Albert felt that he had just closed his eyes for a short while when he was awakened by a hurried knock on the door.
He opened his eyes blearily, and instinctively reached for the wand beside the bed, muttering softly, "What the hell, what time is it now?"
Although Mr. Serra mentioned yesterday that we had to get up early today, there was no need to get up so early. It was still pitch dark outside the window.
He yawned again and shook the wand in his hand lightly, causing the ball of light to detach from the wand and float above his head. The soft white light immediately dispelled the darkness in the room.
"Why, is it time to leave already?" Isobel asked sleepily.
There was another hurried knock on the door.
Albert glanced at the peephole on the bedside table. The magic alarm did not respond, which meant that there should be no danger nearby. He turned to the door and said, "I'm awake. I'll be downstairs right away."
Although the looking glass was unreliable, Albert had to admit that it was still somewhat useful after all. At least it could provide them with early warning.
It would be even better if the detection and warning effect of the looking glass could be combined with the footprint spell to make it into an early warning radar.
It's a pity that Albert's attainments in alchemy are limited, and he still hasn't been able to realize it. Sometimes it's quite difficult to make magic items too precise.
He stretched, pushed aside the thin quilt and got out of bed, then he suppressed a yawn and began to change his clothes in a sleepy state.
"Why are you staring at me?" After Albert changed his clothes, he found Isobel staring at him in a daze.
"Do you need me to help you change your clothes?"
As he said this, he helped Isobel get her clothes and stretched out his hands to help her take them off.
"You just take advantage of me." Isobel slapped Albert's claws away. She looked like she was still sleepy and seemed very tired.
There was no way. It was hard to fall asleep in a strange place, and I was woken up not long after I slept. It was very well-mannered of me not to lose my temper.
"Haven't I already taken advantage of you?" Albert smiled and walked into the bathroom, ready to brush his teeth and wash his face to wake himself up completely.
As for watching beautiful women changing clothes, it’s not the first time I’ve seen it.
"If you're very tired, don't go. Stay in the bar and rest." Albert poked his head out of the bathroom and said to Isobel who was changing clothes.
"No."
After Albert finished washing up, Isobel also got dressed. By the time they went downstairs together, it was ten minutes later.
Many people were waiting at the bar, and it was not difficult to see that most of them were in a bad mood. They were yawning while drinking the hot tea distributed to them by the bartender.
Since the International Alchemy Congress needs to borrow the venue of the Alchemy Research Center, and the entrance to the Alchemy Research Center is located at the Sphinx, the alchemists participating in the International Alchemy Congress must go there in batches to avoid a large number of wizards appearing near the Sphinx and attracting the attention of Muggles.
The reason why we left so early was actually this: the Sphinx is, after all, a relatively famous tourist attraction.
"Can't they just use Apparition to go directly to the International Alchemy Conference?" Valeria complained quietly as she drank the hot tea provided by the bar. "Don't they know that lack of sleep is a woman's biggest enemy?"
"It's normal that the Alchemy Research Center prohibits the use of Apparition. This is to prevent intrusion." It was not difficult for Catherine to understand, just like the Ministry of Magic in most countries also prohibits Apparition.
"That's useless. The magic that wizards use to prohibit Apparition can't stop house-elves." Valeria curled her lips and said, "But I really doubt what the organizers are thinking. If we go over now, are we going to stand there and take a nap?"
Yes, due to lack of sleep, most of the contestants were extremely sleepy. How could they have the mood to participate in the International Alchemy Conference? Moreover, they haven't even had breakfast yet. They can't participate in the competition on an empty stomach.
"There will be enough places for you to sit down and rest, and there will be plenty of free food, so you don't have to worry." This was not the first time Nicholas came to participate in the International Alchemy Conference, so he was quite familiar with the situation here.
At this time, a famous wizard shouted to the crowd: "Everyone who is going to participate in the International Alchemy Conference, please gather here. Everyone who is going to participate in the International Alchemy Conference, please gather here. Come and gather quickly. We are about to set off."
