The Rune Mage Starting at Hogwarts

He explained the Veela's allure magic to Anthony very seriously, telling Anthony to be careful of this trick tomorrow.

There isn't really a good way to deal with charm magic. Just like dealing with Legilimency, it's about emptying your mind or using a brain-sealing technique that fills your mind with things.

Professor Flitwick's advice was to make Anthony always remember that this was a competition, and not to put down his wand and surrender just because the other person was very charming.

Although Anthony was a little nervous, he still seriously stated that even if he lost, he would lose clearly and would never be bewitched by the other party's charm magic.

Chapter 192: Hibiscus's Test

The dueling arena on the afternoon of the second day.

The losers' bracket matches started in the morning.

So the winners' bracket matches started immediately in the afternoon.

The audience for the winners' bracket in the afternoon was mostly wizards from the Paris area, but the atmosphere was much more lively than yesterday.

According to Professor Flitwick, the junior competitions were indeed not taken very seriously. Basically, the real big shots and spectator groups from various countries would only arrive after the main competition and the adult qualifying rounds had begun.

The match between Anthony and Seremban was scheduled for an earlier time slot, around 2:30 PM, when it was Anthony's turn to play.

When Fu Rong gracefully stepped onto the dueling platform, it caused quite a stir in the stands, as always.

Although she is not yet a seeded player for Beauxbatons, with her silver hair and delicate face, she has already become one of the most dazzling star players in this qualifier.

Facing the cheering crowd below the stage, she seemed somewhat accustomed to it. She lightly tossed her long hair, but her gaze passed over Anthony across from her and landed on Reiz, who was cheering on his roommate below the stage.

Fleur learned yesterday that an eleven-year-old first-year student at Hogwarts had defeated a sixth-year student from Durmstrang in less than half a minute using a novel kind of magic she had never seen before.

The Beauxbatons teacher mentioned to them yesterday during the post-match debriefing that the magic might be a secret weapon that Hogwarts had prepared for this tournament.

Unfortunately, they know absolutely nothing about that magic.

They were just guessing that the spell seemed to be able to double cast, to put two different spells into one spell.

However, Durmstrang has remained silent on the specifics of the matter, clearly not wanting other schools to obtain too much information.

Their teacher said that Durmstrang probably wanted to research this magic himself, so that when Hogwarts came to compete with them for the championship, he could use the counter-magic he had researched to defeat them.

“A first-year student at Hogwarts…” Fleur withdrew her gaze and re-examined her opponent who had stepped onto the dueling ring.

After the referee checked their condition and announced the start of the duel, Fleur watched as Anthony quickly and skillfully cast a protective spell in front of her, without rushing to attack.

“You look nervous, little one,” Fleur said, her voice carrying a unique rhythm.

Anthony stood on the other side, trying to calm his racing heart after hearing the other's voice.

Although he was a little nervous, his gaze would unconsciously be drawn to Furong when he looked at her.

But soon a firmness appeared in his eyes, minimizing the influence of that allure on him.

After all, his biggest dream since childhood was to become a dueling champion, and even knowing that his opponent was very strong, he still wanted to fight with Ravenclaw's momentum.

Thinking this, Anthony exhaled, then gave a polite slight bow, while gripping his wand tightly: "Hello, Miss Delacour."

Furong smiled slightly, a smile that looked particularly charming in the sunlight.

Her inherited allure was fully unleashed, causing not only Anthony's gaze to become somewhat unfocused, but even the referee beside him was momentarily stunned.

This method is not against the rules in formal duels, and it is very effective for younger students whose willpower is not yet strong.

Hibiscus took light steps and slowly approached Anthony.

She did not lower her guard just because Anthony was in a daze; her wand remained steadily pointing forward, ready to deal with any unexpected events that might occur.

“Tell me, little one,” Fleur said, walking a few feet away from Anthony, her voice low and soft, as if sharing some secret, “what special magic did your Hogwarts prepare for this competition… the kind that boy named Rhett used, was it a new spell your school developed?”

Anthony's gaze grew increasingly unfocused. He felt that the girl in front of him was the most trustworthy person he had ever met, and he didn't want to hide anything from her.

“That’s not…” Anthony murmured, his lips trembling.

Hibiscus moved a little closer, her azure eyes fixed on Anthony's pupils, trying to coax him into revealing more details.

However, just as Anthony was about to reveal the key information, the pre-match encouragement from Ryze and his own obsession with becoming the dueling champion suddenly popped into his mind.

His desire for honor and his trust in friendship made him realize the problem.

Anthony bit his tongue hard, the sharp pain instantly bringing him back to his senses.

He looked at Furong, who was now almost within reach, and broke out in a cold sweat, instinctively leaping backward.

"This is a Hogwarts secret!" Anthony roared, lashing his wand at Fleur. "Expelliarmus!"

Fleur raised an eyebrow in surprise, not expecting that a first-year student at Hogwarts would have such a strong will.

However, she had never let her guard down.

The moment the other person regained consciousness, she was already prepared to retaliate.

She gracefully sidestepped the red light: "Then let's stop here."

There is a huge difference in magical power between fourth graders and first graders. Although Anthony tried his best to turn the tide after regaining consciousness, he couldn't even last half a minute under Fleur's dense spells.

With a precise disarming spell, Anthony's wand flew from his hand, arcing through the air before landing at the edge of the dueling ring.

"The winner is Fleur Delacour!" the referee announced loudly.

Anthony was breathing heavily. Although he had lost the match, his expression was not one of frustration, but rather one of relief.

He strode over, retrieved his wand, and prepared to turn and leave the stage.

"So, you haven't learned that spell yet?" Fleur didn't leave immediately. Standing in the center of the stage, she raised her chin slightly and asked Anthony, "Or are you willing to fail rather than use that spell?"

In her view, since it was a secret weapon prepared by Hogwarts, Anthony, as Ritz's roommate, had no reason not to get his hands on it.

Anthony stopped and glanced at her.

He didn't answer Furong's question, but simply nodded politely to the senior student and then walked off the dueling platform without saying a word.

Hibiscus felt it was a pity about Anthony's reaction.

I had initially thought that by encountering this first-year student, I could glean some information from him to help Beauxbatons gain an intelligence advantage. However, I didn't expect that this year's Hogwarts students would be so determined, keeping their mouths shut until the very end.

Chapter 193: The Second Round Begins

After the referee announced the winner, Fu Rong gracefully bowed to the crowd, once again receiving cheers from the entire audience.

As she stepped off the dueling ring and returned to the rest area in Beauxbatons, several upperclassmen surrounded her, whispering questions, but Fleur simply shook her head.

“This year’s Hogwarts freshmen are more persistent than I thought. I didn’t get any information out of them,” Fleur said, taking the water glass from her companion. She indicated that she had used her charm to the limit, but the other person still managed to break free through sheer willpower.

She turned her head and looked back at the viewing area of ​​Hogwarts.

She knew that Beauxbatons had the advantage of being the organizer, but the organizing committee only promised to give Beauxbatons and even the French wizard some preferential treatment in terms of the competition schedule; there were no other advantages.

Besides Hogwarts, other schools probably also have a lot of secret weapons prepared for this duel. She had already found out some information about Durmstrang's core players yesterday. She also plans to go to Evamoni later to see what trump cards the wizards in North America have prepared.

If you want to figure out Hogwarts' trump card, it's not too late to find an opportunity in the later matches.

Meanwhile, Anthony walked back to his place at Hogwarts.

His complexion was alright, but the stinging sensation on the tip of his tongue made his speech a little slurred.

“Hey guys, I’m back from a crushing defeat,” Anthony shrugged and greeted Rez and a few third-year students. “They were really ruthless; there was absolutely no chance of winning.”

“Don’t say that, Anthony. It’s already quite impressive that you were able to wake up from the other person’s charm and launch a counterattack,” Ryze patted his shoulder and handed him a small bottle of healing potion.

Anthony thanked Ritz for the potion, drank it down in one gulp, and then complained to Ritz, "You have no idea how close that was... I only glanced into her eyes and I was completely captivated by her. I almost couldn't help but tell her all the magic you taught us."

“It’s a really weird feeling, Reese,” Anthony said, wiping his mouth with lingering fear. “It’s like you know there’s a trap ahead, but your legs just won’t obey you and you want to jump in.”

He took a breath and continued, "Luckily, Professor Flitwick reminded me last night, so all I could think about was how you helped me practice, and of course, the honor of Ravenclaw... I kept reminding myself that if I couldn't help but say it, I would never be able to go back to my dorm to sleep for the rest of my life."

At this point, Anthony was still complaining that Beauxbatons lacked sportsmanship, using such methods against lower-grade students like him.

