324: Chapter 317 Mr. Gao's Arrival—I Also Have a Competition

Kings Cross Station was unprecedentedly crowded today.

The Queen had ordered the area cleared—not to drive away or isolate the masses, but simply to set up a cordon and fix the areas where they gathered.

Thus, while the front of the station was bustling with noise, the road itself was empty.

The morning sun spilled across the pavement and onto everyone's shoulders. Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, the Queen's motorcade drove from the end of the road and came to a steady halt at the station entrance.

The Queen stepped out of the car. An Owl, a gift from the Headmaster, perched on her right shoulder. Since it was inconvenient to move that side, she raised her left hand to gently wave to the cheering crowd as she walked into the station.

Toby and the other four followed her inside.

They were students of Hogwarts and locals of Blue Star; it was only right and proper for them to come and welcome the Headmaster.

The group came to a halt in front of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, calmly facing the constant flash of cameras around them.

“Your Majesty, did we perhaps arrive a bit too early?” Toby recalled seriously for a moment. “I remember the Hogwarts train doesn't run at this hour.”

“Arriving early isn't a bad thing; perhaps the train will enter the station ahead of schedule.” The Queen didn't mind at all that she might have to wait until noon, smiling toward the cameras.

“Your Majesty is very thoughtful.”

Wino, standing nearby, leaned into Toby's ear once they finished talking: “I heard the Mountain Gate from China is also coming? When? Do we need to organize a welcoming ceremony?”

“No need,” the Queen spoke up. “The Director of China's Special Investigation Bureau told me that the Kunpeng will deliver them directly to the competition grounds.”

“Kunpeng? Is that the giant flying fish!” Misha asked excitedly.

The Queen smiled and tapped Misha's nose with her index finger: “You aren't allowed to call it something so crude once you see the Kunpeng.”

“Will it punish me?”

“The Director told me that a disciple of the Mountain Gate once offended it and was suppressed under a mountain for three hundred years.”

“I know that one!” Leon raised his arm. “It was a monkey!”

Toby sighed and pushed Leon's arm down: “Leon, the monkey you're talking about wasn't a disciple of the Mountain Gate. It's a fic... um... character from Chinese mythology.

Also, the time it was suppressed wasn't three hundred years, but five hundred.”

He had originally intended to say the monkey was fictional, but then remembered that the Kunpeng was also a fictional creature. After a moment's deliberation, he chose a more ambiguous term.

Wino was quite interested in what the Queen had revealed and asked: “Your Majesty, how long will they be staying in the Kingdom?”

“Probably until the end of the tournament.”

Hearing this, he felt a slight surge of excitement.

He planned that if he had the chance to contact the Mountain Gate disciples, he would try to promote his 'organization'; perhaps he could gain their support.

“Speaking of which,” Toby looked around. “Didn't that Mr. Gao say he was coming too?”

“Yes.” The Queen's thin brows furrowed. “Mr. Gao is by no means a good person. I asked the Headmaster about his whereabouts, but received no answer.”

“Is he a bad guy?” Misha's eyes were worried.

“Misha.” This time, the Queen didn't use a tone for coaxing children, but spoke with the tone of an adult conversation. “People are complex.

A thief might give alms to a beggar on the street, and a celebrity might keep a mistress. Mr. Gao may harm us in some ways, but in others, he might actually be of help.”

It was unclear whether Misha truly didn't understand or was just pretending, but a look of confusion appeared on her face.

The Queen didn't mind, looking up to scan the other four: “There's no need to worry about Mr. Gao. The Headmaster will deal with him. We just need to do what we're supposed to do.”

“Yes!” Sensing the Queen's solemnity, the four straightened their backs.

“Eh—” Misha suddenly looked at the teaching rod staff in her hand. “Why is it getting hot...”

“Hello, everyone.”

The others were wondering what was happening with Misha, and just as their gazes turned toward her, they heard a voice from behind.

Turning around, they saw Dumbledore had appeared in front of the wall at some unknown moment.

He was still in his usual attire, his body shrouded in a black magic robe, a small pair of round glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. The teaching rod staff in his right hand was the same model as the one gifted to the Queen.

“Headmaster.” The Queen smiled and approached with elegant steps. “Welcome to Blue Star as our guest.

The others...”

“Are behind me.”

As the words fell, the red brick wall rippled like the surface of water. A little girl about ten years old stepped out, followed by a second, a third...

The surrounding reporters grew excited: “Quick, start filming!”

Once all the participants had emerged, they formed three rows according to their academies.

Three professors leading the groups walked over: “You must be the Queen that Headmaster Dumbledore mentioned. Hello.”

