pdf-ebookys Chapter 216 Scarface Goes into the Water Unprepared
Chapter 216 Scarface Goes into the Water Unprepared
Chapter 216 Scarface Goes into the Water Unprepared
Now, Dumbledore promised a three-year period, which, though a long time, finally gave Harry a sense of security.
He recalled Dumbledore's sincere attempt to remove the lingering soul from the scar on his forehead. To press him further now would seem unreasonable.
He then thought to himself: I can't force this old man to answer my questions, but I might as well give that slick Snape a piece of my mind.
Having made up his mind, he clasped his hands in greeting to Dumbledore and said, "Since the professor has made this promise, I will wait for you for three years as instructed."
Upon hearing this, the old headmaster showed a hint of relief, but then added, "But you must not lay a hand on Severus."
"He will play a crucial role in completely eliminating Voldemort."
As soon as he finished speaking, Harry felt a growing sense of unease about Snape. He wondered what sly this guy was up to that made Dumbledore protect him like this.
After a moment's hesitation, he finally replied, "I will obey your command."
Seeing his earnest response, Dumbledore finally let out a sigh of relief. The two then exchanged drinks and chatted about trivial matters.
"Well then, Harry, get some rest."
After finishing his meal, Dumbledore rose and glanced around. He saw a figure lying on the corner table, none other than Grindelwald, sprawled out in a ball.
Dumbledore's brows furrowed, and he bent down to examine the situation. "What's wrong?"
Harry laughed and said, "I'm probably drunk from drinking too much. I'll take my leave now, so as not to disturb the two professors' peace and quiet."
Having said that, he strode out the door and disappeared in an instant.
Enough of this rambling. After the Christmas ball, Harry became increasingly busy.
Narona spent all her days in the library, never putting down a book. Her fascination with magical works was like a parched land receiving rain; she wished she could absorb all the knowledge of a thousand years in one night.
Sometimes he would stroke a book and recite poetry, sometimes he would wield a brush and write swiftly, turning the shelves full of books with a clattering sound.
Within ten days, a strange tale spread through Hogwarts: a knowledgeable female ghost had appeared in the library, resembling the woman who danced with Harry on Christmas Eve.
Whenever a student comes to me with questions about their studies, I feel as if I am bathed in a gentle breeze, and my doubts are immediately resolved.
He is so approachable, yet there is one strange thing about him.
What do you mean? That female ghost has a penchant for making things difficult for Ravenclaw students!
Whenever someone with the Ravenclaw crest approached her, she would raise her eyebrows and scold them, at best calling them "stupid as a troll," and at worst telling them "never say you're a Ravenclaw again," leaving the students who sought her advice humiliated.
Meanwhile, Harry summoned all the house-elves in the school and ordered them to search the entire castle inside and out, noting down and reporting any corners where people could hide.
Then they specially selected two of the most perceptive and observant individuals: one to secretly follow Karkaroff, and the other to keep a close eye on Snape.
Every move these two make, every word they say, every person they meet—even a cough or a half-fart—must be carefully recorded and reported to Harry.
Unexpectedly, after waiting for several days until the end of the Christmas holiday, there was still no news.
Seeing that this was unlikely to succeed, Harry had no choice but to temporarily put aside his plans to find the crown and keep an eye on the two Death Eaters, and instead turn his attention to figuring out the mystery of the golden egg.
Remembering Moody's earlier advice, he found some fish glue and carefully glued the cracks in the golden egg back together. He then put it in his pocket and headed straight for the shore of Black Lake.
It was the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), and a north wind was blowing through the cold fog. Harry stood on the reef and cracked open the golden egg. Sure enough, he heard a series of piercing cries, like crows cawing in the night.
Harry said no more, grabbed the round arm and threw it with all his might. With a "plop," the golden egg sank into the center of the lake, and the strange noise instantly disappeared.
"I told you Moody was a good guy," Ron said after a moment's observation, his face full of certainty. "You see, he really didn't lie to Harry."
Hermione crossed her arms, coldly staring at the lake, and after a long while spoke, "Then may I ask, what is the point of throwing this egg into the water?"
"He told Harry to listen to the sound of the lake. Now, where is the sound of the lake?"
Harry was squatting on the bank, looking around. After waiting for a while and seeing no sign of anything, he was about to take off his boots and go into the water to retrieve it.
Suddenly, a loud "splash" was heard, and a wave several feet high surged up from the center of the lake. A blue-faced mermaid leaped out of the water, holding a golden egg in her left hand and a three-pronged steel fork upside down in her right, her ringing eyes blazing as she swept across the lake shore.
Upon seeing Harry and his two companions, the merman was initially taken aback, then his beard bristled, and he stirred the steel fork, splashing water everywhere, his anger even greater than before.
"It's the three of you again!"
"Will this ever end?!"
