Ilvermorny, Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, Koldovstoretz (Russia), Magic Institute, Uagadou, and Castelobruxo (Brazil).
Plus Hogwarts—making a total of eight magic schools located around the world, all of which accepted the invitation from the Tournament, expanding what used to be merely an internal European school competition, the Triwizard Tournament, into the Eight-Team Tournament. This caused the British Ministry of Magic to have a headache for quite some time—
Increasing the number of participants not only meant dealing with the usual issues of food, lodging, and safety, but also required changes to the rules, which previously could be "borrowed" directly from past Triwizard Tournaments.
Moreover, the more schools there are, the greater the difficulty in managing them—
Therefore, the Magic Ministry was initially resistant to Dumbledore's 'spur-of-the-moment' proposal, but—
Fudge had asked William for his opinion at the time, and William naturally agreed—after all, the more people there are, the livelier it becomes, and the more fun can be had.
The Magic Ministry could only take on all the tasks with a bitter expression.
However, the idea did not originate from Dumbledore; it was actually suggested by that old man Grindelwald. William privately asked him if he had some evil plan, like capturing all the world's magical geniuses, but all he got was a look as if he were a fool—
And Grindelwald ended up with a punch from William and a black eye.
"I just thought it wasn't lively enough—"
Pressing frozen ice conjured through Transfiguration against his eyes, Grindelwald pouted. He couldn't win in a fight, and at a word from William, he'd get hit. If it were fifty years ago, he would have rolled up his sleeves and fought William in earnest—but now, forget it, he couldn't handle the exertion.
When he first left Nimangard, he might have had some thoughts—
After all, he understood Dumbledore, knowing that the bond between them would certainly grant him some freedom and choice, but once William exposed his identity and after spending some time together, those thoughts that had been lingering in his mind just vanished on their own.
Because this person was utterly unreasonable; if he didn't like the look of you, he'd just beat you up.
In fact, Grindelwald continuously pondered, even if he regained his peak strength from his youth and held the Elder Wand, could he really beat that beast?
A beast that, after just a year of being exposed to magic, ended the Goblin Lanklock uprising and casually wiped out the Ashwinder gang?
...
The night covered all around, but the rain poured down endlessly, showing no signs of stopping. "Woo—" Accompanied by a piercing whistle, the train, which had gradually quieted down as time passed, instantly became noisy again, with little wizards scrambling to get up—
Food! Food! Food!
Stretching out his hand, he pushed Norbert and Kakarong, who were trying to poke their heads out of his collar to urge for dinner, back in—
Compared to Lina, who had been an adult for a long time and was said to have given birth to a brood, Norbert seemed to prefer hanging out with this newly captured Hungarian Horntail, which gave William quite a headache. Looking at the pitch-black scene outside the window, William sighed—
"This ghostly place..."
Not only did it rain every day, it also had a surplus of gay men, and now even his dragons seemed to have the tendency of pairing off... Ah, this Little Britain was indeed a "land of exceptional ability".
The train door opened, and the rumbling of thunder echoed from the sky.
William raised his magic wand, conjuring a transparent umbrella. Beside him, Harry and the others mimicked him, but they obviously lacked skill, as the umbrellas they conjured were quite small. So, they had no choice but to use cloaks to shield their own pets, squinting as they dashed off the train.
Fortunately, as long as their luggage was left on the train, it would be delivered to their dormitory, otherwise, their belongings might have ended up soaked.
"Hey, William!" A huge figure stood at one end of the platform, waving at William.
"Good evening, Hagrid." William responded loudly, "I'll come find you tonight—" He still remembered he needed to help Hagrid shrink Argo.
"Oh, thank you!" Hagrid wiped his face, unsure if it was due to the rain or "tears of gratitude". In any case, he nodded, "If we don't drown, see you after the banquet!"
With that, he led a group of pale-faced first-year little wizards toward the riverbank.
"Oh, I really can't imagine taking a boat across the lake in this weather."
Hermione's voice trembled a bit as she smartly squeezed next to William, managing to avoid getting too wet.
