That day passed by peacefully. The next day the Ministry of Magic held a press conference, with the Minister of Magic Amelia Bones herself as the speaker, standing on the dais with a crowd of reporters and photographers below her, and dotted with people who had run over to see what was going on. She looked over at Kingsley, who gave her a slight nod.
Ms. Bones calmly announced.
"The rumours about Mr. Felix Hap obtaining the Elder Wand, which was previously propagated in the newspapers, have been proven to be false. I have personally examined his wand, and it is not made of the rumoured elder wood, which speaks volumes. It is well known that in addition to his expertise in ancient runes and muggle studies, Mr. Hap is also a writer with a child's heart. The best-selling comic series that brought L.C.A. publishers back from the dead, 'The Strange Adventures of Mick the Little Wizard', was written by him, and this masterpiece included a large number of references to works in the same genre, and naturally, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, which has influenced countless young wizards, was also featured."
"Are you implying that Mr. Hap has named his wand the Elder Wand because of the reverence he holds for the Beedle the Bard?"
"That is correct."
"Madam, are you denying the existence of the Elder Wand?"
"Perhaps it truly exists, but it is certainly not in Mr. Hap's possession now, nor is it part of our discussion today." Ms. Bones replied.
"How did you check it, and what if he had made a forgery?"
"I wouldn't doubt my own eyes." Ms. Bones said coldly, "Next."
"What if he has a second wand?"
Bones examined the man who spoke from under her monocle, "I don't remember inviting you, what newspaper are you a journalist for?"
"Ahem, I'm here on a trip, a tourist." The bald man who had asked the question said smilingly.
" Good," Ms. Bones said calmly, "we'll check your approved entry paperwork after the press conference, if you don't have it, be prepared to pay the fine up front."
She cleared her throat and continued.
"There may be more to this than that meets the eye, and I can break the news that the editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet, who approved this article, is suspected of being under an Imperius Curse, which suggests: there may be a possible conspiracy lurking under the surface of this matter, and given the current situation, there is reason to suspect that it is connected to Voldemort and his evil gang."
The red-carpeted press conference room became silent as if someone had casted a charm.
"Ahem, are you sure?"
"I used the words 'suspected' and 'possible'," Ms. Bones said sternly, "but if you're well-informed, you'll discover that this article has appeared in a dozen countries, and it cannot be a coincidence!"
"I personally have nothing but contempt for the authors of this article, because those responsible for it cannot even distinguish the most basic fact that Mr. Hap's research focused on ancient runes and that he promoted the current boom in Runes throughout Britain.
Although Mr. Hap is not a man of many words, he is deeply distressed by the public's wrong prioritization. He has therefore requested me to organize an exchange in the Hogsmeade village on the last weekend of October - that is, 27 October -"
At this point another journalist questioned.
"Why drag it so long? Wouldn't it be enough for him to come forward and state that he never possessed the Elder Wand?" Rita Skeeter's eyes twinkled as her question drew a chorus of approval.
"Because that's just trivial!" Ms. Bones interrupted her, "The Elder Wand is worthless in Mr. Hap's eyes compared to the promotion of ancient runes, and that's the difference between you and him-"
Rita Skeeter glared at her viciously.
The others took notes excitedly, their quill seemed to fume, and the white glow of the flash flickered constantly.
"And, it must be mentioned that Dumbledore, the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has applied to the International Confederation of Wizards to arrange this exchange as an international event, where he will invite wizards of sufficient prestige to attend, including experts in ancient runes from all over the world, and Headmasters of wizarding schools from all countries. "
The crowd of journalists froze. The various coloured quills that hovered in the air fell to the ground as if they were in a faulty state.
Big news.
Rita Skeeter grabbed a green feathered quill with a look of excitement on her face, she had not made the wrong decision to side with him.
For the next few minutes, all that was left was the sound of the writing quills.
"... All outsiders must report in advance and limit their activities solely within the Hogsmeade village, violators will receive severe punishment ..."
"Can you tell us about the exchange?"
"All that can be revealed at this time is that in addition to presenting his research, Mr. Hap will also graciously spare some time to accept challenges from anyone--"
"Wait! A challenge?"
The reporters sniffed out the keyword.
"Exactly." Ms. Bones said, looking at the few excited, unfamiliar faces on the scene - they are obviously foreign wizards - and a wave of pity rose up in her heart for no apparent reason. Only she and a handful of Wizengamot wizards had seen the footage of Felix Hap fighting Voldemort.
If you are so excited, you will not refuse to sign a life and death contract, right? She continued reading her statement undisturbed.
