Cheating

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The second round of the Magical School Potions Tournament arrived silently with the fading night.

In the morning, Albert woke from his deep sleep, stretched lazily, got dressed and washed up, then prepared to head downstairs for breakfast. By chance, he ran into Professor Slughorn yawning at the stairs. The elderly man clearly was not accustomed to getting up early.

"What do you like for breakfast? Have Isobel get it for you, and remember to eat plenty." Professor Slughorn sat beside Albert and fussed over him. "Before the second round ends, you won't have time to eat. Most of your time will be spent traveling or searching for magical ingredients."

In fact, most contestants had received similar instructions from their team leaders.

During the coming second round, the contestants would likely be unable to eat for quite a long time. If hunger left their limbs weak, they would not be able to complete the task properly.

Albert had always wanted to complain about why the Event Organizer could not prepare some food and water for the contestants. He probably was not the only one who would complain about that.

However, there were not many contestants with Albert's appetite. Most were nervous, which was a perfectly normal reaction for competitors. Not everyone, after all, had seen the kind of scenes Albert had.

Yes, Albert really was not nervous.

Perhaps Hogwarts had given him too many thrilling experiences, leaving Albert somewhat numb to them.

Put another way: he had seen too much.

Is that all?

Halfway through breakfast, someone from the Event Organizer arrived, saying they had brought the contestants a set of clothes to wear in the upcoming competition.

They came in various colors, along with each school's crest.

Honestly, they were