Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 396, Project 3

The Man-Beating Willow is a magical plant that is extremely rare even in the magical world. Its characteristic is that it has self-awareness and will actively attack any creature that gets close.

However, the "hitting willow" also has a weakness: there is a knot on its trunk. If it is touched, it will immediately stop all movement and become like a normal willow.

Xilun used this characteristic to successfully obtain a lot of branches of the Man-beating Willow, and he had long since become skilled at it.

His only concern now is avoiding being discovered by Professor Sprout. This professor cherishes the Whomping Willow as much as Hagrid and the Blasttail.

If she discovers that someone is trying to damage the Whomping Willow, even if that person is Dumbledore, she will scold them for half an hour.

However, since Xiren has a Marauder's Map, these are not problems.

A few days later, one evening, while Professor Sprout was on the Quidditch pitch, he quickly broke off a few inconspicuous branches and a small section of the main branch.

When he returned to the castle after doing all this, Professor Sprout was still at the Quidditch pitch, completely unaware of what had happened.

And it's not just her.

Sylvanas stared at the map and then realized that Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Snape, Hagrid, and the others were all there too.

There's also Ludo Bagman, and Barty Crouch, who just appeared on the edge of the map a minute ago...

Xilun narrowed his eyes.

This is the closest he's ever been to Barty Crouch. Shall we go check it out?
After a moment's hesitation, Sirius dismissed the idea. He noticed that Dumbledore's name had just appeared on the map as well.

If even he can't detect anything unusual, then there's no point in me going.

In addition, the two other headmasters of magic schools who appeared with him seem to be preparing for a third project.

And it was during this moment of hesitation that Barty Crouch's name disappeared from the map again, and did not reappear for a long time.

Now there was no need to hesitate, and Siren turned and went back to the Gryffindor common room.

Branches freshly broken from trees are not suitable for making wands; a lot of extra preparation is needed beforehand to ensure the wand is more sturdy and durable.

The process isn't complicated, it just requires a bit of patience.

However, with the start of the summer semester, the final event of the Triwizard Tournament seems to have been put on the agenda all at once.

A few days later, Professor McGonagall kept him behind after her Transfiguration class.

“Sirlen, you’re going down to the Quidditch pitch at nine o’clock tonight,” Professor McGonagall told him. “Mr. Bagman is going to tell the warriors what the third project is there.”

When he told Harry and the others the news, they seemed even more excited than he, the warrior.

"What do you think it will be?" Harry asked curiously during dinner.

“Whatever it is, I just want to see the process,” Ron said. “I just hope it doesn’t turn out like the second project.”

The second project took place at the bottom of Black Lake. While the warriors were moving in the deep lake, those above could not see anything at all and could only stare blankly at the calm lake surface, feeling completely uninvolved.

“This time it shouldn’t be like that,” Xiren said.

“I think so too.” Hermione nodded. “After all, the third event is about deciding who the champion is, and it needs more people to witness it.”

"I hope so."

After dinner, everyone went back to the common room for a while. Around 8:30, Celen put down his Explosives cards, went downstairs, and then walked through the foyer. It was pitch black outside. Celen walked along the field toward the Quidditch pitch.

On the way, he also met Furong, who was also walking in that direction.

"What do you think it could be?" she asked the same question as Hermione.

"It's a test of our comprehensive abilities," Celen said.

This three-way competition is quite interesting. The first challenge is facing a fire dragon head-on, testing their courage and strength. Since the objective is to obtain a golden egg, rather than confronting the fire dragon directly, some strategy will also be required.

The second project involved rescuing people from the bottom of Black Lake. This was designed to test their ability to cope with unknown environments.

The third project is where comprehensive strength is truly needed.

In the magical world, power is everything, so even if you gain an advantage in the first two events, it doesn't mean you'll definitely win the competition; it just means you can start earlier.

If someone has sufficient overall strength, it is entirely possible to catch up.

Of course, this is just Xilun's own opinion. He might be overthinking it; it's possible these events were simply drawn by the referees.

“I’ve heard Ms. Maxim mention the tunnel a few times…” Fleur continued, “Perhaps the last project is to lead us to find treasure.”

“A tunnel?” Siren paused, “Are you sure this is a clue Ms. Maxim gave you?”

If he remembered correctly, Ms. Maxim was involved in the design of the final project; the last time Sirius saw her name on the map, she was with Dumbledore.

But why would she give Furong a wrong hint? It couldn't be that she wanted to make things more difficult for herself, could it?

“I don’t know if this counts as a hint,” Furong said. “But a few times when I went to see her, I heard her muttering things like ‘tunnel’ and ‘treasure’.”

"So you think this is the third project?"

“Isn’t that right?” Furong retorted.

“Maybe.” Celen didn’t refute it, but instead said half-jokingly, “If it really is about finding treasure, our professor of the Magical Creatures Protection class would definitely be able to provide a whole bunch of helpers.”

The two passed through a gap between the stands and entered the Quidditch pitch.

The place has completely changed. The ground is no longer smooth and flat. It looks as if someone has built countless long, low walls here. These walls are intricate and meandering, stretching out in all directions.

“It’s a hedge!” Hibiscus touched the nearest low wall and said with a frown.

It seems she guessed wrong; this setup doesn't resemble a tunnel treasure hunt at all, but rather a giant maze.

"Hello." A cheerful voice came from behind. Ludo Bagman walked over, followed by Karkaroff and Krum.

Xiren noticed that the smile on Fleur's face had disappeared, and she looked at the three people walking towards her with a gloomy expression, muttering a French phrase under her breath.

Xilun didn't understand, but judging from her expression, it probably wasn't something nice.

However, it's understandable. In the last project, Karkaroff and Maxim had already openly broken ties in their fight for second place, so it's normal for Furong to react this way.

……

(End of this chapter)