The Apparition Permit was actually a certificate with a very low application threshold.
Any Hogwarts student who was at least seventeen years old could voluntarily sign up for Apparition training before August 31 each year.
This course was taught by certified Apparition Instructors from the Ministry of Magic, lasted for twelve weeks, and cost twelve Galleons.
After the course ended, students who had reached the age of seventeen could go to Hogwarts for special training and register for the Apparition examination.
However, compared to the extremely easy application process, the exam itself was almost impossibly difficult.
In the exam, the candidate had to Apparate perfectly, even the slightest mistake, such as a minor Splinching or failing to arrive precisely at the intended destination, could cause them to fail.
Link remembered that in the original story, one of the Weasley twins, either George or Fred, failed the exam because of a tiny Splinching incident that made one of his eyebrows disappear.
Of course, failing the Apparition exam didn't stop a wizard from using Apparition in daily life.
It was just like how there were always people driving cars without a license in the Muggle world.
But the problem was that if you hadn't passed the test, it meant your skill level wasn't sufficient, and the chance of accidents during Apparition would be much higher.
Even more importantly, if you were caught Apparating without a permit, you'd face a huge fine, one of the main sources of funding for the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad.
That said, this only applied to ordinary wizards. To Link, that piece of paper meant nothing at all.
He could simply have a house-elf or one of his followers bring him anywhere. And even if he did illegally Apparate and got caught, the Ministry wouldn't dare to do much to him, at most, he'd just have to pay a fine.
If it weren't for the fact that Fudge had recently been showing signs of losing his mind and lashing out at random people, Link wouldn't even have bothered to get the permit in the first place.
Unlike Link's indifference, however, old Barty clearly treated the task Link had given him as his top priority.
By the very next day, a clerk claiming to be from the Apparition Office under the Accidental Magic Reversal Department came knocking on the door of Flamel Castle. He respectfully presented a beautifully bound certificate, already filled out with Link's name, directly to Link himself.
Mr. Victoria was completely stunned by this scene.
When he had just moved to Britain years ago, the Ministry of Magic had made every bit of paperwork so difficult that he'd nearly started questioning his existence.
But now, Link was getting an Apparition Permit, something about as complicated as immigration paperwork, without even taking the exam, and someone had personally delivered it to him!?
Seeing her father looking so shocked and clueless, Emily couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
Since getting engaged to Link, she had already begun participating in the management of the Flamel family, so she knew perfectly well that old and wealthy pure-blood families like theirs were just that arrogant.
Aside from the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams, not to mention the Apparition Permit, even the hardest-to-get certificates were just a matter of a few words for the Flamel family.
Of course, this time things happened so quickly also because the Apparition Permit itself was a bit special.
After all, even among those who had permits, plenty of people still got into accidents every year when Apparating, and those incidents rarely got traced back to them anyway.
Without getting involved in Emily and Mr. Victoria's discussion about the privileges of old pure-blood families, Link returned to his room right after receiving the Apparition Permit and opened his data panel.
Compared to when he'd been in Germany, the patterns on his data panel had mysteriously spread even further, now covering the entire border.
Fortunately, these patterns didn't affect the panel's normal use or display, and they'd stopped spreading, otherwise Link would have gone straight to Grindelwald to demand an explanation.
Of course, what really drew his attention wasn't the patterns, but the line of white text at the very bottom of his skill list, Apparition Charm Lv1.
That was the result of his entire month's effort.
As early as when he first arrived in Germany, Link had already started learning Apparition from Snape.
In Link's mind, this training was even more important than taking control of Durmstrang, that "arsenal."
The reason Link placed such importance on Apparition was simple, after several battles with Voldemort and other enemies, he had come to deeply understand the enormous strategic value of Apparition.
He also recalled some research papers and future films he'd seen, from which he drew a shocking conclusion.
If one's Apparition skill level increased enough, the casting time and cooldown could be drastically reduced, eventually allowing the spell to be cast almost instantly, just like his other spells.
That would be basically the same as Blink or Flash Step.
And the importance of such a movement ability to a spellcaster went without saying.
At present, with his Sectumsempra upgraded again, Link's offensive and control abilities were nearly maxed out.
His defensive strength, thanks to years of investment in spellcraft, wasn't far behind either.
If he could master a high-level "Blink" version of Apparition, then the last weakness in his mobility would be perfectly patched.
Before, Link had ignored the spell because Hogwarts was covered by Anti-Apparition charms.
Now that he realized its true potential, of course he had to catch up.
Unfortunately, some things couldn't be achieved just through passion and hard work.
As an advanced spell that delved deep into the study of spatial magic, Apparition shared almost no knowledge overlap with other fields of magic.
That meant Link couldn't rely on his vast magical knowledge to quickly level up as he had when studying Dark Magic, he had to learn it step by step like everyone else.
And Apparition was extremely dangerous.
To prevent learners from accidentally Splinching themselves into pieces, wizards had made the training deliberately slow and cautious, which directly caused Link's progress to be very slow, even with a top-tier instructor like Snape teaching him.
