The Strange Durmstrang

"Will they destroy our yard? Mom just planted the flowers yesterday..."

In the courtyard of the little house, a little girl wearing glasses held her father's hand and whispered a question.

"This... can't be, right? They are... uh, wizards... oh my god, wizards..."

The man was explaining to his daughter, but it also seemed like he was explaining to himself.

The light rain had just stopped in the afternoon, and raindrops still clung to the newly transplanted flowers in the corner of the yard. The water droplets swayed, vaguely reflecting the two somewhat out of place figures in the yard.

After the Jensen family received those four strange acceptance letters, Mr. Jensen was initially only slightly annoyed. Such a prank on his daughter was certainly not something to be happy about, but of course, there was no need to take it too seriously.

However, just as he was about to take his daughter out to meet his wife, who worked at the mall, and then have dinner together, two men claiming to be wizards came to his door.

Of course, Mr. Jensen initially didn't believe it at all. He thought they were just two swindlers and was even prepared to angrily call the police and get rid of these two bastards.

Then, Mr. Jensen saw that the things in his yard seemed to come alive, with the vases noisily pulling out flower branches and stabbing at the lawnmower he hadn't yet put away in the garage.

The lawnmower, which I've used for several years and is starting to show signs of wear, seemed to have been injected with stimulants, wielding its round saw blade to retaliate against those irritable vases.

In an instant, flower branches and petals were scattered all over the courtyard, and various clods of earth and porcelain shards flew everywhere.

The two men who pulled out thin sticks and called themselves wizards looked calmly at the father and daughter.

"Mr. Jensen, and Miss Tulisa Jensen, do I need to prove anything further?"

The short man in the lead asked in a flat, monotone voice.

"I..." Mr. Jensen swallowed hard. "Excuse me for being frank, but I still don't understand the situation..."

"Foolish Muggle ..." the short man at the head muttered under his breath, inaudible to the others, before continuing, "Listen up, I come from Durmstrang, the oldest and most prestigious School of Magic in the world. I am Durmstrang's Admissions Officer, Deep Thomas."

"Your daughter, Tulisa Jensen, has been very fortunate to awaken her wizarding talents, which is an honor for you. And even more fortunate is that Durmstrang, which originally only accepted young wizards from the Pureblood Family, has generously extended an olive branch to you."

"We are pleased to inform you, Tulisa Jensen, that you have been admitted to Durmstrang Institute."

Despite saying she was happy, Deep Thomas still looked gloomy and cold, which made Mr. Jensen hold his daughter's hand tightly, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"Oh, oh, hello, Mr. Thomas— " Mr. Jensen glanced at the vases and lawnmower still locked in combat (his wife's favorite vases were shattered beyond recognition).

Then, cautiously, she said, "Are you saying that my daughter is going to become a wizard, just like those acceptance letters say?"

"Yes," Thomas, slightly impatiently, "Durmstrang will teach her how to control the magic within her, how to skillfully use spells, and how to become a noble wizard."

"Excuse my frankness, sir," Jensen said boldly, "We know far too little about your esteemed institution..."

Thomas frowned, which made both the Jensen father and daughter tense.

"What? You still think I'm the... magic trick conman you're talking about?"

Mr. Jensen shuddered; the other person gave him a very frightening feeling.

He quickly pulled his daughter behind him, forcing a smile, "No, no, you misunderstand—it's just that, as Tulisa's father, I do want to know where my daughter will go in the future."

"Looking back and forth..." Thomas grew even more impatient. "Let me just be frank with you. I won't stop you if you don't want to send your daughter to Durmstrang. But if no one teaches her magic, the magic within her will keep expanding, and eventually—"

He waved his wand, and the objects in the yard that had been Transfiguration froze instantly, then exploded violently in Jensen's horrified gaze!

Both father and daughter were startled, and little Tulisa huddled in her father's arms, trembling.

Could his own daughter become a bomb?!

