The Rune Mage Starting at Hogwarts

"While our boss is wreaking havoc in Paris with his brand-new magic, we also have to tell you another regrettable thing—"

Fred lowered his voice.

The tone of his voice also seemed to genuinely express regret for Rez.

"Could it be that you two lost so badly in the first Witcher Auto Chess challenge that you didn't even get a single point?" Ryze asked.

George quickly waved his hand: "How could that be? We are the designers of those pieces, after all. More than 90% of the characteristics and mechanisms of those pieces are in our minds. How could we possibly lose so badly to a group of novices who don't even understand the pieces?"

"In fact, none of us participated in the final competition, leaving the spots for other students. Otherwise, the Weasley family would have swept the grand prize."

Fred quickly added, "What we're saying is that while you gained honors outside, you also missed a grand event that will be recorded in Hogwarts history!"

As he said this, he took out a roll of parchment containing data on the applicants.

"Take a look, this is the list of participants for our first Hogwarts Auto Chess Challenge. As you said, even if you don't buy Auto Chess, you can still get a spot by bringing three new people to try it out. People who have bought Auto Chess will also get an extra invitation to participate."

"This method of getting people to spontaneously recommend new games to their friends is so effective! In the three days from the release of Auto Chess to the start of the challenge, a total of 462 Hogwarts students signed up, which is almost half of the entire Hogwarts student body!"

Ryze was not surprised by this.

After all, in order to open up the market for Auto Chess at Hogwarts, the first Challenge was not only rich in rewards but also had a low entry barrier.

Moreover, it was held during the Easter holiday, so basically all the students who had free time would come and join in the fun.

With the Wesley twins' tireless efforts in promoting and marketing, such results are quite normal.

However, it was indeed a huge event.

The tournament, which involved half of Hogwarts' students, was larger in scale than their junior dueling tournament.

After all, their junior group only has about three hundred people competing.

Of course, there's no comparison between them.

The participants in the dueling tournament are all outstanding fighters specially selected and trained by magic schools around the world. Apart from the lower-grade fighters who come to broaden their horizons, more than half of the participants are the best students in their respective schools, elites who come with the goal of winning the dueling tournament.

The participants in the Auto Chess Challenge were just there to join in the fun, since registration and the game were free. More than 80% of the students were curious about the new game and came to see if they could get some rewards.

"So what was the final result of the competition?"

Upon hearing this question, Gemini pulled out another parchment containing more detailed information about the match.

"As you said, let everyone complete 3-5 matches within a specified time. Points will be calculated based on the ranking of each match. Finally, the 64 people with the highest points will be selected to participate in the official competition."

George explained from the side, and then gave a brief report on the competition to Ritz. After five days of competition, the final eight were determined.

Ron is indeed very talented in this area.

Without much guidance from his brother, he first studied the Auto Chess game that Harry bought for two days, memorizing the basic pieces and bond combinations. Then, on the last day of the competition, he completed the games and successfully advanced to the main tournament with two first-place finishes, two second-place finishes, and one fourth-place finish.

They then advanced directly to the semifinals as the top seed in Group C, and then finished second in their group in the semifinals.

In the end, although he was outmatched on the final stage, he still managed to win the runner-up title in the first Auto Chess Challenge thanks to his command, and received equally generous rewards.

The fact that he won the championship also surprised Rez.

Because the champion who ultimately defeated Ron was not a student, but a professor from Hogwarts.

Karede Bubbajee.

Lower-grade students have little impression of this name, and even most upper-grade students probably don't know the professor's name.

Because she teaches one of the most obscure and subtle elective courses at Hogwarts: Muggle Studies.

This course was previously taught by Quirrell. After Quirrell became the teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Hogwarts recruited this thirty-year-old witch to be the professor of this course.

Generally speaking, there are more than 100 students in a grade, and about 30 of them will choose this course voluntarily.

It looks pretty good, but the main reason people choose this course is to save time and effort. In fact, nearly two-thirds of the students here are Muggle-born.

They chose this course because they thought they could get high marks, and a small number wanted to know how wizards viewed Muggles.

Muggle wizards who hold the latter view usually give up the course after only one or two years.

The reason is simple: the course content, like most other courses at Hogwarts, uses outdated textbooks.

In the 20th century, the hundred years of the fastest development of Muggle technology, Hogwarts' research on Muggles is still stuck half a century ago during World War II, and even that is only superficial. The focus is more on what British Muggles ate and thought in the early 20th century.

Apart from that, this course has virtually no presence at Hogwarts.

Rizzi never expected that the professor of this obscure course would be interested in Auto Chess, and even win the first Auto Chess Challenge.

Moreover, according to the Weasley twins, Professor Bubbaji's understanding of Auto Chess is overwhelming, far surpassing that of other students, both in his understanding of team compositions and his control over the pace of the game.

Add to that a bit of cunning and ruthlessness, and the game begins with her slaughtering other players in the same match.