"Even if you're the savior of wizards, it won't work!"
Harry stared intently at the mermaid and recognized her as the old acquaintance who had scolded him for using scrap paper as corn bait during their previous fishing trip.
Feeling utterly bewildered, he stood up, hands on his hips, and retorted, "What business is it of mys if I'm dealing with my own affairs!"
"It's you who have come to cause trouble time and time again. Are you deliberately provoking us? Or do you, the merfolk tribe, want to settle things with our wizarding world?"
This accusation of starting a war startled the mermaid, causing her to stagger and nearly fall back into the water.
Its blue-scaled tail fin churned the water, causing waves to surge and churn. Its dark blue face flushed crimson, and it roared, "This is slander! It's a frame-up!"
"This is discrimination against ethnic minorities!"
"I'm going to report you to the Ministry of Magic!"
What a merman! His methods of labeling people are just as good as Harry's! Hermione and Ron exchanged bewildered glances, cold sweat trickling down their backs.
Hermione, fearing that the two would escalate their argument into a racial conflict, quickly stepped in front of Harry, who was about to erupt, and said, "Mr. Mermaid, we threw this golden egg into the water to see if it would react in any other way."
"I don't think this counts as polluting the Black Lake's water environment, right?"
The mermaid was taken aback upon hearing this, and examined the golden egg in her hand repeatedly before a look of understanding appeared on her grayish-blue skin.
Suddenly, he struck the water with his trident, exclaiming in frustration, "Oh! It's that golden egg from the Triwizard Tournament!"
"I thought some mermaid was singing a courtship song here—"
Harry burst into laughter. "You water sprite! It's not even the time of the Awakening of Insects yet, how come you're already in heat?"
These words struck a nerve, making the mermaid's face turn from pale to red with embarrassment. She threw the golden egg at him, cursing, "Humans who are constantly in heat have no right to say such things!"
After saying that, it flashed its blue scales again and its whole body disappeared into the lake, leaving only a few ripples that gradually dissipated.
Hermione, quick-witted and agile, caught the golden egg in mid-air. After a moment of contemplation, she exclaimed, "It seems the second event is being held beneath the Black Lake."
Ron scratched his red hair, looking bewildered. "How did you figure that out?"
"That mermaid already told us, didn't she?"
Hermione shrugged. "Think about it. It's one thing for a mermaid to have heard of the Triwizard Tournament, but to even recognize the prize for the first event, the golden egg."
"The only explanation is that the second project will be held under the Black Lake, and it will require the cooperation of the mermaids."
Harry clapped his hands in admiration and said, "Big sister, you have such a clever plan. No matter what kind of trap it is, it can't escape your discerning eyes."
Having said that, he took the golden egg and plunged it back into the lake. He then inhaled a breath of true energy and buried his face in the cold water.
Sure enough, they heard melodious, plaintive music coming from the bottom of the water, which was the secret hidden in the golden egg.
"water----"
"—Come here—"
"Your precious baby—"
"Here————"
Harry listened to the woman's rambling for a while, then suddenly looked up from the cold water and cursed, "Damn it! What kind of gibberish is she spouting? I can't understand a single word!"
Meanwhile, Hermione and Ron were bending down, wands in hand, drawing dozens of lines on the muddy ground to deduce the method of underwater breathing.
Ron looked up and asked, "Harry, did you hear what the egg was saying?"
Harry waved his wand, wiping the water droplets from his face, and said sullenly, "This damn bird egg must have damaged my tongue; I can't speak properly anymore."
"I only heard that we need to retrieve something important, so it seems that we really will have to go to Black Lake for the second time."
"Then I must be right!" Hermione clapped her hands, excitedly saying, "These merfolk are the obstacles you'll face when searching for something in the Black Lake!"
Harry sat cross-legged on a blue stone on the shore, stroking his wand and said, "In that case, I must find a powerful spell that can be cast underwater to teach those bastards a lesson."
Ron and Hermione exchanged glances, and Ron hesitated before saying, "Hmm—Harry? Shouldn't we be looking for a spell that allows us to breathe underwater?"
"How about the Transfiguration Charm? You can turn into a submarine." Hermione picked up her wand and pointed to the potion on the ground. "Or a gill sac plant, which will make you grow gills like a fish."
Harry laughed heartily upon hearing this, "Elder sister and brothers, don't worry, I have my own methods for avoiding water."
"But we need to find another way to subdue those lake-patrolling water spirits and mermaids."
Seeing his confidence, the two stopped thinking about how to avoid water and instead searched through ancient books for the wonderful method of chanting incantations underwater.
To everyone's surprise, after several days of searching, they found nothing. Even after visiting the library three times to look for Nareina, they could only shake their heads in disappointment.
"No wizard would be foolish enough to fight an enemy underwater."