Still, that didn't really matter.
With his system, Link could simply use skill points to level up once he'd mastered Apparition Lv1.
And that was exactly what he planned to do.
The regular skill point he had received along with the golden one from Grindelwald was still unused.
Link also planned to save the golden skill point from the Slytherin locket so that once Apparition reached Lv4, he could immediately boost it to Lv6.
Of course, that was just the ideal plan.
Link wasn't the type to hoard skill points.
If he got more golden skill points later or found another skill that was more urgent, he wouldn't hesitate to spend them.
"Still a long road ahead," he sighed.
He closed the data panel and, under the watchful eyes of his house-elf Button, raised his wand and resumed his short-range Apparition practice.
Link absolutely hated this kind of repetitive mechanical training, but there was no choice, it was the only way to gain Apparition experience for now.
For the next three days, Link practically lived in the training room, giving up all social interaction and sleep, devoting himself entirely to practicing Apparition.
Emily and Mrs. Flamel clearly understood how important this training was for him. Besides assigning Button to look after Link's safety and daily needs, they even tightened security around Flamel Castle to ensure there would be no disturbances.
Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, the doors of the training room opened again.
Button quietly stepped inside and bowed.
"Master, today is the day Harry Potter stands trial. Mr. Barty Crouch is waiting for you outside."
Hearing that, Link stopped waving his wand and opened his data panel, the Apparition skill bar was stuck at Lv2–89%.
That was all he'd managed after days of nonstop training.
Just thinking about how much more experience Lv3 and Lv4 would require made his head ache.
This training method was still too inefficient.
"Whew…"
He exhaled deeply and walked out of the training room without a word.
Old Barty was already waiting outside. For once, he wasn't wearing his usual stiff suit and trench coat but a deep maroon robe with a silver "W" embroidered on the chest, the symbol of a Wizengamot member.
Today's trial of Harry Potter was a secret hearing, closed to the public.
Strictly speaking, aside from Harry, his defender, and witnesses, only Wizengamot members like Barty could attend as part of the jury.
But Link was an exception.
As a recipient of the Second-Class Order of Merlin, he already had one foot in the Wizengamot, and with Barty, currently a rising star, vouching for him, he was granted special permission to attend as an observer.
Of course, he wasn't part of the jury and had no voting rights.
When Barty saw Link come out in his training clothes, he hurried up and said anxiously, "I just got word that they've moved up the trial time. They want to convict Harry Potter by making him late! I've already sent word to Dumbledore, but I don't know if he'll make it in time."
Barty's tone softened as he spoke. He could tell that, although Link's face was expressionless, there was fire burning in his eyes, clearly, he wasn't in a good mood.
"Don't worry about them," Link said, walking toward the Floo Hall while Button helped him change into formal robes.
"Dumbledore will never let Harry Potter be expelled from Hogwarts. This trial, we've already won. Just think about how to profit from it."
With that, Link adjusted the collar of his new robe, which resembled a priest's garment, and stepped straight into the fireplace.
Barty quickly followed.
Button threw a handful of Floo powder, and a green flame flared up, swallowing the two of them whole.
After a dizzying swirl, Link found himself standing in a magnificent golden hall.
Dozens of gilded fireplaces lined the walls, and crowds of wizards bustled in and out, making the place feel packed and noisy.
Link calmly stepped out of the fireplace, after days of Apparition training, he was already used to spatial transportation.
"Mr. Crouch! Mr. Flamel!"
A woman wearing gold-rimmed glasses ran up in high heels and said respectfully, "The trial is about to begin. Please follow me."
Barty nodded and motioned for Link to go first before leading the way.
They passed the Fountain of Magical Brethren and headed deeper into the Ministry of Magic.
Along the way, quite a few people greeted Barty, while many others cast curious glances their way, most of them at the young man walking beside him, whose presence and bearing clearly marked him as someone important.
Whispers began only after the three of them entered the magical elevator.
The secretary who had come to escort them clearly knew who Link was.
She pressed the elevator button expertly, and as the gears creaked to life, she kept sneaking glances at Link, her eyes filled with a peculiar gleam.
Unfortunately for her, neither Link nor Barty was in the mood to engage. They both ignored her completely, keeping silent.
"Department of Mysteries," the cold mechanical voice suddenly announced, breaking the heavy silence.
The secretary jumped in fright, her body jerking.
Barty shot her a displeased glare, then stepped past her to open the iron gate.
"After you, Mr. Flamel," he said. "Today's hearing is in Courtroom Ten. We still have quite a walk ahead."
"Then let's not waste time," Link replied coolly, striding past him.
He'd been here before for Sirius Black's trial, so the place wasn't unfamiliar.
They walked for quite a while down a corridor that looked very much like those in Hogwarts before finally reaching a row of heavy, iron-bound wooden doors.
"Courtroom Ten… should be this one."
As Barty spoke, he stopped before a massive unmarked door.
He exchanged a look with Link, then turned the heavy iron handle and pushed the door open.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.