"Let's go over there too!"
Nicholas led everyone towards the crowded crowd.
They were then quickly told that they had to Apparate in batches.
Albert and six other people held hands and Apparated near the Sphinx, and saw a light flickering in the darkness.
The desert was a bit cold at night, and Albert couldn't help shivering when the cool breeze blew on him.
They walked towards the light source and came to the side of the Sphinx, where a cloaked wizard stood. After chatting with Sera for a few words, he motioned for them to pass through the flat wall on the side of the Sphinx, which was a bit like Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The interior of the Sphinx was a large hall, and a male wizard was checking their tickets at the entrance.
He inserted the admission ticket into the back of the golden Sphinx statue, then pulled it out of the Sphinx statue's mouth and handed it back to Albert.
"Okay, come in, your display case is number 51."
The so-called display cabinet is a glass table, a bit like the gold and jewelry display cabinets in the previous life. There is a staff member from the Alchemy Research Center behind each counter. After checking Albert's admission ticket and registering, they put the mandrake wine and flying ointment in display cabinet No. 51, and a piece of parchment introducing their effects will be placed next to it.
"Okay, let's find a place to rest first." Albert covered his yawn with his hand and led everyone to the rest area next to the hall.
There is also a counter that provides them with free breakfast and drinks, and several house-elves are busy preparing burgers for everyone.
It's just adding various fillings to the freshly baked pie. Almost everyone who comes here holds a pie and nibbles on it, and the air is filled with a strong aroma.
During the break, Nicholas told them some dirty laundry about the International Alchemy Conference.
Most of the so-called alchemical results in many display cabinets are useless semi-finished products, and some are even false, exaggerated and counterfeit products.
However, everyone tacitly accepted this, otherwise there wouldn't be so many alchemical results.
Of course, fakes and inferior semi-finished products are not allowed to participate in the competition.
However, there are always a few unlucky ones in every session whose lies are exposed by the stubborn newcomers.
The so-called 100-plus participants were just a lie. Everyone just wanted to take this opportunity to communicate and build some relationships. The number of people who actually participated in the International Alchemy Congress could probably be counted on one's fingers. The so-called Cairo International Alchemy Congress Pioneering Contribution Gold Award was even less valuable.
If it were fifty years ago, the International Alchemy Congress was actually quite prestigious, with fierce competition every time. But later, as people explored alchemy more and more, the results of alchemy became fewer and fewer, and the benefits of participating in the competition were not worth it, so many people just showed their results to everyone but did not plan to participate in the competition.
Although the Gold Award for Pioneering Contribution is not awarded every time, as long as there are no unexpected events, the probability of Albert's flying ointment winning the award is still very high.
However, Albert himself didn't care much about this matter. He was checking the new task that had just been triggered.
Medal collector.
Since you have already participated in the International Alchemy Conference, why not get the gold medal? Although not many people want that thing, it is at least a medal that can make you more famous.
Rewards: 5000 experience, 2000 galleons, alchemy +1, reputation in the magic world +1000.
I feel that it is not as good as the last Barnabus Finkley Award for Excellent Spellcasting Skill, but the medal is actually pretty good. The Alchemy +1 is not bad. I can wait until he improves his alchemy before claiming it.
However, the description of this task was exactly the same as what Nicholas said. Few people were willing to participate. Although 2,000 Galleons was a lot, it was still a far cry from the unique business brought by the results of alchemy.
"I just met a lot of old friends and told them about you. They were all very curious and wanted to meet you." After Sera came back from a stroll, he took Albert to visit the old men who had a good relationship with him.
Although Sera wanted Albert to meet the other party, most of the time he just brought him over to show off. When Sera introduced Albert to them, it was as if he was saying to them: Look, this is my favorite student.
Looking at the stunned, surprised, envious and appreciative eyes of those old men, Sera felt that the bad mood after getting up early was swept away in an instant.