"However, Professor Bubbaje really loves Auto Chess. She even helped us set up an Auto Chess club and volunteered to become the club's instructor."

Chapter 220: Auto Chess Tournament Status

From the Weasley twins' description, Rizz quickly learned what role Professor Bubbage of the Muggle Studies class had played in promoting Wizarding Auto Chess at Hogwarts.

After all, this was a major event involving nearly half of the students in the entire school, and such a commotion could not be kept from Professor McGonagall.

After learning about the scale of the competition and the participants, Professor McGonagall was initially worried that too many participants would have a negative impact on the school and was prepared to cancel the competition at Hogwarts.

At the time, the Weasley twins were thinking of moving the stage of the match from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade and holding it on the weekend.

However, while that might attract residents and tourists from Hogsmeade to participate, it wouldn't be very beneficial for promoting wizard chess, as first- and second-year students can't go to Hogsmeade.

After all, Lu Ping, who was also playing an off-campus Auto Chess challenge in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, was already doing the same thing off-campus. Holding the two competitions together naturally didn't have the same promotional effect.

At this point, Professor Bubbaji stepped forward and, as a player, negotiated with Professor McGonagall.

The Weasley twins weren't entirely sure what the two professors discussed, but ultimately, with Professor Bubbage's help, they obtained Headmaster Dumbledore's permission to establish a dedicated Auto Chess club at Hogwarts.

Then, in a very short time, this club surpassed the previous Wizarding Chess Club and Goblin Club, becoming the second most popular recreational club in the entire Hogwarts after Quidditch.

Because of this, the Auto Chess competition has become much more formal, and it can even be held directly in the auditorium in front of the entire school.

"Furthermore, Professor Bubbaji wasn't interested in the Galleons prize money after winning the championship. She simply put the Galleons into the club as our activity funds. She was only interested in the championship-themed chessboard and attack effects!"

“In short, with Professor Bubbaji’s help, nearly three hundred copies of Auto Chess have been sold on Hogwarts campus alone, and many more are still being sold every day,” Fred said, his eyes gleaming as he looked at Reiz.

"Hufflepuff is the top seller; they seem to really enjoy this kind of casual and fun entertainment game. Ravenclaw is second, after all, they have the advantage of the first version of The Wizarding Auto Chess. However, Gryffindor's sales are also catching up, and with our promotion, they should be able to surpass Ravenclaw by the end of the month."

George continued, "Although Slytherin has only sold forty or fifty copies so far, and most of them were purchased privately through some secret channels, there are actually seven or eight people in Slytherin who have joined the Auto Chess club."

"And those Slytherin guys are really rich. They basically don't buy the standard version of the chessboard. They all buy the enhanced version of the advanced chessboard. Even the highest-level chessboard has been sold more than ten times by Slytherin."

However, in terms of sales revenue, although Slytherin had the lowest sales volume, its sales revenue was almost catching up with Hufflepuff, which had the highest sales volume.

Listening to George and Fred's conversation, Reese also became somewhat interested in Professor Bubbaji.

It seems I'll have to find some time to meet this professor and figure out why he's so interested in Auto Chess.

Reiz stroked his chin, deep in thought.

Professor Bubbaji seems to be around thirty years old this year. According to the Weasley twins' description, she is a very beautiful witch, and about the same age as Rupin and Sirius.

Could it be Sirius, or perhaps one of the Raider's romantic interests during his school days?

Although Ryze had his doubts, he didn't think about it too much, after all, what if the professor just really liked Auto Chess?

“Anyway, I will make time to meet with Professor Bubbaji, but you guys have definitely had a hard time during this time,” Ryze said, pulling himself out of his thoughts and nodding to the Weasley twins.

Even without the help of others, the Wesley duo have devoted themselves to the development of Auto Chess over the past two weeks.

When Ryze generously announced that his commission would be increased by half this month, the twins looked flattered and surprised.

"As expected of a boss who is recognized by both of us brothers and became a dueling champion in the first year, such courage is truly reassuring!" Fred pretended to wipe the corner of his eye, but obviously no tears fell from his eyes.

"Don't worry, boss. Although we're members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, we'll definitely earn our paychecks. Before graduation, we'll find a way to make the Wizarding Auto Chess Club the biggest club at Hogwarts!" George patted Reese on the shoulder enthusiastically.

After explaining the current state of Auto Chess, the Weasley twins didn't say anything more to Ryze, knowing he needed rest.

The celebration party for the dueling team lasted until after 1 p.m., when Ryze finally had a chance to return to his long-missed dorm to rest.

Of course, he also placed the duel champion's trophy and the special contribution medal in the most conspicuous place in the dormitory, ensuring that everyone who entered the dormitory would see these two items as soon as possible.

During her lunch break in the dormitory, in addition to telling her roommates about her trip to France, Ryze also heard more about the Auto Chess Challenge from her roommates.

Terry and Michael also bought a chessboard and participated in the competition.

Michael brought many female players to Auto Chess during the qualifying rounds and gradually taught those girls how to play the game.

