I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 327 Hermione: When I abandoned morality, I immediately reaped happiness.

"If you're looking for those mermaids, head that way, but I suggest you observe from the outside first. These monsters have suddenly appeared in the lake." She pointed in the direction the lobster monster had just chased her and said, "Those mermaids will definitely go crazy. In their daze, they might forget their agreement with the professors and attack you indiscriminately."

"Mmm-hmm—" Hermione gave her two thumbs up to express her gratitude, then turned and set off again.

The Black Lake remained dark.

The murky lake water had a faint fishy, ​​salty smell.

Actually, Black Lake isn't a lake at all. It's connected to the sea, and sometimes seawater slowly seeps in. When that happens, a thin layer of mist rises over the entire lake, and the sea breeze carries that damp, salty smell throughout the entire academy.

However, in most cases, the water in Black Lake is freshwater.

The streams flowing down from the high mountains have a large volume of water.

Seawater flooding only occurs at certain times during the winter.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the lake, Hibiscus was busily dealing with this group of mermaids.

Her nervousness wasn't due to the mermaids being particularly powerful.

It was so dark that mermaids kept jumping out from all around, which really tested one's spirit.

"They'll all be petrified!"

After finishing off another mermaid, Hibiscus finally decided to stop.

She was wearing a transparent, breathing mask-like device in her mouth, from which air bubbles were occasionally squeezed out from the sides.

Her silver hair was tightly bound by a hairband, and she was wearing a fitted blue swimsuit.

It was as if some thin leather material was wrapped around her perfectly curved body. Although nothing was exposed, it was still very alluring to look at.

Unfortunately, in this dark, murky lake, no one has the chance to see it.

"Where exactly is it!" Furong frowned.

She was a little lost.

All the areas in Black Lake looked pretty much the same. At first, she could tell which side was in the middle of the lake and which side was at the edge.

But after several battles, she couldn't tell the difference anymore.

Just now she saw Krum, that muscular guy, walking this way.

She followed.

But the sudden attack by the mermaid caused her to lose her way once again.

With that thought in mind, Hibiscus glared fiercely at the mermaid who had bothered her.

Then from a pocket tied to the leg.

He took out a piece of oiled paper.

On the paper, the white dot representing her position was lit up.

Then there's the finish line, marked by a green dot. It's also lit up.

It seems quite simple, after all, this isn't a maze in the castle's sewers. In the water, she can swim in all directions, unlike in the castle where she's blocked by walls.

But in reality, the surrounding landscape seemed to be under some kind of spell. For some reason, as she swam, the white dots on the map would suddenly disappear and then reappear in other places.

It was as if she had been teleported by an illusion!

But she clearly didn't feel any sensation of being squeezed into the pipe.

This infuriated her.

Time ticked by, and with less than twenty minutes left in the competition, she was still circling in the black lake.

"Forget it!" Furong gave a resigned look, even though she hadn't originally intended to do this.

As he spoke, he touched the black ribbon-like pocket on his right leg.

She took out a glove made of metal and leather, with a gemstone set at each of the joints.

The largest blue gemstone is set on the back of the hand.

The design of this glove is not the same as the Egyptian-style glove from the first competition.

Only she knew that although this alchemical artifact was extremely powerful, it was actually consumed very quickly.

These gems, and this glove, are very fragile. They will show obvious damage after four or five uses, and after ten uses, they are at risk of exploding.

Moreover, there must be an interval of more than 30 seconds between each use.

The intervals between using different spells are longer, sometimes taking several minutes.

In fact, the real magic originated from a metal ring at the opening of the glove. The glove and the gem served to divert the magic that originally belonged only to the ring.

This is not Nicholas Lemaître's creation, but rather his "archaeological excavation".

Hundreds of years ago, he found an ancient magical site in the Mesopotamian plain that was at least three thousand years old.

This metal ring is a souvenir he brought out from inside.

"Phew!" Hibiscus took a deep breath and then aimed in the right direction.

Wearing gloves, she clenched her fist tightly, and suddenly countless ancient runes appeared out of thin air, cutting through the surrounding space like sharp swords.

Then the lake water suddenly overflowed.

Furong felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach, and then the azure void behind her swallowed her up.

"Cough cough!!! Cough cough cough!"

She's so stupid!

In another dark lakebed, the water suddenly began to boil, followed by countless surging waves. A flash of azure light appeared, and she was spat out.

"I completely forgot this is the bottom of the lake." Furong clutched her stomach pitifully, her whole body aching.

She felt as if she had broken several ribs.

Even if it wasn't broken, it would definitely be covered in bruises.

In the lake, she repeatedly stroked her lower abdomen, and after a while, she was able to look around.

"Uh—that's it."

She saw a figure.

It was very close to her, only about ten feet away.

The other person was sitting on a large, exposed rock at the bottom of the lake, turning their head to look at her.

"Hermione?" Fleur had no doubt.

Although she was wearing a strange mask, you could still tell from her figure that she was a girl.

The only girls who went to bed were her and Hermione.

