52 Chapter 51: Wand Examination

The day after the representative for the competition was decided.

It was officially announced that Leonard Taylor was chosen as the representative player. In response to this, the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang looked dissatisfied and glared at Leonard. However, the representatives Fleur and Krum didn't feel the same way, they recognized him as a formidable opponent. At Hogwarts, there were two attitudes towards Leo. First, there were those who were critical of Leo, centered around Hufflepuff. Cedric Diggory, a man with impeccable magical skills, personality, face, and everything else, was chosen from Hufflepuff, which had not had much opportunity to attract attention until now. There was no way they could accept Leonard Taylor, who became a representative unfairly. On the other hand, there were those who gave up because it was Leonard Taylor. How could they deal with someone who ignored the interference set up by Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of this century, other school principals, dormitory supervisors, and Ministry of Magic officials to be chosen? They felt bad for Cedric but couldn't see a winning scenario. They had reached the conclusion that it would be better to give up and enjoy how Leonard Taylor would clear the tasks. These two were in a ratio of 3 criticisms to 7 resignations. And what these two have in common is that no one is cheering for Leo. The only student who was truly cheering was Hermione Granger.

In Leo's Study Room room, Hermione was relaxing as usual.

"I wasn't surprised that Leo was participating, but I didn't expect him to be the fourth one. Anyway, I'll cheer for him. Some people say they can't tolerate unfairness, but I feel it's wrong if there's a chance for unfairness in the first place. I think there must have been many ways to prevent Leo from running."

Dumbledore and others also used magic for their interference methods. Before that, the selection method was also a magical tool called the Goblet of Fire. It was meaningless to Leonard Taylor who had the "eye" that could analyze and understand all magic. If it had been a recommendation from the principal or teachers, Leo probably wouldn't have gotten involved.

"Well, wizards believe that magic is omnipotent. Magic is still full of holes. Muggle science and technology are much more refined. That's why I love studying magic."

"Oh, when you put it that way, maybe so. I'm starting to feel like the wizarding world is becoming more common sense... But Leo? What were you talking about with that beautiful girl who is Beauxbatons' representative?"

"? What did we talk about...? Oh right. I gave her a ring imbued with translation magic for Beauxbatons students. Also... she kept using charm magic excessively. Maybe she has Veela in her family or something like that. That's about it I think, why do you ask?"

"Hey, what did you think of her? Did you think she was beautiful?"

"I didn't really feel anything in particular. I guess French people are like that? Why do you ask?"

"No reason! Just wondering! That's just like you, Leo."

"?"

Hermione felt relieved that Leo didn't think anything of Fleur.

Leo didn't understand very well.

And only Ku was grateful to Fleur for providing a good stimulus for their relationship development.

Several days passed.

There were no direct harmful harassments or anything like that but hostile actions towards Leo were getting bigger.

"Let's support Cedric Diggory!" Such conversations were loudly spoken by Hufflepuff students so that Leo could hear them.

Leo didn't care about such things and spent his days as usual.

That attitude further provoked resentment from Hufflepuff students but he didn't even notice that.

During Defense Against the Dark Arts class, caretaker Filch called out Leo.

Apparently they were going to take photos of the representative players for the Daily Prophet newspaper.

In the room he was called out to were each school principal glaring at Leo along with Crouch and Bagman, Krum, Fleur, Cedric and other representative players, an unfamiliar woman, and Ollivander

"Ah, you're here! We're about to start the wand inspection for the representative players. The one who will inspect is Ollivander, a wand craftsman who can be said to be the best in the magical world."

The wand inspection by Ollivander begins.

"Well, let's take a look. Miss Fleur... 24 cm, not very flexible. The core of the rosewood is... oh, this is..."

"It's my respected grandmother's hair. My grandmother is a Veela."

"I see, I see. It's good, though it's not in the wands I make."

Next is Krum's turn.

"Dragon Heartsring Core. 26 cm and quite sturdy. Hmm... it's quite thick."

Then moves on to Cedric.

"Oh, this is my work. Ash tree with unicorn tail, 30 cm and very flexible. Hmm, it seems to be well maintained."

Ollivander looks satisfied. Finally, it's Leo's turn.

"It's been a while, Mr. Taylor. I was looking forward to seeing the wand you made today. Let's take a look."

Leo presents his wand.

"Let's see... 25 cm, easy to hold. Hmm, the material seems to be cherry. And the core is... oh, I didn't expect you to use such a thing!"

(As expected of Mr. Ollivander. Normally, you wouldn't notice just by looking.)

"Mr. Taylor. The core of this wand is a part of your own body, isn't it?"

"That's correct. Specifically, it's a part of my arm bone that I extracted and processed. Since it's a part of me, it can conduct my magic power well."

"I see. Humans have more difficulty conducting magic power compared to magical creatures used for cores. But by using a part of yourself, the resistance to conducting that magic power is less and the efficiency is better. This wand is truly only for you. I've never had such an idea before. Well, there were new discoveries and it's good to live long."

The wand inspection ends without incident. After that, they took pictures and disbanded.

When Leo was about to return, he was stopped by a woman in the room who was dressed in bad taste.

"Can I have a moment? I'm Rita Skeeter, a reporter. May I interview you as well as the other players?"

"If it's for a short time."

"Of course! I won't take up your time."

Since it was a standing conversation, they brought out two chairs and sat down.

Skeeter used her Quick-Quotes Quill to ask various questions quickly.

Why did he decide to participate, how did he outsmart Dumbledore and others, what is his enthusiasm for the task, what does he think about other representative players, etc.

Leo answered appropriately, but the quill was writing an interesting article as Skeeter thought.

Looking at the content,

"The young genius makes everyone his enemy! It's no exaggeration to say that there is no one in the magical world who doesn't know about Leonard Taylor, a genius wizard who will participate in the Triwizard Tournament between three major magic schools. Despite being underage, he used his talent to even outsmart Dumbledore. Why did he decide to participate? According to him, it seems to be to further make his power known to the world. He looked down on other players with disdain..."

This kind of content continues endlessly, portraying Leo as a talented but arrogant person who looks down on others and sees even the Triwizard Tournament between three major magic schools as nothing more than a means to spread his talent.

"That should be enough! Please look forward to a good article."

"I saw some of the content but do readers like that kind of thing? I don't really understand."

"Readers are those who seek something more interesting than truth. Even if you stop me now this article will go in this direction. If you get in my way I'll write an even more radical article!"

"No, I'm not particularly interested in that. Oh yes, can I ask one question?"

"What is it?"

"What does it feel like to become an insect?"

Upon hearing those words, Skeeter freezes. Rita Skeeter can transform into a beetle using her unregistered Animagus ability, which she has used to write articles up until now.

"Wha-what do you mean...?"

"You're an Animagus, aren't you? All the Animagi I've met so far have been mammals, so you're the first one I've met who can become an insect. You are an insect, right?"

(Why, how!? Could it be that the rumor about the "eye" that understands magic is not a lie but the truth? I must avoid getting involved with this!)

"Excuse me!"

After this, Rita Skeeter made Leonard Taylor's article harmless and decided not to get involved at all. It must be said that this decision was correct. If she had written an article slandering Leo, her journalistic life would have been ended by Hermione, Ku, and Leo's parents.

Thanks to Rita Skeeter's quietness, the day of the first task approached without any trouble.