He even helped the girls choose some cuter and prettier chess pieces to form bonds, although in the end neither he nor the girls made it into the main tournament.

Michael's efforts proved that, indeed, fancy things like chessboard and piece skins, if made beautiful enough, can be copied mechanically.

As for Terry, things were much more normal.

Thanks to his understanding of Auto Chess, he successfully passed the qualifying and knockout rounds, but was unfortunately eliminated in the semifinals by Professor Bubbaji.

However, he later became a commentator in subsequent matches, helping the students watching to better understand the game.

Chapter 221: Hagrid's Dragon Egg

Terry is naturally a bit of a chatterbox, so the job of explaining things is indeed quite suitable for him.

After all, apart from the Weasley twins, no one else at Hogwarts really could do this job.

The Wesley duo, however, had to oversee the entire match and couldn't spare the time to provide commentary for individual games.

Without commentary, players who only have a superficial understanding of Auto Chess would find it difficult to intuitively grasp the specific situation on the field and the strengths and weaknesses of each player.

“The fact that Auto Chess has been able to run so smoothly this time is really thanks to you guys,” Ryze said with a smile to his roommates. “In a couple of days, when everyone has a little more free time, I plan to hold a barbecue party at Hagrid’s hut. I also acquired a lot of spices from all over the world while I was in France exchanging ideas with wizards from all over the world, and I’d like to try out how to use them.”

“Barbecue, that would be amazing!” Michael turned around, his eyes shining.

Then Reese added, "Just the few of us from our dorm, let's not invite anyone else. Consider this a celebration party just for our dorm. It won't be fun if there are too many people."

Michael's eyes instantly lost their sparkle.

Terry hesitated for a moment: "Going to Hagrid's place is not a problem, but you'd better go and check on Hagrid's situation first."

He paused for a moment, seemingly hesitant about how to describe it.

"In short, it might be my imagination, but I do feel that Hagrid's condition has been a little off lately."

Michael didn't seem to notice anything, since he rarely paid attention to other men. He just scratched his head and asked Terry with some confusion, "Really? I didn't notice anything. Hagrid looked exactly the same as before, didn't he?"

“No, that’s not true,” Terry retorted. “Hagrid has been acting very mysteriously this week. He usually greets us loudly when he sees us in the hallway, but these past few days he’s been keeping his head down and hardly speaking when he sees people. It’s like he’s avoiding everyone.”

Ryze's heart skipped a beat.

Judging by the time, Quirrell should have already handed the Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon egg to Hagrid, and now Hagrid's full attention should be focused on the soon-to-be-born dragon cub.

However, Hagrid, being such a big guy, is not good at lying. He would appear guilty when doing such things, which would easily attract the attention of those around him.

Seeing Ryze's thoughtful expression, Terry asked curiously, "What are you sensing?"

Ryze nodded slightly: "I have a feeling about it, but I can't explain it in detail right now. I'll find some time to confirm it in a couple of days."

He's been very busy these past few days. On one hand, Professor Flitwick said that the Daily Prophet wanted to conduct a full interview with their team, and the time was set for tonight.

In addition, he also needed to keep track of the Potions team's progress in potions during the two weeks he had been away from Hogwarts.

After Ryze said that, the dormitory became much quieter.

After a good afternoon of rest, Ryze was about to leave the Great Hall with the senior students from the Duel Club for an interview when he was intercepted by Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who had been waiting for him, just as he crossed an intersection.

Rizz said a few words to the senior students and told them to go ahead first, then he followed them. He then walked with Harry and the others to a nearby unused classroom.

Ron looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping before nodding to Harry.

It's clear that the three of them are quite nervous at this moment.

Harry, in particular, looked flustered.

"Ryze, something terrible happened to Hagrid while you were gone!"

"It really is Hagrid's business," Ryze thought to himself.

“I heard Terry say this afternoon that Hagrid has been acting strangely this week, but it was just speculation,” Rhys replied, then turned to Harry and asked, “So what’s wrong with Hagrid?”

“Hagrid got a dragon egg!” Ron interjected impatiently, his voice a mix of excitement and fear. “He won it playing cards at the Pighead Bar. It’s a Norwegian Spinosaurus egg, and it should hatch soon!”

Harry nodded and explained how they discovered it.

It started when Hermione noticed Hagrid's unusual visit to the library to look for books. Because of the strong sense of theft emanating from him, Ron became curious about Hagrid's purpose.

So after Hagrid left, Ron found a way to locate the place Hagrid had searched. He eventually discovered that most of the books there were related to dragons. In addition, Hagrid himself had mentioned to them more than once that he wanted to raise a dragon. So, driven by their curiosity, they secretly went to Hagrid's hut.

They eventually found the dragon egg in Hagrid's cabin, which hadn't been well hidden.

Hermione looked even more worried. She looked at Ryze and said, "Ryze, we remember you warned us before that Hagrid and Professor Quirrell might be the key to the mystery."