Compared to the night before last, there were not many contestants left in the competitors' lounge tonight. The original four sections had been removed, replaced by a blank sixty-four-player knockout bracket.
The contestants were gathered near the knockout bracket by the organisers' staff, who explained the rules for the upcoming matches.
However, world-class international competitions usually faced language barriers. Most participants came from all over the world, but it was impossible to assign every contestant an interpreter. The organisers only provided translations in two other relatively common languages.
If someone understood none of the three languages, there was truly nothing to be done.
The wizard giving the speech clearly knew everyone's patience was limited. He covered the key points in just fifteen minutes, then, when everyone had grown increasingly impatient, told them to line up and draw numbers as usual.
To keep the competition relatively fair, the organisers required contestants to draw their own numbers. Whatever number they drew was theirs, and whoever they drew would be their opponent. They could not accuse the organisers of cheating or anything else.
At most, the organisers provided staff to help the contestants place their drawn numbers on the sixty-four-player knockout bracket.
With the Aurors' assistance, all the contestants obediently formed a line and stepped forward to draw their numbers.
Some contestants who did not understand what was being said looked utterly confused, but when they saw everyone lining up, they followed along to draw numbers. It was not hard to figure out. If they did not understand, they just had to do what everyone else did.
Albert's turn came quickly. He drew number twenty-one. Just as Albert stepped aside and prepared to hand his Number Plate to the witch responsible for writing in the names, a wizard in the queue suddenly pulled