Although the judges were over a hundred years old on average, they certainly weren't slow.
The judges quickly finished inspecting all the finished products. After all, it only took a glance to determine the quality of most of them.
As one Potioneer in the audience put it, successful Potions were almost all alike, while failed Potions each had their own unique mistakes.
After a brief discussion and a tally of their opinions, the final results were soon ready.
Mr. Hector announced the results loudly.
Just as everyone expected, Harley easily earned a perfect score.
After all, she had been the first to finish, and her Potion was genuinely high quality. She had even made some innovations to the original recipe.
If the perfect score weren't capped at one hundred with no bonus points, the old judges would have loved to give Harley an even higher score, then pull her aside to talk Potions.
When the judges announced the results, many people turned to look at Harley.
The professors and contestants wore complicated expressions as they looked her way.
The judges didn't care about any of that. After quickly announcing all the scores, they named the top ten:
"The following ten contestants will take part in the second round ten days from now. The rules have already been given to the representatives of each school.
"I hope you'll all give it your best."
After they left the square, Professor Snape, who was effectively in charge of the group, gave Harley the rest of the afternoon off. She could relax, and they would discuss the second competition that evening.
The professors all went their separate ways, and Harley was wandering around the village by herself when she suddenly felt someone tap her on the shoulder.
Harley turned around. It was Pheobe, with