Chapter 232: The Politics of Competition
"Ellie, your completion rate is excellent, and the detail work is also…"
Leonardo spoke quietly with the Ravenclaw senior, a faint smile on his face.
The students who had already finished their tasks kept stealing glances their way, trying to read Leonardo's reactions and gauge their opponents' scores — and, by extension, their own chances.
That smile alone was enough to shift the mood in the room. Several people suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
Reiman, watching alongside the others, felt his heart sink slightly. He still thought Professor Shafiq's decision had been far too casual — handing assessment authority over to another student just like that.
Setting aside a certain Potions professor with a notorious fondness for his own house, most Hogwarts professors were fairly impartial. Shafiq, especially, seemed like the sort who wanted nothing more than to be left alone to sleep and conduct her research. The qualifying round had always been meant to be a pure meritocracy — whoever had the strongest Alchemy earned the spot.
But this time, the acting examiner was a student.
What if he had house biases? Reiman knew perfectly well that Slytherin's reputation among the other houses was far from warm. If Leonardo decided to mark them down out of prejudice...
Losing because someone was better than him, Reiman could accept. Losing because of an examiner's bias was another matter entirely.
He glanced at the clock. The three hours were up.
Leonardo rose and addressed the room.
"Time's up. Everyone may stop."
One student who hadn't finished let out a groan of frustration. So close.
A handful of others who had only just finished in time hurried eagerly to the front with their work, though without much real hope of placing. Finishing late generally meant lower marks entirely.
Leonardo examined the remaining submissions with the same care as before. After a final glance over the scoring board, he settled on a name.
"Reiman Selwyn. Highest score. He receives the tournament spot."
Reiman did not react at first. Then the words truly sank in, and a rush of elation filled his chest.
He had earned the spot. Leonardo had judged his Alchemy the best.
Then a voice abruptly cut through the room.
"I don't accept that result."
A Slytherin student had risen to his feet, his voice loud enough to draw everyone's attention.
"Professor Shafiq never even specified the competition requirements. Grafton, how exactly did you assess this? What were your criteria? You can't just announce a result like that and expect everyone to accept it."
Leonardo's eyebrow lifted. But before he could respond, Reiman was already on his feet, the excitement still plain on his face as he cut the other student off sharply.
"Travers! Grafton was personally appointed by Professor Shafiq to conduct this assessment. You have objections? Are you questioning the professor's judgement?"
Reiman shot Leonardo a confident look before turning back to continue dressing down his fellow Slytherin.
House bias? Leonardo wasn't that sort of person at all. Anyone with eyes could see he had already made a fair and impartial judgement.
Leonardo glanced at Reiman's righteous display with quiet amusement. Wherever you were in the world, whatever the era, people's principles always seemed to align suspiciously well with their own interests.
This thick-browed, earnest-looking seventh-year certainly hadn't wasted any time putting his hat on.
"Tristan Travers. The wind-earth imbalance in your Elemental Scales exceeded 0.8%. During the brewing of the fire-and-water-resistant robe, you did not use the crystal extraction method to purify the lionfish spine powder…"
Leonardo flipped the scoring board over and listed Travers' deductions one by one, his tone calm and even, carrying the kind of confidence that was difficult to argue with.
He didn't pause for the increasingly ugly look on Travers' face.
"None of these issues appeared in Reiman Selwyn's work. His completion time was also five minutes and forty-seven seconds faster than yours. Travers — do you still have objections?"
Silence settled over the classroom. Everyone present was an older student, yet Leonardo had completely taken control of the room.
Travers' face shifted between red and white. He had no rebuttal. Everything Leonardo had said was accurate.
Under the weight of everyone's gaze, the humiliation became unbearable. He left without even collecting his things, striding quickly out of the classroom.
With the results announced, the remaining competitors had little reason to stay. They packed up their equipment and gradually filed out of the classroom.
Once the last of them had gone, Ellie drifted over to Leonardo and fixed her bright eyes on his dark green ones, blinking once.
Leonardo, uncertain what she was after, was just about to ask.
But she spoke first.
"Selwyn had the broader knowledge base. It was only right that he won. That's not what I wanted to talk to you about."
Leonardo quietly let out a breath of relief. A sensible older student was a good thing — at least there would be no lecture about ignoring house loyalties or anything of the sort.
Competition existed to choose the person with the deepest knowledge and the strongest ability to apply it. Personal feelings had no place muddying that.
"Leonardo, you're heading to Beauxbatons for the tournament. I've heard the girls there are very beautiful — apparently they bathe using water from a special fountain…"
The corner of Leonardo's mouth twitched, almost imperceptibly. Was the Fountain of Beauty really this compelling? Or was it simply that girls everywhere found the idea of becoming more beautiful irresistible?
"I understand, Ellie. Would you like me to bring back some of the fountain water so you can study its magical properties?"
Ellie broke into a wide, delighted grin. She hadn't expected him to put it quite so diplomatically. Her opinion of this younger student went up another notch.
"Hehe, I'd really appreciate that. Good luck at Beauxbatons — go win it!"