"This is Mopsus." Sera introduced a Greek man to Albert. "This is Albert Anderson, the descendant of Mog McDougal."
The alchemist named Mopsus was stunned for a moment, looked at Albert again, nodded at him with a friendly smile, and introduced his son Jason to Albert.
He was a boy a few years younger than Albert, and spoke very poor English, which made Albert very uncomfortable, so he simply chatted with Jason in Greek.
As for the way Sera introduced him, he probably guessed who the Mopsus in front of him was.
"Your Greek is great!" Jason was really surprised when he found that Albert switched languages without any trace.
"That group of people are always so outstanding." Mopsus listened to Albert's fluent Greek and recalled the first time he met McDougal, that guy spoke fluent Greek.
"Are you planning to train Jason as your successor?" Sera asked Mopsos in English.
"Well, Jason is pretty good, and he likes alchemy very much. I brought him out now to broaden his horizons." Mopsus naturally could not hand over the benefits of Floo Powder to others. Training his son to become the heir was the best choice.
"Who is that? I remember he seemed to be good at potions." Mopsus already remembered who Albert Anderson was.
The cheating incident at the last magic school potion championship caused a small stir in the Greek magic world, and recently he also won the Barnabus Finkley Award for Outstanding Spellcasting Skills. To be honest, that award is more important than the current gold medal for pioneering contributions.
"He's also good at alchemy." Sera said meaningfully.
"Is he here to attend the International Alchemy Conference?" Mopsus asked in disbelief, his eyes wide open.
"Yes, and there is an 80% chance that he will win the Gold Award for Pioneering Contribution." Sera is very confident in Albert, as there are not many young contestants participating. "If you go to display cabinet No. 51, you will definitely find unexpected surprises."
After a brief acquaintance, Sera took Albert away, leaving Mopsus dumbfounded.
An underage wizard won three international awards
It's like a dream.
"Who is that guy?" Jason asked Mopsus. "He's really good."
"He is indeed a very powerful guy. You will have dealings with him in the future." Mopsus smiled and said to his son, "Let's go and see his alchemical results."
“He participated in the demonstration?” Jason was even more surprised.
"Yes, and he is planning to participate in the competition. He may win the Gold Award for Pioneering Contribution." Mopsus didn't think Sera needed to lie or brag. The halo on Albert's head seemed to make all the bragging dim.
However, Mopsus found that he had underestimated Albert's ability. Display cabinet No. 51 was crowded with people, especially after seeing the introduction of the bottle of Mandrake wine, their mouths opened wide.
If it really had that effect, no, given the young man's arrogance, he obviously wouldn't fake it.
Mopsus thought that maybe he should go and have a chat with the other party, but a voice suddenly echoed in the hall, interrupting his thoughts. The person who spoke was Hermes, the president of the Alchemy Research Center.
The old man talked for an hour, mainly introducing the International Alchemy Conference and the procedures for participating in the competition to contestants from various countries.
This was an old man who didn't know much. He was talking over there, but there were basically few people listening in the entire conference hall. Everyone was talking to themselves.
In fact, it would be enough to just print out the proceedings of the International Alchemy Congress on paper and distribute them to everyone for reading, and the opening speeches could be shortened to a few minutes.
I don't know who started clapping first, but everyone breathed a sigh of relief and started clapping together.
Then, the International Alchemy Conference officially began. The first part was for alchemists to showcase their alchemical achievements, and those who were interested could sign up for the competition.
Of course, the alchemy results that are willing to participate in the competition need to be strictly reviewed by the organizer. Contestants need to register first, then undergo on-site review, and finally provide detailed information, which will be verified by the Alchemy Research Center. After successfully passing the review, the Alchemy Research Center will help to apply for relevant patents.
As for who is eligible to win the award, a panel of judges consisting of five professional judges and three senior alchemy masters will make the final vote.