katrina glanced at Isobel secretly. She felt that Isobel probably knew these things.

"If you want to invest in me, I don't mind." Albert said with a smile, "We can make money together."

"Let's forget it." Katrina shook her head.

"Then we invest ten Galleons in you." Isobel glanced at her sister, casually reported a number, took out a handful of Galleons from her pocket and handed it to Albert.

"Of course it's no problem." Albert looked at Bud, who obviously didn't care, and said with a smile, "It's okay to see it, it's okay to see it, but if you lose money, don't blame me."

Bud didn't mind even more. He gave the two sisters some pocket money, which wasn't much anyway. The most important thing was that everyone was happy.

Before leaving, Bud did not forget to warn: "In short, pay attention to safety, this is more important than anything else."

"You have such a good relationship." Katrina was surprised by the relationship between the two. If she didn't know better, she would have thought that Bud was Albert's grandfather.

After Albert settled down for the time being, he went to the registration office of the Spanish Ministry of Magic alone to register for the International Wizarding Duel Competition. The registration process was almost the same as what Bard said. There was a special area to register players. In order to deal with wizards from all over the world , there was a witch who helped translate next to the wizard who was responsible for registration, and Albert found that the other person was still an acquaintance.

"Long time no see, Ms. Diana?" Albert greeted the witch with a smile.

"Are you really planning to participate in the International Wizarding Duel Competition?" Diana looked at Albert up and down and asked with a slight eyebrow raise.

"Yes, I plan to try it." Albert nodded.

"Do you know each other?"

Another wizard looked at Albert and raised his eyebrows slightly.

"I know you." Diana said.

"I suggest you persuade him to give up the competition." The wizard lowered his voice and reminded, "You should know how cruel the duel competition is, so as not to hurt your friends."

Different from previous dueling competitions, today's dueling competitions are more dangerous, and throwing black magic at each other is a common thing.

Moreover, Albert is still young and obviously does not know the dangers of the world. Some guys will even do some extreme things in order to win the championship prize.

"It's useless, and don't underestimate that guy." Diana obviously didn't think she could convince Albert. She is also very aware of Albert's strength, because some unscrupulous old guy plans to buy him to win the final championship.

I had only seen this kind of cool operation not long ago.

If you are not sure, the other party will obviously not do that.

Moreover, as far as she knew, the person in front of her was the champion of the Triwizard Tournament. Not long ago, he killed a fire dragon on his own, and he was much more ferocious than most contestants.

Diana patiently taught Albert the rules of the International Wizarding Duel Competition, and reminded him that he could not use the Unforgivable Curse or try to kill his opponent, especially when the opponent surrendered, lost the ability to continue fighting, or after the referee announced the result. Continue to attack or you will be disqualified.

Finally, Albert also signed a magic contract, proving that he took the initiative to participate in this game. If he died accidentally during the game, the event party had nothing to do with it.

As for the inability to use black magic, that naturally does not exist. There will be dark wizards participating in every session.

Yes, it's the dark wizard.

This is also the reason why the wizard just now hoped that he would not participate, because Albert does look like a fledgling rookie, and he can only serve as cannon fodder if he participates.

It is worth mentioning that the Spanish Ministry of Magic did not build a large stadium like the British Ministry of Magic, but borrowed a Muggle venue. The duel competition was held on a large football field in the Muggle suburbs, which could accommodate tens of thousands of people. audience.

Wizards will use spells to expel Muggles on a large scale around the football field, and also use a barrier to cover the entire stadium to ensure that Muggles will not notice anything strange about the stadium.

Of course, in order to avoid attracting Muggle attention, the International Wizarding Duel Competition will be held at night.

After being informed of the venue of the Duel Competition, Albert, with the help of Diana, bought tickets for three people for three days. It felt like watching the Quidditch World Cup, and the tickets for the Duel Competition were particularly expensive. It cost a few hundred galleons in total!

However, Albert didn't care about Galleon's problem. Anyway, Bard had already found someone to help place the bet.

As long as someone dared to open a bet, he would dare to place a bet. Who made Albert predict that he would win the world trophy!

However, there are not many such opportunities anymore.

Based on what we learned last time, if we do it again, there is a 80% chance that we will be blacklisted by the gambling bureau.

…

Returning to the temporary residence, Albert told the McDougal sisters about the duel competition.

"Why did they choose to use Muggle buildings? Are they really not worried about causing any trouble?" Katrina asked in confusion.

"Because it's cheap and you can make a lot of money. Setting up a stage by yourself costs money and time. Why do you think the Spanish Ministry of Magic organizes the dueling competition seriously and offers high bonuses to the champions?"

A duel between two powerful wizards is very rare in the wizarding world, so many people are willing to spend money to watch the game, especially the last day of the game. Not only are the tickets expensive, but they are also hard to get. There is no way. Who makes watching a wizard duel more exciting than watching a Quidditch match?

Albert can buy it entirely because he is a player, and the tournament provides convenience to the players.

The duel competition lasts for three days in total and implements a one-round elimination system.

It is said that hundreds of wizards will participate, and each person will need to play three games on the first day to select the top sixty-four.

Then, proceed to the next round of screening.

The huge amount of championship prize money makes every duel competition quite fierce, and it also attracts a large number of spectators. The funniest thing is that the Spanish Ministry of Magic actually allows dark wizards to participate, and these dark wizards are also one of the highlights of the duel competition.

Of course, participating dark wizards cannot cause trouble on the competition field, otherwise the Aurors will send them to hell at any time.

Although many wizards have protested this matter, in order to make the competition more enjoyable and to fill their own pockets, the regulations that allow dark wizards to participate have never been deleted. After all, dark wizards are also a major selling point. Especially when a powerful wizard defeats a dark wizard, the scene is always very lively. The most important thing is that there are actually very few cases where dark wizards win the duel championship, because in regular competitions, some of their conspiracy methods cannot be used. Use it. Once you lose and attack someone else secretly, the Aurors who maintain order have the right to kill them on the spot. This kind of thing has indeed happened before, but if it happens a few times, more dark wizards will die, and no dark wizard will dare to do this. Done.

There is no way, the life of the dark wizard is also life. Most of the people who come to participate in the competition are seeking money, and no one will even risk their own life.

If there are really crazy guys, the patrolling Aurors around them will give them a look and put a bounty on their heads. This is an open secret.

As for where the Aurors come from?

The number of Aurors in Spain is not enough, so they can naturally borrow them from other countries. Some Aurors in France and Germany are willing to accept invitations to help.

As long as you are willing to come and help, you can have a lot of extra income.

Who wouldn't?