Add a Friend
Laurent was safely escorted back to the hall by Liuguang, still clutching the Instant Whisper tightly in his hand.
He sat back down in the judges' seat, seemingly unaware that the presentation was over. His fingertips lingered on the edges of the pages and the special patterns on the cover, and his pale blue eyes shone with a lingering sense of enjoyment.
"Hey, Laurent!" The Alchemy sitting next to him, wearing a monocle, nudged him with his elbow, his tone half teasing and half envious, "Let me see this treasure! You've had it for so long, and you even got a free international trip..."
The Alchemy was clearly acquainted with Laurent; before he could even finish speaking, one hand had already eagerly reached for the book in Laurent's hand.
Laurent swiftly pulled Instant Whisper into his arms, shifting slightly to the side, muttering under his breath, "Lance, what's the rush... How old are you? It's improper to do this in front of everyone..."
Upon hearing this, the Alchemy named Lance's monocle trembled with anger. Judging from his posture, if it weren't for the occasion, he would probably have already hurled a small curse at Laurent.
Upon seeing this, Lucien, who was standing in front of the stage, quickly patted the pocket of his robe, and several brand-new books of Instant Whisper were lifted up as if by an invisible hand and flew towards the judges' table, landing right in front of the judges and professors except for Laurent.
Next, Lucien picked up his handbook of Instant Whisper, which he had used for the demonstration, and showed the back of the book to everyone.
"Everyone, please allow me to briefly demonstrate how to use Instant Whisper to add contacts, or rather... 'add a friend'."
Upon hearing the novel yet fitting Muggle term "add friend," Maxime and his friends picked up the thin book in front of them and turned to the back.
In the lower left corner of the back cover, there is a special code composed of characters, emitting a faint magical glow, like a unique magical signature.
"This code is a magical character I designed. Each book of Instant Whisper has a unique code, representing its 'identity'." Lucien explained, while gently swiping his wand in the air. Golden magical light surged from the tip of the wand, instantly condensing into dozens of clear, floating demonstration characters in the air.
"Next, please turn to the first page of the book," Lucien continued, guiding, "Use the tip of your wand to write down any information you wish to record, such as a name." He paused, then added deliberately, "You don't need to fill it in completely truthfully; using your real name is entirely voluntary."
After all, the magical world is never short of curses targeting real names and specific identity information, and corresponding caution is an instinct of mature wizards.
The infamous "curse" surrounding the position of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts is the most well-known example.
The judges moved swiftly, their wands lightly tapping and sliding across the blank homepage.
"Finally," Lucien's voice drew everyone's attention back, "You can send an application to the corresponding ' Instant Whisper ' by filling in the unique code on the back of the Instant Whisper."
"Once the application is approved, the connection will be officially established. After that, as long as your magic allows, you can communicate with your 'friend' at any time, just as demonstrated earlier."
The steps were simpler than anyone could imagine. Almost immediately, the judges' panel heard the soft rustling of wands across paper, and the occasional soft gasps or chuckles of surprise at the successful transmission of the first experimental message.
The alchemy masters and professors, who were usually highly respected, serious and austere, now displayed an expression and demeanor that revealed the curiosity and excitement of children receiving a new and exciting toy for the first time.
They buried themselves in their Instant Whisper, scribbling and drawing, occasionally exchanging glances, trying to send a simple greeting or a meaningless doodle, completely immersed in the fun of exploring this novel form of communication.
As for the scoring?
No one mentions it anymore.
The outcome was unspoken.
Instant Whisper is no longer just another "excellent student alchemy creation"; it is a creation powerful enough to change the way wizarding society communicates and even define a new era.
In its presence, discussing scores and rankings has lost its meaning.
The masters on the judging panel satisfied their own curiosity, but it was a hardship for the contestants waiting in the audience and the student audience members around them.
They could only watch longingly, craning their necks, their hearts itching as if scratched by a cat's claws, wishing they could rush up and try it themselves.
But in front of Principal Maxime and many other masters, no student dared to act recklessly.
Just then, a new line of writing appeared on the book of Instant Whisper in Madame Maxime's hand.
Antoine Forl: [How are my students?] (smiling emoji)
Maxime subconsciously turned to look at Nicolas beside him, only to see that Nico had the same smile on his face as that smiling expression.