The next day at breakfast, Albert flipped through the latest issue of the Bullfighting Daily and discovered that his odds had dropped. To be precise, his odds of winning the gold medal had dropped to 6 times. Apparently, the Bullfighting Daily discovered that someone had bet a large sum of Galleons on it, and they were so scared that they quickly lowered the odds.
Even if the people at the Bull Fighting Daily were not normal, they would realize something was wrong when they found out that someone was pouring a large sum of Galleons into it.
So far, almost no one thinks that No. 17 (Albert) will win the Barnabus Finkley Gold Medal for Excellence in Spellcasting, and even if someone places a bet, it is usually by retail investors with very limited amounts.
However, there are actually several people placing bets in it, and investing a large amount of Galleons at one time.
What does this mean
No one knows it better than those who run the gambling game.
In fact, what Albert didn't know was that his odds had been lowered three times.
The first time, Bud invested 500 Galleons. When the organizer saw that there were other people prepared to bet a large sum of Galleons on number 17 to win the gold prize, he was so scared that he lowered his odds to 7 times.
Later, the Bullfight Daily discovered that more people had thrown in hundreds of Galleons, all betting that Albert would win the gold prize, so it had to lower the odds again.
There's nothing we can do. When something is abnormal, there must be something wrong.
The odds are so high, if you really lose, you will lose everything.
"Those guys are really cowards." Bud put away the newspaper and said to Albert with a smile: "I'll help you with that matter."
"It's normal to smell something wrong. The purpose of opening a gambling game is to make money. Who would want to do a business at a loss?" Albert didn't think much of it and continued to read the relevant reports in the Bullfighting Daily.
The Spanish magic community has paid a lot of attention to the Barnabus Finkley Excellent Spell-casting Competition, and the most promising gold medal winner is Mr. Animagus who is good at transformation magic.
Of course, Albert was also very popular, but he felt that all the popularity was deliberately hyped up by the Bull Fighting Daily.
Is this digging a hole for yourself
Honestly speaking, Albert has no psychological pressure at all when it comes to taking advantage of the gambling industry, and there are not many such opportunities left.
Once the identity of the prophet becomes known, this cannot be done anymore, otherwise it will easily lead to hatred.
As Albert was looking through the newspaper to check the list of sixteen players, he noticed that only three of them were under the age of thirty.
Among them, there is a contestant named Noe, who seems to have just graduated from Beauxbatons School of Magic.
Albert still remembers that during the first round of performances, this man took out a handkerchief from his pocket and conjured up a sky full of butterflies. At the end, he performed a trick in which he gathered the butterflies into his hand and turned them back into a handkerchief. That scene left a deep impression on many audiences.
However, this guy's appearance is rather ordinary, and he exudes a decadent aura, which makes him really unlikable.
The other was the mature wizard who had been ranked behind Albert. He was said to be a native of Spain and his name seemed to be Anthony.
In the first round, he showed everyone the changes of water polo through transformation and magic.
It is not difficult, but it shows off one's spell-casting skills very well, so it received very good reviews.
He is one of the most qualified people to compete for the championship.
At about ten o'clock, the bar owner Diana came over to inform the contestants to go to the second floor to participate in the competition.
"See you later."
When Albert stood up to leave, he found that many customers were waving at him and cheering him on. Apparently, many people bet on Albert to pass the second round.
Albert smiled and waved at them, then followed the crowd to the second floor.
"You are so popular." The decadent man named Noe suddenly said to Albert, "I heard Louise mention you. She always said you were a genius. After meeting you, I suddenly understood why Louise rejected me."
"No, I think you are probably mistaken. I already have a girlfriend. Miss Louise also knows and has met my girlfriend." Albert looked at the decadent man in front of him and corrected him.
He felt that Louise's rejection of the guy in front of him was entirely due to the decadent aura that permeated him.
If Mr. Noe could be more confident, he would not be rejected so easily. After all, outstanding people always have their own shining points.
