Chapter 402 "Competing With Other Schools"

Sean knew that Django was sent out by Lupin. He was considered a powerful and reliable wizard in the organization he founded, and he sent him a message.

Sean unfolded the note, and there was a sentence written at the beginning, "We were robbed."

He continued reading, "Starting early in the morning, I have visited twelve houses. All of them are young wizards born in Muggle families. Only now have I gotten the first one to enter Hogwarts. I didn't get the opportunity to talk with the others because the admissions officers from other schools had already gone there yesterday."

"Among the eleven others, six young wizards chose Nurmengard, three chose Beauxbatons, and three chose Dumstrang. This is what I've seen today. After contacting several colleagues, I found that they were experiencing the same thing, but not as many as I encountered. I will continue to the next one, and I will let you know the news."

Sean was shocked. Grindelwald was trapped under the invisibility cloak and was one step ahead of Hogwarts.

The current admission situation is completely different from when Sean received two admission notices simultaneously. Because of the changes in the situation, there is no such thing as door-to-door competition for students.

When a wizard comes to show his magic, as long as he can gain the trust of the family, the student is considered recruited. Sean always felt that Hogwarts' actions were fast. Unexpectedly, Grindelwald had already made a move before him.

But why did Beauxbaton and Durmstrang also get involved?

There are four magic schools in Europe. In recent years, Nurmengard has been the one with the most abundant students, followed by Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. Even if Nurmengard robbed students, the other two schools getting students from the UK is a bit unreasonable.

Although the scope of enrollment in schools is mostly for the whole of Europe, this situation has been rare in previous years.

In addition, Durmstrang has gradually declined due to the rise of Nurmengard in recent years. Even so, this school, which is famous for dark magic, has given up its tradition of only recruiting pure-blood wizards. Django's news clearly stated that the first recruits he recruited were Muggle families.

Professor McGonagall saw Sean, stepped forward, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Professor, look at this." Sean handed over the note.

Professor McGonagall frowned after reading it, "No wonder we waited so long for the new students to be sent over by the Portkey."

"Professor, it's still within my understanding that Nurmengard is robbing students. But Beauxbatons and Durmstrang? Will their enrollment range include the UK?" Sean asked suspiciously.

Professor McGonagall nodded, "Of the four magic schools in Europe, Durmstrang has the smallest enrollment range, but it basically covers most of Europe. Other schools, including our Hogwarts, are all open to the whole world. But because of the school's geographical location, the enrollment scope of each school is basically fixed on the European continent."

"Take Hogwarts as an example. The students are basically from the UK. Some young wizards from other countries close to the UK will be recruited, and most of them are from Muggle families. The same is true for other schools. Beauxbatons is located in the Pyrenees, so it's somewhere in France and Spain. Durmstrang is located in Scandinavia, and the area of

enrollment is the northern part of Europe and near Germany."

Sean laughed a few times. He had always thought that Durmstrang was located in Germany.

Professor McGonagall saw how curious he was and continued to explain, "The rise of Nurmengard has seized most of Durmstrang's students, and Nurmengard is actively recruiting students from all over Europe. Given there are also kids that didn't enroll."

"Kids that didn't enroll?" Sean asked suspiciously.

"Yes," Professor McGonagall nodded, "There are a lot of wizards in Europe; even the original three schools do not encapsulate all of the children. Because many young wizards do not enroll, and they learn magic individually."

"Such as Greece. There are actually a lot of wizards in Greece, but whether it is Hogwarts or other schools, Greek students are rare. Because they basically do not enroll in schools and their parents and family members teach their own magic, or it may be taught by the more respected elderly in the local community."

"In some countries on the border of Europe, young wizards may choose magic schools in other regions, such as the world's largest school, the Uagadou School in Africa, and Koldovstoretz in Russia."

"I see..." After listening to Professor McGonagall's teaching, Sean suddenly realized something and nodded.

Professor McGonagall looked at the note again, with some worry between her brows, "It may be the reason for the frequent accidents recently. All schools have stepped up their recruitment efforts, and even Durmstrang has gone to recruit Muggle-borns. It seems that we are a step behind."

Sean looked up at the students who had just put on their robes and were looking at them curiously, counted the number silently, and said, "According to the current situation, it is still acceptable, and the order I gave them is to recruit children from Muggle families first. After all, wizard families in the UK should still choose Hogwarts."

"But..." Sean muttered.

"But what?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"Professor, judging by the progress, Hogwarts is not slow. The reason why we are one step behind is actually..." Sean lowered his voice, "It has something to do with the British Ministry of Magic."

Professor McGonagall was taken aback for a moment and pushed her glasses seriously, "You mean, the British Ministry of Magic and other schools leaked the news that we are going to recruit students privately?"

Sean nodded, "Leave Nurmengard aside for the time being, but the other two schools' timing is a bit strange. Besides, it shouldn't be called leaking. Professor, have you communicated with the Ministry of Magic before?"

"Yes, we communicated before, but there was no agreement that they would not allow us to enroll mid-semester."

