So this was a school that arrived with its own background music.
That was certainly something new.
Then a girl who looked remarkably young stepped out of the carriage.
A crown rested upon her head.
She wore an ornate ceremonial robe and carried a sceptre in one hand.
As she appeared, the blizzard behind the carriage began to subside.
A single beam of sunlight pierced through the clouds and landed directly upon her, bathing her entire figure in a faint golden glow.
Leading the twelve young men, the girl slowly approached Dumbledore.
Only after she came to a stop did the musicians finally cease their performance.
"Yekaterina, Deputy Headmistress of Koldovstoretz School of Magic. On behalf of Headmaster Romanov, I extend his sincere greetings to you."
The girl bowed politely to Dumbledore before introducing herself.
"A very imaginative entrance."
A faint smile appeared on Dumbledore's face.
"This way, please, Miss Yekaterina."
"Thank you."
Leading the Koldovstoretz delegation, Yekaterina walked to a position beside the Mahoutokoro formation under the curious gazes of the crowd.
"Koldovstoretz only brought twelve people."
Daphne felt she had discovered an important detail.
"Doesn't that become thirteen if you count Yekaterina?" Astoria replied.
"Huh? But isn't she the deputy headmistress of Koldovstoretz?"
Daphne's eyes widened immediately.
"As long as she meets the tournament's age requirements, she's perfectly eligible to compete. Even a headmaster could participate if they qualified."
Astoria continued explaining in a low voice, leaving Daphne thoroughly shocked.
A school was actually exploiting a loophole by sending its deputy headmistress as a competitor?
Did they have no shame at all?!
"She doesn't look older than twenty at most. Of course she qualifies."
Rhys spoke calmly.
A deputy headmistress competing was hardly worth mentioning.
As for certain other schools...
Forget it.
There was no point arguing over technicalities.
With Koldovstoretz now present, only two of the world's eight great magical schools remained absent: Brazil's Castelobruxo and America's Ilvermorny.
Fortunately, neither school kept everyone waiting long.
Only a few minutes after Koldovstoretz's arrival, Dumbledore blinked and announced that Castelobruxo's delegation had arrived.
Or rather, they had actually been the first visitors from another school to reach Hogwarts.
"Pomona, if you would."
Turning around, Dumbledore addressed a kindly-looking middle-aged witch.
Professor Sprout stepped out from the line of professors and walked onto the lawn before the assembled crowd.
Reaching into her robes, she produced a single seed.
She planted it in the grass.
The next moment, a tender shoot burst through the earth.
Growing rapidly before everyone's eyes, it soon became a giant plant resembling a pea vine, nearly as tall as Hagrid's hut.
Once it reached its full size, the plant stopped growing.
Then it produced an enormous pod.
The people present gradually realised what was about to happen.
The pod, roughly the size of a small boat, gradually swelled.
Then, with a loud pop, more than a dozen wizards dressed in bright green robes tumbled onto the lawn.
Having scattered its "seeds," the plant instantly withered and collapsed. Within seconds, it had completely decayed and merged back into the grass.
The witch at the front bent down and dug the seed out of the soil. With a solemn expression, she carefully tucked it away.
Only after doing so did she turn to Dumbledore and reveal a bright smile.
"Professor Albus Dumbledore, it is an honour to meet you. I am Samantha Cuiara, Headmistress of Castelobruxo and Professor of Herbology."
Like the other headmasters and headmistresses, Castelobruxo's leader exchanged a few polite words with Dumbledore, the internationally renowned wizard, before leading her school's delegation toward the combined formation of the visiting schools.
Now only Ilvermorny remained.
The professors and students of Hogwarts had mixed feelings about Ilvermorny.
Because Ilvermorny's founder had deep ties to Hogwarts, Hogwarts people naturally felt a certain sense of kinship toward the American school. However, in recent years, Ilvermorny had seemingly been trying to challenge Hogwarts for the title of the world's greatest magical school. (The other magical schools: ???)
As a result, many Hogwarts students found the people of Ilvermorny slightly irritating.
It was somewhat similar to the relationship between the British and Americans before the Second World War.
One side viewed the other as an upstart branch that had grown out of itself, while the other thought the old relic should have started handing over its gold long ago.
Times had changed!
It was practically a father-and-son relationship.
Rhys felt the same way.
In his eyes, Ilvermorny was basically Hogwarts' North American branch campus.
In this tournament, they could lose to anyone else, but absolutely not to Ilvermorny.
Second place was acceptable.
First place was not.
Just as everyone was speculating about how Ilvermorny would make its entrance, the school answered the question itself.
A roaring sound came from the sky.
Then, to everyone's astonishment, an aeroplane broke through the clouds and descended beside the Black Lake.
At first glance, the aircraft looked no different from one used by Muggle airlines.
If there was any difference at all, it was that, like Mr Weasley's Ford Anglia, this plane could turn invisible.
Hogwarts had the Hogwarts Express.
Ilvermorny had an Ilvermorny airliner.
It could only be said that the school truly deserved its reputation as a magical institution descended from Hogwarts.
As Ilvermorny's students began filing out of the aircraft one after another, Hermione could be heard nearby giving a rapid, hushed introduction to the school.
Like Hogwarts, Ilvermorny was divided into four houses:
Horned Serpent House, Wampus House, Thunderbird House, and Pukwudgie House.
Ilvermorny's students, like those of Hogwarts, underwent a Sorting Ceremony upon enrolment, conducted in full view of everyone.
They were first led into the circular entrance hall of the castle, where four wooden carvings representing the four houses stood.
The new students would line up along the wall in a circle and be called one by one to stand upon Gordian Knot, located at the centre of the stone floor, where they would be judged by the statues.
The four enchanted carvings would decide whether they wished to admit the student into their house. If a student earned a statue's approval, it would react accordingly.
"Like Hogwarts, Ilvermorny's four houses each have their own admission standards. Horned Serpent represents the wisdom of witches and wizards and tends to favour scholars. Pukwudgie represents the heart of witches and wizards, and its students are often kind-hearted healers. Thunderbird represents the soul of witches and wizards, and its students are usually people who enjoy adventure. As for Wampus House—"
Upon hearing this, Rhys felt it sounded oddly familiar.
Wasn't this just Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor under different names?
Then Wampus House must be Ilvermorny's version of Slytherin!
But unexpectedly—
"—Wampus House represents the body of witches and wizards and places greater value on warriors."
When Hermione said this, her expression was somewhat strange as well, because Wampus House and Thunderbird House clearly overlapped somewhat in the type of students they accepted.
As a result, one house ended up looking rather awkward.
Rhys: ???
Wait.
What exactly is Ilvermorny trying to pull here???
You copied the other three Hogwarts houses, but somehow managed to optimise Slytherin House completely out of the system?!
What kind of situation is this?!
Although Hermione's voice was not loud, the professors standing at the front had clearly heard her.
Rhys distinctly saw Rowena and Helga sway slightly, as though they had just been struck by lightning.
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI