I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 372 This Merlin is a bit strange

The man stood with his chest puffed out, as if he were giving a speech from a high tower.

He squinted, his left hand gripping a withered, tree-like cane, which looked like a tree branch that could be found anywhere.

With his right hand on his chest, looking smug, he said, "Let me introduce myself."

I am Merlin—Ara ara—were you startled to hear my name?

"Oh, come on—no need to be so formal. Please don't stand on ceremony, just call me Merlin!"

"Huh?" Hermione and everyone else froze.

Merlin's reputation is comparable to that of Qin Shi Huang in the Muggle world.

His statement just now has the same effect as saying, "Hello, I am Qin Shi Huang, but I am not actually dead."

Every year—every year someone in the magical world falls for the same scam letter and loses fifty dollars.

To be honest, the reputation of the Archmage Merlin hasn't been very good in the last hundred years—because there have been far too many charlatans.

Hermione, on the other hand, was even more cautious. Who knew if it was an illusion, or if the flesh and blood in the sea were what they were seeing?

And just like that, the air unexpectedly froze.

When Master Mei saw that no one paid any attention to him, he continued, "I saved you in a moment of crisis, so I hope you can express your gratitude to me in abundance."

He spoke again to remind him, and at this moment, Nefertir, the most innocent of the three on the small boat, immediately tensed up and hurriedly bowed to him, "Okay—um—thank you very much."

"My name is Nefertari, and if you have time, I'd like to invite you for a drink in Cairo."

At this point, the difference between the two little witches, who were about the same age, became apparent.

Miss Granger didn't reply at all. Instead, she took out her wand and secretly used magic to stir the seawater. Only after confirming that the limbs and pieces of flesh in the sea had disappeared did she relax her tense nerves.

But—that's not enough to explain anything.

Because there is no direct relationship between the two, he still cannot prove that he is Merlin.

Neferpitou, her eyes shining with excitement, waved at Merlin, curious about the magic that allowed him to stand on water.

I never considered that the other party might be an owl scammer.

As for that Auror—sorry, he doesn't understand English.

However, the terrifying strength and ability to reverse flesh and blood of the stranger who appeared before him made him tremble with fear.

Each of them had their own unique characteristics, but they forgot that this sea area was not only inhabited by them.

The instigator, a humanoid monster hovering in the air with its wings flapping, was still watching them.

"Oh dear! I forgot—there's still an audience member."

Grand Master Merlin looked at the figure in the air and said, "Since that's the case, then I'll have to show you my true abilities."

With that, he clenched his right hand slightly, and a golden longsword appeared in his hand.

Then—his body moved like a cannonball, and with a sliding slash, he cleaved the humanoid monster in two before it could react.

Silent pink petals gushed from the monster's wounds, the petals gently caressing the man's figure, creating a beautiful scene amidst the sea of ​​flowers.

"Oh my—so it's a vampire familiar! Looks like it has a master behind it."

"Vampire Familia?" Hermione heard another new term.

Nefertari, who was standing next to her, knew more about this. In her excitement, she explained to her, "Some progenitors of vampires would first adopt some wizards, of course, some social outcasts. They would pursue becoming vampires for all sorts of reasons."

"Hmm—I know that." Even though Hermione hadn't seen this kind of common-sense knowledge at Hogwarts, Muggle movies had already shown it in enough detail.

"It's probably because one of the dark wizards we wiped out before had some vampire's property, so his clan came to retaliate against us."

"I know." Hermione nodded, then looked back at the fair-skinned, multicolored man who was standing with his hands on his hips in front of them.

"You—um—are you really Merlin?"

"Is that Merlin, the legendary wizard who assisted King Arthur?"

"Haha—it was all Arthur's own effort. I didn't really help much, but I did cause a lot of trouble."

The man who called himself Merlin laughed heartily, exuding an air of frivolity that made Hermione even more suspicious of his identity.

It's important to understand that Merlin not only assisted King Arthur in ascending the throne and helping him establish the Camelot dynasty, but also later organized the Merlin Order to mediate wizarding disputes. He advocated for peaceful coexistence between wizards and Muggles and promoted the establishment of the Wizarding Council (the predecessor of the Ministry of Magic), among other things—even the later Presbyterian Church (the predecessor of the Federation) was influenced by him to some extent.

Merlin—in the magical world, he is a god.

Muggles will say things like "God" all the time.

Wizards, on the other hand, would often say, "Merlin is above all else."

Every letter—every letter from a wizard—ends with the blessing, "May Merlin bless you."

So—it's not that Hermione doesn't believe, unless there really is a God.

If the Muggle's God is real, then the wizard Merlin must still be alive.

"However—your doubts about me have saddened Brother Merlin." Boss Merlin walked over lightly.

"I also brought you a gift!" He winked, a faint smile on his face.

"A gift!" Hermione wasn't particularly moved, but Neferpitou beside her was incredibly excited. "A gift! Miss Granger, a gift from the Archmage Merlin must be something very precious." Her little face flushed slightly from the rush of blood to her head, her hands became awkward, and she was completely absorbed in the flower petals on the sea surface.

