Hogwarts: Starting with full Unforgivable Curses

"Not yet, at least not now." Sirius shook his head slightly, his tone tinged with apology. "There are still some minor issues to resolve—for example, the underwater vegetation at the bottom of the lake hasn't been properly installed yet, so we can only capture images near the surface. But don't worry, we'll make sure all the preparations are done today, so that the audience can clearly see every detail underwater during tomorrow's competition."

Upon hearing this, Harry sighed with regret and said softly, "So that's how it is..."

However, this regret was quickly replaced by another thought. His expression instantly brightened, and he looked at Sirius with sparkling eyes, tentatively asking, "Sirius, does this mean... that you and Professor Lupin will both stay to watch the game tomorrow?"

“Of course!” Sirius Black guessed Harry’s thoughts at a glance. He grinned and patted Harry on the shoulder. “This is a viewing plan that we designed together with the logistics team. Although we are very confident in this plan, we still need to keep it on site just in case. In case the curtain malfunctions, we can deal with it immediately and it will definitely not affect your viewing experience during the game.”

Seeing Sirius's bright smile, Harry nodded vigorously, his eyes full of determination: "I will definitely do my best and will not let you down!"

……

Another day has passed, and in the morning, the second event of the Triwizard Tournament officially kicked off.

Temporary stands have already been set up along the shore of Black Lake. Unlike the circular stands built for the first project, the lakeside stands this time are designed to be more conventional, with an overall rectangular structure.

The seating in the stands is the same as last time, arranged in a neat tiered pattern. The higher the seat, the wider the view, allowing you to take in the entire Black Lake scenery.

However, the most special thing about the stands this time was not its structural design, but the rolls of white curtains that the class leaders distributed along the seats after the students took their seats.

Almost every student eagerly unfolded the screen after receiving it.

"Wow! So this is the secret weapon for watching the game!" Ravenclaw's Anthony Goldstein fully unfolded the screen, his voice full of surprise. "I was just discussing with Michael yesterday how we were going to watch the underwater game, and I never imagined it would be with this kind of magic screen. It's amazing!"

Sitting next to Anthony, Michael Conner couldn't wait any longer and lowered his head to read the instructions on the screen in a low voice: "'Illusion Projection Screen' - a magical viewing device made with the core principles of the 'Mirage Spell'... Please pay attention to the rhythm when reciting the spell."

As Michael recited the incantation, the other students in the stands followed suit and began to try reciting the "Mirage Incantation" displayed on the screen.

In an instant, all sorts of chanting arose from the stands, turning the once quiet place into a noisy mess.

Those students who originally planned to read the explanatory text silently were also infected by the enthusiastic atmosphere around them and unconsciously started reading aloud as well.

As the chanting of mantras converged and echoed above the stands, the screens in the students' hands suddenly changed simultaneously—large swaths of white on the previously blank screens quickly faded, revealing a real-time view of the bottom of Black Lake.

"Merlin's flowery shorts! It's really showing up!" Chrismoon of Hufflepuff exclaimed, his voice filled with disbelief as he looked at the image on the screen. "This must be the bottom of the Black Lake! You can even see the rocks and seaweed in the water so clearly!"

"Wow, this is amazing!" Ravenclaw's Tyrebault stared intently at the screen, echoing Chris's sentiment. "I never imagined the picture could be so clear, it's so much clearer than I expected!"

"Wouldn't it be better if the picture was clearer?" Michael Conner turned his head and asked Terry with a smile. "I've been hoping for a clearer picture so I can see every detail of the match, especially Harry's movements underwater."

"Of course!" Terry nodded eagerly, his voice full of excitement. "I definitely want the picture to be clearer so I can better cheer for Harry and also get a closer look at the other contestants' performances!"

Chris shifted his gaze from the curtain to the small tents set up on one side of the stands—the place where the competitors prepared before the competition.

He said somewhat eagerly, "I wonder if the second event is about to start? I can't wait to see the competition! I really want to know what challenges they will encounter underwater!"

On the other side of the lakeside grandstand, in the VIP area away from the students, Sirius Black and Lupin stood side by side, slowly unfolding the "visual projection screen" in their hands.

A gentle breeze blew, causing the edges of the screen to sway slightly, but it did not affect the stability of the image in the slightest.

Sirius's gaze was fixed on the screen, looking at the clear image at the bottom of the lake—tiny silver fish darting among the water plants, the distinct textures of the pebbles at the bottom, and even a few small crabs crawling in the crevices.

He couldn't help but lower his voice, his tone full of excitement: "The effect is even better than when we tested it before! We originally thought that with so many people using it at the same time, there might be some stuttering or blurring, but it's actually clearer now!"

“Yes, it’s quite surprising.” Lupin nodded slightly, a hint of emotion in his eyes. “When Dylan first proposed combining ‘Manifestation Seaweed’ and ‘Mirage Charm’ to create the viewing screen, I was worried that the idea was too radical and would encounter many technical difficulties. Now it seems that his thinking is more comprehensive than we imagined, even considering the complementary magical energy when multiple people use it.” He pointed to the image on the screen and added, “You see, when only a few of our staff participated in the testing before, although the image could be displayed, it always felt like it lacked some detail. Now, with so many students chanting the spell simultaneously and activating the screen, you can even see the reflection of dew on the seaweed leaves clearly. This level of clarity has completely exceeded our expectations.”

Sitting next to them was Gabriel Griffith, the representative of the Oak Arrow Broom Company, who was also staring at the curtain in his hands, his face full of surprise.

As a businessman who has dealt with magical items for many years, he has a keen ability to judge the performance of various magical products, but he has never seen a prop that can transmit underwater images in real time and optimize the effect according to the number of users.