Having heard before that the three schools were in competition with Hogwarts, the Queen had thought they might treat her coldly. She hadn't expected them to be so exceptionally warm.

“Hello, gentlemen, and this lady.

The vehicles to the arena are ready and can depart at any time. However, would you like to rest for a while and have a light meal first?”

The three professors looked around: “We can head over ourselves. As for the meal, we'll settle that once we arrive.”

The Queen and Dumbledore exchanged a glance. Receiving an affirmative look, she informed them of the general location of the arena.

Are they going to walk there?

Toby muttered to himself as he and the fifteen students from the three academies sized each other up.

The Queen was equally curious, her eyes fixed on them.

“Headmaster Dumbledore, then we shall set off first.” The professors bowed to Dumbledore, then reached into the wide sleeves of their robes and pulled out five brooms in succession, distributing them to their students.

Flying there on brooms?

The crowd realized all at once, thinking to themselves that they had forgotten wizards all used brooms for travel.

They straddled the brooms together, hovered off the ground, and flew out of the hall.

The exclamations of tourists soon drifted in from outside. Only after the noise subsided a bit did the Queen ask curiously: “Headmaster, their attitude doesn't seem... all that bad.”

“Hahaha...” Dumbledore laughed heartily for quite a while before stopping. “Just like the relations between your countries, in the world of Hogwarts, the weak do not have the courage to mock or neglect the strong.”

“You see.” The old man pointed toward the doors they had flown out of. “I am stronger than them, and Hogwarts is stronger than them. Therefore, when I decided to hold the tournament on Blue Star,

they all agreed completely. They obediently rode the train for a day and a night, not daring to show even a hint of dissatisfaction.”

Although they had already made guesses about the reality of the supernatural, the five remained silent for a long time after Dumbledore presented it so bluntly.

The Queen, who had experienced intrigues and struggles and had long seen the essence of the world, showed no change in expression. She maintained her dignified smile: “Then let us set off as well.

Headmaster, you...”

Dumbledore looked around at the reporters, some crouching and some standing: “I will go with you.”

“That's wonderful.” The Queen's smile grew even brighter.

The group didn't delay any further, turning to walk out the main doors. Amidst the shouts of the crowd, they boarded the cars and headed toward the outskirts.

“Is that Dumbledore? He looks a bit like the actor who played him!”

“Of course. How could Ms. Rowling forget her own grandfather's appearance? She must have demanded the closest possible resemblance when picking the actor.”

“Mr. Dumbledore!” Someone stood on tiptoe, waving prepared paper and pen. “Can I have your autograph!”

“I want a broom! A broom!”

The old man sitting in the back seat with the Queen looked out the window and smiled: “They are very enthusiastic.”

“Of course. Your fame spans the entire globe.”

The original works created by Rowling were famous overseas and had been adapted into multiple films. Even today, many years later, they remained as fresh as ever.

To say the character of Dumbledore was a household name was a slight exaggeration, but it wasn't too much to say he had fans in every region.

The motorcade slowly left the streets, but the fervor of the people didn't drop in the slightest.

Excitedly, they discussed with their companions—and even strangers—how they had truly hit the jackpot this time.

“Did you film that broom squad that just flew by?”

“Yeah!” The person tapped their Mobile Phone screen a few times, pulling up the video they just took and turning it toward their friend. “Look! Is my technique okay?!”

“Eh, the participants are all kids?” The friend's attention had been entirely on the brooms earlier; by the time they reacted, they had already flown far away.

“Oh, they are?!” Reminded by the friend, he turned the phone back to look for a bit and said in surprise.

“Haven't you guys read the original books?” a nearby stranger chimed in. “In the books, the first-year students at the Magic Academy are all kids around ten years old.”

“Uh, we've read the books and even caught up on the movies before coming, it's just...” He scratched his head awkwardly. “I thought the movies definitely had some embellishments.

And to learn magic, one's mind surely has to be mature.”

“That's why there are so many people in this world called Muggles, like you and me. By the time our minds are mature, we've already missed the age to learn magic.” The stranger sighed, looking quite despondent.

The friend was a bit curious about this person's background, as they seemed very knowledgeable, but didn't ask. Instead, they offered comfort: “Don't be discouraged. Look, among the five new students from Ying Country, only one is a child; the other four are adults.”

The stranger perked up slightly: “That's right! As long as one works hard, there's bound to be a chance! This competition is that chance!”

He and his friend looked at each other, then together they pulled the stranger out of the crowd and asked mysteriously: “What rumors have you heard?”

