Hogwarts: My Grandmother is the Queen

Chapter 329 Luping's Letter

Harry walked out of the women's restroom, and Myrtle's words gave him a new idea.

He doesn't need to figure out how to open the door himself; he just needs to find someone willing to help him.

And Cedric, who is also a warrior and needs to open the golden egg, isn't he a prefect?

Harry decided to wait until Cedric finished class before going to see him.

In the afternoon, Harry ran into Cedric in the hallway.

He had just come out of the greenhouse, his robes covered in dirt, and he was holding a book about magical plants.

"Cedric," Harry called out to him.

Cedric stopped in his tracks. "Potter? What did you find out?"

"I've found some directions," Harry said, "but I don't have any concrete answers yet."

"Then why did you come to find me—"

"6

"I want to ask you something," Harry said. "The prefect's bathroom—could you take me in?"

Cedric paused, taken aback. "The prefect's bathroom? Why are you going in?"

"I want to try something," Harry said. "I suspect the golden egg needs to be in water to open. But I need a big enough pool; the public restrooms aren't deep enough, and the Black Lake is too cold. The bath in the prefects' bathroom is just right."

Cedric paused for a moment. "Are you sure the golden egg needs to be placed in water?"

"I'm not sure," Harry said, "but it's the most likely direction I'm heading right now."

Cedric looked at him, then nodded. "Okay. I'll take you tonight."

"tonight?"

"Yes," Cedric said. "There are fewer people at night, so no one will bother you. Take the golden egg and wait for me at the school gate at nine o'clock."

Harry nodded. "Okay."

He turned and walked out of the greenhouse, feeling as if a weight had finally been lifted from his heart.

The secret of the golden egg has not been fully solved, but he at least knows the first step: find a pool big enough, put the golden egg in, and see if it will react.

At nine o'clock in the evening, Harry stood in the foyer, holding the golden egg in his hands.

He didn't tell Ron and Hermione where he was going, not because he didn't want to, but because he wasn't sure if it would work out.

He didn't want his friends to be disappointed if there was no reaction at all.

Harry walked out of the castle and waited at the school gate.

After a while, Cedric came out of the castle, also holding a golden egg in his hand.

"Let's go," he said. "The prefect's bathroom is on the fifth floor, at the end of the corridor. The password is 'Lemon Olaf.'"

"Lemon Olaf?" Harry repeated.

“Yes,” Cedric said. “It’s a password I came up with myself. I don’t know why I thought of it, but I figured it would be harder for people to guess.”

"That's a good password," Harry said.

The two of them entered the castle together and walked up the stairs.

They reached the end of the fifth-floor corridor, where Cedric stopped in front of a door.

"This is it." He gave the password to the door, and the door opened silently.

The bathroom was much larger than Harry had imagined, with a huge bathtub in the middle, like a small swimming pool, with white foam and wisps of steam floating on the surface.

The walls surrounding the bathtub are inlaid with a row of faucets, each engraved with a different symbol—some are a dolphin, some are a swan, and some are a snake swimming in the water.

Cedric walked to the edge of the bathtub, squatted down, and touched the water: "The water is warm. The faucet in the prefectural bathroom can adjust the temperature and the amount of bubbles, and this bathtub is heated all day."

Harry walked to the other side of the tub and looked at the water. "Shall I try it here?"

"Okay," Cedric said. "You try it first, I'll watch. If you discover anything, tell me."

Harry took a deep breath, looked at the golden egg in his hand, and then put it into the water.

The golden egg sank and gently touched the bottom of the bath.

Then it started to glow.

It was a soft golden light emanating from inside the eggshell, as if something had been activated.

Immediately afterwards, a high-pitched, sharp sound came from the golden egg, like a group of people shouting in the distance at the same time, or like the sound of a musical instrument.

Harry quickly retrieved the golden egg, and the sound stopped.

"Did you hear that?" Harry asked Cedric.