Jensen swallowed hard. He glanced furtively at the yard. Despite the commotion, the occasional passersby didn't react at all. His neighbors, who usually loved to gossip, had also reduced their outings because their children were away studying. Otherwise, they would definitely have seen what was happening in his yard. No, could they even have seen it?

These two people in front of me really do possess amazing powers...

But should he send his daughter to that place called Durmstrang? Are all the students from that school like Mr. Thomas in front of him?

Moreover, he had already seen the other three of those four acceptance letters, and there were three other School of Magic as well...

"The other three schools have already given up on your daughter." Jensen looked up in horror at Thomas, who was speaking calmly across from him.

How did he know what I was thinking?

Thomas scoffed, "Mr. Jensen, only Durmstrang would be so generous. We're giving your daughter one last chance."

"Give me an answer within five minutes, or I will show no mercy when your beloved little Tulisa turns into a bomb and explodes."

After saying that, Thomas closed his eyes, seemingly no longer willing to answer any other questions.

"Dad, Dad..." The little girl hugged her father in fear.

"It's okay, it's okay, Tulisa, Daddy won't let anything happen to you."

As Jensen comforted his frightened daughter, he glanced hesitantly at Thomas.

Regardless, it's a settled fact that these two people possess extraordinary abilities, and people with such abilities don't seem to need to deceive their family for anything else...

Most importantly, he and his wife knew absolutely nothing about wizards. If what the wizard said was true, then their precious daughter might face...

"I've made up my mind. Then, I'll leave it to Durmstrang ..."

Before he could finish speaking, footsteps sounded again from outside the courtyard.

Four men and women dressed in different styles appeared at the door of the Jensen's house.

A handsome young man, who was in the lead, said in a gentle voice, "Don't jump to conclusions, Mr. Jensen."

Thomas's face stiffened noticeably, and a hint of panic flashed in his eyes.

Has Durmstrang stooped so low as to use magic and lies to trick new students into enrolling?

Sean completely ignored Adam, who was also from Durmstrang, behind him. He twirled his wand and slowly walked up to the wizard named Deep Thomas.

"Tsk, Durmstrang has become so unruly now—hey Adam, aren't you going to do anything about the people at your school?"

Before Adam, whose face was grim, could speak, Thomas snorted coldly and then walked towards the gate of the yard without saying a word.

Sean watched him walk to the courtyard entrance with ease before speaking, "Just leaving like that? Aren't you going to help Mr. Jensen tidy up the yard?"

Thomas snorted angrily, turned around and glared at Sean, then glanced at Adam before Apparition away with another wizard who hadn't spoken.

"You rude guy..." Sean curled his lip, looking at Adam, "You're supposed to be the most polite one at Durmstrang?"

Adam looked unhappy. He glanced at the spot where Thomas had left and said in a low voice, "I'll report this to the school when I get back. He'll be punished."

Sean smiled and didn't say anything more.

He waved his wand, and the fragments in the yard trembled and floated up before quickly flying back to their original positions. Daniels, who was standing nearby, immediately joined the repair team.

Once everything was back to normal, Sean spent some time calming down the frightened Jensen father and daughter before explaining his purpose.

"The wizard is real?! But those two guys..." Jensen glanced at Adam fearfully, "Th-th those two gentlemen deceived me and Tulisa?"

"Clearly, a certain School of Magic is less particular..." Sean said with a smile.

Daniels chimed in, "Newmontgard is proud, but we are never arrogant."

Adam didn't want to say another word. He knew that this freshman and Durmstrang would never cross paths again.

After a long conversation, Sean effectively leveraged his preconceived notion and gained another new student for Hogwarts.

"Then I'll wait for you at Hogwarts, Tulisa." Sean greeted the little girl, who had gone from fear to excitement, with a smile before walking out of the courtyard.

The other three were waiting for him at the entrance of the courtyard.

Sean pretended to take out a piece of parchment and glanced at the house number of the Jensen family.

As she wrote, she muttered to herself, "Number 5 Mulberry Street... Tulissa Jensen... Hogwarts..."

