Hogwarts: I Am an Exemplary Wizard-Chapter 548 - 546: Wizard Weekly’s Most Charming Smile Award
Sirius was still chattering on about his school days, but Kael was not interested at all, and he didn’t believe that Ms. Rosmerta from the Three Broomsticks would favor Sirius, who was just a first-year student.
Luckily, at that moment, the magically amplified voice of Ludo Bagman suddenly boomed in their ears, interrupting Sirius’s story and making the audience in the stands quiet down.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have finally made a decision. The Merpeople Female Leader, Murcus, has told us everything that happened beneath the lake, so now we will begin scoring the Champions."
The crowd listened intently.
First was Fleur, who did not complete the final task and withdrew midway, so her score was only calculated as two hours later, earning her just a basic score of twenty-five points.
Krum, although the last to come out of the Forbidden Forest, completed all tasks without any mistakes, thus he scored forty points.
Then there was Kael, with forty-nine points. He was deducted one point for bringing out Gabrielle, which technically violated the rules.
However, the scores were announced as a total, so no one could tell who deducted that point.
But this did not affect Kael in any way, as his total score was still in first place, and far ahead of others.
The crowd applauded once again,
"The third and final task will take place on the evening of June 30th," Bagman continued, "The Champions will be informed of the task content one month in advance, and I can assure you, it will be very exciting."
...
After the second task ended, everyone returned to the castle to prepare for lunch.
After a morning of wind by the Black Lake, they were already hungry.
The house-elves had prepared early, and as soon as the students reached the auditorium, the empty plates were filled with a sumptuous lunch.
Perhaps out of shock, Fleur no longer fussed about greasy food, grabbing a pork chop and eating it... But she still didn’t speak to Kael, and perhaps on purpose, she dragged Conna to sit far away from him.
However, this left two open seats next to Kael, and two quick-thinking students immediately sat down there.
Everyone wanted to know what exactly happened at the bottom of the lake.
So, during lunch, Kael recounted everything that happened underwater, including the Grindylow emerging from the shadows, and the process of discovering the Kelpie.
Though Kael deliberately omitted some parts, the crowd was still exclaiming in surprise.
Especially during the part about the Merpeople attacking the Kelpie, everyone was very interested, listening intently, while Mikel didn’t even realize he was trying to push a potato up his nose.
But speaking of the Kelpie...
To protect it from further attacks by the Merpeople, as soon as the second task ended and everyone was busy heading back to the castle, Kael found an excuse to return to the Black Lake and found it a very safe spot.
Hmm, a place so safe it didn’t even have neighbors.
...
As March arrived, the weather became slightly clearer, but the cold wind outside still stung their hands and faces.
The owls struggled to fly in the sky, delivering letters and packages to the castle on time.
That day, as Kael walked into the Charm Class, he saw a few Ravenclaw girls gathered together, excitedly discussing something.
When they noticed Kael coming in, they burst into laughter.
"What’s going on?" Kael asked, a bit puzzled.
"Hmm... You’d better see for yourself." Cho restrained her laughter and handed over a magazine. "Look carefully, there’s a surprise in there."
"Surprise?" Kael sat down at an empty seat, and before Professor Flitwick arrived, he opened up the magazine in his hand.
Wizard Weekly.
Unlike the neglected Quibbler, this was one of the most popular wizard magazines, with subscription numbers second only to the Daily Prophet.
Finally, halfway through, Kael found what he was looking for in the middle of the magazine.
It was an article.
[Hogwarts Champion, the Fifteen-Year-Old Genius]
"He may not be as unique as Harry Potter, but his achievements far surpass those of the Savior.
"Rita Skeeter reports that when he first entered school, he displayed unprecedented magical talent, single-handedly holding off the notorious Dark Wizard Oren and saving a fellow first-year student from his clutches.
Due to this, he received Hogwarts’ Special Contribution Award for the first time (though I personally believe it was worthy of a Merlin Order Medal, if the Beaters at the Ministry of Magic hadn’t let that Dark Wizard get away).
"Of course, he doesn’t lack for that, as in his second year, the Merlin Order Medal was already earned by him..."
The article spanned two full pages, embellishing almost every honor Kael had ever achieved.
Even Kael himself didn’t know that when he skipped performing in a stage play by asking Gilderoy Lockhart a question in class, it became the key evidence to uncovering Lockhart’s fraudulent identity.
This was taken to a strange height... claiming he upheld fairness and justice in the Magic Realm, ensuring the rightful rights of wizards.
And last year on the train, he did visit Lupin’s compartment, which in the article turned into an important step towards harmonious co-existence between wizards and werewolves.
Good heavens, if the magazine’s account were true, Kael felt he could at least earn a first-class Merlin Order Medal and replace Fudge as the new Minister of Magic tomorrow.
"Oh, I didn’t know you were this amazing..."
Conna’s voice came from behind, "And this photo is great too. It’s just the moment you rode the Kelpie out of the lake, I’ve never seen it before."
With a snap, Kael closed the magazine with force.
"Nothing much." He rubbed his arms.
Being praised felt nice, but being exaggerated to this extent was a bit too much.
"You know, Rita Skeeter just likes to write sensationally."
"I don’t think so," Conna laughed, "After all, these are indeed the things you did in the past, she wasn’t wrong." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
"But I don’t think I’ve made such a huge contribution to the Magic Realm..." Kael shrugged, "And I don’t think Dumbledore and Fudge should give up their positions for me.
"Honestly, I can’t imagine how busy a person would be being both the Minister of Magic and the Headmaster of Hogwarts.
Being a student isn’t fine? At least you can keep your hair."
Conna couldn’t help but laugh, her eyes turning into crescent moons.
"So, you’re just concerned about not wanting to be busy and not objecting to her submitting this photo for the Wizard Weekly’s Most Charming Smile Award?"
"What award?" Kael frowned, quickly reopening the magazine.
Sure enough, at the end of the article, Rita Skeeter did mention this, and in the photo, he was indeed smiling... as the first Champion to complete the task, it was completely normal.
If he’d known things would develop in this direction, he would have kept a straight face then.
"The Most Charming Smile Award, huh?" Conna continued, "Would it be on the cover? If it is, I will definitely collect that edition of the magazine..."
"So will I," Cho chuckled, "Buy two copies, read one, and keep one."
"If that’s the case... Rita Skeeter will be finished, I will definitely send her photo to the Ministry of Magic," said Kael sternly.
"Whose photo, Rita Skeeter’s?" Cho was a bit puzzled.
"Yes, it’s evidence of her violating the Wizard Law, we caught it on camera," Conna whispered,
"Oh, I see." Cho nodded in understanding after hearing that, "No wonder she spared no effort in praising Kael, I had never seen her write such an article full of compliments before."
"I’d rather not have this kind of praise," Kael rubbed his forehead.
After the Lockhart incident, the Wizard Weekly’s Most Charming Smile Award had already become synonymous with a joke at Hogwarts... at least for students who experienced that year, meaning those in year three and above.
Kael was certain that if Rita Skeeter really succeeded, Fred and George would be so excited they’d set off fireworks to celebrate finding a new joke to laugh at until graduation.
No, this situation must not happen.
Not feeling assured, Kael took out parchment and a quill, preparing to write to Rita Skeeter, advising her against such decisions.
...