"I heard it." Cedric's expression was somewhat complicated. "That voice—it didn't sound like a hint."

“Yes,” Harry said. “It sounds like—an alarm, or something else.”

"Put it in again," Cedric said. "Listen to it a little longer, and you might be able to discern more."

Harry put the golden egg into the water again, and the sharp sound rang out once more, echoing in the empty bathroom, hitting the wall and bouncing back.

Harry listened carefully; there seemed to be a pattern in the sound, like a language or a melody.

"It's singing," Harry said.

"Sing?"

"Yes, it's a folk song," Harry said, "but I can't hear the lyrics."

Cedric walked to the edge of the bath and put his golden egg in as well.

The two golden eggs sank into the water simultaneously, and two sounds arose at the same time. But strangely, they didn't interfere with each other; instead, they sounded like two parts of a chorus, becoming clearer when combined. Harry and Cedric both pricked up their ears, trying to discern the lyrics in the sounds.

The high-pitched, shrill sound echoed in the empty bathroom, gradually becoming less jarring to the two people after being refracted by the water and bounced off the walls.

Harry closed his eyes, focusing all his attention on his ears. He heard fragmented words, not complete sentences, but like pieces drifting from afar: "—search—along the depths of the Black Lake—"

"—We took away your most cherished—"

"—Recover within 1 hour—"

"—When the time comes——forever—"

The singing stopped.

The golden egg's light gradually dimmed, returning to its original smooth metallic texture, as if the singing had never existed.

Harry opened his eyes and met Cedric's gaze.

The two remained silent for a moment, processing what they had just heard.

"The Black Lake," Cedric spoke first. "It is indeed the Black Lake, and it's underwater."

“My most cherished possession—” Harry frowned. “It says they took my most cherished possession.”

“Yes,” Cedric said. “So the second project should involve us diving into the Black Lake and, within a limited time, retrieving something that was taken away and that is very important to us.”

"But what is the most cherished thing?"

Cedric paused for a moment: "I've read some accounts of the Triwizard Tournament in books. In previous tournaments, there was a time when the warrior's wand was hidden somewhere for the warrior to retrieve, and another time when the warrior's family was left somewhere."

"And what about this time?"

"I don't know," Cedric said, "but the lyrics mention something being taken away, so it probably wasn't something that was originally there; someone must have deliberately placed it there."

Harry looked down at the bubbles gradually calming on the water's surface, his mind racing.

If it really was something that was taken away, what could it be?

He couldn't figure out the answer, but he did know one thing: the second project would take place in the Black Lake, needed to be completed underwater, and had a time limit of one hour.

"I'll go back and check the records," Cedric said. "See if there's any information about underwater missions."

"Okay," Harry said. "I'll look it up when I get back. By the way—you said the Bubble Head Charm lets you breathe underwater?"

“Yes,” Cedric said. “The Bubble Head Charm creates an air bubble around your head, allowing you to breathe normally underwater. But it has a time limit, and when you’re underwater, the bubble can affect your vision and movement.”

"Besides the head-diving spell, what other ways are there to breathe underwater?"

"I've read about something called gill sac grass in a book before," Cedric said. "After eating it, gills grow on your neck, allowing you to breathe naturally underwater. But it's hard to find, and I'm not sure if Hogwarts has it."

"Gillstool grass." Harry repeated the word to himself. "Okay, I got it."

The two stood in the bathroom for a while longer, and after confirming that the golden egg had stopped making a sound, they each took the golden egg out and dried it with their robes.

Cedric tucked the golden egg under his arm. "I'll be going now. If you find anything tomorrow afternoon, you can find me at the library."

"Okay," Harry said. "Thank you, Cedric."

"You're welcome," Cedric said. "We're all in the same game, it's only right that we help each other out."

He walked towards the door, but turned back halfway there: "By the way, Potter, if you want to practice underwater breathing magic but can't find a suitable place, you can come back to me. I can lend you this bathroom."

