Chapter 821 Actors
Albert was stunned by the variety of magic displayed on the stage. Barnabus Finkley's excellent spell casting competition actually felt like a circus.
But it is undeniable that most of the wizards who dare to participate in the competition have a few skills. At least those contestants on stage are not too bad in magic.
Some people conjured up a flock of birds and performed a "hundreds of birds paying homage to the phoenix" in front of everyone; others used magic wands to direct the puppets to perform an elegant dance; and some even performed the trick of breathing fire from their mouths.
However, the one who attracts the most attention at the moment is probably a middle-aged wizard in his forties. He used Animagus to transform and directly transformed into an owl. He flew around the stage before transforming into an owl again. The human form attracted a burst of exclamations and applause from the audience.
However, as long as the number of participants is large, there will naturally be no shortage of players to pull the strings.
Especially the group of young guys, the magic they showed to everyone was relatively average. Among them, there was a man in his early twenties who made frequent mistakes because he was too nervous, making himself the focus of the competition.
The man finally walked off the stage with his head lowered, and also left the bar directly. He was probably too embarrassed to stay, for fear that he would become the laughingstock of others.
The team advanced very quickly, and everyone only had a moment before it was almost Albert's turn.
The young man in front of him stumbled onto the stage and showed everyone the magic of turning a paper bird into a real bird. As a result, the bird flew above his head for a while, then fell directly onto the stage, attracting Sporadic laughter.
Albert saw the referees not far away shaking their heads inconspicuously, and seemed to be writing something on the paper.
“Let us welcome player No. 17.” Diana read out the player number on the registration form. However, this time she didn’t just call out the player’s number like before. She actually said a few more words: “It’s worth mentioning that player No. 17 is participating in this competition. The youngest contestant in the competition is currently only sixteen years old and is still a student at Hogwarts, so we will see."
Albert took a deep breath and stepped onto the stage.
The moment he stepped onto the stage, Albert could feel everyone's eyes focused on him, and being watched by a group of people did not affect his performance much.
Albert began to concentrate and eliminate distracting thoughts.
Then, he raised his wand and shook it slightly, and an old armchair appeared out of thin air in front of Albert.
With the second wave of Albert's wand, the armchair turned into a lion. It stood up from the ground and rubbed Albert with its slightly rough mane, like a docile domestic cat. Then, the lion circled around Albert, seemingly dissatisfied with the eyes staring here, and let out a heart-shaking roar toward the audience below the stage.
At this moment, the wizards closest to the stage involuntarily clenched their wands to prevent the lion from suddenly jumping towards them.
However, their worries were completely unnecessary. Albert waved his magic wand twice and the lion disappeared.
After demonstrating his transformation magic, Albert walked off the stage under the gaze of countless people.
There is no doubt that he just used a very powerful transformation spell. What surprised them even more was Albert's talent in transformation. He could achieve this level so easily at this age, and his calmness also surprised them. People looked at him differently. Even Diana, who acted as the referee, was very satisfied with the magic displayed by Albert. She even saw the five referees nodding with satisfaction.
“A very powerful transformation spell.”
Even Rodris had to admit that Bard was right. Albert was indeed a very powerful genius.
Generally speaking, the larger the size, the harder it is to transform, not to mention that the lion has no flaws, it is a pretty perfect transformation magic.
The game is still going on, and Albert finds that most young people come to the game for other reasons. They are often the most nervous ones, and nervousness is contagious most of the time, causing most players to participate in competitions in a nervous mood. As you can imagine, trophies, bonuses, medals and even beauties follow them. It doesn't matter.
As a result, many players who knew that they would be eliminated looked at Albert with envy and jealousy.
After all, Albert is currently the most promising player to win the championship. The most important thing is that he is only sixteen years old, and he is the same age as Miss Yanila. They are a perfect match.
A strong citric acid spread quietly in the bar.
“I really don’t know why they came to participate in the competition.” Albert naturally guessed what was going on, ignored the gazes of those people, and chatted with Rodris next to him about the magic performance on the stage.
"You have no problem passing the first round of screening." Bud introduced the competition process to Albert while flipping through today's "Bullfighting Daily". "After the first round of screening, sixteen contestants will be selected from all the contestants. Players.”
“The second round is the real selection of wizards with excellent spell casting skills, and the top few contestants are usually selected to enter the third round.”
"The third round consists of two parts: the upper and lower parts. The first part is a gathering similar to a communication meeting between the players and five referees. The referees will also talk to you individually about the techniques of casting spells, and ask you to give them to them individually. Show it and determine whether you are eligible for the gold medal." Bud was very satisfied with Albert's performance.
Albert was not surprised by this step-by-step selection process.
After all, the energy of those veteran referees is limited, and it is impossible to directly select the champion from countless contestants. It would take a lot of energy, and it is hard to say how credible it is.
After completing the first round of the competition, he calmly watched the performances on the stage. Occasionally he would talk to the two old men next to him about the level of the players on the stage, as if everything had nothing to do with him.
The game lasted until half past eight in the evening, but no one was impatient because it was a wonderful and interesting show for them. During this period, a lot of jokes were made. For example, a boy was so nervous that he fainted before he could even take the stage.
There was also a contestant who actually conjured a bouquet of roses during the performance and gave the roses to Miss Yanila in the audience on the spot.
After being accepted by Yanila graciously, he was even more excited and flushed, as if the other party had accepted his confession.
The man's move earned him a round of boos. Later, when Albert was having dinner, he heard that he had been beaten up.
As for Albert’s other alumnus, Terrence Higgs, although his performance is better than most of the young wizards, he is still a first-round player.
Terrence was not surprised by this result, but old Higgs almost turned his nose in anger. Originally, he did not expect his grandson to win the championship, so he just brought his grandson here to show his face and get to know everyone.
