Chapter 166 Pre-Match Wand Detection

Maca, who had turned into an Animagus form, was naturally not to eavesdrop on the conversation between Harry and Hermione. What he was watching was Moody hiding behind a rock.

But he had to be very careful, because Moody's prosthetic eye was not simple.

According to the information Maca has learned, the magic eye, which claims to be able to see through all objects, is likely to come from the world-famous alchemy master-Nick Flamel.

Maca is not sure whether the transformation of Animagus can fool the strange-looking fake eyeball.

Just now, in order to be cautious, Hermione didn't say clearly about Sirius. But just because Harry couldn't turn his head around, he finally exposed some information to Moody, who was secretly watching.

But it didn't matter to Maca, because when Harry and Hermione mentioned him, they deliberately lowered their voices, and judging from Moody's distance, they must have been inaudible.

As long as you don't expose yourself, everything else is trivial.

From the second day on, the lectures at Hogwarts continued normally.

The students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were also assigned to various colleges to attend courses. But because it wasn't mandatory—at least Hogwarts couldn't control it, so Maca simply gave up the arrangement of attending lectures.

One afternoon, when Maca was writing something in Durmstrang's cabin, a Hogwarts student rushed to inform him that Mr. Bagman wanted the warriors to assemble.

The meeting place was a small classroom, and most of the desks were pushed to the back of the classroom, leaving a large space in the middle. But there were three desks facing each other, in front of the blackboard, covered with a long piece of velvet.

Behind the velvet-covered desk were five chairs, and in one of them Ludo Bagman was sitting talking to a witch wearing a fancy magenta robe.

When Maca walked into this small classroom, he found that Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons had arrived first.

At this moment, Fu Rong was smiling happily, and she shook her head from time to time, making her long silver hair shine with dazzling luster.

A potbellied man was holding a large black camera that was smoking slightly, and he was watching Fu Rong out of the corner of his eyes.

Bagman, who was talking, suddenly saw Maca, he stood up immediately, and jumped forward energetically.

"Oh, Mr. McLean's here! Come in, sir, come in..." Bagman said excitedly, as if he were a warrior.

"Is there something wrong with this gathering?" Maca glanced at the witch behind Bagman, and said calmly.

"No big deal, just a wand-testing ceremony, the other referees will be here shortly—"

"Detecting wands?"

A voice sounded from behind Maca. It turned out to be Harry, and he and Hermione had also arrived.

"Yes, testing wands... We must check whether your wands are fully functional and in good condition! Because wands will be your most important equipment in future competitions." Bagman waved his hand and said with air, "The specialist is upstairs, with Dumbledore..."

He paused, then turned to point to the brightly-dressed witch and said, "Then I will take a few photos—this is Rita Skeeter, she is writing an essay about the Tournament article--"

"Maybe it's not trivial, Ludo."

Rita Skeeter's big curly hair was made very delicate by her, with an exaggerated delicacy. Although it can be seen that she has high requirements for appearance, she also carefully matched her whole body. But in other people's eyes, it's just how strange it looks.

She also had a pair of jeweled glasses on the bridge of her nose, and her fat fingers were clutching an alligator handbag. Her two-inch nails were painted red.

Whether she was talking or not, her eyes were sharp, and she looked back and forth between Harry, Hermione and Maca, seemingly habitually looking for the most suitable manuscript material.

In the end, she fixed her gaze on Maca.

"Before we start, can I have a few words with Mr. McLean?" she was asking Bagman, her eyes still fixed on Maca. At such a young age...you know...in order to add some color to the article."

"This..." Bagman looked at Maca hesitantly, a little unsure.

Speaking of it, Bagman may be the only one who doesn't care about the farce of the World Cup at all.

He was a popular Quidditch player for the Wimbledon Hornets in the 1980s before joining the Ministry of Magic's Sports Division. And his popularity is largely due to his optimistic court image.

He's still the same at the Ministry these days, and often feels a bit out of place with the rest of the Ministry.

But no matter what, Maca's strength is beyond doubt. Bagman wasn't stupid either—well, his character was indeed a bit stupid, but even he couldn't see Maca as an ordinary student.

