## 250: Notifications and Preparations
The name of the announcement first piqued everyone's curiosity.
"The May Challenge?" Padma asked curiously. "Does that mean there'll be a June Challenge too?"
"An event every month?" Michael exclaimed excitedly. "That's great!"
"Could the June Challenge be the final exams?"
A voice suddenly came from behind, dampening everyone's spirits. They turned around and, sure enough, it was Hermione.
The girl looked quite eager, nodding to herself as she said, "The final exams aren't far off. We really should make the most of our time."
"Forget about June!" Fred, also stuck outside, stretched his neck and shouted to the people inside, "Wood, what does it say next?"
Wood, the Gryffindor team captain, continued reading the notice, using magic to amplify his voice.
"The May Challenge... This event will begin at 10 AM on Saturday, May 16th. The challenge objective is an enlarged Ball Python."
"Students, please note: The Ball Python is Professor Kettleburn's personal pet. Therefore, the following spells are forbidden for use on the Ball Python: Diffindo, Incendio, Eye-Jinx, Entrail-Expelling Curse..."
Following that was a list of spells and a note about prohibiting curses.
Then came the rules of the competition and the winning criteria.
This was a more playful competition, so it wasn't absolutely fair. Participating teams would first draw lots to determine their entry order, then overcome various obstacles before finally confronting the Ball Python directly.
The enlarged snake was originally docile, but under the influence of the spell, it would be filled with anger towards the participants. Participants needed to avoid its attacks and ensure their own safety while leaving their team's name on the Ball Python's scales.
Whichever team's name was closest to the small red flag in the center of the Ball Python's forehead would be the ultimate champion.
"Oh, damn it!" A Slytherin student in the crowd cursed angrily. "I've been practicing the Eye-Jinx for two weeks!"
Clearly, he had received some information beforehand, but it wasn't complete.
Michael and George exchanged mischievous grins, quietly high-fiving each other.
"What are you all doing?"
At the entrance to the castle, Filch stood there, glaring with a grim face at the students huddled together.
"No congregating and making noise in the Entrance Hall!"
Macmillan of Hufflepuff bravely shouted, "The school doesn't have that rule!"
Filch scowled, looking around, but couldn't find who had spoken. He snorted coldly, "If you keep blocking this entrance, it will have one very soon! Move along now!"
The crowd finally began to inch forward. As Wade passed the Entrance Hall, he nodded to Filch and saw the caretaker give him a slight nod back, a tiny change in the curve of his lips for a moment.
Then, he immediately put on a stern face again, gruffly urging the students behind him to hurry up.
When Wade and Michael entered, they saw Harry and the others already seated at the end of the Hufflepuff long table. Seeing the two, Theo immediately stood up and waved.
So Wade and the others walked over, and the surrounding Hufflepuff students thoughtfully made room for them.
Hogwarts had one slight inconvenience: even during meals, students usually had to sit at their respective house tables.
For groups like SSC, composed of students from different houses, having to separate at meal times made conversation inconvenient. Thus, they gradually grew accustomed to sitting at the same table.
While students from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tended to be exclusive, Hufflepuff was much better. Even if students from other houses sat at their table, the badgers usually wouldn't say anything and would even push the good food their way.
For them, having their house be popular was a joyful thing.
"Seriously, Wade, I wish you'd join our team," Padma said. "Then we'd have a great chance at winning the championship."
Wade shook his head. "Even if we won, people might think it was because of me. Besides, with Harry on your team, your chances of winning are actually quite high."
"—Me?" Harry, who was gnawing on a chicken leg, looked up blankly.
Then, as everyone looked at him, Harry's face turned red, and he quickly waved his hands, saying, "Don't forget there are many sixth and seventh-year students participating! They know far more spells than we do."
"No need to be so modest, Harry, the spells you know are actually quite enough," Wade said with a smile. "And according to this competition's judging criteria, you have a huge advantage compared to others."
"Advantage? What is it?" Ryan looked at Harry, then at Wade, and asked.
Although everyone in SSC believed Harry had a strong talent for combat spells, saying he was stronger than sixth and seventh-year students seemed a bit exaggerated to them.
Wade made a shushing gesture with his finger and said, "I can't tell you that. Once it's out, other teams will be prepared."
"Oh..." Theo nodded, though he didn't understand.
"But to win, you first have to overcome the obstacles ahead," Wade added. "If you fall in the first half of the journey, you'll get nothing."
"Actually, I've already compiled the characteristics and distribution of most of the animals, insects, and magical plants you'll encounter in the maze."
Hermione pulled out a thick notebook with a whoosh and added, "I've also written down the simplest spells to deal with them... and even planned a route with fewer obstacles."
"Hermione, you're amazing!" Michael exclaimed, taking the notebook and flipping through a few pages. He then praised, "So detailed... When did you do this?"
"Um... just in the past few weeks," Hermione said a bit awkwardly. "I, uh, I thought you might find it useful."
"Of course, it's incredibly useful!"
Michael passed the notebook around for others to see. Turning his head, he noticed Padma pursing her lips, looking somewhat displeased.
Michael stretched his arm across the table and retrieved a strawberry mousse cake. "Wow, they have this cake today. I remember you saying last time you really wanted to try it!"
Padma took it, finally cracking a small smile.
On the other side, as everyone passed the notebook around, Ryan asked Wade, "What are you going to do when we're all competing? Are you going to be a judge with the professors?"
"No," Wade said. "Actually, the Two-Way Mirror that Fred, George, and I have been repairing is now provisionally complete. I plan to test it out during the event that day."
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