A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or the Advent of the Archmage. They are owned by J.K. Rowling and Mo Xiang respectively.

The next day Rose joined her Housemates in the common room. Most were gathered before the bulletin board. It was obvious that they wanted to sign up for the tournament tryouts. She too was rather excited about the event. She gets to meet Witches and Wizards from other countries. She gets to learn more about her world.

Information that might be common among those who were born and raised in this magical world, and Link, but he knows everything, so he doesn't count. And though she is only really exposed to the European part of the world. The rest can wait until she and Link are old enough, then they can travel the world. Although unaware of it herself, the idea of travelling alone never even crossed her mind.

Regardless, she signed up for the tournament as well. With Link's help, she was confident that her skills were enough to make her a challenge to the majority of the school. And this should prove to be useful in that she might be able to get decent combat experience. They would prove useful in the future.

She sat with her friends and caught up with them on what they did during the summer. Lavender spent the majority of her holiday on vacation in Switzerland with her family. She greatly enjoyed the scenery, the lakes, the mountains. She described her experience in detail and even showed pictures. Rose was extremely thankful for the pictures, they helped her pinpoint a destination for her in their future travels.

Parvati described her trip to India with her family. Enticing Rose further with the beauty of the country. And a desire to try their food. The massive variety she showed made her drool in anticipation.

She has to speak with Link about travelling the world. She could hardly wait the next few years at school.

Ginny didn't travel like the other two, but she did have a fun summer. She met with Luna a few times. And they erected a make-do quidditch goalpost in her backyard. She played a few games with her brothers. She revelled in saying how she discovered her talent in the sport. She proved to be a rather skilled chaser, scoring multiple times against her brother. He was practising to become the goalie.

Ron protested a bit, but the girls ignored him.

Rose described her summer. Including her new bonding time Sirius. As well as the stories she was told about her parents. Lavender and Parvati sighed in unison at their perceived romantic story. Lily and James were almost a fairy tale couple, they only missed out on their happily ever after due to an insane Dark Lord.

She eventually found herself in the Grand Hall. Their other friends joined the trio. Link and Luna from Ravenclaw even made their way towards their circle.

It was not until the end of breakfast that Dumbledore took to the podium. He addressed the students with a simple message.

"Today, after you have attended all your classes we will start testing the students. So that we may choose the ones most suitable for the tournament. It will be a basic endurance test. No point in testing those that can't keep up with the extreme amount of effort necessary. The details will be further explained later on"

Excitement coursed through the students, everyone was looking forward to the test.

"Link did you sign up for the trial?" asked Rose, already sure that Link had the entire tournament in the bag.

"I did not. I graduated after all. I am no longer part of Hogwarts, let alone Ravenclaw. I did not stay in the House dormitories. I was given an independent suite for apprentices." he explained, deflating their expectations. The group of friends had already imagined Link emerging victorious in the tournament. They had been preparing to boast their friend's achievement as though it were their own. Now? They felt a sense of loss. Loss in the opportunity to show off.

"Rose, this is your chance to prove to the world that you are a talented witch beyond the title of the Girl-who-lived. I believe in you"

That lit a fire in her soul. Yeah, she is a powerful witch. Not only will she prove that to the world. But to Link as well. That she deserves to walk side by side with him.

"Hey, hey hey… you encouraged Rose. What about us?" interjected Ron, indignant.

"You don't stand a chance in hell" retorted Link, with a blank face.

"Wha?"

A few snorted in laughter at the blatant disrespect. Ron messed around and found out how little he was worth as a wizard. Though of course, it was more as a course of friendly ribbing than actual malicious disrespect.

Another cause for celebration, especially among the Professors and the Headmaster, the DADA professor has not changed for the first time in twenty years.

"Congratulations Professor Lupin. You just made history" started Dumbledore.

They were all seated at the Teachers table in the Great Hall.

The rest of the professors understood the Headmaster's words and instantly became excited.

Well except Snape, but he never gets excited.

McGonagall had an obvious upward quirk of the lips. That's the extent of her expression.

"I don't know about making history.." blushed Remus.

"Nonsense! My boy, you are the first DADA Professor to stay in position for two years in a row. You might have just broken the curse on the position." the Headmaster replied mirthfully.

"Here, here"

"Well, here's hoping I don't disappoint your expectations."

"Not to worry, Professor Lupin, You are the best teacher we've had for the subject in a long time" assured McGonagall.

Fillius nodded enthusiastically, praising the young Professor (Remus is still 34-35 years old).