"Hi, Hermione." She tried to speak, but in the lake, through the mask, her voice was just a meaningless sob.

Fleur immediately swam toward Hermione, wanting to comfort her.

She knew very well that the girl was probably out of strength.

Honestly, the fact that she can even persist in participating is already very worrying!

Her body

If Fleur had even a little bit of knowledge of Muggle medicine, she would know that Hermione is currently suffering from anemia.

"Sigh—" All the words in the world could only be expressed in a sigh.

She saw Hermione looking at her.

then

Gradually, Fleur realized that Hermione didn't seem to be looking at her.

She seemed to be looking at her own gloves?

Just as Fleur was confused, thinking Hermione wanted to ask her to take her along.

Suddenly—the girl sitting on the rock swiftly slashed her right hand across her waist, then swallowed something whole.

Forehead???

Then the other person's gaze fell on their gloves again.

Forehead?

Fleur reached out her hand, about to greet Hermione.

Then I saw the other person's right hand sweep across their waist.

Then he pulled out a surfboard?

Then, with a push of his feet, he stood on the surfboard and gently waved his magic wand.

That surfboard was like it had a turbocharger; it was so fast! In a flash, it accelerated to 20 knots in just three seconds.

Before Furong could recover from her shock...

Hermione, already out of sight, was on her surfboard.

???

Furong raised her arm, then stiffly lowered it.

I was just thinking so much, it was all just me being sentimental.

They already had a foolproof plan.

She rubbed her lower abdomen, her gaze hardening.

Since that's the case, she can't worry about sisterly affection anymore. She's here to win the championship.

As she spoke, Furong clenched her right hand again, and a flash of red light appeared.

She hurled the red light forward, and the next moment an arm made of pure magic stretched infinitely, like rubber.

A few seconds later, the rubber hand seemed to grab something in front of it.

Then he suddenly pulled her over.

It's fast too, about twenty sections.

As Hermione sped along, a slight smile finally appeared on her face, which had been gloomy for months.

She was clutching a piece of parchment that had been enchanted with waterproof magic.

The above is George's handwriting.

"Hi, Hermione."

"What I told you in the Great Hall was just what Professor McGonagall had prepared for you."

"We've also prepared something else for you."

"Yes—other things have been prepared."

"I know you're not one to back down. That surfboard is our latest creation. Fred and I were originally planning to invent a whole new flying broom."

"But it can also be used in water."

"The spell to make it move forward is: Speed ​​up!"

"at last--

We absolutely have to win!

Just now, while she was sitting on the rock, she was not only resting, but also having an internal struggle.

She didn't want to use those magical items that she considered cheating, until she saw Fleur.

Suddenly, Hermione realized that taking a step back would open up a whole new world for her!

When I abandoned morality, I immediately reaped happiness!

The sound of rushing water filled my ears.

Wow—that's really fast!

Hermione thought to herself as she left a swirling eddy in the water.

Then she waved her wand, and the surfboard beneath her feet instantly accelerated, making her even faster.

---------------

On the other side, Owen, who knew all about the wild foods in Black Lake, easily found the mermaids' gathering place.

This is a mermaid village.

He found himself in what appeared to be the square of a small mermaid village, surrounded by houses, in front of which floated a large group of mermaids. Some of the mermaids in the center were singing in unison, calling for the warriors to come forward.

Behind them stood a crude statue: a giant mermaid carved from a massive stone. Four people were tightly bound to the mermaid's tail.

There were only four people: Cho Chang on the far right, Gabrielle, Fleur's sister, a Durmstrang girl, and finally Harry.

It seems the professors did not prepare Koyatl's hostages.

The hostages' faces were ashen, as if they had been petrified, their hands outstretched as if they had a cross behind them.

A silver chain passed through the right hands of the four men, linking them together. Each man wore a large gold ring inlaid with gemstones on his right hand.

The gemstones are all different colors, which correspond to the four academies.

The two gems belonging to Cho Chang and Harry both shone with an orange-yellow hue, which is the background color of the Hogwarts crest.

To be honest, seeing Harry there, Owen suddenly found it a little funny.

He thought Harry Potter wouldn't be very involved in the Goblet of Fire episode after he went from being a warrior to a hostage.

Wait a minute—if he hadn't been unconscious, Dumbledore wouldn't have made him a hostage, would he?

Well—I imagine the other principals wouldn't agree, since that would be tantamount to handing the championship over to Miss Granger.

Who can keep him in check?

It'll probably be Harry or Ron in the end who gets to play the unlucky guy.

"hehe--"

Irving chuckled.

And around him, a steady stream of mermaids were gathering.

He was surrounded by layers of something like a storm.

The mermaids in the Black Lake are different from the traditional mermaids.

Their skin is iron gray, their hair is long and unkempt with a dark green color, their eyes are yellow, their teeth are also yellow and incomplete, and they wear pebbles strung together with thick ropes around their necks.

They don't use magic, they don't have any enchanting songs, and apart from the long spear in their hands, they don't seem to have any fighting power.