However, everyone is afraid of comparison.
Albert was so dazzling. Not only did he show his extraordinary talent for transformation, he also easily passed the first round.
Everyone in the bar is talking about No. 17 now, and some people have even started placing bets on whether the youngest contestant in history can become the final champion and take away the final gold medal.
The youngest contestant, the youngest genius, the youngest champion, and the youngest Barnabus Finkley gold medal winner for excellent spell casting skills.
In order to make people place their bets firmly, the dealer at the opening even revealed the identities of Albert, the youngest international wizard chess champion and the champion of the magic school potions championship.
For a time, the genius shrouded in countless haloes appeared on the "Bullfighting Daily", and countless wizards waved their money bags to join the carnival.
"They have modified your odds. It seems that they are still somewhat confident that you will win the competition." Rodres smiled and handed the "Bullfighting Daily" to Albert, turned around and asked: "Old man, are you planning to win?" Note?"
“I bet 50 Galleons that Albert will win the gold medal.” Bud looked at Rodres with a smile: “Do you want to join us? I guarantee you won’t lose.”
Rodris smiled and said nothing. He was actually betting that Albert could pass the second round.
"Is this thing reliable?" Albert has found his own odds in the newspaper. The odds of winning the championship are 2.5 times (originally 4 times), and betting on him to win the gold medal is 8 times the odds. Betting on being eliminated only has 0.3 times the odds, and betting on passing the second round has 0.8 odds.
In the eyes of most people, Albert has a high chance of being eliminated. No one would believe that a sixteen-year-old underage wizard could really win the Barnabus Finkley Championship or Gold Medal for Excellent Spellcasting Techniques.
“Is this thing reliable?” Albert asked again.
“You also want to place a bet?” Bud frowned and looked at Albert. Under normal circumstances, contestants are not allowed to place bets, but there are always ways to get around this problem, such as asking someone to help place bets.
“Reliable, this is a bet between the Bullfight Daily and the Spanish Ministry of Magic.”
"The Spanish Ministry of Magic is also involved?" Albert was a little surprised.
“It is nominally a gambling bureau run by Bullfighting Daily, but the Spanish Ministry of Magic guarantees it.” Rodres explained.
“I’ll go see how many galleons there are.” Albert muttered, threw down the remaining food and went upstairs.
Of course, this is just an excuse. Albert went upstairs to do a divination for himself. He felt that he had no reason not to make this money.
The white mist in the crystal ball continued to rotate, and Albert saw Yanila putting the gold medal on the neck of Albert, who was holding the trophy, and next to him were reporters who were filming them.
Albert was very satisfied with the picture in the crystal ball. He won the gold medal, completed the task, and was able to transfer a large amount of Galleons.
As for not bringing enough galleons?
This did not trouble Albert. He took out his double-sided mirror and contacted the house elf, asking Bit to go to Gringotts to get the money and bring the money over.
When Albert went downstairs, Rodris had already left, and Bud was talking to the bar owner Diana.
“How much do you plan to press?” Bud asked Albert with a smile.
"I plan to press myself to win the gold medal." Albert continued to sit down and eat.
"You are very confident!" Diana reminded with a smile: "However, the gold medal is not that easy to win. At least there is no precedent for an underage wizard to win the gold medal. As far as I know, the youngest known winner is Mr. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts."
"I have good luck." Albert finished his food quickly and returned to his room to wait for the house elf to deliver the galleons.
"This has nothing to do with luck." Diana looked at Albert's back walking upstairs and asked Bud: "Do you think he can win the gold medal?"
"I have confidence in him." Bud looked at Albert's back, turned to Diana and said, "But don't have any ideas about him, Albert is already engaged."
"Engagement, are you sure? He is not yet an adult yet, and he should be preparing for sixth grade at Hogwarts, right?" Diana couldn't help but frown, thinking that Bud was lying to him.
"Yes, we're engaged." Bud nodded and said, "He plans to get married after graduation. Yanila has no chance, so don't be so petty."
"Don't you think highly of him?" Diana was a little angry, "Why do you want to stop him?"
"Because I hope she can freely choose her own happiness." Bud said calmly, "You know very well whether you have been happy or not in these years."
“Then why didn’t you stop me in the first place.” Diana gritted her teeth and walked away.
"Because I couldn't stop it at that time!" Bud looked at Diana's back and sighed softly: "Besides, that was your choice, wasn't it?"
Albert was unaware of the conversation between the two. He had just received a heavy bag of money from the house elf Bit.
Opportunities like this are rare, and Albert intends to make a fortune.
As for how much pressure to press at that time, we have to discuss it with Bud in advance.
After Albert finished taking a shower, he took the bag of gold coins and knocked on the door of the next door.
"What's up?"
Bard's eyes fell on the money bag in Albert's hand, and he immediately realized something.
"I plan to push myself to win the gold medal." Albert put the bag of galleons in front of Bud and said straight to the point.
“All?” Bud looked at the bag of galleons that Albert put in front of him, and suddenly remembered something.
Albert will predict!
"Yes, all of them. However, I'm a little worried about whether they can afford the loss." Albert briefly expressed his worries. If he couldn't afford the compensation, he would run away or default on the debt. Sometimes he really couldn't believe that someone The integrity of some people.
“How many are there?” Bud picked up the gold coin and weighed it.
“1,000 Galleons.” Albert said honestly.
“Isn’t it a little too crazy?” Bud muttered in his mouth. However, in the end, he did not reject Albert's proposal, "This requires finding someone to share the bets, and I have to find some old friends for help. However, if I win, each person has to take out a hundred Galleons as a reward. Pay to keep their mouths shut.”
“Win-win, I understand that.” Albert said he knew it.
(End of this chapter)