Noe looked a little embarrassed, he realized he seemed to have made a mistake.
The two followed the crowd into a living room where more than twenty chairs were arranged in a semi-arc shape. Some of the chairs had numbers on them, obviously for them to sit according to their numbers.
The five judges had all taken their seats. After entering the living room, the contestants chose their own numbers and sat down. Albert also walked to the chair with the number 17 on it.
As soon as he sat down, he noticed the envious looks from the people next to him.
"This guy might be sick." He muttered and focused his attention on the stage in front of him, completely unaware that the famous female singer next door was looking at him with curiosity.
As for the middle-aged wizard who was good at Animagus, he was now standing in front of them. With a stern face, he nodded to the judges and began to demonstrate his best transformation magic. In fact, it was similar to Albert turning the table into a lion, just a gradual process.
The man was like a conductor. Every time he waved his magic wand, the things in front of him would transform, constantly changing into various shapes, living and dead things cross-transforming, and finally turning into a knight's armor, bowing slightly to the judges before disappearing.
After Mr. Animagus finished his presentation, enthusiastic applause gradually broke out in the living room.
Sure enough, the sixteen contestants who can appear here are not simple.
However, the scoring session after the performance was somewhat unexpected. The score of this highly regarded Animagus was not as high as expected.
Two sevens, three sixes.
This is the evaluation given by the five judges: barely passing.
All the contestants below began to whisper.
Albert guessed the reason for the low score. It was probably because he did not show his spell-casting skills in the performance just now, or his level was very average.
Next, it was Albert's turn.
He took a deep breath and waved his wand briefly.
Countless blue sparks danced in the sky, and then as Albert stretched out his left hand, the sparks began to gather into a blue bellflower flame on his palm.
Albert put his left hand to his mouth and blew gently at the flame, and the blue bellflower flame was actually wrapped in a water ball.
The water ball slowly floated into the air following Albert's fingers.
As Albert waved his magic wand in an elegant arc, the surface of the water ball gradually froze and was covered with a thick layer of frost, as if it had turned into a lavender ice egg, and the lavender flame inside seemed like a leaping life.
Before everyone could react, the ice egg suddenly exploded into countless pieces of ice, and a firebird with blue bellflower flames broke out of its shell. As Albert waved his hand, more and more flames melted into the firebird, causing its body to gradually expand, as if the firebird had grown up.
As Albert waved his wand, it rolled up blue bellflower flames and passed over everyone's heads. Finally, it turned into sporadic blue flames and gradually disappeared.
The surroundings suddenly became eerily quiet. A clear burst of applause rang out, and the sporadic applause became more and more frequent, until it became a continuous sound. Even a few referees raised their withered hands and applauded enthusiastically.
Everyone realized that they had underestimated contestant No. 17, who had high attainments in both silent spells and wandless magic.
In the end, Albert got an eight, three nines and a ten, and directly crushed Mr. Animagus, who was originally favored by everyone, with a score of 45. That score was like a mountain pressing on everyone's hearts.
Although the others had not yet demonstrated their skills, they all realized that it would be very difficult to surpass Albert in points.
Mr. Anthony, who was sitting next to Albert, looked very unhappy, as if someone had stuffed a ball of shit into his mouth.
Of course, he was not the only one with a grim expression, there were also special correspondents from the Bull Fighting Daily who were taking photos and recording. Their faces were livid, and they obviously had not forgotten that their own newspaper had hyped Albert. They were digging a hole for themselves and burying themselves in it!
Albert was obviously qualified to compete for the final championship, while the contestant who was once favored by everyone was ruthlessly crushed by the opponent.
If he wins the championship, or even the gold medal in the end...
The special correspondent's expression became more and more ugly. He wanted to rush out immediately to tell his own newspaper to lower the odds on Albert. Otherwise, he would probably lose everything this time.
"How did you do that just now?" Yanila asked with blinking eyes. She had never seen such magic before and it was really hard to imagine.
