Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 382 Appearance: The Horse-Shaped Water Monster

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the stands by Black Lake were already full of people, and the referees had taken their seats.

There was a slight hiccup. When Xiren stood by the Black Lake as instructed by the referee, he still didn't know who he was going to save.

Logically speaking, the most likely person to be chosen for this project would be Harry or Hermione, or perhaps Fred, George, Ron, and others... After all, friendship is one of the most precious things.

But when Xilun looked around, he found that all of these people were sitting in the stands cheering him on.

All the Gryffindors were holding the banner that Dean had drawn, waving it vigorously as he turned around.

Xiren saw it; the banner depicted him forcefully stomping Krum and Fleur under his feet, surrounded by exaggerated fireworks and star decorations… Hopefully, they didn't see it.

But if it wasn't them, then who was it?
Xilun's gaze swept across the stands again, searching for those familiar figures.

Neville, Seamus, Dean, Luna... wait, where's Luna?
With his gaze fixed on the stands where the Ravenclaws were, Celen raised an eyebrow slightly.

Luna's unconventional attire always makes her stand out in a crowd, but this time, Xiren didn't immediately notice her ridiculously funny anti-demon glasses.

Before he could think any further, Ludo Bagman's voice came from beside him.

"Our warriors are all in position. When I blow the whistle, the second event will begin. They will have a full hour to reclaim what was stolen."

"Get ready, I'll count to three, one... two... three!"

The piercing whistle echoed in the cold, still air, and a burst of cheers and applause suddenly erupted from the stands.

Krum and Fleur jumped into the Black Lake almost simultaneously and quickly disappeared, leaving only Siron on the shore.

Seeing that Xilun seemed dumbfounded and didn't move, some audience members on stage subconsciously assumed that he must be giving up because he didn't know what to do, so they started to laugh at him.

Especially the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, their smug and arrogant faces were infuriating.

"Don't stop me, Hermione, let me beat them up." Ron rolled up his sleeves, ready to teach those foreigners a lesson.

"Don't cause trouble for the professors!" Hermione shoved him back into his seat.

“We should trust Celion,” she said. “Just wait and see, they’ll be embarrassed.”

“That’s right.” Harry nodded vigorously beside him.

Although he was somewhat uncertain, he had no choice but to trust Xilun at this point.

Meanwhile, on the shore, Xiren frowned slightly.

Even before the whistle blew, he had already tried to summon the horse-shaped water monster using the method Hagrid had taught him, but several minutes had passed and there was still no movement underwater.

That guy isn't trying to scam him, is he?

Xilun sighed and decided to wait one more minute.

Soon, the surrounding chatter grew louder and louder, and Xilun himself gradually lost patience.

Since the school didn't allow Harry and Hermione to go to the bottom of the lake, his previous preparations were rendered useless. This also meant he had to find the correct location within an hour.

Finding a location in such a vast black lake with absolutely no clues or coordinates is like finding a needle in a haystack; he has to hurry.

Siren didn't wait any longer. He took out his wand and pointed it at his forehead.

But just then, the lake water in front of him suddenly began to ripple. "Look in the lake!" someone shouted, "Something's coming out!"

Before the words were finished, a huge, strange creature covered in seaweed suddenly leaped out of the lake.

"That's... a horse?" Harry rubbed his eyes hard. "Hermione, Ron, am I seeing things? How could there be a horse in the lake?"

“No, you’re not mistaken,” Ron said blankly. “Because I saw it too.”

“Oh, I know, it’s the Kelpie!” Hermione screamed.

“Horse-shaped what?” Ron asked.

"Kelpie, a magical creature that lives in water. I saw it in 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.' Most importantly, it can give its rider the ability to breathe underwater. I should have thought of that sooner!"

Hermione screamed and waved her arms wildly. Hearing her, the crowd around her, who had been holding back for a long time, also began to shake their banners and flags vigorously.

Someone even cast a little spell, making the people in the banner move, and the fireworks turned into real fireworks, exploding non-stop with crackling sounds.

On the shore of Black Lake, Xilun and the horse-shaped water monster stared at each other, wide-eyed.

However, the horse-shaped sea monster looked a little different from before. Most of the intact seaweed on its body was broken, and the tip of its tail was crooked with a noticeable dent, as if it had been gripped tightly by something.

However, only the closest person, Xilun, could see all of this, while those in the stands only saw a magnificent horse that could run in the lake suddenly leap out of the water.

Then, to everyone's astonishment, Xilun took out a rein and skillfully mounted his horse.

"set off!"

The horse-shaped water monster plunged forcefully into the lake.

As it moved, the lake level began to rise, as if a giant wave had been created. Countless water droplets sprayed onto the lakeside stands like a torrential rain, soaking the students who hadn't even reacted yet.

"This is it, this is it!"

On the referee's stand, Karkaroff stood up excitedly, pointing at the giant wave, "That's what capsized our ship! And you still say it has nothing to do with Hogwarts?"

“I’m sorry.” Dumbledore shook his head and said softly, “It’s not that I’m trying to shirk responsibility, Professor Karkaroff, but if you observe closely for a moment, you’ll see that this level of splash is not enough to capsize Durmstrang’s magical ship.”

"what?"

Karkarov paused for a moment, then noticed that although the waves in front of him were also large, they were nothing compared to those of that night.

Moreover, Durmstrang's ship remained steadily a short distance away, showing no signs of capsizing.

“You must be mistaken, Professor Karkaroff,” Dumbledore said seriously. “To capsize a magic ship, the creature would have to be at least a hundred times larger than the Kelpie.”

Karkaroff's forehead vein throbbed, and he couldn't help but admire Dumbledore's shamelessness; to shirk responsibility, he could actually come up with such a clumsy lie.

A hundred times larger than the Kelpie, how could such a thing exist, unless Hogwarts hid a giant in the lake?

No, giants are impossible; ten giants would be more like it.

……

(End of this chapter)