The title of the announcent imdiately piqued everyone's curiosity.
"May Challenge?" Padma wondered. "Does that an there's also a June Challenge or sothing?"
"A monthly event?" Michael said excitedly. "That sounds aweso!"
"Could the June Challenge be the final exams?"
A voice from behind suddenly dampened everyone's mood. Turning around, they saw, as expected, Hermione.
The girl looked particularly eager and nodded to herself as she said, "Final exams aren't far off. We really should be focusing."
"Forget about June for now!" Fred, also stuck outside the crowd, stretched his neck and shouted to the people inside, "Wood, what else does it say?"
Gryffindor team captain Oliver Wood continued reading the notice aloud, using magic to amplify his voice.
"The May Challenge… This event will take place on Saturday, May 16th, starting at 10 a.m. The challenge target will be an enlarged ball python."
"Students, please note that the ball python is Professor Kettleburn's personal pet. Therefore, the following spells are prohibited: Severing Charm, Incendio, Conjunctivitis Curse, Entrail-Expelling Curse…"
What followed was a list of banned spells, along with a reminder that poison-related curses were also forbidden.
Then ca the rules and victory conditions.
This competition leaned more towards fun and wasn't entirely fair. Teams would draw lots to determine their order of entry, face a series of challenges, and finally confront the ball python.
Originally a docile creature, the python would be magically angered for the event. Participants would need to dodge its attacks and ensure their own safety while leaving their team's na on the python's scales.
The team whose na was closest to the red flag on the python's forehead would be crowned the champion.
"Oh, damn it!" soone from the Slytherin crowd cursed angrily. "I've been practicing the Conjunctivitis Curse for two weeks!"
Clearly, they had gotten an early tip but hadn't received complete information.
Michael and George exchanged mischievous grins and gave each other a low five.
"What are you all doing?"
At the castle's entrance, Filch stood with a sour expression and glared at the crowd of students.
"No loitering or noisy gatherings in the hallways!"
Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff bravely shouted, "There's no such rule in the school handbook!"
Filch looked around with a dark scowl but couldn't pinpoint who had spoken. He let out a cold snort and said, "If you keep blocking the hall like this, there will be a rule soon! Now move along!"
The crowd finally began to inch forward. As they passed the entrance hall, Wade nodded at Filch, who returned a slight nod with his lips curving just barely for a fleeting mont.
Then, Filch imdiately stiffened his face again and shouted harshly at the students behind to hurry along.
When Wade and Michael entered, they saw Harry and his friends already seated at the far end of the Hufflepuff table. Seeing them, Theo imdiately stood up and waved.
The two walked over, and the surrounding Hufflepuff students considerately made space for them.
One inconvenient thing about Hogwarts was that even during als, students were usually expected to sit at their respective House tables.
For groups like SSC, a group made up of students from different Houses, al tis often ant being separated, making conversation difficult. Gradually, they'd gotten used to sitting together at the sa table.
While Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students tended to have a more exclusive mindset, Hufflepuffs were much more accommodating. Even if students from other Houses sat at their table, the Hufflepuffs usually didn't mind.
In fact, they'd often push the tastiest food toward them.
For the Hufflepuffs, having students from other Houses feel welco was sothing to be proud of.
"Honestly, Wade, if you joined our team, we'd have a great chance at winning the championship," Padma said.
Wade shook his head. "If we won, people might think it was because of . Besides, you already have Harry on your team. Your chances are pretty good."
"—?" Harry looked up, puzzled, still chewing on a chicken leg.
When everyone turned their gaze to him, Harry blushed deeply and waved his hands nervously. "Don't forget there are lots of sixth- and seventh-years competing! They know way more magic than we do."
"No need to be so modest, Harry," Wade said with a smile. "You already know enough spells to handle it. Plus, based on the scoring criteria this ti, you have a significant advantage over others."
"Advantage? What kind of advantage?" Ryan asked, glancing between Harry and Wade.
Although everyone in SSC acknowledged Harry's talent in combat magic, the idea that he could outperform sixth- and seventh-years seed like an exaggeration.
Wade made a gesture for silence with his finger and said, "That's a secret. If I say it, other teams might prepare for it too."
"Oh…" Though Theo didn't quite understand, he nodded anyway.
"But to win the championship, you first need to get past the initial obstacles," Wade added. "If you fall in the early stages, it'll all be for nothing."
"Actually, I've already analyzed most of the creatures, insects, and magical plants likely to appear in the maze, along with their distribution patterns."
With a dramatic flourish, Hermione pulled out a thick notebook and added, "I've also written down the simplest spells to deal with them and mapped out a route with the fewest obstacles."
"Hermione, you're amazing!" Michael exclaid, grabbing the notebook and flipping through a few pages. "This is so detailed… When did you even do this?"
"Uh… just over the past few weeks," Hermione said, a bit nervously. "I, um, thought you all might find it useful."
"Of course, it's incredibly useful!"
Michael passed the notebook around for everyone else to see. When he turned back, he noticed Padma pressing her lips together, looking sowhat displeased.
Stretching his arm, Michael reached over to the other end of the table and grabbed a serving of strawberry mousse cake. "Wow, they've got this cake today. I rember you said last ti you really wanted to try it!"
Padma accepted it, finally showing a small smile.
anwhile, as the others browsed Hermione's notebook, Ryan asked Wade, "While we're all in the competition, what are you planning to do? Join the professors as a judge?"
"No," Wade replied. "Fred, George, and I have been working on fixing the two-way mirror recently. It's more or less functional now. I'm planning to test it out during the event that day."
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⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- 231 Chapters
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