Of course, the most important thing is that although these mermaids are ugly, at least they don't have tongue piercings, earrings, nose piercings, dark skin, dirty braids, and a thick Seattle accent.

Mermaids might look like this in the lake below Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but this is Hogwarts, at least for now, and hasn't been invaded by any species.

"Hiss!"

The merfolk surrounding Owen were all baring their fangs and staring at him menacingly. If it weren't for the powerful armor spells around them preventing them from getting any closer, these merfolk would probably have already rushed up and torn his neck apart.

"strangeness--"

Irving frowned slightly.

He was an old acquaintance of the mermaid from the Black Lake.

I was thinking of grilled squid.

However, it's annoying that these mermaids can talk.

Although not everyone can speak English, there are always a few who can.

For food ingredients, being able to talk is indeed very unappetizing.

So Owen had no choice but to put down the mustard, black pepper, and sesame paste. He turned his displeased gaze to the other ingredients in the castle.

Even though these unpleasant things happened, his relationship with the mermaid was still quite terrible.

After all, he only caught a few and didn't eat any.

And in the end, they were spared after Hannah's condemnation, instead of being made into dried mermaids.

There's no need to get so angry with him.

The atmosphere around us was slightly eerie.

It's clear that these ingredients are plotting a rebellion.

Owen narrowed his eyes, and the ancient magic slowly seeped into the lake water.

Its causal principle allows the magic to form a loop, then seep into the bodies of those mermaids like dominoes.

"Um?"

Soul-Stealing Curse!

He guessed.

The strong scent of dark magic emanating from the mermaids and their strange movements immediately reminded him of this curse.

In addition, he discovered an interesting place.

"boom!!!"

Suddenly a loud noise came, the lake water churned, and the waves crashed against his armored spell, pushing Owen around in the water.

Immediately afterwards, the mermaids surrounding him suddenly lost buoyancy and sank one by one, as if they were squid falling from the sky.

No matter how hard they struggled, they couldn't get up.

"Fuck! Are you out of your mind?"

The one who swam violently across the water was none other than that unfortunate kid, Koyatel.

She uses the "bubble head spell" when diving.

The Bubble Head Spell creates a large bubble around the caster's head, making it look like an upside-down goldfish bowl. This spell can be used for underwater breathing or to isolate oneself from the surrounding polluted air.

Of course, this magic has a small flaw: it cannot purify the air. In other words, the wizard will eventually run out of oxygen in the bubbles, at which point you will have to surface to cast the spell again.

If a wizard happens to eat a leek pancake and then uses this spell, it is obvious that he will change bubbles much faster than a normal person.

Owen, on the other hand, used magical items.

He was wearing something that looked like a Muggle oxygen mask over his mouth.

There's a cavity under his chin containing a metal conduit that filters lake water; wearing this, he can live in the sea for the rest of his life.

"He's sick!"

Bubbles enveloped Koyatl's head, and in Owen's view, she was being pulled from side to side, looking quite comical.

Owen's voice, like ripples, entered Koyatl's mind under the influence of magic.

"Isn't he only supposed to live for six months?"

She spoke through the bubbles, her tone mocking.

The voice was very soft, after all, she wouldn't use this "long-distance sound transmission" magic technique.

"What do you want?" Owen looked up at her. "There are no hostages here. You've forfeited this competition."

"Heh—abstain?" Koyatel sneered. "That word doesn't exist in my American dictionary!"

"Perhaps abstaining is unique to you British people?"

She suddenly waved her wand wildly.

Then the lake water boiled, as if it had encountered something extremely hot. The next second, a thick red spell shot directly towards the mermaid statue holding the hostage.

Then came a muffled "BOOM!" like a torpedo exploding. The statue was instantly blasted to pieces.

"Tsk tsk—looks like they'll have to rearrange this match, won't they?"

"6—" Irving's lips twitched.

So you jumped into the lake to disrupt the game!

Hey!

My buddy thought you were going to get involved and take someone else's hostage. Knowing Dumbledore's personality, he'd probably acknowledge her performance and give her a good score.

On one side, freed from the constraints of the mermaid sculpture, the four hostages were drifting rapidly toward the water's surface like balloons.

Once they fully surface, the match will likely have to be cancelled.

To be honest, Irving didn't really want to stop the hostages.

For him, the game was too easy, not fun at all, and completely unchallenging!

He also wanted to see an even bigger spectacle.

But there was one reason why he absolutely could not allow the game to be paused.

The next moment, he waved his wand, and the hostages stopped rising as if they had been frozen in place.

"First of all, I am French. Secondly, does America even have a language? Am I mistaken? I don't think there's a language in the world called American English."

"Heh!" Koyatl gave a noncommittal look, then a slight smile played on his lips. "Oh—the Frenchman."

"No wonder." Her expression gradually turned to sympathy, then she asked in a somewhat uncertain, slightly bewildered tone, "I heard that you resisted the UNIS for less time than a single building in Su, is that true?"

(End of this chapter)