Hogwarts' Teaching?

In the side hall reserved for the alchemy competition, time passed in tense concentration as Madame Maxime announced the start.

After the initial silence subsided, the Beauxbatons students in the audience were no longer as restrained as before and began to whisper among themselves.

Watching an alchemy competition isn't that interesting in itself; it involves the repetitive grinding of materials during pretreatment, the long wait during purification, and the seemingly monotonous magical guidance during the refining process...

Their real enjoyment comes more from observing the athletes themselves—their demeanor, the occasional subtle expressions revealed due to mistakes or nervousness, and the subtle differences brought about by the styles of different schools.

This can be considered a unique way to relieve the pressure of heavy academic workload.

On the judging panel, several professors observed the contestants' operational details.

To the right of Madame Maxime is Laurent Rosier, Professor of Alchemy at Beauxbatons.

He looked to be in his fifties, with his silver-gray hair neatly combed back, revealing a broad and serious forehead.

His face was sharply defined, especially his light blue eyes, which were calm as he scanned the movements of the six contestants below the stage.

Laurent's family shares the same origin as the Rosier family in the Britain Wizarding World, but his branch settled in France much earlier.

One of Grindelwald's most devoted followers, Vinda Rosier, came from the same family as him.

However, Laurent Rosier's life trajectory was clearly quite different from that of his "famous" relative. He avoided the storm of that year and devoted all his energy to the mysteries of Alchemy and its teaching.

In the early stages of the competition, the contestants handled the basic materials in much the same way, and Laurent simply watched calmly.

But when the materials were ready and the real core refining stage began, his eyes became even sharper.

This is where their true depth and strength are revealed.

Although Laurent firmly believed that Beauxbatons ' alchemy education was among the best in Europe and even the world, he also viewed this Triwizard Tournament as a rare opportunity to observe firsthand the level and style of alchemy teaching at Hogwarts and Durmstrang, two ancient and prestigious schools.

His gaze swept over the contestants one by one. Durmstrang's students displayed solid, even slightly rough, techniques, with a clear pragmatic approach; the two contestants from his own school, on the other hand, demonstrated clear and fluid steps, reflecting Beauxbatons ' consistent elegance and discipline...

Suddenly, his gaze settled on the boy behind the alchemy table on the left.

"Huh--"

Professor Laurent let out a barely audible "hmm," a hint of surprise flashing in his light blue eyes.

He was deeply impressed by this student— Lucien Grafton, a Hogwarts contestant and the youngest of all the participants.

The boy passed the first two written tests with an astonishing full score.

The first basic written test was understandable, but the second test, which was jointly set by the alchemy professors from the three schools, contained many knowledge points that were clearly beyond the scope of regular schoolwork. It was purely a test of talent and the breadth and depth of extracurricular knowledge, but Lucien actually answered them all correctly, which surprised him at the time.

Now, Lucien's alchemical skills, demonstrated in practice, have given Laurent an even more tangible sense of amazement.

That was a... very classic technique.

While knowledge and skills in the realm of magic have been accumulating and developing, there is also a consensus to some extent: the older the magic, the stronger it is.

Many ancient techniques and concepts, due to their difficulty, obscurity, or excessive demands on talent, have gradually become diluted in the process of being passed down.

Modern magic education places greater emphasis on accessibility, safety, and efficiency, while many ancient but powerful or exquisite techniques have become the exclusive domain of a few ancient families or lucky geniuses.

In Laurent's view, the techniques and rhythm Lucien was using at this moment were absolutely not the kind of standardized methods popular in modern times or Alchemy in textbooks.

It is simpler, the magical flow of certain joints is more ancient, and the use of the essential properties of materials is more "luxurious" and bold.

Most importantly, Laurent, with his knowledge and experience, couldn't find any obvious flaws for the time being—the whole process was smooth and effortless, and his control over magic was astonishingly subtle.

How could a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy possess such profound knowledge in alchemy?

This defies all logic. Has Hogwarts ' alchemy instruction reached this level?

Or is it just an extremely rare exception?

Laurent was puzzled and couldn't help but turn his gaze to another Hogwarts player in the same row, a student Riemann Selwyn.

In his view, Riemann's approach was a "standard good student" template—standardized, stable, and showing the unique inherited style of a long-established Britain Pure-blood families in some of the details, making him outstanding among his peers.

Unfortunately, without comparison, there is no harm done.

When you compare Riemann's maneuvering with Lucien's effortless, classically elegant technique, the difference becomes strikingly clear.

The latter doesn't feel like a "competition"; it's more like a skillful, even somewhat personal, "Demonstration."

After a moment of silence, Laurent turned slightly to the Hogwarts headmaster sitting on his other side and asked in a low but clear voice:

"Professor Shafiq, if I may be so bold, does your school now tailor completely different teaching programs based on each student's individual characteristics?"