"The students have nothing but praise for you Professor, have some pride in your work"

Embarrassed as he was, Lupin was still incredibly proud that he was a teacher at the World's most prestigious Magical school. Not that he beat the curse, but that he was part of Hogwarts esteems staff—some of the best magical users of their craft the world over.

"Thank you, professor"

"We are colleagues, Remus, call me Filius." insisted the half-goblin teacher.

"Of course, Professor"

*sigh*

After the duelling club became a permanent feature in the Hogwarts curriculum, Dumbledore opened a previously unused room. It was massive, almost comparable to the Great Hall in size, but not in design. It was deemed necessary, rather than always remodelling the Great Hall for every session.

The newly named Dueling Hall was now open for the first time this year to pick the team that will join the championship. It was filled to the brim. So many of the students want to prove to the world and themselves that they are among the best in the school.

The teachers were all present, including the school Medi-Witch Madam Pomfrey. With so many participating, they felt it necessary to include everyone to make sure that none of the students got hurt.

Link was also invited to stand with the teachers. Much to the consternation of the older students, especially those in green.

Dumbledore quickly got things on their way after explaining what was expected of them.

"It is a very simple process. We will form groups of 10. There should be around 350 students willing to participate in the tournament, is that correct?" (A/N: Under the assumption that there are 600 students in Hogwarts at any given time, with a possibility to accommodate 1,000 students. That's about 90 students per year. Taking 4th till 7th years that's 4 years total)

"According to the sign-up list we acquired earlier this morning, the total number is 328 students participating. After we eliminated all students under the 4th year that were trying to pull a fast one on us" said Professor McGonagall, eyeing the younger years that were doing their best to stay invisible.

Chuckling a little, the Headmaster continued his explanation.

"This process is very time-consuming. It is possible it will take till the end of the week before we have our true candidates. So we will start with 5 teams first. Each group will follow two of our Professors to an area of this Hall. There are targets available. You are all to cast the shooting jinx, "Dirigentes". It is a weaker version of the Banishing Charm, "Depulso". The Target will showcase the number of times it was hit with the jinx. Of course, it needs to be of a certain level of power, anything less than that amount will not count and you would have wasted your energy. The opposite is also true, anything above that level is only counted as 1 so you would also be wasteful if you overpower your spell. This is an endurance test after all. The two factors we are taking into account are the amount of time you last as well as the number of spells you can cast in that time. So taking 5 hours to cast 100 spells is worse than taking 1 hour for 1,000 spells. Without further ado, let us begin. Professors, if you may" he ended while waving his hands forward in an inviting manner.

While the professors took their group to their assigned targets, Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey were in the middle to assist anywhere necessary. Link was also with them. He may have graduated but is still way too young to supervise students.

Of course, they couldn't have imagined that the child they think so highly of is still being underestimated. Link had become an 8th-level mage last year, at the same level as Dumbledore. Furthermore, he has progressed further during the summer. Becoming a mid-grade 8th-level mage. He alone could cater to the whole student body, similar to Dumbledore.

However, he was of a different class even if they shared their level. Dumbledore may have lived long enough to have experienced two lifetimes, but Link has an intricate understanding of magic that is not unlike a god.

Not that Link was complaining, mind you. He was using this period of silence to think of possible innovations and most importantly the nuance of the Law here in this world, more specifically the Laws of Space and Time. Arguably two of the most important laws in any world. On almost the same level as the Laws of Life and Death.

He may be a level too early to be pondering on Laws, but Link believes that he has enough understanding of this world's magic to start peaking at the intricacies of the highest level of magic.

Nonetheless, he did not dedicate his entire time to that aspect. His pondering on innovation focuses on worldly application of various magical spells and arithmetically accurate ancient runes.

He had long since been introduced to the abundant magical life present in this world. Dementors and Lethifolds are particularly dangerous. Wraith-like beings that either consumed souls or had a taste for human flesh.

The most troublesome part of these beings was their near immunity to most types of magic save light magic. Not any type of light magic would do either. They had to be positively charged. Almost similar to Holy Magic.

However, as far as Link was aware, Holy Magic was not available in this world. Or at the very least it was forgotten magic. What makes Holy magic so powerful is the usage of the Law of Life. Usually, only level 10 mages are capable of using Holy Magic, But just like the Killing curse, strong emotions are enough to imitate a sliver of their power. The Patronous charm is a perfect example.

Unfortunately not many are capable of casting the spell, even with emotions acting as a substitute. Even most Aurors are incapable of casting the Patronus. Perhaps, like with the portable ward, he could tweak it to ward off the wraiths.