Rowena casually picked up an ancient book with a blue face and fangs, and without looking up, added, "Harry, I suggest you take the Gryffindor sword; mermaids don't have magic."
"But the sword is too big." Hermione rubbed her cheek and frowned. "I read the competition rules for the second event carefully, and they strictly prohibit carrying large weapons."
"Isn't the meaning obvious?"
Rowena slammed the ancient book on the table, and the book, with its blue face and fangs, immediately began to bark wildly.
She gently touched the cover with her jade-like finger, and with two "snap" sounds, two fangs fell out, and the book immediately cowered and fell silent.
Then Rowena said with satisfaction, "This is to let you take some weapons that can be hidden."
"Is that really what you mean?" Ron hesitated. "Isn't that a bit unfair?"
"Don't make your sister laugh, little redhead." Rowena scoffed dismissively, completely unconcerned. "Fairness is only for those who aren't smart."
"If it were me, I would kill all the mermaids in the Black Lake before the second project even begins."
As soon as the words were spoken, Harry seemed to be deep in thought, Ron suddenly realized, and Hermione was at a loss.
What the hell?!
That's way too extreme!
She quickly reached out and pressed her hand on Harry's arm, earnestly advising, "Harry, calm down. This is pushing all races towards the Mystic."
Upon hearing this, Rowena raised her eyebrows slightly and exclaimed in surprise, "Very clever, Miss Granger. You and Harry complement each other perfectly."
"Also, what I just said was just a casual remark, after all, the current political landscape is different from that of a thousand years ago."
Upon hearing this, Hermione's face flushed slightly. Just as she was about to politely decline, she saw Rowena resting her cheek on her hand, her intelligent eyes shining directly at her.
"Why didn't you come to Ravenclaw back then?"
Hermione was taken aback for a moment. "The Sorting Hat said I was suited for Gryffindor, so I came here."
Rowena's lips twitched for a moment, then she sighed, "Well, that's a reasonable answer—I can't help you deal with mermaids in the water; you'll have to figure that out yourselves."
"Don't worry if you can't find me in the next few months; I need to prepare to research how to make a crown."
Harry, who was pondering a plan to subdue the mermaid, was startled by this and asked, "Why did you suddenly have this idea of forging weapons, sister?"
"Don't forget, changing history is a dangerous thing," Rowena said with interest. "Perhaps the crown I created can add wisdom because I've learned more about magic from the future?"
He then gave Harry a few more important words of advice before serving him tea and seeing him off.
Time flies, and February has arrived in the blink of an eye. Seeing that the method of chanting spells underwater was still difficult to find, Harry turned his attention to hidden weapons.
By the end of the month, the tournament resumed. Just as Hermione had predicted, the four warriors had to dive into the Black Lake and retrieve the treasure from the mermaid.
However, several-foot-long viewing platforms had already been erected around Black Lake, and they were packed with students from various colleges.
After Dumbledore and the four warriors had checked them one by one, Dumbledore made a gesture to the platform, and then Rudolf put his wand to his throat and read out the rules, his voice resounding throughout the land.
"—Warriors, I must remind you one more time: you only have one hour!"
"If you exceed the time limit, a very low score will prevent you from lifting the championship trophy!"
Naruto shouted loudly, but Harry stood alone on the stone steps leading into the water, looking back at the stands.
Ron was leaning over the railing in the Gryffindor seating area, most of his body sticking out. Harry ignored him and searched again, but Hermione was nowhere to be seen.
He was frowning and deep in thought when he suddenly heard a thunderclap in mid-air; it was the referee giving the order.
Then Cedric and Hibiscus each held a staff and chanted incantations. A glass-like bubble appeared above their heads, and they leaped into the icy pool.
Then Krum displayed even greater power, transforming himself into a shark.
Unfortunately, his skills were not up to par, and he only transformed into a shark head with a blue face and fangs, while his body remained human. He looked as if the sea patrol yaksha had been cursed, which was quite strange.
Harry remained motionless, still gazing at the stands, waiting for Hermione to appear.
I missed the Christmas ball because I was too impatient, so how could I make the same mistake again?
Narudo nodded repeatedly, shouting gruffly, "Bubble Head Charm! Transfiguration Charm! These three warriors are well-prepared; it seems they've cracked the secret of the golden egg!"
"So now only our last hero remains—Harry Potter!"
"—Good heavens, he's not moving at all. Could it be that he hasn't unlocked the secret inside the golden egg?"
In an instant, whispers arose in the stands, the referees displayed various expressions, and Moody's one devilish eye kept darting around, he kept cursing and paced anxiously.
"Oh! Wait! Look, he's starting to take his clothes off! I apologize for my slip of the tongue, Warrior Potter!"
"So what method will he use to dive underwater?"
"Huh? He didn't chant any spells. It seems he must have prepared a magic potion—"
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"Ah! He didn't even use a potion—he just jumped into the water?!"
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