"The event is expected to last three days ..."
"The Ministry of Magic will actively negotiate with the various foreign Ministries of Magic, and the proceedings would be held in the form of a real-time broadcast, with technical support from Future World ..."
The press conference ended with a buzz of excitement.
By the time the news reached Hogwarts, it was already the next morning, and students exchanged information briskly with each other at the great hall table, with an occasional knowing look when their eyes met, that meant, 'I told you there would be Big News.' Then they rushed off to their classes.
Over the next few days, an atmosphere of restlessness permeated the school, and this restlessness was reflected in the classes that followed, where some daring students could not resist asking questions about the topic in question.
"Professor Black, may I ask who is more powerful, you or Professor Hap?" A very unlikeable student asked an unpleasant question.
Sirius glared at him, "That comparison is pointless, and besides, it is forbidden to provoke a conflict between professors, so five points off for Gryffindor."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione grinned.
It was hard to hide their actions from Sirius, who was somewhat regretting that he had told them about the time he had been played around by Felix and, become somewhat annoyed about it for a moment, and asked with a dark look on his face, " Since you guys asked, I will ask an exactly similar question: how much better do you think you are compared to Aurors?"
"We can try." He carried his wand and looked impishly at the crowd, "Get a real feel for it; Aurors are given plenty of opportunities to be exposed to combat, and it is real combat unlike your duel games, and their opponents tend to be cunning dark wizards."
"Even if you have mastered the same magic, those who have had training in dueling behave completely differently from those who have not, and furthermore, those who have had experience in real combat are completely different from those who have not, and this gap is reflected in the tiny details of how you perceive fighting."
"Let's assume that I'm not particularly far ahead of you guys, but even with the same spell, and maintaining the same level of power, the gap between us is still quite wide ..." He paused and made a provocative gesture, the meaning of which is clear enough.
"So - who's first?"
Harry leaped to his feet, but Sirius pretended like he didn't notice it, remembering the grudge, "Zabini, come here." He pointed at someone and Blaise Zabini stepped forward confidently, his friends whistled loudly. "Harry, you call the start."
Sirius and Zabini stood face to face, staring at each other's faces. Harry shouted 'start' and they both moved at the same time, Sirius flicked his wrist and Zabini's wand immediately flew out.
"A little trick, but if you're holding your wand tightly, the power of the spell will barely move your arm a little, but it's just perfect in this case." Sirius said, "Again."
Unconvinced, Zabini picked up his wand, this time gripping it firmly in his hand.
"Begin!"
Both men raised their wands in unison -
"Expelliarmus!" Zabini shouted loudly, but Sirius beat him to it.
"Casting spells silently always makes you one step faster," Sirius said with a tilted head.
"This time I'll cast the spell-like you, so let's do it again." He said.
Zabini hesitated for a moment, and picked up his wand from the ground, looking at Sirius cautiously.
A moment of silence followed.
"Expelliarmus!" "Expelliarmus!" Both men shouted at the same time.
Except this time, Sirius jerked his head low and dodged the spell quickly, while Zabini got hit solidly and his wand flew out of his hand as it rotated a few times.
"Even if two people chant the spell at the same time, I still have the chance to dodge it or flick it away with my wand, in short, there are many ways to avoid it." Sirius said, " Still, even if you've read about this in your textbooks or storybooks, or even practiced it in private, you still might not be able to remember to use it or use it well when you're in actual combat."
"Your last school year professor, Alastor Moody, I have worked with him, and he has a saying that rings well - Constant vigilance. Of course, I'm not asking you to imitate him, but at the very least, you should know what to do when danger comes, and if you can't remember, then you should use your body to remember."
...
On a late night, Felix spread out the new version of the Marauder's Map, where rows of paths through Hogwarts Castle and the Forbidden Forest intersected with each other and sprouted like a spring flower. His index finger tapped on an inconspicuous corner, and in a flash of flickering light, the original layout quickly disappeared, and new paths expanded from the corner of Hogwarts Castle, twisting and turning until a new location appeared.
It is a small village, made up of numerous cottages and shops with many familiar names on them: Ambrosius Flume is in Honeydukes, Madam Puddifoot is in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, Rosmerta is in Three Broomsticks Inn, Zonko is in Zonko's Joke Shop, and there is that barman at the Hog's Head Inn named Aberforth..... Dumbledore!
To be honest, Felix was genuinely taken aback when he first saw the name.
At the moment, he lowered his head to look down at the other names in Hogsmeade with the help of the dim light -
"Let me look, all the strangers who have shown up and the ones who are stupid enough to roam around Hogwarts?"
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