November is behind us in the blink of an eye.

In a blink of an eye, it's early December, and Christmas is less than twenty days away.

The day before yesterday, Carl asked Professor McGonagall to book a seat on the Hogwarts Express.

I haven't seen him for half a year, and Nick and Louise miss him a little.

On this day, Saturday, and a week of holidays, Carl was sitting alone in the common room reading a book, and it was snowing heavily.

Suddenly, a figure hurried in from outside.

"Carl, you'd better come and see this!"

It turned out to be Neville.

The boy's round face was full of anxiety.

"What's wrong?" asked Carl.

He put the amazingly large "Practical Magic" on his lap on the coffee table next to him, which shook the coffee table and made Neville's eyelids jump when he saw it.

Neville had never seen a book this big.

This Encyclopedia of Practical Magic was mail-ordered by Carl from the Blotts, and it cost him two hundred Galleons.

Originally, it didn't cost so much, but almost no wizard would buy this book, and the Blotted Bookstore didn't have it in stock at all, so it was specially ordered for him from the publishing house, so it was much more expensive than the price.

The book contained all the commonly used magic known, many of which he had already known, but many of which he had not learned.

The book was so big that it almost weighed half a door panel, and weighed about twenty pounds, and it took eight owls to mail it to him.

Today, it's been more than a week since he got the book, but he's only read a fraction of it, less than a quarter, and that's because he's able to do a lot of magic.

"There's no time to explain, Carl, come with me!"

Xu was in too much of a hurry, and Neville didn't explain anything to Carl, just urging him to follow him.

Carl had to get up from his soft armchair and follow Neville, through the portrait of the Fat Lady, down the stairs on the eighth floor.

The staircase changed position several times during this time, and thanks to Karl's quick hand, he pulled Neville every time, otherwise the latter would have stepped into the air and fell down the stairs.

The two of them went down to the first floor, came out of the porch, and came to the outside of the auditorium, and found that it was already full of people.

Carl glanced at the back of the crowd and noticed that all eyes were focused on the bulletin board on the outer wall of the Great Hall.

"What's going on?" asked Carl to Neville.

Neville's small round face was flushed, but he didn't say a word for a long time, and he seemed too excited to do anything.

Fortunately, someone came to relieve him at this time.

"Karl, you're here!" said Lee Jordan, running up to him.

Without saying anything, he grabbed Karl's arm, as if he was afraid that he would run away, and then, turning to the crowd, said:

"Hey, I said guys, Carl is here!"

The crowd immediately fell silent.

Immediately afterward, the crowd began to erupt in applause, and everyone was looking at him eagerly, leaving Carl confused.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Carl again.

"Guys, make way for our heroes!" Lee Jordan said loudly to the crowd.

Soon, the crowd was divided into two parts, left and right, with a road in the middle of the air.

Do you want to be so grand......

Karl stared blankly at what was happening in front of him.

No, he had to walk to the bulletin board along the way the crowd had left, and read the words on it word by word:

"The International Federation of Wizards on the holding of the first Hearthstone World Championship notice:

Considering the warm international reception received by Hearthstone in the past year since its release, and the huge response it has generated, at the suggestion of the British Ministry of Magic, the representatives of the 128 member countries of the International Federation of Wizards voted to hold the first Hearthstone World Championship on August 1 next year. ”

"Attached: Hearthstone World Championship England National Team Selection Regulations:

1. All witches and wizards over the age of 11 can register for the audition.

2. Participants bring their own Hearthstone cards.

3. To participate in the competition, an application fee of 5 Xike is required.

4. Anyone who wishes to register for the contest must mail the registration fee and his or her name in writing to the Department of Magical Sports and Sports of the Ministry of Magic by the 31st of this month. ”

"I see. After reading the large passage above, Karl let out a sigh of relief.

Now, he understood why the crowd was so excited.

When he looked back, he saw that everyone was staring directly at him.

"Say something, Carl!" shouted from the crowd.

"yes, Carl, say something!"

Why always let him say something.

Carl looked at the crowd with a headache, as if everyone was waiting for him to speak, and even the road that had been made for him was blocked.

"That...... Friendship first, competition second?"

Karl looked uncertainly at the crowd in front of him.

As soon as the words came out, they immediately caused many dissatisfied voices.

"You've said that a long time ago, Carl!"

"yes, say something else, Carl!"

Really, it's quite demanding!

After thinking about it again and again, Carl said: "Then I wish everyone a good draw and be selected for the national team!"

Everyone looked at each other and fell completely silent.

Shh

Karl pouted, and he said that he had no talent for speaking, and he had to let him say it.

Unexpectedly, after a while, thunderous applause rang out outside the auditorium.

"That's a good point, Carl!" someone shouted.

Nima ......

The corners of Carl's eyes twitched.

Sure enough, as soon as a person becomes famous, his farts are fragrant.

......

Finally escaping the crowd, Carl encounters Professor McGonagall again.

The latter waited for him to come out of the crowd when he came up to him and stood in front of him.

Professor McGonagall's face was strange, and Carl couldn't feel her pulse a little.

"Professor?" he asked.

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and said, "The Minister is here, Karl, and he wants to see you." ”

Fudge?

Karl frowned without a trace.

Now he understood why Professor McGonagall had such an expression.

All the teachers at Hogwarts, including Dumbledore, don't seem to like having too much contact with those in power.

Cornelius Fudge isn't technically a bad guy, if he were just an ordinary person, he would even be a nice gentleman.

But the bad thing is that he's a minister of magic.

He is keen on power, and does not hesitate to hide the truth about Voldemort's return for the sake of his position, leaving the wizarding world with a full year to deal with it.

Such a high-ranking person came to see him, even if he thought about it on his heels, he knew that it was related to the so-called Hearthstone World Championship.

Led by Professor McGonagall, Carl arrives in her office.

Then, he met with the Minister of Magic himself.

As I said earlier, from the outside, this is a good gentleman. With a harmless face, Carl looked at him with kind eyes as soon as he entered the house.

"Thank you, Minerva. Fudge said to Professor McGonagall.

Then he walked up and grabbed Carl's hand, and said kindly, "You are Carl, what a handsome young man!"

Without giving Carl a chance to speak, Fudge said to Professor McGonagall:

"Minerva, I wondered if you could give me some space to be alone with Carl. ”

Professor McGonagall hesitated, then nodded.

"Yes, Minister. ”

Then, she gave Carl a vague look and walked out of the office, closing the door by the way.