Hearing Sebastian's warning, Snape had no doubts, he silently straightened his body, then drew his wand and hid it beneath his black robes, ready to act at any moment.
At the same time, he quickly scanned everything in the venue and soon discovered some discordant elements.
At each exit, several Ilvermorny students stood in twos and threes, chatting and laughing on the surface, as if watching the competition.
But upon closer inspection, one could see that their smiles were a bit stiff, and some individuals' arms were even trembling slightly.
Something was indeed off!
To prevent the other party from noticing his gaze, Snape quickly withdrew his eyes, simultaneously raising his vigilance to the highest level.
The atmosphere in the venue was lively, with shouts of support for the contestants everywhere.
However, in Sebastian's magical perception, at least one-third of the audience's emotions were off.
Most of these audience members were Ilvermorny students, and there were also many who looked older, like Ilvermorny graduates.
The emotions emanating from them were not excitement, but tension and malice.
If only a few individuals harbored ill will towards other contestants because they were worried about their own, it would be understandable, but so many audience members feeling this way was not normal.
Under Sebastian's careful observation, these people shouted encouragement, just like ordinary audience members, but they would occasionally glance towards the main platform.
No matter how he looked at it, their attention was not on the ongoing competition.
Sitting on the main platform, in addition to several judges and Ilvermorny's Principal Agilbert, was an official from the Magical Congress of the United States of America.
By searching his memory, Sebastian discovered that this person was Barton Greggs, the current Head of Magical Security and Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
He was a very strong and influential figure in the Magical Congress of the United States of America, appearing here today as a special guest.
Could it be that the malice of those people was directed at Barton Greggs?
Oh, does William know any inside information?
Thinking of his old friend, Sebastian looked around and found him looking at Ilvermorny's contestant, laughing like an idiot. This immediately extinguished Sebastian's thought of asking him.
With too few clues, Sebastian did not delve deeper, but continued to watch the competition, preparing to react to whatever might happen.
Until the competition was about to end, there was no disturbance in the arena.
Seeing the Hogwarts students complete the competition and return to his side one after another, Sebastian finally relaxed completely.
Although he didn't know what these Ilvermorny students were planning, it seemed there wouldn't be any major problems for now.
After all, these people were quite well-behaved, not even affecting the competition.
Moreover, they were just a bunch of students, they shouldn't be truly heinous villains.
The ninety minutes of competition time flew by, and contestants who hadn't finished brewing their Potions were destined to miss out on advancing.
The moment the competition's ending bell rang, even before the referee could announce the end of the competition, a figure on a flying broomstick shot like lightning from the sky towards the center of the arena.
The Wizards watching gasped in surprise, whispering among themselves, clearly startled by this sudden turn of events.
Barton Greggs of the Ministry of Magic also frowned and stood up, his gaze fixed on the person in the air.
It was a very young Wizard, who looked about the same age as Percy.
He stopped his broomstick in the center of the arena, then leaped down and stood steadily on the ground, his eyes burning as he looked directly at Barton Greggs.
"Mr. Greggs, on behalf of all Muggle-born Little Wizards, I request the complete repeal of Rappaport's Law."
As soon as his voice fell, the entire venue instantly became so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.
Then, murmurs erupted from all around, and many Wizards showed expressions of shock and unease.
"Isn't that Edward, the seventh-year student body president? What is he doing?"
"To make such a scene in front of so many representatives from Magical schools, is he crazy?"
The surrounding audience whispered uneasily, some with anger, others seemingly pondering something.
The judges on the main platform exchanged glances, looking at each other helplessly, seemingly completely unprepared for such a dramatic scene to unfold in this competition.
Ilvermorny's Principal looked at Greggs, then anxiously waved at the young Wizard: "Edward, what are you doing? Hurry back!"
The student named Edward was unmoved; he just stared intently at Greggs, waiting for his reply.
His gaze was incredibly firm, as if he had already made up his mind to publicly fight for the rightful interests of those Muggle-born Little Wizards.
"Edward," Greggs frowned deeply, "Rappaport's Law was officially repealed back in 1965."
"Sir, you should be well aware that it was only a repeal on paper."
Edward's neither humble nor arrogant voice echoed throughout the venue: "In fact, many clauses of that law are still in effect today."
"That has nothing to do with today's competition," Greggs said sternly, suppressing his anger, "Why don't we discuss this privately and give the stage back to the Potion Championship?"
"There are so many international guests here; we cannot waste their precious time and make them think that we at Ilvermorny cannot even host a Potion Championship properly."
"What do you think, Edward?"
Hearing Greggs' words, Edward slowly but firmly shook his head.
"No! I just want to ask these distinguished guests and all the reporters to bear witness."
"Without their witness, I fear this matter will again come to nothing, just like the many letters I have sent to the Magical Congress of the United States of America over the years."
Edward's voice gradually grew more impassioned.
"Because of Rappaport's Law, we are completely separated from Muggle society; we are forbidden from befriending Muggles, forbidden from marrying Muggles."
"Even if a Little Wizard appears among Muggles, the Magical Congress of the United States of America will send Aurors to forcibly take the Little Wizards away from their Muggle relatives, and then modify their relatives' memories."
"Because of Rappaport's Law, I am still unable to reunite with my Muggle mother."
"Because of Rappaport's Law, many of our compatriots cannot acknowledge their Muggle relatives and friends."
"I want to ask you, is this disregard for our family ties truly appropriate?!"
"Today, in front of the whole world, I want to ask the Magical Congress of the United States of America to completely repeal Rappaport's Law!"
As soon as his voice fell, students one by one rose from the audience seats, waving their wands and transforming their clothes into a unified uniform.
Then they shouted a synchronized slogan at Greggs.
"Completely repeal Rappaport's Law!"
...
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