The stranger looked around, pulled the two a bit further away from the crowd, and then said: “Supposedly, after Headmaster Dumbledore finishes the tournament, he will gift a batch of magic books to the Royal Family.

He'll entrust them to find people suitable for learning. If one successfully masters a single spell, they can enroll in Hogwarts!”

“Really?!”

“Of course! It's practically an open secret, it's just that you guys came from abroad and haven't had time to find out.”

The stranger patted the two on the shoulders: “You guys are very kind. Consider this news my reward.”

After saying that, he turned and left, running toward the outskirts.

The two were originally a bit hesitant, wondering if this person was a scammer, but the person didn't stay for even a second, nor did they leave any contact info. That's not how you scam people, right?

“Do you think we can believe it?”

“Hmm...” The friend thought for a bit. “Let's see if he 'happens' to run into us again. if not, then it's real.

Right, he said this is an open secret locally. Why don't we just ask a local?”

“Good point, let's go!”

The two hurriedly ran off, not noticing that the corners of the mouth of the Guard on duty were twitching upward uncontrollably.

The farce soon reached the Queen's ears.

The Queen, who was happily chatting with Dumbledore, was stunned after hearing the report from Lee in the passenger seat.

The news she had released was that 'Hogwarts would gift a batch of precious supernatural resources.' How did it turn into selecting Hogwarts reserve students?

She had discussed this with Dumbledore beforehand, so she turned her head and asked: “Headmaster, that... was it you who said...”

“I did nothing.” The old man spread his hands. “Rumors are like this. Before they are proven true or false, everyone hopes things will develop in a direction beneficial to them.

They are happy to participate and push it forward, even if there is a lack of—or even no—evidence.”

“Fair enough.”

The aged Queen rarely handled government affairs anymore. Had it not been for the appearance of the supernatural, she probably would have passed away before long.

Having regained her youth, she had some understanding and research into modern information dissemination methods and speeds, but she still vastly underestimated its terrifying extent.

A piece of trending news could go from publication to spreading across the globe in perhaps just one hour.

Add to that the deliberate misinterpretation by those with intentions and some biased headlines, and it wasn't surprising that it was spread until it was unrecognizable.

The Queen sighed inwardly that she must continue to learn and not look down on the developments of the era. The old man was happy for the peace, watching the lamp posts fly past the window.

The motorcade drove out of the congested city and began to speed up, arriving at the arena in about half an hour.

Before even driving through the gates, the clamor inside was clearly audible to everyone even through the car windows.

“Brooms! Fly another one!”

The Queen was a bit bewildered: “Are they... performing?”

“They are children, after all. It's not hard to understand a strong desire to show off. Let's go in.”

The motorcade started moving again, slowly passing through the gates.

The students from the three academies seemed to be resting backstage. Only two children, a boy and a girl, were circling on brooms above the arena, occasionally performing three-hundred-and-sixty-degree stunts.

Toby looked at the cheering crowd and felt like something was wrong: “Headmaster, didn't you say flying brooms was a second-year subject?

Are they second-years?”

“No, the participants can only be first-year students.”

“Then...”

“Little fellow.” The old man smiled kindly. “Learning knowledge ahead of time isn't necessarily a good thing. Otherwise, why don't you let first-grade children go straight to high school?”

Toby understood roughly, but he felt embarrassed about the predicament they would inevitably face: “We'll be asked to perform when we get out of the car, but we don't even have brooms.”

Even if they did, they wouldn't dare ride them. Having never learned or studied them, recklessly trying to ride and falling off would only be more humiliating.

“Don't be afraid, I will...”

“What's that?!” Someone in the boisterous crowd suddenly screamed and pointed at the sky. Everyone around looked over.

Someone squinted at the small black dot in the sky: “It looks like... a person?”

The black dot continued to enlarge, and the human silhouette became clear. They all found it familiar.

“I remember now! It's Mr. Gao! The Mr. Gao who appeared in America!”

The crowd couldn't help but become agitated.

Any news related to the supernatural was bound to be a trending topic.

They all knew that Mr. Gao was a student expelled from Hogwarts. The Queen had released information about combat classes, mentioning that such students were called 'Evil Sorcerers' and were an extremely brutal group.

The Evil Sorcerer lurking in Hogsmeade had fully demonstrated this point. He actually used infants to practice evil magic and even turned cats into babies as replacements.

Mr. Gao landed steadily on the ground. The surrounding crowd instinctively backed away, instantly clearing an open space.

He didn't care, scanning his surroundings. His gaze soon fell upon Dumbledore, who was stepping out of the car.

“Headmaster, has your health been well lately?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Isn't this a competition arena?

Hehe, I also have a match.”