Albert smiled at the other person and made a hushing gesture, indicating that the other person should watch the performance on the stage carefully.
Yanila curled her lips, but she had to admit that she had underestimated the guy in front of her. He really had the potential to win the Barnabus Finkley Gold Medal for Excellent Spellcasting Skills.
At least, the championship can't be escaped.
Yanila still remembers what happened last night. Bud took a sum of Galleons and asked her mother Diana to help place the bet, and all the bets were on Albert to win the gold prize.
From the extent of the drop in the odds this morning, it is not difficult to see that the person Bud asked for help was obviously not just his mother, and the Galleons used for the bet were most likely from the guy in front of him.
The expression on Yanila's face suddenly became very confused. She no longer paid attention to the game above, but stared straight at Albert's profile, not knowing what she was thinking.
It was not until a contestant made a mistake on the stage that the girl turned her attention back to the stage.
Yes, mature man Anthony made a mistake.
Because he accidentally caught a glimpse of Yanila staring at Albert's profile in a daze, and her emotions fluctuated violently due to anger, causing the magic to go awry.
Anthony finally completed his performance, but his score was not much better than Mr. Animagus, and he ended up with 35 points.
That mistake did cost him a few points.
"It's no use staring at me like that. I already have a girlfriend." Albert looked Anthony in the eye and reminded him helplessly.
After saying this, he opened his pocket watch and showed the other party the carvings inside.
It was a sculpture of Albert and Isobel.
The look on Anthony’s face was brilliant.
Because of Albert's action, he told him directly: I have a girlfriend, and she is no less beautiful than Miss Yanila.
In fact, Albert could completely understand the other party's feelings, but that guy seemed to have gone in the wrong direction. Wouldn't it be better for him to work hard to win the gold medal
Oh, I almost forgot, the championship and the gold medal were won by him.
However, the guy in front of me definitely doesn’t know!
You don't know how to work hard all day long, you just know how to envy and be jealous, which is not good. You obviously have a very handsome face, but you don't know how to play to your strengths.
Don’t you know that those who bootlick the dog never have a good ending
Besides, you have the nerve to hit on a girl who is almost half your age. Albert despised him from the bottom of his heart.
Ignoring the loser next to him, Albert continued to watch the performance on the stage. However, he found that there were not many wizards who actually got high scores, and most of the contestants only hovered around 35 points.
Apart from Albert, the highest score so far is 42 points, and the person who got it is a wizard in his forties, and his performance style is also very special.
He got a training puppet from somewhere, and then used all kinds of magic on it in front of everyone. A bunch of simple spells fell on the unfortunate puppet. His movements were quite smooth. It can be seen that he has his own unique insights on casting spells, and he seems to be a guy who is very good at fighting.
Albert suspected that the other party was most likely a character similar to an Auror.
The fighting skills are really amazing.
Another outstanding one is the decadent man Noe. This guy conjured up a sea of roses, then turned the petals into butterflies, which stirred up a butterfly storm, giving Albert some feeling of a rainstorm.
Albert felt that it was completely unnecessary to turn the rose into a butterfly. Besides, this kind of attack was actually very easy to resist. The problem could be solved by simply putting up a protective shield.
However, Albert felt that the other party's high score was probably related to his spell-casting skills. After all, this competition was about spell-casting skills rather than displaying magic.
However, Albert really didn’t understand how the other party cast the spell.
Finally, another middle-aged woman crossed the 40-point threshold. Her magic performance was equally mediocre, but she also received a high score of 41.
There are four contestants selected for the third round.
The final round of competition will begin tomorrow.
After the game, Albert also got up and left, ready to talk to Bud. This game made him realize that his understanding of the game seemed to be biased.
When he was about to leave with the crowd, he noticed several reporters coming towards him, as if they were going to interview him.
There is no way, Albert is the biggest dark horse in this game.
However, Albert was not really interested in the interview and did not give them a chance. He blended into the crowd and disappeared.