Chapter 83: Fleur Delacour

At the competition venue, Alaric and Dumbledore encountered an unexpectedly familiar face.

It was a big woman, with a size that Alaric had never seen before in his life, comparable only to Hagrid among the people he knew.

She had a beautiful olive-colored face, a pair of black and large watery eyes, and a sharp nose. Her hair was combed back into a shiny bun at the base of her neck. 

She was draped in a black satin dress from head to toe, with many precious pearls shining on her neck and thick fingers.

When she saw Dumbledore, she opened an elegant smile, extended a shining hand towards Dumbledore, and walked over.

Although Dumbledore was tall, he barely bent over when kissing her hand.

"Hello, dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Long time no see."

"Hello, Dumbledore," Madame Maxime said in a deep voice. "Long time no see... I mean, Hogwarts hasn't had anyone participate in the competition for a long time."

"Yes, it's indeed regrettable," Dumbledore said nonchalantly, pushing Alaric forward and introducing him.

"This is my student who came to participate in the competition, Alaric. Although he is young, he surpasses even us old folks in wizard chess skills."

Then he said to Alaric, "This is Madame Olympe Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France. Also, the witches of Beauxbatons are both beautiful and outstanding."

After the introduction, he raised an eyebrow at Alaric.

'What an uncultured old man.'

After hearing Dumbledore's introduction, Madame Maxime looked Alaric up and down.

"Is this your prized student? I've heard about him in France, and I must say, Dumbledore, Hogwarts always produces such brilliant wizards.."

After that, she pulled out a girl from behind her—she was so tall that the girl was completely blocked by her, and Alaric didn't even notice her.

"Fleur Delacour, a fourth-year student at Beauxbatons, our academy's most outstanding girl." 

Proudly introducing them, Madame Maxime said, "In terms of wizard chess, she is even more outstanding than Miss Delacroix four years ago. I believe she will achieve even better results."

In fact, Fleur Delacour was really a beautiful girl. She had a tall figure, with a pair of deep blue eyes and a set of white and neat teeth. Her long, silvery hair cascaded down to her waist like a waterfall.

However, besides her appearance, this girl had a different kind of charm that attracted Alaric. 

This strange attraction made him feel a bit unable to control himself. He found that he was involuntarily tempted to do something odd to catch the attention of this girl.

But soon, he shook off this attraction with his willpower, and everything returned to normal.

He couldn't help but sigh at her captivating ability, which was truly formidable. No wonder she was a Veela—the magical creatures with alluring powers.

In the original book, she was also chosen by the Triwizard Cup to represent Beauxbatons in the Triwizard Tournament.

Although Alaric could easily resist this charm, it was because of his continuously improving ability and the powerful willpower he had developed.

Ordinary people couldn't compare to him. If they faced the girl in front of them, their hearts would be completely uncontrollable. 

Alaric could imagine what would happen if Fleur used this ability in the Muggle world in public—it would be a disaster.

Alaric looked calmly at the girl in front of him and reminded her, "Miss Delacour, don't you think using Veela's charm on others is impolite?"

The boy in front of her was completely unaffected by her ability, which surprised Fleur. Even among her peers, no one had ever resisted her charm.

Madame Maxime also gave Alaric a high look.

"I apologize," Fleur said elegantly, bowing to Alaric. Her voice was quite enchanting. 

"I didn't mean to do that intentionally. I'm just curious about you. Madame Maxime has been mentioning you to me these past few days. Can you forgive my behavior?"

"Well, I forgive you. Girls always have some privileges," Alaric smiled and said to her, "But I want a strand of your hair, can I?"

"My hair?" Hearing this request, Fleur was a bit surprised. Who would ask for such a thing upon first meeting?

"Of course, but you have to tell me what you want it for, first."

"For research," Alaric answered seriously. 

"I've never seen a Veela before, and I'm very curious about the allure ability. I want to know the origin of this ability."

This answer struck a blow to Fleur. She felt a bit presumptuous. So she glared at Alaric and said harshly, "Well, you're a research maniac."

Soon, the organizers sent staff to request the participants to enter their respective competition rooms. Alaric waved goodbye to her.

The competition had a knockout format, with 64 participants, each recommended by various famous magic schools or the most renowned wizard chess clubs.

The competition will last for five rounds in total, and the last two players will stand out to determine the champion and runner-up.

The first two rounds were single-elimination matches, while the last three rounds were best of three, and the final used a best of five system.

In the first match, Alaric's opponent was a man in his thirties, dressed magnificently and with elegant manners. 

Seeing that his opponent was such a young boy, the man immediately relaxed, and there was a hint of disdain in his eyes when looking at Alaric.

However, soon, Alaric gave him a taste of defeat on the chessboard.

This time, he didn't use the extreme multi-line control method but played at a speed similar to his opponent's.

However, Alaric's brain processing speed was much faster than his opponent's.

With his intelligence, if he participated in an international chess competition, he could easily win the world championship. Only a supercomputer might have a chance against him.

However, as long as he could dedicate enough time to studying, with his continuous improvement, he would get even better.

And facing such an opponent, how could this middle-aged man have any counterattack capability? In just ten minutes, he was defeated.

The second round began in the afternoon.

In this round, Alaric's opponent was an old man. His chess-playing speed was not fast, but his methods were extremely cunning, specializing in conspiracy and deceit.

In the previous match, his traps completely confused his opponent.

As a result, his opponent and his chess pieces had differences of opinion, leading to a quarrel on the spot and ultimately losing the match.

This time, he used the same strategy, but he found that it was completely ineffective.

Although his opponent was young, he had a natural talent for controlling chess pieces.

No matter how he set traps or laid baits, the opponent remained unmoved. 

The opponent's chess pieces completely obeyed the player's commands, showing no signs of independence due to the player's youth.

Facing such an opponent, he was helpless. After several failed bait tactics, it was his own chess pieces that rebelled first.

His opponent immediately seized the opportunity and took him down in a wave.

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