Legend of Hogwarts (Harry Potter x League of Legends)

Beast Tide, what a beautiful-sounding term!

Allen, however, wasn't naive enough to believe that Uagadou, a school experienced in handling these surges of magical creatures, would ever allow casualties to occur due to carelessness. In fact, the excitement on the faces of the first-year students around him confirmed one important thing:

First-years were allowed to participate!

Now, some might wonder, what's there to be excited about? A horde of rampaging creatures? So what if you beat a few? You'd only gain a bit of combat experience.

Heh. Young ones... you're too innocent.

Those weren't just magical beasts, they were walking, breathing, legally-sanctioned, sparkly golden Galleons!

But Allen's beautiful dream was promptly, and mercilessly, shattered.

And the one who shattered it was none other than Professor McGonagall, their stern Deputy Headmistress.

According to the invitation from Uagadou, Hogwarts students could indeed participate in the beast tide operation as part of the exchange program. It would be a chance to gain a little hands-on combat experience against magical creatures.

And that's where the pain began.

You see, under Uagadou's long-standing school rules:

Any magical creature killed during a beast tide may not be sold.

Yes, you heard that right. No selling allowed.

Why? To curb excessive killing and human greed. All magical creatures slain during the tide would be gathered and destroyed, and no one, not even the headmaster, was allowed to keep any part of them. Violating this rule meant immediate dismissal.

Too many magical creature materials entering the market would incite poachers' greed. Massive profits would twist a protective operation into a slaughter fest.

The wise founder of Uagadou didn't want that to happen.

Sure, it was wise. Very wise, in fact. But it didn't make Allen feel any better.

In his mind's eye, he could already see piles of glittering gold melting away in magical flames. Those were his dreams, going up in smoke...

But grumbling aside, he still had to fight.

After all, even the most ordinary of young wizards harbored dreams of combat. It's the same reason why Professor Lockhart, despite his many... flaws, still drew huge crowds at the Dueling Club, every support role dreams of being the carry one day!

Normally, first- and second-years would be grouped under professors for controlled training. Third- and fourth-years would be led by prefects in slightly larger groups. Fifth-years and above could form their own teams, though no team could have fewer than seven members.

But Allen didn't join the other first-years.

Thanks to the support of both the temporary Hogwarts Quidditch team and the Uagadou team, he got something he never thought would be approved, Professor McGonagall gave him permission to join the advanced team.

Judging by her smug expression, Allen suspected she just wanted to show off: Look how amazing our Hogwarts students are! Something like that.

Then again, if McGonagall found out what he was thinking, he might get transfigured into something unfortunate...

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Preparation only took two days. Except for Professor Snape, who stayed behind to "guard the school" (or so he claimed), the entire Hogwarts group mobilized.

It's worth noting that when the Uagadou students saw Professor Sigma marching alongside them, many of them visibly shivered. This made Allen deeply suspicious, what exactly had Sigma done to earn that reaction?

But now wasn't the time to ask. Allen still had half a year left under Professor Sigma's watchful eye, and if he brought it up now, the man would no doubt find creative ways to teach him a very personal lesson titled Why Flowers Are Red.

The headmaster of Uagadou gave a speech, thorough, direct, and entirely devoid of emotion.

But with the looming beast tide, none of it really mattered.

The young wizards were buzzing with excitement. Their right hands were already twitching in anticipation, to cast spells, of course. Don't get the wrong idea.

Finally, the headmaster's speech came to an end, greeted by thunderous applause from the students.

As a member of a self-formed team, Allen proudly took his place at the front. Before heading out, he glanced back at the other Hogwarts students, still listening to their professors' last-minute reminders, and couldn't help but feel a little smug. How envious...

Since this wasn't just a quick skirmish, everyone brought tents and enough provisions for the journey. Thanks to the help of a seventh-year Slytherin Chaser, the Hogwarts team didn't even need to carry much. A single pouch, enhanced with Extension and Feather-Light Charms, took care of everything.

"Hey," said Dipan, the Uagadou team captain, "we're not just going to mess around, right? If we end up just wiping out a herd of Mooncalves, we'll be a laughingstock."

"Yeah!" the group agreed, nodding.

Allen had no idea what they were talking about, but nodding along felt like the safest move.

"I've got a suggestion," Dipan grinned. "Let's go big."

"Dragon hunt?" the Uagadou Keeper said half-jokingly.

The glare he got from both Dipan and Charlie could've frozen a salamander.

"Are you nuts? You want detention for life? That's the headmaster's favorite creature!" the rest of the team exclaimed, horrified.

"No, no, absolutely not," Dipan waved them off. "Dragons are already hard enough to deal with, and what's worse is there's a headmaster standing behind them who's even scarier than the dragon itself."

"Our target is... the Tallstrider!"

"You've lost your mind!" came the collective response from the team.

Even Allen started to wonder if Dipan had a death wish.

When he was researching dragons, he stumbled upon information about this particular magical creature.

Here's how one of the books described it:

"The only creature whose territorial dominance rivals a dragon is the Tallstrider. If you run into one, count yourself lucky it wasn't a dragon, at least people mauled by dragons end up as neatly shredded meat. Those who face the Tallstrider? Their bodies are often perfectly intact, like they just laid down for a nap… but make no mistake, they're very dead."

"Due to its extreme territorial nature, a Tallstrider will relentlessly chase anyone who passes through its domain. And if you're foolish enough to steal its egg? Congratulations, it will hunt you until you completely disappear from its sight."

"Fun fact: the Tallstrider ranks among the top ten fastest magical creatures in the world."

"Its feathers make the best quills. Some wizards even try to use its longest tail feathers as wand cores, though this is extremely dangerous. With its sheer strength and speed, anyone targeting it usually gets what they deserve."

So... Dipan, my dear friend. Isn't living a peaceful life good enough for you? Why this?

Especially when no one, not a single person, has ever successfully domesticated a Tallstrider. The only known use for its eggs... is eating them.

But self-destructive plans often have a strange allure.

And after a few moments of hushed debate, the group agreed, Tallstrider it is. After all, it was still a valid hunting target... even if most people were too terrified to go after it.

And so, while the professors remained blissfully unaware, this elite team began marching confidently down the path of recklessness.

••┈┈┈┈┈༓┈┈┈┈┈•••

P.S.: It's true, many Southeast Asian and African countries choose to burn elephant ivory after culling overpopulated herds, rather than selling it. This isn't fiction; it's based on real conservation practices.

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