The feast officially began.
Ron excitedly said to Hermione while stuffing a chicken leg into his mouth, "Is what Professor Swan just said true? I can't believe my ears. Can playing Wizard Chess really bring honor to the school and earn Galleon rewards?"
"Hermione, can you confirm if that's what he meant?"
Looking at Ron's excited expression, Hermione smiled faintly.
She naturally understood why Ron was so thrilled; after all, Wizard Chess had always been her good friend's strong suit.
In their first year, he had successfully solved Professor McGonagall's chessboard.
He would also frequently find people to play Wizard Chess with.
Now that playing Wizard Chess could bring honor to the school, Ron was naturally eager to show off his skills.
"It's exactly as you thought, Ron. Professor Swan just said that this is the new 'Hundred Flowers Bloom' initiative launched this year."
Hermione took a sip of pumpkin juice to moisten her throat and continued, "The purpose of this initiative is to cultivate well-rounded talents for Hogwarts."
"As long as you have a special skill, whether it's Wizard Chess, Gobstones, or broomstick racing, as long as it's a competition openly recognized by the Wizarding World, and you have the ability to participate, the school will arrange for a Professor to accompany you to these international events to bring honor to the school."
Ron swallowed the chicken in his mouth and loudly declared, "I say, Professor Swan is a genius! He always finds a way for all students to showcase their strengths."
"If I can win a major prize in the Wizard Chess tournament, my mother will never say I'm wasting my time on frivolous pursuits again."
"You're planning to enter the Wizard Chess tournament?" Hermione encouraged, "Then you'll have to work hard."
"You know, the Wizard Chess tournament is a competition where all Wizard Chess masters from the entire Wizarding World participate; it's completely different from playing chess at school."
"You can't neglect your studies either, but of course, I believe you can manage both."
"Ron," Harry also offered advice, "didn't Professor Swan say that students can form their own interest groups?"
"With your skill level, you could totally form a Wizard Chess group and practice more with your group members. That would help you prepare for the Wizard Chess tournament."
"Do you know when the next tournament is?"
"Of course," Ron said with a triumphant grin, "The next Wizard Chess tournament is in March next year, and it's in Britain. I've been following information on this, and now it's finally going to be useful."
"Then you have a lot of time to prepare," Harry said, "You can also challenge Professor McGonagall to practice your chess skills."
"I heard Professor Swan say that she's a famous Wizard Chess master. If you can defeat Professor McGonagall, you'll definitely get a good ranking."
Hermione agreed, "Professor McGonagall's teaching load is much lighter now, so she'll definitely be willing to help you."
Professor McGonagall wanted to see students bring honor to the school more than anyone.
Ron gritted his teeth, "Win against Professor McGonagall, huh? I'll try my best."
"Oh, right, do you two have any competitions you want to participate in?"
Hermione frowned and fell into deep thought.
To be honest, she had always focused her energy on studying and hadn't paid attention to the various competitions in the Wizarding World.
For a moment, she couldn't think of any suitable competitions for herself.
Furthermore, this year she had signed up for all elective classes except Divination Class.
If it weren't for the magical item Professor McGonagall had just given her, she wouldn't have been able to attend so many classes simultaneously.
Her time was extremely tight; every day had to be used as two, leaving no extra time to participate in those competitions.
"As for me," Hermione hesitated, "I won't be participating in any international competitions."
"But I do have an idea: to challenge the 'Interview Assessment' Professor Swan mentioned for History of Magic and Astronomy Class."
"Interview Assessment!" Ron exclaimed dramatically, "That's too difficult."
"It requires first getting the approval of the subject Professor."
"Then, all Professors of the same subject will interview you simultaneously, and the interview content will cover all knowledge points from this academic year."
"Although it's difficult, after passing the interview, you can stop attending these two classes, not do their homework, and save all that time for other courses," Hermione stated firmly.
"Moreover, after passing, you won't have to take the final exams for these two classes and will directly receive an O (Outstanding) grade, which is still very worthwhile."
Ron smacked his lips, "I can't be envious, I just can't."
"Harry, do you have any plans?"
Harry glanced at the Professor's table and said softly, "Professor Snape said that third-year Potion Class no longer has much meaning for me."
"I'm also quite confident in my Charms skills."
"So, I'm going to participate in the interviews for Charms Class and Potion Class."
"Professor Swan said my Transfiguration isn't good enough yet, so I need to make more time to practice Transfiguration."
"As for international competitions, I plan to participate in the Magical Schools Potion International Championship next April."
"Honestly, I even want to quit the school Quidditch team to free up more time for myself."
Harry cautiously glanced at Wood in the distance, "However, that's just a thought. I'm quite afraid of Wood getting angry."
"This is his last year at school, and he surely wants to win another championship."
"I'm not trying to discourage you, Harry," Ron said, shaking his head, "You're still quite a ways off from Krum's level."
"To win the championship, we'll have to rely on the Chasers to widen the score gap."
He then changed the subject, "However, it's not without hope. Two of Durmstrang's Chasers have graduated, and one Beater has also graduated."
"With them bringing in new players, we still have a lot of hope to win the championship."
Ron counted on his fingers, "Our Keeper is Wood, the Chasers are Fred, George, and Cedric, the Seeker is Harry, and one Beater is Roger Davies."
"Aside from needing one strong Beater, this is our dream team!"
"Too bad... the Troll Marcus graduated."
"Ron," Hermione said in a hushed voice, "Don't you know? Marcus failed too many classes and was held back."
"Look, he's sitting at the Slytherin table right now."
"Merlin's great trousers!" Ron scanned around and indeed saw many students pointing and gesturing towards Marcus.
He turned his head and said in horror, "The Professors are serious!"
"I thought this was just the Professor trying to scare us last year, to make us study hard."
"This is too terrifying. It seems I really need to study hard."
"I don't want to be held back; not only would it be embarrassing, but my mother would surely kill me."
"Hermione, please, you have to help me, please."
When the last piece of dessert disappeared from the plate, Dumbledore announced the end of the feast.
Students followed their house teams and walked towards their respective common rooms.
Too much had happened today; they were already eager to get some rest.
...