Chapter 413: Living Off Free Food and Drinks

By the time Allen heard about it, it was already the next day.

But he didn’t miss a single detail—because the young wizards had already turned the whole incident into headline news.

Sure, some people were frightened by it. But for teenagers right in the middle of their rebellious phase, the actions of Headmaster Charlid were... undeniably cool.

Even for the twins.

While expressing their concerns to Allen, they couldn’t help but gush about how impressive the punishment had been.

"Allen, you have no idea! That whip—we asked around at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry—it’s their harshest punishment! That prefect will need at least two months in the hospital before he can even move normally! And the others? They won’t be walking properly without at least a day of recovery. Apparently, the whip even has magic that slows healing! That headmaster is ruthless!"

Yeah... ruthless indeed.

Allen shot the two fools a look, letting them figure it out themselves.

He didn’t believe for a second that the headmaster was some saint.

If anything, that old fox is probably thrilled right now.

Beating them half to death? Sure, he believed that. Sending everyone to the hospital? Also believable.

But "not holding back"?

Please.

One glance at the marks on the ground was enough to tell—if he had truly used full force, they would’ve died on the spot. They wouldn’t have had the strength to scream.

And as for there being no special treatment method for such an old punishment technique?

Does he really think people are that na?ve?

Two months, they said. But the exchange program would end in less than half a month. A little proper treatment after returning—what problem would there be?

Who gained and who lost here wasn’t even a question.

Sure, Ilvermorny’s injuries looked severe—but their injured players didn’t need to play Quidditch.

So when match day came...

Who would have the advantage?

Is that even worth discussing?

In front of so many headmasters, the punishment had to look brutal. Someone would definitely step in to stop it anyway.

Even if the host didn’t show mercy—would Albus Dumbledore, the greatest white wizard, really just stand there and watch someone get whipped to death?

In the end, it was just a classic case of mutual benefit.

One willing to strike, the other willing to endure.

Especially since those prefects had caused such a major incident before. Taking a beating to make up for it?

Even if their arms were broken and legs shattered, with wizarding medical skills, they could be fixed easily.

And honestly, if things hadn’t been discovered so early, they could have waited until the investigation cooled down—then staged another incident right before the Gryffindor match, gotten caught again, and reused the same trick.

Perfectly timeless strategy.

In this beautiful wizarding world...

That was how Allen thought.

And that was how he taught.

The two once-innocent boys reached enlightenment instantly.

The city is full of schemes... I want to go back to the countryside.

Watching Allen casually devour dessert after dessert, the twins struggled to voice their conclusions—only to receive his affirmation.

Even though... he didn’t actually know the full truth himself.

This time, the usually playful pair didn’t joke around. They rushed off immediately.

After informing Oliver Wood, Harry Potter and the rest of the team were placed under the highest level of protection by the Gryffindors.

According to Hermione Granger, even their meals were now being prepared by Gryffindor students themselves.

"A whole week left... is that really necessary?"

Allen couldn’t help but complain as he chatted with Hermione, who had come over to freeload a meal.

Then something suddenly occurred to him.

Unlike Hufflepuff, Gryffindor didn’t have a long-standing culinary tradition.

Which meant...

They had to rely entirely on Muggle cooking methods.

Hopefully, at least a few of them know what they’re doing...

As it turned out, Hermione’s rare appearance here was exactly because Gryffindor had requested too many ingredients to experiment with cooking—forcing them to handle all meals themselves.

And the early results...

"Well... not very ideal," she had said, after much hesitation.

Looking at the extra people crowding the Hufflepuff table, Allen felt he now fully understood what "not very ideal" meant.

=======

After breakfast, of course, came the match.

Quidditch was the wizarding world’s favorite—and practically only—sport. Even though Hogwarts students weren’t playing this time, observing potential opponents was still valuable.

So naturally, almost every Hogwarts student showed up.

On the way, Allen finally saw the Gryffindor team—wrapped in layers of protection.

A group of tall, imposing upper-year students surrounded them completely.

The others were visible enough, but the youngest—Harry—looked like a chick hidden under a hen’s wings in a game of "hawk catches the chick."

If Allen hadn’t had sharp eyesight, he might have missed him entirely.

With this lineup, they could probably conquer a small country.

No exaggeration.

A quarter of Britain’s top young wizarding talent was guarding that team. If that wasn’t enough security, nothing would be.

Such an exaggerated display naturally drew attention.

But the Gryffindors proudly declared:

"This is the protection we provide for our valuable players—to prevent unnecessary losses!"

The wizards from Ilvermorny were visibly displeased.

But before they could react, they had to face the local audience.

This match was ticketed—and over 80% of the crowd consisted of Japanese wizards.

Their attitude toward the earlier attack?

Disdain.

That sentiment reached its peak when the Ilvermorny team entered the field—

Boos filled the air, completely drowning out any support for them.

But—

Boos didn’t decide matches.

Without an overwhelming difference in strength, losing two players was an irreversible disadvantage.

Despite their desperate efforts, and the loud cheers for every goal they managed to score, the gap widened steadily.

Before the Golden Snitch was even caught, the score difference had already reached 170 points.

When Ilvermorny’s Seeker finally spotted the Snitch, he didn’t even try seriously. He chased it symbolically for a short distance before letting his opponent claim it easily.

Because there was no better option.

Lose—

Or lose even worse.

In the end, they won the match amid overwhelming boos.

Next weekend, they will face Gryffindor for the championship.

======

Amid the noise and chatter, Allen and the others left the stadium, discussing the match while joking around.

Tomorrow was a school day again.

A whole week had passed... and the homework still wasn’t done.

Everything was peaceful—

Except that at lunchtime, a few more Gryffindors showed up to freeload meals.