He was distracted from his thoughts when the second group of 50 were taken to their targets. Rose was one of them.

The previous group lasted at most an hour and a half. With the worst among them casting 100 spells in an hour. Approximately a spell and a half every minute. Which is honestly terrible.

One of them was able to cast about 150 in half an hour. An impressive 5 a minute. Though, unfortunately, he was not able to last long.

This is the main problem with this test. The criteria might seem simple, it is however much more complicated than it seems on the surface.

This test measures your stamina, that is true. In addition, It scrutinises the control of magic the students possess. As well as determined focus. How long can you keep your focus?

Three criteria, further cementing the difficulty of this try-out.

Link did not bother to register the other student's scores. Rose was the only one who had his complete attention. He could see her centre herself. Slowly rid her mind of all distractions and her body of all nervous energy. After a moment, she opened her eyes. Steady.

He smiled. She has this.

The time started.

'You can do this, you can do this, you can do this…'

Rose kept chanting this mantra every step she took towards her assigned target. She saw the first group end up with mixed results. Some were able to last a full two hours, but the amount of spells they fired was a lot more underwhelming. There were others with truly shocking numbers, but couldn't last more than thirty minutes.

One or two exceeded all their competition by casting a large number of spells and lasting a long time. Not surprising, considering they were 7th years.

Now it was her turn.

'You can do this…'

At her line, she looked around and saw Link focusing on her. A fire was lit under her. Confidence surged.

'You will succeed.'

There was no more stress, no doubts. She simply was.

"Begin!" shouted her supervising Professor. It was Professor Lupin. He was a calming presence as well.

She aimed her wand, and the spells flowed seamlessly. Never before had her magic sung so beautifully.

She controlled her consumption, using only the bare minimum to cast the spell. In simple terms, let's imagine that you require 1 magical unit to cast the spell at the required power to be counted. Most consumed about 1.40 units every spell, some even using 0.9 units in their haste, while the best had expended about 1.30 units. Wasteful energy that could have been better utilised.

Rose, with constant practice with Link, had improved her technique tremendously. Her control was refined to a remarkable level. She may not be able to compete with Link just yet, but she was heads over shoulders above the rest. Averaging an unbelievable 1.15 units per spell.

Do not underestimate this 0.25 unit improvement. Each 0.01 decrease is as difficult as lifting an infant while your arms are shaky.

A 0.25 unit improvement also means that you could cast a 5th spell for every 4 they cast with the same amount of magic utilised. What that means is that when an average student casts 4 spells at 1.40 units a spell, they had exhausted 5.6 units of magic. On the other hand, Rose had only used 4.6 units for those same 4 spells. The difference is clear for all to see.

However, that was still not her greatest advantage. With Link assisting her every day, training her and helping her. Rose's magical reserves are truly enormous. She had a natural supply that would have put her on par with most 7th-year students, but now she stood as an elite even among the 7th years.

With these two advantages, Rose had practically assured her qualifications. Not only was she sure to be selected, but she was going to be one of the top candidates.

This is what could be described as shocking the world with a single great feat.

Rose was famous as the girl-who-lived, a result of pure luck when she was a toddler. She always felt it undeserved. Many were jealous of her and firmly believed she did not deserve such grand praises. Many were waiting for any moment that she could be made a fool of much like Draco used to be before he changed his ways.

Now though, eyes were glued to her exemplary display of magic. She had set herself apart in the most grandiose way. Through action, she silenced all her doubters and gratified all her supporters.

Lasting a shocking 2 hours, Rose fired off a staggering 1,800 spells. That is an average of 1 spell every four seconds. A speed that while not unattainable by the average mage, was on the faster end of the spectrum. Not to mention that she managed to maintain a steady rhythm from beginning to end, with barely any interruption to her casting.

The last Potter proved herself worthy of the title of a very talented witch. She could be labelled a Genius, given that she could place herself on the same line as 7th years. However, the reason she isn't readily given the title is due to the simple fact that her magical knowledge is not up to par just yet.

Regardless, in such a straightforward yet difficult test, Rose is bound to stand above the rest, earning the awe of her peers. This time she felt she completely deserved their awe. She accomplished something with her own efforts.

A few hours later, the faculty at Hogwarts had chosen the top 50 students out of 350 participants. No surprise that the majority were 7th years. Cedric Diggory came in first position with a respectable 2,000 spells in three hours. An average of 1 spell every 5.4 seconds.

Surprisingly, Rose came in a close second. Many would argue she should have been first. For she had cast 1800 spells in two hours when it had taken Cedric 3 hours to cast 2000. But in the parameters of the test Cedric did win, even if he felt it was a hollow victory.