He turned to look at Lupin, his tone tinged with curiosity: "Mr. Lupin, I just heard you say that the picture is clearer when multiple people are using it. Does that mean the effect of the 'visual projection screen' is related to the number of users? The more users, the better the picture quality?"

“That’s right, you’ve observed very carefully.” Lu Ping nodded with a smile and explained, “This is actually determined by the magical properties of the ‘visible aquatic plants’—each visible aquatic plant generates a weak magical fluctuation when capturing an image, and when the magical fluctuations of a large number of plants are superimposed, they can form a stronger signal transmission channel, thus making the image clearer and more stable. However, too few staff members participated in the previous tests, so they failed to discover this property, and therefore it is not recorded in the proposal for the time being.”

As he spoke, Lupin picked up his own curtain and gently placed it next to Gabriel Grimm's curtain, indicating, "Mr. Grimm, you can carefully compare the images presented on our two curtains and see if there are any differences."

Gabrielgrim immediately lowered his head, his eyes almost touching the curtain.

He stared at his own screen for a few seconds, which showed a patch of aquatic plants on the eastern side of the lakebed. Then he looked at Lupin's screen and found that it showed a rocky area on the western side of the lakebed. The two scenes were completely different, with even subtle differences in the light and shadow.

He then turned to look at the screen in the hands of an employee not far away, and found that the image on it was the sandy bottom of the lake, which did not overlap with the content of the previous two screens at all.

“It seems…” Gabrielgrim looked up, his tone tinged with uncertainty, “that the images presented on each screen are different? That each screen captures a different scene from the bottom of the lake?”

“Mr. Grimm, your observation is very insightful.” Lupin nodded approvingly and continued to explain, “Currently, the screen is displaying a ‘scattered image,’ mainly to cover the lake bottom area comprehensively and avoid missing any details. Once the second event officially begins and the contestants enter the lake bottom, the images on all the screens will gradually unify and automatically focus on the contestants.”

“If the footage is uniform…” Gabrielgrim suddenly thought of a crucial question, and he frowned as he asked, “Wouldn’t all the viewers only be able to see the same contestant? If several contestants are moving in different areas at the same time, wouldn’t the viewers miss the performances of the other contestants?”

“Of course not,” Lupin smiled and shook his head, patiently explaining, “The core of the curtain’s magic has an ‘intelligent tracking’ function. If viewers want to focus on a specific contestant, such as wanting to see what Dylan is doing, they only need to silently say the contestant’s name in their minds, and the curtain will automatically switch the screen to present real-time scenes related to that contestant. If there is no specific target, the curtain will cycle through the screens of several contestants to ensure that viewers do not miss any key plot points.”

Hearing this, Gabrielgrim's surprise gradually turned into admiration. He couldn't help but smile and said sincerely, "I feel more and more that deciding to cooperate with you was an incredibly wise choice! The magical products you've launched are not only innovative but also highly complete, with meticulous attention to detail. Even if I were to deliberately look for some flaws, I can't seem to find anything to criticize."

"Actually, there is still a lot of room for optimization." Lu Ping said frankly without any pride. "Our team has already started planning an upgrade plan for the 'visual projection screen'. The first step is to try to make a larger screen, such as a giant screen suitable for use in auditoriums or large venues. The second step is to add an 'organizer control' function, which will allow the organizer to push key images to all the audience according to the progress of the competition, such as the moment when the contestant completes the task, or an emergency scene when danger is encountered."

He paused, then added, "In addition to these two areas we are researching, we also plan to combine Muggle's 'live TV' technology to develop more practical functions. For example, we can add a 'replay' function so that viewers can relive the exciting moments of the game; or add a 'multi-screen split-screen' mode so that viewers can see the actions of several players at the same time without frequently switching between screens."

Gabrielgrim nodded repeatedly, his eyes gleaming with excitement, and couldn't help but say, "These upgrade directions are all excellent! I'm so excited to hear them; I can't wait to see the upgraded product!"

He turned to look at the makeshift tent set up by the contestants not far away, his tone tinged with regret: "If I weren't so reluctant to miss Mr. Hawkwood's performance in this competition, I would really like to rush back to the company right now and finalize the long-term cooperation agreement for the 'visual projection screen' to avoid any unforeseen complications!"

In another corner of the VIP stands, several referees from different magic schools sat together, each holding a "visible projection screen".

Looking at the clear image of the lake bottom on the screen, Madam Maxim of Beauxbatons Magical Academy had a hint of admiration in her eyes and couldn't help but say, "This is truly a very interesting magical artifact! From the perspective of magical principles, it's nothing more than the image-capturing ability of 'Manifesting Seaweed' combined with the projection effect of 'Mirage Charm.' It's not a particularly complex combination, but I never expected it to produce such an excellent real-time image effect. It's truly surprising."

……

Meanwhile, inside the contestants' tents on the lakeshore, Professor McGonagall was leading Dylan and other Hogwarts warriors into the tents.

Her gaze was firm and sharp, sweeping across the faces of each warrior. Her tone was serious yet encouraging: "The competition is about to begin. You don't need to be nervous. Believe in the results of your training over this period of time, and just give full play to your true abilities! I look forward to your wonderful performance. Good luck!"

Unlike the scene at the start of the first project, the tent was not empty this time—Ludobagman, from the Department of Physical Education and Sports of the Ministry of Magic, was already sitting in a soft armchair, waiting with a roll of "phantom projection screen" open in his hand, watching the images on it with great interest.

"Wow, this is truly a wonderful thing!" Ludobagman exclaimed, looking at the screen. "I only knew that 'mirages' could create false illusions, but I never imagined they could be used like this! Combined with 'visible seaweed,' it can actually transmit such clear images in real time!" (End of Chapter)