Soon, many Hogsmeade merchants set up stalls and booths outside the arena, officially beginning their business.
Most shops only sent a few employees; the only one who came as the owner was Madam Rosmerta of the Three Broomsticks Pub.
Madam Rosmerta knew exactly where her advantage lay.
Soon, when the Professors walked out of the Castle, they were immediately startled.
The official match hadn't even started yet, but the area around the arena was already bustling with people, like a lively market.
Professor McGonagall looked at the area around the arena in surprise, her mouth wide open: "Quidditch has never been this popular."
"Once commerce is introduced, merchants will spare no effort to create momentum," Howl explained.
"Of course, I made strict regulations and asked the school's Student Union to strictly supervise their commercial activities.
After all, we don't want Galleons to change the nature of the match. We get the excitement, they earn a little money—a win-win."
"There's supervision? That's even better," Professor McGonagall smiled, her momentary worry vanishing.
"Howl, you're a genius!" Flitwick exclaimed, having already noticed the joke balloon man rising outside the joke shop and the continuous stream of people at the Three Broomsticks' tent stall.
In particular, he saw Filch directly move a small chair and sit outside the joke shop's tent, his eyes fixed on every Little Wizard who walked in and out.
Even from a distance, they seemed to hear Filch roaring: "This is not allowed in school! Confiscated! Confiscated!!"
Soon, Howl and his group arrived at the Professor's seats.
Hagrid and Snape had already arrived there at some point, sitting a little further apart and not conversing.
"You're here," Hagrid greeted.
Similarly, Snape also nodded slightly as a greeting.
"What's that?" Snape pointed to the high platform with jagged rocks in the middle of the stands.
"Oh, that!" Hagrid laughed heartily, "Didn't Howl help me secure a lot of Galleons? I couldn't find anywhere to use them, so I discussed it with Howl and hired some people to create some buzz."
He winked, showing an expectant expression.
Soon, Dumbledore also arrived at the audience seats. This was his first appearance since Grindelwald arrived here.
Clearly, he himself didn't really want to be face-to-face with Grindelwald.
As time gradually passed, at nine fifty, the first bell rang, signaling the Little Wizards that the match was about to begin.
Soon, almost everyone had filled the entire audience seating area.
Rosmerta thoughtfully sent people to the teacher's section with complimentary drinks—she remembered most people's usual preferences.
Flitwick raised his cup and whispered, "This woman can make Fudge a regular customer; she certainly has some tricks up her sleeve."
"Indeed," Howl said, drinking the bitter juice. He had only mentioned this recipe at the Pigs Head Bar, yet now it appeared here, in his hand.
Soon, ten o'clock arrived, and the clamor of the audience was suddenly drowned out by a continuous, resonating giant bell.
"Oh!" Crabbe leaned forward, placing a bucket of Every Flavor Beans popcorn beside Harry and Draco: "It's about to start."
The bell rang three times, its sound echoing throughout the entire arena.
But after the bell stopped, the arena suddenly fell silent.
"This is..."
"What's going on? Is no one here?"
As the Little Wizards were muttering, suddenly, fireworks erupted from the central, strangely shaped rock stage.
At the same time, the sound of air stirring appeared.
The fireworks faded, revealing several people standing on the central stage.
"It's the Strange Sisters!!" Ron's delighted shout echoed throughout the arena!
The entire venue erupted. As one of the few bands in the Wizarding World's scarce entertainment life, their popularity was unprecedented!
Even Flitwick couldn't help but exclaim, "Hagrid, Howl, you two are simply geniuses."
After he finished speaking, he suddenly felt something was off.
"Where's Howl?"
Snape's face twitched as he pointed to the highest rock, like a mountain peak, on the jagged rock stage.
A distinctive cat's head, wearing large black sunglasses, a giant wand held like a microphone, and a long scarf fluttering in the wind.
"?"
"When did he get up there?"
"Then... then where's the lead singer?"
Hagrid smiled a bit awkwardly: "Uh, the magic of Galleons..."
The Little Wizards were even more excited than before.
Howl calmly surveyed his surroundings. A moment later, he raised his wand, which had transformed into a microphone.
"You know what I'm going to do!"
Fred and George immediately guessed what it was.
The song they always used to unify the tempo in Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
"We will rock you!" the two roared.
"Then! Let's! Start!"
The next moment, clear drumbeats emerged.
Led by Howl, the Little Wizards, who had been sitting, all stood up, even the usually reserved Slytherins were no exception.
The lower years were led by Harry, and the upper years by Hedlund; they had already been well-trained in class.
Stomping and clapping sounds, accompanied by the drumbeats, rang out in perfect unison.
"Buddy, you're a loud-mouthed kid."
At the same time, he pointed his hand at the little ones below.
"Playing around at Hogwarts, hoping to be a big shot someday,
You get all dusty and disheveled,
Waving your wand all over the place,
Sing it loud—"
Subsequently, everyone, including the teachers' section and the merchants observing from outside, were all stunned by the neat and powerful chorus.
"We will, we will rock you—"
"We will, we will rock you—"
After the song finished, the atmosphere surged again.
In the teacher's section, Dumbledore put down his honey syrup and smiled: "I think the school song chorus for next year's opening ceremony will also be taken away. Oh dear, that's my favorite part."
Soon, two more uplifting rock songs followed.
Magical flames transformed into raging dragons, rising from the stage, roaring towards the sky, spitting out the most brilliant flames.
They then suddenly transformed into four differently colored fireballs—red, green, blue, and yellow—colliding with the flags fluttering above each audience section.
The four beasts emerged together, dancing their bodies high in the sky, emitting the most threatening roars.
"For Gryffindor!!" Fred and George's roar ignited the entire arena.
They were the perfect hype men!
Subsequently, various roaring declarations appeared.
"Glory always belongs to Slytherin!!"
"Victory always belongs to the wise, to Ravenclaw!!"
"Uh, Hufflepuff... Charge! Cedric, it's up to you!"
When the four beasts dissipated, the Little Wizards looked again and saw that the stage in the middle of the arena had vanished.
A lone figure, holding a modified microphone, stood in the very center of the field.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Hogwarts' first ever Duelling Tournament! I'm your host, Lee Jordan, from Gryffindor."
"To be honest, I'm still very nervous standing here. I once applied to the Professor to add a female co-host, but unfortunately, the Professor regretfully told me that no one has signed up yet!"
There were many chuckles in the audience.
"So, if anyone is willing to stand in the center of the stage as a non-combat role, please contact the Professor quickly.
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Rexlent
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"