In the current situation, he also had to take Maca's opinion into consideration.

"Well... I'm fine," Bagman spread his hands, "but——Mr. McLean, what do you think?"

"Great." Rita Skeeter said, her bright red claw-like fingers grabbed Maca's arm, as if to pull him away.

But Maca slapped that paw away unceremoniously.

"I haven't pursued the report on the World Cup last time. If you want to do it again, I don't mind letting you understand what authority certification is." Maca glanced at her expressionlessly, using only her The voice that was heard clearly said, "...Or, do you really want to go to the Office of Abuse of Magic?"

"You—" Rita Skeeter's expression froze immediately, she touched the back of her hand hit by Maca, and said with a dry smile, "Oh—haha, I suddenly felt that a rigorous And the traditional manuscript can highlight the historical accumulation of the competition!"

"Yes, I think that's right," Maca nodded casually, "Please sit down, Ms. Rita Skeeter."

Under Maca's invisible threat, Rita had no choice but to sit on the chair obediently. Although she still looked at Harry and Hermione from time to time, at least she didn't dare to move casually now.

While waiting for Dumbledore to come over, Maca and Bagman chatted about Quidditch one after another, and Harry added a word from time to time. By Harry's side, Hermione looked at Maca every minute.

She has too much to say to Maca, but now is obviously not the time.

In fact, it didn't take long for Dumbledore to arrive, accompanied by a spirited old wizard beside him.

The four warriors sat down on the chairs by the door and looked out at the velvet table in front of them, where four of the five judges were sitting—Professor Orson, Mrs. Maxime, Mr. Crouch and Lu Do Bagman.

Rita Skeeter found a corner and sat down. She subconsciously took out a roll of parchment from her handbag, spread it on her lap, and licked the nib of her shorthand quill. But after finishing this whole set of actions, she hesitated to hold the pen holder of the quill pen instead of letting the quill pen write automatically.

"Please allow me to introduce Mr. Ollivander." Dumbledore sat down on the referee's seat and said to several warriors, "He is going to check your wands to make sure they are in good condition before the match."

Three years ago in Diagon Alley, it was this old wizard with big pale eyes who gave Maca his first wand. At this moment, he was standing quietly by the window, nodding casually to everyone.

"Miss Delacour, you come first, will you?" Mr. Ollivander said, walking to the open space in the middle of the room.

Fleur walked lightly to Mr. Ollivander and handed him her wand.

"Hmm..." Ollivander narrowed his eyes and looked carefully.

He twirled the wand between his slender fingers like a baton, sending out many pink and gold sparks.

Then, bringing his wand close to his eyes again, he held it up for another moment.

"Yes," he said softly, "nine and a half inches. . . very strong. . . of maple. . . . . . . . . . . .

"Contains a veela hair," said Fleur, "my grandma's hair."

"So, Fleur really has some Veela blood!" Harry couldn't help thinking so.

He was going to take that to heart and go back and tell Ron...but then he remembered that Ron wasn't talking to him now.

"Yes," said Mr. Ollivander, "yes, of course, I've never used Veela hair myself. I think wands made of Veela hair are too capricious...but everyone agrees." Have your own hobbies, since it suits you..."

Mr. Ollivander ran his fingers over the wand, apparently checking it for scratches and bruises. Then, he whispered: "The orchids are blooming!"

A bouquet of flowers blooms on the wand head.

"Very well, very well," said Mr. Ollivander, gathering the flowers and handing them to Fleur, along with her wand.

"Miss Granger, it's your turn."

Fleur returned to her seat briskly, and when Hermione passed by, their eyes also crossed.

"Oh, this is my product, isn't it?" When Hermione handed over the wand, Mr. Ollivander was obviously more excited than before, "Yes, I remember it very clearly. There is a very complete section of the dragon in it." Nerve, steady and strong and powerful. Ten and three-quarters inches, of vine wood, of fine texture...it's in very good shape...you must be taking good care of it, aren't you?"

Mr. Ollivander flicked a stream of colorful bubbles with Hermione's wand, and he nodded in satisfaction.

"Mr. McLean, it's your turn."