After the first round, all contestants had a full day on Tuesday to adjust themselves and prepare for the second round on Wednesday in their most perfect state.
After all, from the second round onwards, the difficulty of the competition increased sharply.
The only information released so far is that the second round will test the contestants' abilities to distinguish ingredients and brew Potions.
And unlike the first round, this time contestants only have one chance to brew; failure will lead to elimination.
These restrictions indicate that contestants must possess excellent skills to pass the second round.
The increasing difficulty of the competition led to increased pressure on the contestants.
Contestants from Castelobruxo in Brazil and Mahoutokoro in Japan, who disliked each other, started arguing directly on the Ilvermorny campus, attracting many students to watch.
Ultimately, it was the Professors from both schools who intervened to calm the situation.
The Ilvermorny students who watched had their fill, and they kept complaining privately.
"The Castelobruxo contestant showed no mercy, directly saying that Mahoutokoro's contestants were useless, with two of them eliminated even in the first round."
"The Mahoutokoro students also didn't tolerate the Brazilian contestants, as they couldn't even brew a perfect quality Potion. Such a level isn't fit for the competition."
"Mahoutokoro students' English wasn't very good. When they argued, they gestured wildly, looking like they were forming hand seals. I even thought it was some special gesture-based magic, but there was nothing."
"If you ask me, why argue? Just pick up your wand and fight it out. All that rambling, no backbone at all."
Besides complaining about the performance of Castelobruxo and Mahoutokoro students, Ilvermorny students also frequently critiqued students from other schools.
"That beauty from Beauxbatons is quite striking, but this is a Potion competition, not a beauty pageant. I wonder if her Potion skills are as striking as her beauty."
"Durmstrang's contestants don't even have a single girl. This is blatant discrimination. I can't imagine how miserable the girls there must be."
"And Hogwarts, they even brought two low-grade students. They're probably all connections. By the way, did you observe their performance in the first round?"
"I didn't pay attention. Shrinking Solution is a low-grade subject anyway. They probably just learned it not long ago, so passing the first round is nothing surprising. However, they'll have a hard time now."
"What's the big deal? Even if they fail, they can still write on their resume that they participated in the Potion Championship and narrowly lost in the second round. We can't even write that on our resumes."
"These old schools are a thing of the past; they can't compare to us. I don't think there's any suspense in this year's competition results. The golden cauldron will definitely still be ours."
Sensing the greatly increased tension between contestants from different schools, Sebastian immediately called all students back to their dorms to focus on reviewing, to avoid conflicts that might affect their performance.
On Wednesday morning, contestants were once again led by staff to the competition venue.
Unlike last time, all Potion ingredients were in a large black box. Before the competition began, contestants could not see the specific types of Potion ingredients.
Harry could only distinguish the scent of Sniffing Grass by smell, a discovery that made him subtly click his tongue.
What a grand gesture!
Sniffing Grass is an extremely precious Potion ingredient; a single stalk is worth hundreds of Galleons. He had only seen it once in Professor Snape's collection.
Because of its unique fragrance, he remembered it so clearly.
Now, if so many students each get a stalk, it can only mean that Ilvermorny is truly wealthy.
Oh right, Professor Snape said that Sniffing Grass is the main ingredient for brewing Potential Potion. Could it be that today's challenge is to brew Potential Potion?
Oh no!
He had never learned to brew this kind of Potion. If it really came down to this, he would definitely be lost today.
However, Professor Snape had said that some of the Potion ingredients for Potential Potion were already extinct in the Wizarding World, and even he had not collected a complete set of Potion ingredients.
Is Ilvermorny that amazing?
Can it guarantee to provide all contestants with a complete set of Potential Potion ingredients?
Besides, Professor Snape himself had never brewed Potential Potion. Could the students present here have such a high-level treatment?
Thinking of this, Harry relaxed a little.
With the whistle signaling the start of the competition, the lid of the black box opened, revealing about thirty types of Potion ingredients inside.
The rules of the competition were clear: contestants needed to select all the ingredients for one Potion from the many Potion ingredients and then brew it.
Harry only took a quick glance and found more than one main Potion ingredient.
He instinctively wanted to choose Glee Potion to brew.
However, when he was about to select all the ingredients for Glee Potion, he found that the Glee Potion ingredients were incomplete.
When he was about to switch to Stamina Potion, he found that the ingredients in the box were still missing a type of Fresh-Weed.
Only then did he understand that the difficulty of this competition lay in the fact that although there were many Potion ingredients in the box, most of them were distractions.
Contestants needed to use their knowledge to accurately select the only complete set of Potion ingredients, and the Potion corresponding to that set of ingredients was the target for the second step of today's assessment.
Thinking of this, Harry looked up at the other contestants and found that many students were still frowning, distinguishing the Potion ingredients in the box.
Only a few contestants had already lit fires under their cauldrons.
The student from Mahoutokoro in the front left, perhaps eager to show off, had already started adding ingredients to his cauldron.
Hmm...
It seems to be one of the ingredients for Glee Potion.
Harry silently lit a candle for the other party in his heart, then lowered his head and carefully selected the Potion ingredients.
Valerian root, Sopophorous Beans, Fish-Scale Grass...
These should all be ingredients for the Draught of Living Death. Could this be today's assessment target?
He looked closely and indeed found that the ingredients for the Draught of Living Death were complete.
Very good!
After selecting the ingredients, all that remained was to brew the Potion.
There was still one hour and fifteen minutes left in the competition, plenty of time.
Just then, the Mahoutokoro contestant suddenly shouted something like "tourniquet" and then clutched his head, looking in pain, clearly having discovered that ingredients were missing.
Harry shrugged and no longer paid attention.
Indeed, just as Professor Snape said, carefulness is the most important quality of a Potions Master.
He picked up a silver knife and quickly began to chop the Valerian root.
Then, he weighed the appropriate amount of Valerian root on a scale and added them to the preheated cauldron.
Soon, light blue steam rose from his cauldron.
At this point in the competition, several students had already failed to brew their Potions and were walking dejectedly towards the side of the arena.
Harry ignored the commotion around him and began to squeeze the Sopophorous Beans with the side of his short knife, then added the moisture from the beans to the cauldron.
Seeing this scene, Snape's lips curved slightly. He knew that, barring any accidents, Harry's Potion brewing would certainly be fine.
The progress of the other Hogwarts students was also good; at least their brewing processes had no major problems.
Now it remained to be seen if they could brew a perfect quality Potion that met the advancement standard.
Sebastian's attention was not on the students. In his magical perception, some discordant elements were rapidly amplifying.
He touched Snape's arm and then said in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"Severus, get your wand ready. Something unexpected might happen in this competition."
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