The moment Albert stepped into the rising green flame, he seemed to be sucked in. The swirling green flames took him and spun rapidly, as if he was thrown into a washing machine. After regaining the feeling of being on the ground, Albert swayed slightly and then stood firm again.
"Welcome to the Spanish Ministry of Magic."
As soon as he walked out of the fireplace, Albert heard the voice of a strange old man next to him.
Of course, the old wizard probably didn't expect the visitor to be able to understand Spanish. He just greeted the passengers coming out of the international Floo network according to convention.
After all, there are very few wizards using the international Floo network, and it is rare to meet one.
Albert turned his head to look at the old wizard who was sitting in a chair reading a newspaper, looked around, and immediately stepped aside after noticing that the green flame that had just been extinguished was burning again in the fireplace.
Bard came out of the fireplace, shook off the ashes on his clothes, and greeted the old wizard next to him in fluent Spanish: "Oh, Rodris, it's a pleasure to see you. I didn't expect you haven't retired yet."
"I think it's good to stay here. I can read the newspaper every day and don't have to do anything. I can get a good salary every month." The old wizard put down the newspaper and took the initiative to give Bard a simple hug. "But you, you retired at a young age."
"You should be getting it soon. I heard a while ago that the Ministry of Magic was discussing whether to shut down the international Floo Network and replace it with an international portkey." Bud said with regret, "I think Spain should be getting it soon too."
"You don't have to worry about that. Unless the Ministry of Magic can find a stable and fast way of transportation, it will not easily cancel the international Floo network." What Rodris said was true. Although the international Floo network was not comfortable, it was safe and fast enough to travel with it. It was far from being replaced by portkeys. After all, wizards who used portkeys to travel were prone to portkey sickness.
Albert always felt that the tone of the two old men's speech was a little strange, and they were like a pair of enemies.
"This is..." Rodris looked at Albert.
"This is my student." Bud introduced him to Albert with a smile: "This is my old friend Rodris. Don't look at him as just an old man now. He was once a duel champion, the winner of the Barnabus Finkley Excellent Spellcasting Award, and an honorary veteran of the Anti-Dark Magic League."
"Hello, Mr. Rodris, I'm Albert, Albert Anderson, nice to meet you." Albert said and shook hands with the old man.
"I seem to have heard of this name." Rodris blinked and looked at Albert. He always felt that he had heard the name Albert Anderson somewhere.
"Albert is the champion of this year's International Wizard Chess Championship and the Magic School Potions Championship. It's normal that you have heard of his name." Bud said proudly, "I brought him to Spain this time to participate in the Barnabus Finkley Excellent Spellcasting Competition the day after tomorrow. Maybe he can bring back a trophy again."
Rodris felt unwell all of a sudden, and this time he accidentally made Bard sick.
"Okay, we have to go. See you another day." Bud walked out of the Spanish Ministry of Magic with Albert in a happy mood. He seemed to notice Albert's strange look and explained with a smile: "Rodriguez used to be a guy who liked to show off. He disgusted me once. Later, I decided to disgust him every time I met him in the future."
Albert was a little amused. When he followed Bud out of the Ministry of Magic, he found that the Spanish Ministry of Magic was actually disguised as a supermarket. A large sign saying "Closed for Renovation" was hung on the dusty door.
They were surrounded by some unfinished buildings and there were no other residents at all, so there was no need to worry about attracting the attention of Muggles.
"Where are we going to go, to sign up for the competition?"
"Let's go to our temporary shelter first." Bud motioned Albert to follow him.
The two went to an unfinished building a hundred meters away from the supermarket. The surrounding buildings actually only looked like unfinished buildings on the surface. Once you walk in, you will discover the secrets hidden inside.
It was a much cleaner bar than the Leaky Cauldron, and it was quite lively inside, with many wizards talking in low voices.
After the two men walked into the bar, the guests at the tables at the door stopped talking and cast curious glances at Albert and Bud.
"The Barnabus Finkley Outstanding Spellcasting Competition will be held here. It wasn't here before, but later the owner of this bar sponsored the Barnabus Finkley Outstanding Spellcasting Competition and moved the venue here. Even the name of the bar was changed to Barnabus Bar."
"That boss is very smart." Albert looked around the bar and felt that it was very similar to a Muggle bar. He thought that most of the customers in the bar were wizards who came to participate in the Barnabus Finkley Excellent Spellcasting Competition.
"Yeah, very smart." Bud took Albert to the bar and continued to introduce him: "This bar pays to host various international competitions every year. By the way, the bar owner is half vampire, literally."
"A bar run by vampires?" Albert found it very interesting.
In this world, vampires are not quite the same as werewolves. They are actually somewhat similar to Veela, being humanoid magical creatures that can produce offspring with humans, and not relying on the so-called first embrace.
However, since some vampires cannot control their urge to suck blood and kill the objects they suck, they are not welcomed by wizards. In addition, it is rumored that vampire fangs can be used to make a very high-level aphrodisiac, which directly leads to vampire hunters being happy to take care of them frequently.
The two men came to the bar and booked two luxurious rooms from the bartender, for which Bud paid a small bag of gold coins.
The magic currency used in Spain is somewhat similar to Galleon, but its value is not as high as Galleon, which is a universal currency internationally.
"If I were you, I would be wary of the drinks handed to you. It is said that Diana, the daughter of the bar owner, likes to hook up with handsome and promising young men in the bar." Bud kindly reminded Albert when he took out the suitcase from the seamless stretch bag.
"Do half-vampires also suck blood?" Albert was surprised.
"Most half-vampires will still be partially affected. Blood will make them excited." Bud seemed to know a lot about vampires. "Besides, having your blood sucked by a vampire is a very dangerous thing."
Albert looked at Bud suspiciously, thinking that he might have had a similar experience.
“I’ve been tricked before.”
If it wasn't for reminding Albert, Bud probably wouldn't want to mention the dark history.
"Tell me about Barnabus Finkley's excellent spellcasting skills!" Albert would naturally not bother asking about Bud's dark history, so he changed the subject directly.
Although Albert's skill panel contains Voldemort's spell-casting techniques, he actually has no idea about the rules and methods of this game.
"The competition is not quite what you think. The judges will let the contestants use wands to show their magical talents, and then score the contestants based on their spellcasting skills. After several rounds of screening, the final champion will be selected. By the way, ever since Barnabus Finkley's excellent spellcasting technique was moved here, the champion's trophy has always been made of pure gold, so you don't have to complain about the trophy being gold-plated." At the end, Bud had a faint smile on his face.