great-warnovel Chapter 351 Second Half of the School Year
Chapter 351 Second Half of the School Year
Chapter 351 Second Half of the School Year
With the end of the Christmas holidays, life returned to its former tranquility.
The restlessness brought on by the great battle seemed to dissipate with the end of the holiday. The construction of Hogsmeade gradually got back on track, and the professors had fewer extra tasks to deal with, so they could devote more energy to teaching.
The result was that the students, who had been left to their own devices for almost two months, suddenly felt the pressure of studying again.
The twins were held accountable by McGonagall; all their previous pranks and rule violations were brought up and they were punished accordingly.
They took over all the toilets in the castle, from the basement to the 8th floor.
As if they had suddenly conspired, the professors unleashed a deluge of quizzes and assignments, determined to make the students realize their responsibilities.
Defense class became everyone's favorite course, because Hilmi didn't care about figuring out how to make the questions difficult for the students; he just wanted to come up with something new and interesting for each class.
However, according to McGonagall and Dumbledore's discussion, they will probably have to find a new Defense Professor next year. It's not a solution to have one child teach the class all the time. At most, Hilmi can serve as a teaching assistant, but not as a full-time Defense Professor.
Linked to the issue of professor selection is the selection of Slytherin's head of house. The departure of the fake Barty the Younger - the real Snape has left Slytherin almost unattended for the entire year. Madam Pomfrey has to take care of the wounded and oversee the construction of the school hospital and Hogsmeade Hospital (McGroom doesn't want Beauxbatons to completely control the city's healthcare), so she simply doesn't have the time to temporarily assume the role of head of Slytherin.
The current strained relationship with Malfoy Castle means that the Headmaster of Slytherin no longer needs to be from Malfoy Castle.
"But he should at least be a Slytherin."
This left McGonagall and Dumbledore scratching their heads in frustration. Finding a respected and highly skilled old Slytherin wizard these days was no easy feat.
Fortunately, there are still more than half a year to consider. Dumbledore can use his connections with the dead to dig through the old student files again. If all else fails, the ghost can be a history professor, or even a dean, right? Bloody Barrow could also be appointed to the position in this crisis.
Besides teaching at Hogwarts, the focus of the new Hogsmeade City Council has gradually shifted from construction to organizing the Quidditch World Cup.
In addition to the construction of stadiums and infrastructure, and the preparation of materials and personnel, equally important was the revision of the Quidditch rules.
Whether the rules from fifty years ago still apply today, and which parts need to be modified, requires not only internal discussions, but also ensuring that they are accepted by all participating forces after being made public.
The performance of flying brooms is far superior to that of fifty years ago. Although high-quality brooms are hard to find these days, the performance of military brooms developed by wizards under the impetus of war and the pressure of the MiG-21 has been improved year by year.
The performance differences of brooms between different factions are also quite significant. If there are no restrictions, major factions such as Malfoy Castle, Beauxbatons, and the Mafia could easily draw their most elite troops from their air cavalry, riding brooms that are several generations ahead, and crush other smaller factions.
Although the merchants in the council of Beauxbatons really wanted to do this, they held back because they wanted to make more money by hosting the first World Cup. They set limits on the performance of the brooms, allowing each faction to modify their own brooms, but strict restrictions were placed on the handle, broom whiskers, curvature, toughness, and the number of spells cast, to ensure that wizards from smaller factions could compete on the same stage as fairly as possible.
Of course, powerful wizards and a developed alchemy industry can inevitably make more sophisticated modifications to brooms. After all, the essence of sports competition is a contest of comprehensive strength, and smaller forces can only rely on more diligent practice and superior talent to achieve a breakthrough.
Meanwhile, although the venue is not yet fully constructed, the new Hogsmeade is already open for applications from various factions.
Any settlement that has wizards and is self-sufficient can register to participate as a faction. They need to provide a confirmed list of official and substitute players as soon as possible, and submit the model of the broom they will use for approval.
Beauxbatons, along with many other Hogwarts board members, registered under their own names to compete for the Brightstone Core. Although this might be seen as acting as both referee and contestant, as long as they win deservedly, they weren't worried about gossip.
For example, Wood, who is already in the 7th grade, has already been written into the official roster of the Irish Green Eagles. Although he is still in school, he has basically switched to being a full-time Quidditch player.
As the captain of Gryffindor Quidditch, his last act for his house was to appoint Harry as the new captain and promise not to show mercy when facing them in the World Cup.
Yes, he won't hold back; that's the greatest respect he can show to his teammates and the sport he loves.
Hogwarts will also participate as a school, but since the Order of the Phoenix is Dumbledore's personal organization, it is not considered part of the school. Therefore, the school will only send a team composed of students, simply to demonstrate sportsmanship and focus on participation.
But even for just this one chance to participate, the players from the four academies were practically fighting tooth and nail.
As the Head of Gryffindor, McGonagall could no longer command respect at this point. To ensure fairness, Dumbledore personally intervened.
We've decided to make this year's College Cup Quidditch a key factor in recruiting for our school team, aiming to build a Quidditch team that truly represents the level of Hogwarts!
In the past two years, Gryffindor had won the House Cup because of Wood and Harry. This year, no one had high hopes, but now that they're representing the school in the World Cup, and Wood is graduating and becoming a competitor...
Harry alone couldn't carry the team, which energized the other three houses, who were ready to step over Gryffindor's head and take their place.
The new captain, Porter, is under immense pressure. He has to deal with heavy academic workload while also leading the Gryffindor team. This makes it impossible for him to relax, even though he is exempt from Transfiguration lessons because he has trained as an Animagus.
His fathers, James and Sirius, were avid Quidditch fans, but they couldn't participate in the World Cup.
They pinned all their hopes on their son/adopted son, and every day after school, the child would be dragged to the court for specialized training.
It wasn't just Harry; the entire Gryffindor team was caught in the crossfire. Even being slapped in the ear by Lily couldn't dampen their high spirits.
At this point, Hermione could simply hold Crookshanks, score points, sit on the sidelines, and watch the boys suffer.
"Quidditch, what an incomprehensible and fanatical sport—"