The senior students were already embarrassed with their ranking being lower than a witch 3 years their junior. They were disgruntled. A few accepted the fact as they could only blame their lack of skill. However, there were a few that were in denial. Not willing to believe that a younger half-blood witch could do better than them.

Fred and George Weasley proved themselves very adept when they made the top 50. They may be incorrigible pranksters, but this was a stage made for them to grow and represent their beloved school.

They may not enjoy the studying part too much, but Hogwarts still occupies a special place in their heart. They even like all their Professors, except the bitter old dungeon bat.

"Thank you everyone for participating. It took some time, about thirteen hours. But we finally got through all the participants. We will take a break and reconvene in a week. The obstacle course will determine the top 28. I hope you all will do your best. Now off to bed" spoke Dumbledore. Satisfied with how the day had progressed.

The students were exhausted, however. Most were only too happy to comply.

School resumed as usual, yet the subject of the tournament was never too far from their thoughts. Discussions relating to it were always abuzz in the school grapevine.

Whether it was about the three challenges, the 50 challengers, or the excitement of meeting the other two schools. The topics were plentiful.

The professors themselves were not unaffected by the student's energy. They became more enthusiastic in their teachings, as students were much more proactive in classes. Especially the 50 selected candidates. This new synergy was born and the teachers couldn't be happier for it.

This was a surprise. When it was explained that the tournament is likely to happen every two years, at a different school every time. Well, their sense of urgency to be selected next time had increased drastically.

Everybody wanted to be seen as someone worthy of being selected. The pride that accompanies the sense of accomplishment they would feel, that among 1,000 students give or take they were amidst the best of the best.

Nothing could have been more pleasing for the Professors. Their seemingly lazy students had woken up all of a sudden with a need to learn. Their competitive spirit was aroused.

Of course not all of them had been injected with the adrenaline of the tournament, some seemed content to keep as they were. Not interested in competing entirely.

However, the average student's attention and eagerness greatly increased in the days that followed the preliminary stage. Whether it was a temporary emergence or a permanent one remained to be seen. The Professors were nonetheless hopeful.

Meanwhile, a similar phenomenon is happening in the other two schools. The professors were all pleasantly surprised by their student's eagerness to work more. It seemed the tournament had an unexpected effect.

Perhaps it would be wise to integrate these exercises into the school's permanent activity list.

Each school used a different method of choosing their candidates. Hogwarts started with stamina. Beauxbatons were more partial towards creative methods of solving problems. Their candidates were chosen on theoretical situations and their ideal use of charms or jinxes to overcome whatever obstacle stood before them. Whereas Durmstrang were very fond of personal power. They chose their students based on their capability of casting spells with explosive might.

Each school had determined the most important factor for the tournament in their eyes. Durmstrang had gone with the might makes right mentality. This could be correct if they could take out their opponent before they can offer any form of threat to them.

Beaubatons had gone along the more elegant approach. They believed a smart witch or wizard was the epitome of elegance. Why waste your magic on multiple or powerful spells when you can cast the correct one from the start?

Hogwarts had prioritised endurance. You may not be the most powerful, or the most intelligent magic user, but by Merlin are you going to outlast them all. After all, their students did not lack in talent and intelligence. To be on the same level but able to last longer makes you that much more dangerous.

If Link were to be asked his opinion on the matter he would reply that all three were important. However, with a large enough stamina pool, it would be possible to fight against multiple enemies at once for longer periods. Though that would be his assessment for an average mage. For him, he would use all three. Use the correct spell at explosive might over and over until you destroy the enemy. Well, he is a monster after all.

For Rose, he believed that she had power in spades. With their daily training, her stamina was also in a league of her own. Contrary to her own belief, Rose was smart as well. Link firmly believed that she would be one of the few who could rely on all three simultaneously.

However, unforeseen by all this tournament attracted the attention of various people. Powerful people in their own right.

Headmaster of the magical school in Japan, Mahoutokoro. The Dean of Ilvermony, the magic school of America. The head sorcerer of Uagadou, the premier school of magic in Africa.

All great schools with different specialisations around the world have turned their eyes to the going on in the British Isles. This tournament was an interesting piece of information. They were all looking forward to seeing how it turned out.

It is not impossible to make the Tri-wizard Tournament into a World Wizarding Event. The WWE of the magical world.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I am sorry that I am not updating as often as I used to. Work is intense these days.

Merry Christmas everyone. Most importantly, I hope Palestine will be free by the new year.