Hogwarts: Starting with full Unforgivable Curses

Chapter 355 The Female Ghost Screams?

He paused, then added, "I didn't understand a word he was saying at the time, but Fred and George slapped their thighs and said, 'That's so accurate!' and that Lee wasn't lying. Ron, on the other hand, thought it was just a joke the three of them made up on purpose, and it wasn't an African language at all."

Just as the group was engaged in a lively discussion, a clear female voice suddenly came from the side: "Mr. Dylan Hawkwood, would you mind taking a few minutes to talk to us?"

Dylan looked in the direction of the sound and saw Fleur Delacour standing under the shade of a tree not far away, followed by Adele Lefebvre and Claudia LaRoche—all three were Beauxbatons’ contestants, and they were looking at him with a hint of expectation in their eyes.

Dylan quickly made a guess.

They most likely wanted to discuss the details of using magic in the first test, such as how they used magic to trap the fire dragon.

He smiled and nodded: "Of course, no problem, let's talk here."

Seeing this, Cedric patted Dylan on the shoulder: "Then we'll head back to the castle first and find you later."

"See you."

Dylan waved to them, and after watching Harry and his two companions walk away, he turned to Fleur and her two companions, ready to hear their thoughts.

As soon as Dylan stepped into the shade of the tree, Fleur Delacour spoke directly, her tone filled with undisguised curiosity: "Mr. Dylan Hawkwood, the main reason we've come to you today is to ask about the magic you used in the arena—the kind of magic that can instantly condense a large amount of water and even withstand two dragon breaths. We are really curious about its principles."

She paused, seemingly considering her words, before adding, "I wonder if this magic involves any secret techniques? If it's not something that needs to be kept secret, we'd like to make a deal with you—we're willing to exchange our special Beauxbatons magic for details, such as how energy is controlled and how attention is allocated when casting the spell."

"A trade?" Dylan caught this crucial information, raised an eyebrow, and his eyes showed a hint of interest—he hadn't expected that the warriors of Beauxbatons would seek magical exchange in this way.

Furong immediately explained, “This is a habit of ours at Beauxbatons. Our school has a deep foundation in alchemy teaching, and the core of alchemy is ‘equivalent exchange.’ So when we deal with many things, we subconsciously apply this principle—we don’t want to acquire other people’s knowledge for free, and we also hope that our sharing will be respected accordingly.”

“I see.” A smile appeared on Dylan’s lips. “Using the principles of alchemy to handle magical exchanges is indeed a very special and meaningful approach—it ensures fairness while also promoting the interaction between different magical systems.”

Hearing Dylan's approval, Fleur's eyes lit up, and her smile held an undisguised pride—the alchemical tradition of Beauxbatons had always been her pride, and being recognized by other outstanding wizards made her especially happy.

Before Fleur could continue explaining the details of the deal, Dylan changed the subject: "However, I don't think it's necessary to make a deal regarding this magic."

Seeing the three people's surprised expressions, he added, "You can keep an eye on the next issue of the Hogwarts Voice school magazine. I've written down the principles of magic, the steps of casting spells, and the details I adjusted in actual combat, and submitted them as papers. You can read the papers directly to understand all the content."

“The Voice of Hogwarts?” Adele Lefebvre couldn’t help but raise her voice, her tone full of surprise. “You actually published such practical details of combat magic directly in the school magazine?”

Claudia, standing nearby, nodded and explained, "We've been at Hogwarts for a while now and already know about the school magazine. But we've been so busy preparing for our first trial, either practicing ritual magic or researching the dragon's weaknesses, that we haven't had the time to read it. Even Fleur has been busy perfecting her plan to fight the dragon, and she's even paused her alchemy experiments, let alone paying attention to the magazine."

“Of course it’s true.” Dylan said calmly, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. “Headmaster Dumbledore always told us that any thought about magic, no matter how deep or shallow, is worth recording and sharing—it doesn’t necessarily have to be written as a rigorous academic paper. It can be a diary, an experimental log, or even a little trick for modifying spells. He said, ‘As long as you put your heart into magic, any medium is fine. Don’t be bound by form.’”

Furong was silent for a few seconds, but still insisted, "But I already said we should make a deal, so we can't let you share it for free. We still hope to do something for you, even if it's not an equal exchange, we don't want this transfer of knowledge to be 'one-sided'."

Seeing Fleur's serious expression, Dylan pondered for a moment and suddenly had an idea: "I have a suggestion—you could write an article about the ritual magic Beauxbatons used when casting spells and submit it to 'The Voice of Hogwarts.' This way, Hogwarts students can understand the characteristics of ritual magic, and you can also organize your own magical thoughts through writing. It's a two-way sharing. What do you think?"

"This proposal is fair."

Fleur nodded immediately, but then hesitated. “However, I need to report to Mrs. Maxim first—ritual magic involves some of Beauxbatons’ traditional techniques. If the headmaster doesn’t agree to make it public, we may not be able to submit it.”

She paused, then added earnestly, "If the principal doesn't agree to make it public, all we can do is compile the core principles of the ritual magic circle separately and give them to you alone. But we hope you can understand that you shouldn't spread this information; consider it a secret exchange between us."

Dylan smiled and extended his hand: "No problem, I'll wait for your news. Whether it's submitted as an article or shared privately, I'm looking forward to learning about Beauxbatons' ritual magic—after all, the clash of different magic systems is a very interesting thing in itself."

Fleur looked at Dylan's outstretched hand and smiled as she shook it—an exchange about sharing magic was thus reached in an unexpected way.

After saying goodbye to Fleur and the others, Dylan did not immediately return to Hogwarts Castle.

Instead, I went to the library.

Hogwarts has a vast collection of books, and even though he studies day and night, there are always more books than he can read.

Upon returning to Hogwarts, Dylan went to the common room.

Just walked in.

A dozen or so Gryffindor students were waiting at the door. When they saw him come in, they cheered and surrounded him, leading him to the center of the common room.

Harry and the others were there too.

The common lounge has now been carefully decorated.

The tables and armchairs that were originally scattered were mostly piled up in the corner, while the remaining few were pushed to the center and pieced together to form a long table.

The table was laden with all sorts of food and drinks.

The golden-brown, crispy pumpkin pancakes, gingerbread drizzled with honey, silver jugs filled with freshly squeezed juice, and several plates of fragrant roasted chicken made it look like a mini buffet.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Let us give a warm round of applause to welcome back our Gryffindor hero, Dylan Hawkwood, on his safe return!"

"Warrior Dylan!"

"Hero Dylan!"

"Dylan, the nemesis of the fire dragon!" The students immediately cheered, shouting increasingly exaggerated titles, and many even raised small flags they had prepared in advance, with the words "Gryffindor will win" printed on them.

Even more exciting was that several students skilled in magic decorations raised their wands and instantly conjured countless colorful festive ribbons.

They danced and swirled in the air, like flowing rainbows.

Some people lit magic fireworks, the tiny sparks whizzing and circling in the air.

The atmosphere in the common room instantly reached a climax, with the aroma of food mingling with the smoke from fireworks. Students cheered and rushed to the large table, picking up plates to savor the various delicacies.

Dylan and Harry were surrounded by their classmates, receiving their congratulations, and couldn't help but smile brightly.

Dylan paused for a moment, but still didn't go straight back to his dorm.

When everyone had almost finished eating and were sitting in their chairs resting with full bellies, someone suddenly pointed to the golden egg in the corner: "By the way! Dylan, Harry, where's the golden egg you brought back from the Colosseum? Didn't Barty Crouch say there was a clue to the second item inside? Can we take a look?"

This sentence instantly piqued everyone's interest, and all eyes turned to the golden egg. The once lively lounge fell silent as everyone waited for Dylan's answer.

Upon hearing someone mention the golden egg, Ron frowned, his tone full of surprise: "I thought the Ministry of Magic would take the golden egg back after the competition, but it's still here with us. Does this mean we'll really need it for the next project?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than George strode to the corner, picked up the golden egg, and examined it closely.

He practically pressed his nose against the egg, gently stroking the shell with his fingers, and quickly made a discovery: "Look, there's a very thin crack here, we can pry it open! Shall we pry it open and take a look?"

"Should we really start now?" Neville asked hesitantly, a hint of worry in his eyes. "I remember Barty Crouch mentioned that the second challenge requires the warriors to complete it independently. Is it really appropriate for everyone to work on it together now?"

"But the test hasn't officially started yet." George's eyes darted around, his fingers unconsciously fidgeting with the hem of his clothes. "Right now, we're just seeing what's inside. That shouldn't be breaking the rules, right?"

All eyes finally turned to Dylan, and Fred spoke first, asking, "Dylan, what do you think? Should we open it and take a look now?"

Seeing everyone's expectant eyes, Dylan smiled and nodded: "It's fine to open them and take a look. If you know what the clues are beforehand, just don't tell me for now. I'll figure it out myself. That way, it won't violate the requirements of the 'independent test' and it will satisfy everyone's curiosity."

"no problem!"

"I promise I won't tell you!"

"They'll definitely keep quiet!"

"Don't worry!"

The students immediately chimed in, nodding their heads like chickens pecking at rice, afraid that Dylan would change his mind.

In fact, Dylan had already noticed its special features when he retrieved the golden egg from the arena.

The eggshell has a faint layer of magical energy on its surface, which ordinary unlocking spells cannot break. The most direct and effective way is to simply pry it open with your hands through the gaps.

He guessed that this design was probably related to the fire dragon in the first test.

After all, the dragon's breath is extremely hot, and if it were unlocked with magic, it would likely trigger an energy backlash. It's just that Viktorkrum was really unlucky, as he happened to encounter the dragon attacking the golden egg with its breath, which caused the golden egg to be burned.

Dylan walked over to George, took the golden egg, placed his hands on either side of the opening, and looked up at everyone: "Then I'm going to open it. Everyone be careful, there might be something unexpected inside."

The students immediately held their breath, nodded repeatedly, and stared intently at the golden egg, not daring to blink for fear of missing any detail.

"Three...two...one!" As Dylan finished speaking, he gently applied force with both hands, and the golden egg was broken open with a "click".

But the room was empty, with nothing inside, only a sudden, piercing scream erupted from it.

The sound was sharp and piercing, like countless saws cutting glass at the same time, or like a trapped wild beast howling in despair, making one's scalp tingle.

The reason for saying "déjà vu" is that Dylan, Harry, and the others had heard a similar sound when they left the medical tent not long ago, but the sound was not as clear then because they were farther away.

The students instinctively opened their mouths wide, covered their ears with their hands, scrunched up their faces, and showed an extremely uncomfortable expression. Some even frowned and took a step back.

Just then, Hermione swiftly raised her wand and clearly uttered the spell: "Hear and shut up!"

A pale blue magical light instantly enveloped the entire area, and the shrill screams immediately disappeared, replaced by a faint buzzing sound, like distant flying insects flapping their wings, which no longer caused any discomfort.

The students all lowered their hands from their ears, let out a long breath, and showed expressions of relief on their faces.

Fred rubbed his slightly numb ears and said with lingering fear, "My God, that sound was terrifying. It was like a female ghost roaring in my ear. I thought I was going to go deaf."

"Moreover, this golden egg was obtained from the fire dragon, but the sound inside doesn't resemble the roar of the fire dragon at all; instead, it has an eerie feel to it."

George frowned, tapping his chin lightly with his fingers, clearly trying to figure out where the sound was coming from.

Harry frowned. "We heard a similar sound coming from the medical tent earlier. Could it be that the champions from other schools encountered the same thing while they were studying the golden egg? Will they be alright?"

(End of this chapter)