Who Was He?

Knock, knock, knock!

There was a knock at the door.

"The door's unlocked."

Dumbledore, seated behind his desk, looked up at Snape as he entered the Headmaster's office.

"What did you need me for?"

"The Magical Gardens will be hosting the Magical School Potion Championship this year," Dumbledore said without preamble. "Do you have any suitable candidates?"

"Miss Izabel Macdougal would be a good candidate. If she is willing to participate in the Magical School Potion Championship, she should achieve a decent result."

"What about Mr. Anderson?" Dumbledore suddenly asked.

"Anderson? I recall that he has not yet come of age." Snape raised an eyebrow slightly and reminded him, "There seems to be no precedent for underage wizards participating in the Potions Tournament."

Sending an underage wizard to compete in the Potions Tournament was simply "too dangerous."

That was usually a very good excuse, and it worked on most students.

In fact, most upper-year students were indeed far more skilled at Potions than lower-year students, so such a situation rarely arose.

However, Snape did not know whether that excuse would work on Anderson.

"Someone recommended Mr. Anderson to me." Dumbledore set down the letter in his hand.

"Someone? Who?" Snape asked suspiciously. He did not particularly like Anderson. In fact, he did not particularly like most students.

"Mr. Hertok Dagworth," Dumbledore replied without hesitation. "He believes Hogwarts School has not won the Magical School Potion Championship trophy in decades, and needs a trophy to show the other schools that Hogwarts School's standard in Potions is not as poor as they imagine."

"Why would Mr. Hertok Dagworth recommend an underage wizard for the competition?"

"They have corresponded by letter. Hertok said that Mr. Anderson has already passed the Extraordinary Apothecary Association's assessment and stands a good chance of winning the championship.