Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 373 Countermeasures
To be honest, the mermaid's singing voice is quite nice, especially during the chorus; it's no less beautiful than the songs sung by the eccentric sisters at the Christmas ball.

The lyrics are a bit puzzling.

"We stole your most cherished possession?" Harry looked at Shiron. "So, do you have anything particularly valuable?"

"If I had to say what I'd miss the most... it would probably be these." Celen took out his shapeshifting lizard skin bag and casually pulled out a handful of different wands.

“Ah, and this too.” Xiren then took out his most frequently used wand, Silvermane.

"A bunch of wands?" Ron scratched his head, even more puzzled. "Why would a mermaid steal your wands?"

“Did you even hear the second half?” Hermione interrupted them somewhat rudely, saying, “Looks like this is the second project. They… those mermaids stole your things, and you need to find them within an hour.”

“That’s too easy,” Ron said excitedly. “Can’t we just use the Summoning Charm?”

"If it were that simple, it wouldn't be a Triwizard Tournament." Hermione glared at him, annoyed.

However, Ron didn't seem convinced.

"What if," he muttered to himself. "Just like the age line that Dumbledore drew, who would have thought that it could be solved by asking older students for help? Maybe the second project will be the same."

Hermione ignored him.

It's obvious that such a loophole is impossible in a three-way competition.

“Perhaps we can consider another key point,” Harry said thoughtfully. “Since we’re looking for something, why don’t we just prevent them from stealing it?”
"When the second project started, the mermaids hadn't stolen anything, so Xilun didn't need to look for them anymore, which meant they won the competition outright."

Harry's idea was clearly much more plausible than Ron's, Hermione thought, head down, seriously considering the possibility.

"But we don't know when they will come."

“Then we’ll be on high alert from now on, especially at night,” Harry said seriously. “Mermaids don’t look like us, so if they want to steal things from the castle without attracting attention, they’ll definitely do it at night.”

"Makes sense."

“We can install an alarm peephole in the dorm; I remember Fred had one.”

"No need, they can't get into the Gryffindor common room without a password."

“You’re too naive, Hermione. What if the professor was involved? Maybe Professor McGonagall would have given them the password before the second project even started…”

The three chatted enthusiastically, but none of them thought to ask Xilun's opinion.

So that's how they understand it?

On a dark and stormy night, the mermaid climbed ashore from the Black Lake, used the password given by Professor McGonagall to enter the Gryffindor common room, stole his wand, and then hid it in a corner of the Black Lake.

It sounds reasonable, but in reality, it would be no less difficult for the mermaids to complete this series of operations than to get them to take the golden egg from the Hungarian beetle.

Because once on land, the mermaid's fighting ability is basically zero, and her movements are more than ten times slower than in the water.

If they can still steal the wand this way, then Celeste won't need to do a second project; she might as well just admit defeat.

Oh no, they won't be stealing any wands at all... Siron shook his head vigorously.

Their discussion got so intense that Xiren almost forgot that the second project wasn't about finding anything at all, but rather people. But then again, who would they send?
Xilun himself didn't know the answer to this question.

If he had to say something... he turned and glanced at the three people who were discussing countermeasures.

Harry's possibility is not small; it could be considered a friendship, and the same applies to Hermione.

If that's the case, could I make some preparations in advance, secretly placing something special on them, such as a bewitched button or brooch?

In this way, once he reaches Black Lake, he can immediately determine the final location and get there as quickly as possible.

Although this is considered cheating, as the saying goes, cheating has always been a traditional hidden tactic in the Three Kingdoms Tournament... provided that it is not discovered by others.

However, he didn't tell Harry and the others about this, since he shouldn't know these things.

The four people were each thinking about different things, but they reached a consensus on one thing.

That means the second project will definitely be held at Black Lake, and it will most likely be conducted by diving.

So in the following days, they began to seriously search for ways to move freely underwater.

Harry suggested buying a set of Muggle diving equipment, along with an oxygen tank, so that they could stay underwater for a long time.

But this proposal was quickly rejected.

Since this is a competition at a magic school, even if you manage to pass the final test using Muggle equipment, you are unlikely to get a very high score.

“The head-bubbling spell is a good choice.” On Wednesday, Hermione placed a book titled “The Wizard’s Guide to Wilderness Survival: How to Cast Spells in Extreme Environments” in front of Siron.

“This spell creates a magical bubble, similar to a fishbowl, that won’t burst even underwater,” Hermione said. “Theoretically, if the bubble is big enough, it could keep you underwater for an hour.”

This was actually Xilun's original idea.

Although gill-growing grass would be more suitable for this project, the plant is too rare in England. It is not even in Professor Sprout's greenhouse and can only be found in Snape's private storeroom.

However, Snape certainly wouldn't help him unless he stole it himself...

However, he didn't need to take such a big risk; the head-bubbling spell was also a good option.

Besides the head-bubbling spell, Siron actually has another good method... his most proficient Transfiguration spell.

If he could transform himself into a fish, he could swim freely in the Black Lake.

This level of human transformation is something you'd learn in seventh grade, but it wasn't particularly difficult for Siron. And if you added that wand with Professor McGonagall's hair as its core, it would be even easier.

The only problem now is that he's unsure if there are any dangers beneath the Black Lake and whether he'll need to use his wand. If he does, he won't be able to fully shapeshift.

But changing only half of it would seem incongruous, and there's a high chance it would overlap with Krum.

Fortunately, it's only January, so he has plenty of time to think of a solution.

……

(End of this chapter)