The Admiral of Hogwarts

"Don't worry, I'll try my best during the summer vacation to get Hagrid to give up using 'The Monster Book of Monsters' as a textbook next year," Veneto said to Hugo through the admiral network as they returned to the castle.

"Putting aside the issue of destiny points, I definitely don't want a fluffy book that bites people as a textbook."

The banquet that evening was exceptionally lavish, clearly to celebrate everyone solving a thousand-year-old mystery of the castle and killing the basilisk.

At the banquet, everyone was in high spirits. The arrival of an old man wearing the Order of Merlin's distinctive robes pushed the atmosphere of the entire banquet to a climax.

This old man was representing the Order of Merlin to award Enterprise the First Class Order of Merlin, and the reason for awarding this medal was that Enterprise had killed the thousand-year-old basilisk lurking in the school and saved all the students in the school.

"Enterprise seems a little too calm," Hermione whispered to Hugo, looking at the faint smile on Enterprise's face.

"I think it's probably because she's been in many dangerous situations, walking between life and death, so she has very good control over her emotions," Hugo shrugged and said.

He couldn't exactly say that it was because Enterprise had received so many medals before that she could even make a suit of armor for herself, so she really wasn't that interested in this kind of medal.

After the dinner, Hugo was about to return to the dormitory when he was stopped by Professor Flitwick, and then went to the headmaster's office with Veneto.

"Sit down—" Headmaster Dumbledore, sitting in a large chair, gestured for Hugo and Veneto to sit down, and then said, "I called you here today mainly to announce your rewards."

"To be honest, what you did before was enough to get you the Third Class Order of Merlin. Unfortunately, our Minister of Magic believes that now is not the time to make the news about Voldemort public, so my application was not approved."

"Of course, this doesn't mean you won't get anything. To thank you for your contribution to the school, I represent the school in awarding you the Hogwarts Special Contribution Award."

"Thank you!" Hugo and Veneto bowed slightly at the same time. Although this intra-school award is not as good as the Order of Merlin, it is also the highest intra-school award that students can receive.

"By the way, Mr. Granger, I have a few questions here that I need you to answer truthfully." After finishing the matter about the reward, Dumbledore suddenly asked Hugo a question.

"Of course, please ask." Hearing Headmaster Dumbledore say this, Hugo immediately realized that this might be related to some of the things the headmaster had asked him before, so he immediately showed a serious expression.

"Relax, relax." Dumbledore waved his hand with a smile. "These are some very simple questions, so you don't need to be so nervous, just answer truthfully."

In the next few minutes, Dumbledore began to confirm with Hugo about his knowledge of ancient runes, especially the skills of using ancient runes to make various alchemy and enchanted items.

After learning that he had mastered the skills of making and enchanting simple magic weapons in just half a year, Headmaster Dumbledore showed a rather gratified smile on his face.

"If that's the case, then I recommend you to participate in this year's alchemy competition in the Japanese wizarding world during the summer vacation," Dumbledore said, "I hope you can achieve good results in the competition."

"But Professor, I remember that Hogwarts sixth-year students can choose to study alchemy. Students like me who have studied for half a year will definitely not be able to compare with those seventh-year students," Hugo blurted out his inner doubts after hearing Dumbledore say this.

"You're right, but the problem is that this competition has prerequisites." Hearing Hugo ask this, Dumbledore showed a knowing expression, and then explained to him why he was chosen.

"You mean, you're going to Japan with Enterprise in the first month of summer vacation to participate in the competition?" Hermione's eyes widened when she heard what Hugo said on the train back to London early the next morning.

"Yes, it's actually a very good opportunity," Hugo shrugged. "You know, the purpose of this competition is for Nicolas Flamel's inheritance."

"This is also what I'm wondering. Although I admit that you seem to be more skilled than me in ancient rune alchemy, it shouldn't be so skilled that you're qualified to participate in this kind of international competition, right?"

"I thought so too at the time, but later I understood why I was chosen after getting the competition rules from Professor Dumbledore," Hugo said, recalling what Dumbledore said at the time.

"Because in the qualifications for participants in this competition, Nicolas Flamel himself requires that the participants studying alchemy must not have exceeded one year."

"I think this may be because Mr. Flamel hopes to find an heir who can inherit his alchemy skills," Veneto, who was sitting next to him, said at this time.

"So, on the one hand, he requires that the participants must be able to demonstrate sufficient talent in alchemy, and on the other hand, he requires that the participants must not have received too much education in this area, so that they can have enough space to accept his inheritance."

"What you said does make sense." After listening to Veneto's guess, Hermione was silent for a few seconds, then nodded. "If it were me, I definitely wouldn't like teaching students based on someone else's progress."

After finishing the discussion about the summer vacation competition, the group played Exploding Snap in the carriage.

Obviously, ship girls are indeed more advantageous than humans in this regard. Even if the Granger siblings teamed up, they would only win two or three out of ten games at most.

The Hogwarts Express gradually slowed down and finally stopped.

"You can come and play with me when your brother is away from home for two weeks during the summer vacation," Veneto invited Hermione as she got off the train. "You know, the shop my sister runs is very close to your house, and I'm usually there during the summer vacation."

"Nicolas Flamel—this person actually exists!" After returning home, Hugo told his parents about the summer vacation competition, which naturally surprised the Grangers.

After all, Nicolas Flamel has also left his mark in the world of ordinary people. For the Grangers, the fact that their son is connected with this legendary figure is in itself a very special thing.

"I estimate that my chances of winning the championship in the end are not high," Hugo shook his head and said.

"Now the team with the highest call for the championship is the Beauxbatons team. There are six people in the team, and they have done corresponding training before. Durmstrang is also good in this regard, and Hogwarts—"

In fact, if Hugo hadn't shown his ability in this area during the battle with Hannah Abbott, who was possessed by Voldemort, Dumbledore wouldn't have sent anyone to participate in this competition at all.

After all, among the three major European schools, although Hogwarts has many strengths, its level in alchemy is very average.

To give a simple example, important alchemical research in the past 100 years has mainly been contributed by students who graduated from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, and only Headmaster Dumbledore of Hogwarts barely saved some face for the school in this regard.