"That's right, the Ministry of Magic refused to allow Hogwarts to recruit students openly, they reminded Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Given that you are under the Ministry of Magic's surveillance, you give the task to me." Sean explained.

Professor McGonagall frowned, "But what is their goal in reducing the number of students in Hogwarts?"

Sean said faintly, "The Ministry of Magic is no longer the previous Ministry of Magic."

Professor McGonagall sighed, "I guess that's true..."

"In addition, wizards need to report when crossing the border, and their actions are so fast that it is not even enough to complete the process. It can only be said that some official forces have opened a backdoor for them."

Professor McGonagall rubbed her temple with a headache, "It seems the case."

"Actually, I still have some guesses."

"What is that?"

"Will other schools temporarily let go of the students that they have enrolled in previous years because they want to seize the student from Hogwarts?" Sean said.

"It's very possible..." Professor McGonagall's eyes lit up.

"After all, the schools are not vacation areas but classes, and there are not many slots available. I don't think they will have enough time to seize all of Hogwarts students, but some of them." Sean reminded.

"That's right, there's not enough time. Because they have to convince every parent and students one by one, especially those born in Muggle families."

"Professor, Hogwarts doesn't discriminate against students from other countries, right?"

"Of course, Hogwarts treats all students equally." Professor McGonagall said firmly.

"How about we change our thinking?"

Sean's judgment is based on the fact that the British Ministry of Magic is already under the control of the Returners, and the French, German, and other ministries of magic are also under the control of the Returners. They want to rob Hogwarts of students, which proves that a larger number of students have been impacted.

As for Nurmengard, Sean couldn't do much about it as Grindelwald robs them every year. Professor McGonagall also immediately understood what Sean meant. She paced around for a while before making a decision.

"Sean, Hogwarts needs your help."

"It will be my pleasure."

"I'm going to get more names of students now. Can you contact more people?"

"Of course, I'm used to making more preparations." Sean said with a smile.

Professor McGonagall showed an appreciative expression, "Very well, Ravenclaw adds twenty points then."

After speaking, she left in a hurry. Sean knew that Professor McGonagall must be looking for The Quill of Acceptance and The Book of Admittance.

These two magical items that have existed since the founding of Hogwarts are the key to recruiting students. The Quill of Acceptance finds newborns with magical powers, while the Book of Access is to write it down. It will use strict standards to screen out the newborns found by the Quill, and only after confirming that they can become a wizard will their name be written on the Book.

Only the principal and vice-principal can use these two magic items, and if Sean guessed correctly, the range of the Quill and the Book was only around England. Professor McGonagall is likely to use some method to expand its range.

Sean grinned. Now, the whole of Europe is battling for new students.

----

The organization hidden in the Muggle building was busy, and Lupin kept instructing his subordinates to classify the incoming information.

"These twenty children are relatively close. Henry, go there now." Lupin ordered.

"Okay."

"The persuasion needs to be fast, and you don't have to worry about your magic being discovered by the Ministry of Magic. In addition, the boss also sent a new list. Remember to use it. If the other party shows an obvious resistance, give up directly and go to the next one."

"Don't worry, boss." Henry smiled, took the list and the form, and shook the Portkey in his hand, "This is illegal smuggling here. I don't plan to stay there for too long and be captured by the local Ministry of Magic."

Lupin smiled, "Don't worry about your thing, just go."

"Okay." After speaking, Henry activated the Portkey and disappeared into place.

If Sean could see this scene, he would definitely nod in satisfaction. Money is power.

Regardless of whether they are good people or not, as long as they can be moved by something, they can be hired. With many Galleons provided by Mr. Wallup, Lupin easily reached an agreement with many wizards experienced in smuggling.

As long as he spends money for them, Sean can bypass the Ministry of Magic's border surveillance and directly smuggle a bunch of students across the country.

Inside Hogwarts, Sean was still greeting the new students. At Sean's request, the prefects also came to help. At this time, most of the Muggle family wizards in the UK were almost convinced, and children from wizard families began to be teleported by the Portkey.

"Thank you, Mr. Wallup."

"You're welcome, Kay." Sean smiled and waved to the little boy in front of him, who was the younger brother of Sean's roommate, Cormac McLaggen.

Sean looked up at the number of students in the hall. It was not too small, but it was not enough compared to previous years. As he was thinking about it, another one was teleported by the Portkey.

"Hello there, may I ask your name?"

"Calvin Andres, sir." The pale-skinned boy spoke with a thick German accent.

Sean's eyes lit up, "Where are you from?"

"Germany, Bremen of Germany."

Sean secretly rejoiced.

After some introductions, Calvin handed over a note, "Sir, the recruiter asked me to send me

this message. I'm sorry, I was so nervous and almost forgot about it."

"It's okay, thank you for this." After the boy left, Sean unfolded the note.

"Everything is going well. Other schools have not recruited the Muggle families. I will go to the next family immediately."

Sure enough, neither Beauxbatons nor Durmstrang had taken care of the local students. Seeing this result, he grinned.