"Oh, sorry to keep you waiting," Sean said with a smile as he put away his pen and paper. "I just have a habit of recording things every day. After all, we enrolled fifteen new students in one day, so I have to write it down so I won't forget."

Upon hearing the number fifteen, the others were furious.

They had originally planned to move all their subsequent actions forward in order to prevent someone as cunning as Sean from gaining favor with the new families ahead of time.

Who would have thought that they would be just there to make up the numbers for almost the entire race?

Those freshmen were all born into the Muggle Family and had absolutely no understanding of the Magical World, yet this guy named Sean Wallerup always managed to find various ways to get closer to them.

Even when they used Transfiguration to persuade a family to have a new life, Sean simply waved his wand at three of them, and one Transfiguration creature defeated all three of them.

With their methods, capital, strength, and that infuriatingly eloquent tongue, the three of them were truly just there to make up the numbers throughout the day.

Even more remarkably, Tulisa Jensen, the last of the family members, was caught by Sean while Durmstrang was recruiting students early.

Adam took a step back. "That's enough for today. Goodbye."

After saying that, he left without saying a word of anger.

After saying a few polite words, Beauxbatons ' Yibei left.

Daniels glanced at Sean. He had managed to get something out of the day, though. There was a family whose father was a Squib. They originally wanted to choose Durmstrang, which was closest to their home, but with Sean's help, the family eventually gave up their original idea and chose Newmontgard instead.

"Morgens, what about you?" Sean turned around and asked with a smile.

"I should go too... Besides, Durmstrang broke the rules today, and I have to report it to the principal."

"Oh—I almost forgot, so I won't deliver it then?"

"Goodbye."

Daniels also disappeared from the spot.

After the other three left, Sean finally stopped smiling provocatively.

Today's situation was pretty much as I expected. Except for one person who slipped through the net, all the other freshmen chose Hogwarts, so it can be considered a successful outcome.

However, this last one...

Sean glanced at the open space in front of the yard, the place where the wizard named Thomas Apparition and disappeared.

Durmstrang was indeed not going to follow the rules. The Jensen family should have been within the enrollment range of all four schools, but if he had arrived a step later, Tulisa Jensen would probably have had no choice but to choose Durmstrang under Thomas's scare tactics.

That would be difficult to handle.

Moreover, Thomas and Adam, who also came from Durmstrang, did not seem to have any plans ahead of time.

According to the normal timeline, the Jensen family was supposed to be visited by the four of them tomorrow afternoon. However, due to the excessive pressure from Sean, the others unanimously moved up the time for their joint visit.

In other words, under normal circumstances, the Jensen family should not have Admissions Officer visiting at this time, Thomas from Durmstrang was clearly "sneaking in".

This is a bit strange. They are from the same school. If they had already planned to "sneak away," Adam would not have needed to visit the school in advance with the other two, and Sean would not have run into Thomas, who was spreading alarmist rumors.

How could they, both being from Durmstrang, not have communicated beforehand?

Sean narrowed his eyes, his mind racing.

Dumbledore's previous instructions clearly indicated that Durmstrang might have problems, and now it seems that Durmstrang is not as solid as it seems.

It is worth noting, however, that both Adam and Thomas have the same goal: to recruit as many new students as possible for Durmstrang.

"That Karkaroff guy, who's he latched onto this time... And something just doesn't feel right..."

Sean glanced back at the house number of the Jensen family, thought about it carefully but couldn't come to any conclusion.

"Write it down, and communicate the information with them later..." Sean thought it all out, and then took out another piece of parchment.

The document was filled with information about a large number of students, the only thing they had in common was that these new students were all within Durmstrang's separate admissions scope.

Sean flicked the parchment and smiled slightly.

It would have been quite embarrassing if I'd been caught, but running around today actually gave me a convenient excuse. Thanks!

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, my word count this month was a bit low, falling short of my original goal, so I haven't had the heart to ask for votes or anything. I won't ask for votes anymore; I'll make up for it next month, and then I'll shamelessly ask for them again.