Rizz smiled and gestured for him to relax.

Professor Flitwick's guidance was indeed useful; he probably guessed that Fleur might use Anthony as a breakthrough point.

This is the norm in dueling tournaments.

After all, intelligence is a very important part of a wizard's duel.

While other schools were trying to probe Hogwarts's strengths, Hogwarts was also gathering intelligence on other schools.

At that moment, on the edge of the stands not far away, Professor Flitwick was standing among a group of wizards dressed in various styles.

Those were the spellcasting teachers from the schools participating in this dueling tournament. Since the dueling tournament is held every two years, they naturally knew each other.

Professor Flitwick's short stature was not conspicuous in the crowd, but his enthusiastic voice was still very recognizable.

The teachers were discussing the matches on the dueling platform, and also the research on spells at various schools.

Although everyone was a seasoned veteran and unlikely to reveal any core information, Professor Flitwick was still able to glean some useful intelligence from these conversations.

Meanwhile, Sirius Black was also busy in the rest area on the other side.

He was chatting with several female staff members from the event team.

With his handsome face, reminiscent of the Black family, and his casual smile, the 33-year-old had fully regained his charm, making the female staff blush and their hearts race with just a few words.

Seeing Sirius flirting with these staff members, Ryze knew that his cousin was actually helping to gather information.

Not only was he gathering information about the junior group, but he was also taking this opportunity to gather information about the adult group in advance.

Ryze withdrew his gaze and continued watching the duel on the dueling platform.

Time flew by in the tense atmosphere of watching the game.

After several exciting matches, the atmosphere in the arena became much more intense than before.

It was exactly 4 p.m.

The referee's voice reminded Reese it was time to step up: "Next match, winners' bracket match seventeen, Reese White, a first-year student from Hogwarts, versus Hiroshi Sato, a fifth-year student from the School of Magic!"

Upon hearing her name called, Reiz stood up.

Upon hearing his name, the students around him perked up slightly.

After all, this is the first first-grader to defeat a sixth-grader since the start of the junior division of the dueling tournament.

It's important to know that seventh-grade students are all wizards who are 17 years old or older, and if they want to participate in the competition, they have to participate in the adult group competition.

The sixth graders are actually the strongest group in the junior division; basically, more than 7% of the junior division champions are decided among the sixth graders.

Even though the sixth-grader Pierre that Rez defeated wasn't Durmstrang's strongest player, he was still a key player.

Even though he underestimated his opponent, Rizz was still able to defeat him using the trump card he had developed at Hogwarts, which naturally aroused a lot of curiosity about Rizz.

Those spectators who hadn't attended the competition naturally didn't know about Ryze's achievements yesterday. It wasn't until they heard someone mention Ryze's record that they began to glance at the dueling ring where Ryze was.

As Ryze stepped onto the dueling ring, a young man in a pale gold robe was already standing at the other end of the ring.

Sato Hiroshi stared intently at Rizzi.

After confirming that his opponent today was Ryze, he showed no sign of relaxing and instead kept discussing Ryze's trump cards with his teacher.

According to his teacher's recap yesterday, the opponent started by using a powerful Light Spell to catch him off guard, and his fighting style afterwards seemed to have been something he had stolen from Durmstrang, using some melee magic.

So today he's going to distance himself from the other person and have a real spell battle with this first-year student.

Chapter 194: Magic Clash

After pre-match testing, the two stood in the center of the stage and exchanged a duel salute.

"Hogwarts, Rizz White."

"Magic place, Hiro Sato."

Sato Hiroshi's voice was short and abrupt; he didn't say much, his eyes fixed on the wand in Ryze's hand.

After exchanging greetings, the two stepped back to a position twenty paces apart from each other.

The referee raised his wand, stood between the two, and scanned their faces.

"Ready—"

Both of them lowered their center of gravity slightly, raised their wands, and prepared for battle.

"Start!"

With the referee's command, Ryze once again unleashed Ultimate Flash.

This light was even faster than the one during yesterday's match against Pierre, and its brilliance was even more dazzling, almost turning the entire dueling arena yellow.

However, knowing that Ryze might use this tactic to start the game, Hiroshi Sato did not panic like his opponent did yesterday.

At the moment the intense light burst forth, he did not close his eyes. Instead, he quickly held his wand across his forehead, muttered a spell, and created a protective spell in front of him.