A few seconds later, Gendanxi continued speaking as though nothing had happened.
"—your friend, then that makes us acquaintances as well."
The three chatted happily.
After some time, Gendanxi returned alone to the giant seabird carrying Mahoutokoro's delegation.
...
Soon, the day of the various schools' arrival at Hogwarts finally arrived.
The Great Hall had been completely redecorated overnight.
Huge silk banners, normally displayed only during graduation ceremonies, hung from the walls.
Each banner represented one of the four houses:
A golden lion on a red background for Gryffindor.
A bronze eagle on a blue background for Ravenclaw.
A black badger on a yellow background for Hufflepuff.
A silver serpent on a green background for Slytherin.
These silk banners were no ordinary decorations.
Some visiting magical schools had histories shorter than the banners themselves.
Behind the staff table hung the largest banner of all.
It bore the Hogwarts crest: lion, eagle, badger, and serpent surrounding a large capital letter H.
Looking at the decorations in the Great Hall and the changes throughout the castle, Rhys was extremely satisfied.
Excellent. Hogwarts wasn't embarrassing itself.
A buoyant atmosphere filled the air.
No one paid attention during lessons anymore.
Everyone's thoughts had been completely captured by the magical schools that were about to arrive.
The second morning lesson ended half an hour early.
All the students hurried back to their common rooms, dropped off their schoolbags, changed into their cloaks, and then gathered in the Entrance Hall.
Outside the castle entrance, the four houses assembled into separate formations under the leadership of their Heads of House.
The thirteen champions stood at the front in their own smaller formation.
"Mr Weasley, straighten your hat! Miss Patil, remove that ridiculous thing from your hair!"
Professor McGonagall's stern voice rang out as she inspected every student's appearance.
The other Heads of House were doing the same.
Even Professor Sprout, normally the gentlest among them, seemed unusually serious today.
This was the first gathering of eight magical schools in history.
No one wanted to embarrass themselves.
It wasn't just Hogwarts' professors who took the occasion seriously.
Even Rhys treated it with great importance.
Daphne and Astoria noticed that Rhys seemed significantly more handsome than usual today.
He had always been good-looking, but today he was particularly striking.
His glossy black hair was impeccably styled.
His eyes sparkled brightly.
The exposed skin on his face was flawless and pale, as smooth as egg white.
When he smiled, eight perfectly white teeth showed.
Even his brand-new, neatly pressed robes carried a faint pleasant fragrance.
"Rhys, something's not right with you," Daphne declared confidently.
"The power of magic."
Rhys turned his head and glanced at the Greengrass sisters.
"Would you two like the same treatment?"
Naturally, they had no intention of refusing.
So Rhys proceeded to cast, one after another, a skin-cleansing charm, a robe-cleaning charm, an eye-brightening charm, and a hair-smoothing charm.
In an instant, both sisters' appearance and bearing rose by an entire level.
The other champions nearby: ????
The students and professors watching from the sidelines: ???
You can do that?
After noticing the looks from the other champions, Rhys decided that Hogwarts' "star representatives" ought to be tidied up as well.
A few minutes later, the champions' formation had been completely transformed.
Everyone had received a magical beauty treatment.
Those who were plain became presentable.
Those who were presentable became attractive.
Those who were already attractive looked as though they possessed Veela blood.
Looking at the row of handsome boys and beautiful girls, Rhys couldn't help but smile.
Not bad.
The little tricks Rowena had invented were genuinely useful.
Standing with the professors nearby, Rowena's gaze turned rather complicated.
She vaguely remembered Salazar once declaring these spells to be "the most useless charms in the world."
Yet despite all his criticism, he seemed remarkably proficient at using them.
Salazar, honestly...
The Hogwarts formation was soon fully prepared.
As time passed, students began speculating about how the other schools would make their entrances.
Rhys recalled a saying:
"Whenever people gather together, they can't resist showing off."
Hogwarts was making preparations.
The other schools were probably planning dramatic entrances as well.
Soon enough, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived.
Beauxbatons descended from the sky in a carriage pulled by twelve gigantic winged horses.
Durmstrang arrived aboard an ancient-looking sailing warship that rose dramatically from the depths of the Black Lake.
'Interesting...'
Rhys found his attention drawn to Durmstrang's ship.
A considerable amount of magic had been placed upon it.
It reminded him somewhat of the Knight Bus.
Durmstrang's Headmaster Karkaroff and Beauxbatons' Headmistress Madame Maxime each led their delegations to stand beside Hogwarts' formation.
Durmstrang's arrival caused a stir.
Viktor Krum was actually among their competitors.
However, Hogwarts' champions were no less impressive.
Rhys could feel countless gazes sweeping over himself, Cedric, Daphne, and Astoria.
Dumbledore was busy exchanging greetings with Madame Maxime and Karkaroff when a gigantic seabird appeared above Hogwarts.
The creature circled several times in confusion.
Only after Hogwarts' defensive enchantments were temporarily lifted did it locate the castle and successfully land.
"Mr Gendanxi, welcome to Hogwarts."
Dumbledore stepped forward to greet the visitors from Mahoutokoro before guiding their students to one side.
"Four schools left..."
Astoria counted the delegations already present and realised that Uagadou, Castelobruxo, Koldovstoretz, and Ilvermorny had yet to arrive.
The entrances of the first three schools had already left a deep impression on her.
Now she eagerly anticipated how the remaining schools would appear.
Dumbledore took a pocket watch from his robes and checked the time before looking up.
"Uagadou's delegation is about to arrive. We'll need to make a few preparations first."
He snapped his fingers.
Immediately, an incense burner appeared in front of each school's formation.
"Everyone will need to fall asleep... Fortunately, Uagadou has provided us with a potion."
As he spoke, wisps of smoke rose from the burners and drifted toward the assembled students.
Following their headmasters' instructions, the students did not disperse the smoke.
Instead, they inhaled it and allowed drowsiness to wash over them.
Soon, everyone had fallen asleep.
Rhys was no exception.
He found himself dreaming of a very strange scene.
He saw the students of Hogwarts, Durmstrang, Beauxbatons, and Mahoutokoro standing in formation outside Hogwarts Castle.
The scene was identical to the one he had just witnessed.
Even more remarkably, Rhys was fully aware that he was dreaming.
'Uagadou's incense... fascinating.'
Soon, Rhys noticed a towering snow-capped mountain appear on the horizon.
He recognised it immediately.
It was the Mountains of the Moon, home of Uagadou.
The teachers and students of Uagadou had arrived.
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI