The Admiral of Hogwarts

The students erupted into an uproar the moment Headmaster Dumbledore announced the cancellation of the Quidditch Cup for the year. Fortunately, the headmaster didn't disappoint them and quickly cleared his throat to explain.

"This is because a large event will begin in October and continue throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy—but I believe you will all derive great enjoyment from it.

I am very pleased to announce that Hogwarts will have the distinct honor of hosting a very exciting event in the coming months, an event which has not been held for over a century.

It gives me great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts this year."

Perhaps sensing everyone's keen interest in the matter, Dumbledore didn't beat around the bush but delivered the news in one go.

"Oh no—are you joking?" Fred exclaimed, looking shocked.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said with a smile. "However, since you mention joking, I did hear a rather amusing joke about a troll, a harpy, and a leprechaun who all walked into the same tavern…"

Well, it's clear that Dumbledore is a humorous man, but this was hardly the time for it. Thankfully, Professor McGonagall's cough rang out at the opportune moment, rescuing the headmaster's topic from going astray.

Under Professor McGonagall's supervision, the headmaster finally gave those unfamiliar with the competition a proper explanation of the Triwizard Tournament, including its history and some news from previous competitions.

Even Hugo and the ship girls, who already knew the details of this year's competition, listened attentively to the entire speech, not missing a single word.

"—Well, now, it's getting late, and it's important that you all enter your classes tomorrow morning feeling refreshed and clear-headed. Off to bed with you! Chop chop!" Having finished his announcements, Dumbledore sat down and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody.

The Great Hall filled with the sounds of scraping benches and chattering as students stood up and surged towards the double doors leading into the Entrance Hall.

Many were discussing what Dumbledore had just said. Even from several people away, Hugo could hear one of the Weasley twins loudly voicing his objections to the age limit.

"Do you think everyone will want to participate in this competition?" Hermione inquired through the admiral network. Having fully experienced the ship girls' combat capabilities, she felt that if they participated, they would likely win.

"If there really is a competition, it would be more appropriate to let Veneto compete." Hugo had actually discussed this matter with everyone long ago, and Veneto, as the only battleship ship girl among the students, naturally became the only choice.

In fact, Hugo had originally intended to participate in the competition himself. After all, with his current level, winning the competition wouldn't be too difficult, and with a little caution, there wouldn't be any danger.

However, as soon as he expressed this idea, the ship girls shut it down, because they felt that they should be the ones to do such things, not the admiral himself.

With that, Hugo naturally couldn't go against the girls' good intentions, so in the end, he could only decide to let Veneto participate in this competition.

The Triwizard Tournament was so captivating that even the usually laid-back Ravenclaws discussed it in the common room after returning.

After a brief discussion, everyone came up with more than a dozen plans, ranging from using Ageing Potions and Polyjuice Potion to finding older students to help, but they also acknowledged that it was unlikely that these things could bypass the judges of such an international competition.

After a lively discussion, everyone went to bed, as everyone was tired after traveling in the wind and rain all day. Especially since there were classes tomorrow, and no one wanted to be caught out by the professors in the first class.

The first week of classes after the start of the semester was very conducive to weight loss. Whether it was squeezing pus from Bubotuber bulbs in Herbology or trying to raise Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts, they were all disgusting projects that made people lose their appetite.

Especially Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts, not to mention how he bred these things. In Hugo's eyes, his breeding was completely in the wrong direction. Why did he have to breed the Blast-Ended Skrewts in a ferocious direction?

Blast-Ended Skrewts clearly looked like deformed, shelled lobsters. If they were bred for food, wouldn't it be better to remove the fishy smell and enhance the taste?

After all, Hugo felt that the best seafood was the kind of fish without bones or shrimp without shells. After catching them, whether steamed, braised, or coated with flour and eggs and fried in oil, they would be very fragrant.

Even if these things could grow as big as a small house and grow shells after adulthood, it would be easier to peel them when they were big. Just imagine, if such a large animal was slaughtered, it could probably feed hundreds of people.

So after class, Hugo shared this idea with Hagrid. Hagrid was a little surprised after hearing Hugo's idea, because it clearly didn't fit his habit of breeding animals.

However, after Hugo's repeated persuasion, he finally agreed to try breeding them according to Hugo's idea when the time came, because even someone like Hagrid hoped that his little darlings could be recognized by the public.

As an old man in his sixties, Hagrid, even though his intelligence was hampered by his giant bloodline, still clearly understood that the things he raised might not be in line with the public's orientation.

Therefore, after Hugo told the facts and reasons, he also realized that if he could breed a valuable edible animal, it might really allow everyone to accept him, so he naturally paid attention to this aspect.

Time quickly came to Wednesday. When Hugo and the others finished their Ancient Runes class in the morning and came to the Entrance Hall to prepare for dinner, they found that the Entrance Hall was crowded with people.

Several Slytherin students were excitedly talking about something about Malfoy and the others, while each of them held a copy of the Daily Prophet in their hands.

"What happened?" Hugo turned to Veneto next to him and asked, because there were too many people nearby and he couldn't hear what the Slytherins were shouting.

"The trial of Crabbe and Goyle, the Death Eaters who were captured in the chaos after the Quidditch World Cup, has ended. The Ministry of Magic has only fined them 300 Galleons each, compensated each victim 100 Galleons, and publicly apologized."

Veneto raised her voice slightly and said in a somewhat cold tone,

"This is the view of some pure-blood wizards on half-bloods and Mudbloods. Even if you are hung in the sky, they will only give you 100 Galleons as if they were giving alms to beggars. Because in their eyes, other people are just their servants."

"Even with such a ruling that favors the attackers, these pure-blood families will still not be satisfied. On the contrary, they will think that the Ministry of Magic is biased towards the Mudbloods and is humiliating these ancient pure-blood families."

Because Veneto deliberately didn't control her voice, the voice spread throughout the Entrance Hall in an instant. So when they walked into the Great Hall, they left a group of people behind them who were lost in thought.