Hogwarts' Golden Glory

He could feel his hands changing; the skin between his fingers was thinning, forming a translucent web, reducing resistance when he paddled, and making him faster than he expected.

He encountered the first mermaids when he dived down about ten feet.

They swam out from the shadows and stopped in the water in front of him, lined up in a row, neither approaching nor making way.

They were tall and slender with dark gray skin and hair that spread out behind them like dark seaweed scattered in the water. They were not carrying any weapons; they were just standing there, as if confirming that he was on the right track.

He slowed down and tried to go around them on the left. They didn't catch up; they just regrouped after he passed, forming a new barrier behind him.

He continued to descend.

As we passed through a layer of water composed of tiny plankton, the light was scattered by countless tiny particles, like dust suspended in the air, blurring our vision.

He reached out and brushed aside the particles to continue downwards.

About forty feet from the lake bottom, he saw a group of mermaids, far more numerous than he had encountered before, about twenty or so, forming a roughly circular shape. Several smaller fish swam quickly around him, as if collecting signals.

Then he saw the village, with houses built of stone and walls covered in dark green moss. A faint light shone from each window, making the lakebed look like a sleeping town.

He walked a distance around the edge of the village and found Qiu Zhang at the end of a row of stone pillars.

Her hair was scattered in the water, and she was tied to a pillar with ropes wrapped around her wrists several times, as if they had been deliberately reinforced.

He swam over and used his wand to cut the rope binding her, but the rope was thicker and harder than she had expected, and it took him three tries to cut it completely.

As he cut the rope, the mermaids moved, gathering around him from all directions.

They didn't attack; they simply shortened the diameter of the encirclement, as if they were using numbers and movement to create pressure.

Without waiting for them to get any closer, he put Qiu Zhang's arm on his shoulder and began to float upwards.

He sensed a mermaid approaching from behind, closer than before, and he dodged a touch by turning to the side.

His ascent was slowed, and fish tail fins and dark hems swept past the edges of his vision from different directions. He veered off course, trying to shake them off, but they remained close behind, as if they knew his path.

A patch of dark seaweed appeared directly in front of him, denser than any he had seen before, as if woven together by some force, forming a thick barrier that was almost impossible to bypass.

Instead of going around it, he cast a wide-area slicing spell on the patch of grass. An arc of light spread out from the tip of his staff, cutting the entire patch of grass into pieces.

The fragments scattered around him like shredded dark fabric floating in the air, and then the mermaids stopped.

They slowed down the moment the grass was cut open, and did not continue to chase, as if they had already completed their mission.

He led Qiu Zhang through the crevice and continued to rise. The last stretch was smooth, without seaweed or mermaids, only the gradually brightening light spreading overhead until his head broke the surface, and the sunlight fell on his face again, warm and dry.

Harry was the second one to come up.

Upon entering the water, Hibiscus immediately went into working mode. A thin membrane of the head-soaking spell covered her face, allowing her to breathe freely as if she were on land.

She descended quickly, using both her hands and feet, while also paying attention to changes in underwater light, looking for ways to determine direction by observing changes in water flow.

She was a bit unlucky; she encountered a mermaid while diving.

Five mermaids swam out from behind the stone wall, lined up, and blocked her way.

She didn't slow down, but swam straight forward, observing the distance between them at the same time.

Before they could close any further, she found a wide gap in the semi-circular formation and squeezed through it sideways. Looking back after she passed, she saw them regroup and not pursue her, as if performing some kind of routine border patrol rather than actually trying to stop her.

She continued her descent into the lake. The underwater light grew dimmer, so she drew her wand, a small ball of light shining from its tip to illuminate the path ahead.

Before she reached the mermaid village, she heard a sound, a continuous, song-like sound, coming from a certain direction underwater.

It wasn't the voice of an ordinary mermaid; it was a melodious, slow singing voice.

She stopped to check the direction, and the singing became clearer and clearer, as if it was moving towards her area.

She felt the direction of the water flow changing, pushing towards her layer by layer.

She adjusted her direction, positioning herself sideways to the source of the sound, and increased her swimming speed. The singing continued for a while, then gradually faded, as if she had left it behind.

She passed through the stone wall surrounding the mermaid village and found Gabrielle next to a stone pillar.

Gabrielle was smaller than Fleur and was tied to a pillar.

Hibiscus cut the rope, confirmed that she was still breathing, then pulled her to her side and began to float.

Along the way, he tried to find Kane and Draco, but he couldn't find them.

On her return journey, she encountered the same patch of water plants again, but they were arranged more densely than before, as if they had been artificially rearranged.

Instead of cutting it directly, she walked along its edge and found that its area was larger than expected.

Instead of changing direction, she cast a spell on the patch of grass. A stream of magic flowed from the tip of her staff, striking the water plants and hissing.

The aquatic plants had been burned through, with the edges curled and white, and were still bubbling.

She led Gabrielle through the opening without stopping.

They passed through the gap and continued to rise. They encountered no new obstacles in the second half.

When Cedric descended, he felt the water pressure was greater than he had expected.

His bubble-head spell was working steadily, and with each exhale, a string of tiny bubbles rose from beside his ears. He slowed down as he passed through the floating layer, as if to confirm he was still on the right track. The lakebed's topography was more complex than he had imagined, with large areas of uneven rocks and small pits formed by sediment, requiring closer examination to discern which were solid rock surfaces and which were thinner layers.

It took him longer than expected to figure out the direction before he continued on.

He found Eric at the end of a group of stone pillars.

His roommate was tied to a stone pillar, and his expression had relaxed somewhat. He visibly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him.

Cedric cut the rope, grabbed his shoulders, and the two began to rise. But on his return journey, he encountered more obstacles than he had anticipated.

A group of smaller Grindylo emerged from the crevices in the rocks; unlike the mermaids, they were not organized and fought independently.

Two smaller Grindylos emerged from a crevice in the rock to his side, waving their long, thin claws as they tried to grab his legs.

He first sidestepped the first one to grab him, and when the second one approached from the other side, he lowered his body and simultaneously paddled upwards to create distance.

As he swam through the rocky area, he encountered two more Greendylows blocking his path. Instead of stopping to deal with them, he sped up and passed between them without letting them touch him.

As he passed through the dark water layer, he encountered an even larger group of Grindelhos, about six or seven, moving rapidly through the water layer in front of him.

Instead of passing through them head-on, he moved laterally a distance, bypassing their area, and then changed direction, floating upwards.

The second half of the return journey was uneventful; he led Eric through the last layer of water and back to the surface.

All the warriors have come up! Everyone is wondering, where is Kane?