With one month left until the summer holidays, and exams having been cancelled, the students were all remarkably relaxed. Happy laughter and playful shouts could be heard in every corner of the school. A few days later, several explosive pieces of news appeared on the student noticeboard:
First, Lucius Malfoy had been expelled from the Board of Governors. This signified that the House of Malfoy had completely lost its influence within Hogwarts. Draco was deeply dejected by this and no longer strutted arrogantly through the school. After some guidance from Skylar, he finally began listening to Skylar's advice. He no longer dreamed of throwing his weight around on the strength of his family, but instead settled down to study magic and practise flying, determined to defend his family's honour through his own abilities.
Seeing Draco finally make progress, Skylar felt that although this upheaval had damaged the Malfoy family's reputation, it was not necessarily a bad thing. Besides, the person filling Lucius's seat on the Board of Governors was none other than the head of Greengrass—Mr Gareth Greengrass.
Second, Dumbledore personally announced that he would revive an inter-house friendship tournament that had been suspended for centuries. The competition was called "Merlin's Trial," an open tournament for students from Years One to Six of all four Houses. The winner's prize would be a special Order of Merlin medal.
The Order of Merlin had been founded in the eleventh century by the legendary wizard Merlin. It was the oldest magical organisation in the wizarding world and held immense prestige. Its purpose had been to help Muggles, forbidding wizards from using magic on them and requiring every member to take responsibility for protecting them.
Later, with the founding of the Ministry of Magic and the promulgation of the International Statute of Secrecy in