Harry was pleasantly surprised: "Really?"

“Really,” Cedric said. “I can’t possibly use such a big bathtub by myself.”

Harry smiled. "Okay, it's a deal then."

Cedric nodded, pushed open the door, and went out.

Harry stood in the bathroom for a while longer. He watched the bubbles slowly disappear on the surface of the water, held the golden egg in his hands, and felt its smooth, cool surface.

Tonight's discoveries were more than he expected—he not only learned that the golden egg had to be opened in the water, but also the specific location and details of the second project.

Now there's only one question left: how is he going to breathe underwater?

He walked out of the bathroom and back down the corridor. Hogwarts was quiet in the night, with only moonlight streaming in through the windows, casting silvery-white patches on the floor.

Harry went down the stairs, through the foyer, and back to the Gryffindor Tower.

The lights were still on in the common room, where several older students were chatting on a sofa in the corner, some were reading, and others were playing a game of Wizards chess.

Ron sat in an armchair in front of the fireplace, his gaze clearly not on the book—he was staring blankly at the flames in the fireplace.

Hearing footsteps, Ron looked up. "You're back? Where have you been? Hermione said you weren't in the library."

"I went to the prefects' bathroom." Harry sat down in the chair next to Ron. "Cedric took me."

"The prefect's bathroom?" Ron sat up straighter. "What are you going there for?"

"The Golden Egg," Harry said. "I suspected it needed to be in water to open, and I was right."

"Really? It's open?"

"It's not exactly opening," Harry said. "But the golden egg glows in the water and makes a sound—a song. The lyrics tell us that the second project takes place in the Black Lake, where we have to retrieve something that was taken away underwater."

Ron's mouth was slightly open, as if he was processing this information: "Underwater? In the Black Lake? How do you breathe underwater?"

"I haven't decided yet," Harry said. "Cedric said the Bubble Head Charm would work, but it has a time limit. He also mentioned something called Gillbagweed, which allows you to grow gills underwater and breathe naturally, but it's hard to find."

"Gillbagium—" Ron repeated the word, "I feel like I've heard it somewhere before."

"Where?"

"I don't remember," Ron said, "but I'm sure I've heard of it."

Harry leaned back in his chair, looking at the fire in the fireplace: "Tomorrow I'll go to the library and check if there's any information about gill sac grass."

"I'm going too," Ron said. "I don't have class tomorrow afternoon anyway."

"Okay," Harry said.

The two sat quietly for a while. The fire in the fireplace crackled softly, and the Wizard's Chess set in the corner emitted the dull thuds of pieces moving.

Then Harry said, "Oh, right, I also wrote a letter to Professor Lupin today."

"Professor Lupin?" Ron turned around. "Why are you writing to him?"

"I'd like to ask him for help," Harry said. "The second project needs to be done underwater, and it requires the magic and skills for underwater breathing. Professor Lupin is the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher I've ever met; he knows a little bit of everything, and he might even know the magic for underwater breathing."

Will he come?

"I don't know," Harry said, "but I hope he'll come."

Ron was silent for a moment, then said, "He should come. He's the kind of person—he's never absent when you need him."

Harry nodded and said nothing more.

The next morning, when Harry arrived at the Great Hall for breakfast, an owl flew in and landed in front of him.

A letter was tied to the owl's leg, and he recognized the handwriting on the envelope—it was Lupin's handwriting, with smooth strokes and a slight slant.

Harry opened the envelope and took out the letter.

The letter was short, only a few lines: "Harry:

I'm coming to Hogwarts next week. I'll write to you again once I've decided on the exact date.

I'm so glad to hear you did so well on your first project. You've always had that talent for coming out on top in crucial moments, which was evident even back in third grade.

We'll discuss the second project in more detail when we meet. Just remember one thing: you're not alone in facing any challenge.

Please give my regards to Headmaster Dumbledore.

Remus Lupin