Indeed, the little wizards had to cross the Black Lake by boat in the pouring rain, to which William could only say—hopefully, that big squid at the bottom of the lake wasn't asleep tonight.
Finally, amidst the chaos, the crowded platform gradually cleared. Noticing that the Thestrals seemed intent on gathering around him, William had to raise his hand to stop them with magic, as the scene couldn't get any more chaotic—little wizards rushed to get on the carriages, and William found himself pulled into one by Hermione.
"...Hello?"
The people in the carriage were somewhat bewildered. Looking at the few who were drenched and miserable, they awkwardly greeted the two whose clothes were barely wet in English.
"Hello!"
Hermione stared wide-eyed, curiously sizing up the rest in the carriage.
This group of people wore similar attire—modest brown robes, barefoot, with chocolate-colored ankles bound with various anklets.
Yes, these little wizards come from Uagadou. William originally thought that the school, located on the African Continent, whose students mostly come from various tribes, would have very 'wild' school uniforms.
Now, it seems, he thought too much—development in the magical world and the Muggle world can't be fully equated.
Since they boarded, apart from initial greetings, these Uagadou students began conversing in another language, chattering away. William didn't understand a word, but Hermione frequently nodded and even exchanged words with them—
"You can speak this native language?"
William asked curiously, and Hermione nodded, "I picked it up when reading the History of the World Magic Academy. It's pretty simple."
"..."
William was silent.
Then he remembered his first year after crossing over. He managed to get by with fourth-level vocabulary and conversational skills for two months, barely pulling off fluent everyday exchanges by cramming at midnight. Hence, William felt even more disinclined to speak.
Finally, a flash of lightning lit up the night sky, and the carriage stopped. The little wizards sprinted up the stone steps, rushing into the castle.
Not until they entered the cave-like deep hall did they raise their heads. Torches lit the hall, a marble staircase appeared grand, ghosts flew together through mid-air, smilingly greeting the young wizards—
"Pop—"
Suddenly, a big red water balloon fell from the ceiling. A Uagadou student was hit directly, drenched all over again, muttering unintelligible words, stumbled in retreat—
Then, water balloons fell from the ceiling in succession, but this time they didn't burst. They stopped ten feet above the ground. Peeves, hiding on the ceiling, saw things go awry and tried to sneak away but found he couldn't move an inch.
"Master! Have mercy—"
The little ghost's dark eyes rolled around. Seeing the expressionless William, he quickly begged loudly. But before he finished pleading, he had to shut up as the water balls flew back one by one, smacking Peeves' body, causing him to yelp in pain.
"I warned you, Peeves—"
Professor McGonagall stormed out of the hall, then saw Peeves getting pounded. Her previously furious face suddenly showed a gratified smile, "Thank you so much, William. Besides Dumbledore, we really can't manage him—"
After speaking, she pouted, "Alright, move along!" She looked at the soggy Hogwarts students, "Into the dining hall, quickly!"
"Uagadou, and Ilvermorny students, come to me—"
A sharp voice sounded. Professor Flitwick emerged from the side door of the hall, leading away the little wizards who weren't from Hogwarts.
Thus, everyone slid step by step into the hall, finally seeing its usual splendor and grandeur—today, it seemed even more impressive than usual?
Hundreds of candles floated above tables, illuminating the gold plates and goblets below.
The academy's four long tables were already filled with chatting students, while at the top of the hall was a fifth table, with faculty sitting in a row facing their students. It was much warmer here. After saying goodbye to William, Hermione sat at Gryffindor's long table.
Beside them was Gryffindor House's ghost—Nearly Headless Nick, a translucent ghost with a pearly white shimmer.
Tonight, he wore his usual fitted clothes, but wore an exceptionally large ruffled collar around his neck, for two purposes: to appear more festive and to prevent his head from bobbing too much on his partially severed neck.
"Good evening."
Nick smiled at the students.
"What's good about it?" Ron grumbled, taking off his sneakers, pouring out water from inside—
"I really hope they sort quickly; I'm starving."