Looking at Neferpitou's appearance, Hermione couldn't help but wonder if Merlin's faith had already encompassed Egypt?

Why are you so excited? It's not like Ramses II (the famous Egyptian pharaoh) has been resurrected.

"Oh! It seems this young girl has a kind heart." Merlin picked up his withered, wooden cane and gently tapped Nefertir on the shoulder. "Now, you are a member of the Knights!"

"Ahem—you just said you wanted to buy me a drink?" The Flower Magician's expression suddenly changed, becoming eager. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Oh dear! Rowing all the way from Sicily was exhausting."

On the small boat, Hermione and the Auror exchanged a glance.

Regardless of who they are, they should all leave.

The guys lying in ambush will definitely come back.

Although Hermione was not afraid, she did not want to cause trouble.

Once in Cairo, under the watchful eye of the Ministry of Magic, even a dark wizard wouldn't dare to act recklessly.

After exchanging glances, the Auror, along with Hermione and Neferpitou, the little girl who looked like a newly born flower bud, a blank sheet of paper, very friendly, took Merlin's arm with her other hand, and then Apparated.

The four arrived in Cairo.

With a bang, when the surroundings brightened again, Hermione found herself in a hotel with a mix of ancient Egyptian and Arabic styles.

The space here is large and bright, full of unique exotic charm. The floor is made of snow-white marble, the bronze doors are shiny, there are huge and ancient stone carvings, the walls are hung with brightly colored curtains and tapestries, and valuable decorations are placed everywhere.

The gate was shaped like a sphinx, and they went inside. Then they saw several enormous stone pillars covered with hieroglyphs.

"Where is this?" Hermione asked, her brown eyes scanning the massive stone pillars in the hall, which were covered in hieroglyphics.

Unlike the magical hotel she had stayed at with her parents in Cairo before, this place was more like a converted Muggle hotel.

And here—here the Egyptian atmosphere is even stronger.

"The Pharaoh's Inn," the man who called himself Merlin said. "It's the tomb of a pharaoh from the Seventeenth Dynasty. After it was looted by dark wizards, the Ministry of Magic converted it into an inn. I've been here before—"

He pointed to the stone pillars and said, "I remember there used to be a few mummies there. It was a very interesting thing to talk to them. You could hear a lot of interesting stories from three thousand years ago—even some of the pharaohs' private matters, of course—if you were on good terms with them."

"Hmm—interesting." Hermione bit her lip and followed Merlin's finger to look between the two stone pillars. She didn't find living in a mausoleum to be interesting at all.

Not to mention that several living mummies would be placed in the hall.

"Well—because they injured several wizard travelers, the Ministry of Magic moved them away," Neferpitou explained.

"Injured? How could you be injured?" Hermione turned her head to look at her.

"It's nothing, I just had a fight with the mummy. You know, people three thousand years ago were very stubborn, and when they couldn't win an argument, they started fighting."

"."

Hermione shut her mouth—perhaps in the eyes of Egyptians, mummies are like ghosts, and thinking of the ghosts in Hogwarts—thinking of them—she suddenly understood this strange custom.

However—a mummy from three thousand years ago, that's really ancient. Hermione doesn't know if Hogwarts has any ghosts from three thousand years ago. The oldest ghost she knows is Sir Nicholas de Minsey-Popington of Gryffindor, who celebrated his five hundredth birthday a few years ago.

"What a pity—" After hearing Nefertari's introduction, Archmage Merlin's expression showed regret. "I had a very pleasant chat with them."

"Oh dear—I thought a mummy that has lived for three thousand years would live on forever, but things have changed! Things have really changed."

"."

Upon hearing the voice, Miss Granger touched her forehead and quickened her pace as she walked through the hall.

The group found a seat in the restaurant on the east side of the hall.

It's called a restaurant, and it really is a restaurant.

Unlike restaurants outside, these are individual cubicles, with only the aisle side free of wooden planks to block the view. Secondly, there are no windows on the walls next to them. In fact, most ancient buildings in Egypt do not have windows, which is a custom. Even if there are windows, they are designed to be very small.

The walls are painted with brightly colored murals depicting scenes of the daily lives and grand sacrificial rites of the ancient pharaohs.

Even on their tables, hieroglyphs were scattered like decorations in corners that had never been drawn.

The room was lit only by candlelight, so it wasn't dark, but it was extremely dim, giving the impression of being in a mausoleum.

Nefert took charge and ordered a lot of dishes after they sat down.

Mr. Auror did not linger; he stormed off to investigate who had planned the ambush.

As for Merlin...

After handing another suitcase to Hermione, he began drinking glass after glass of Egyptian-style beer.

"Ah—people really do live for these beautiful things!" After a few beers, Merlin's face flushed.

He picked up his knife and fork and began his duel with the food in front of him.

Every time he tasted a new dish, he would exclaim, "Hey—Gao Wenqing, who only knows how to make mashed potatoes, should be buried in the ground and turned into a potato."

Oh—poor Arthur.

Nefer ordered more than a dozen Egyptian specialties in one go.

Although she kept introducing all sorts of delicious food to Miss Granger, the place was just too 'gloomy'. There was absolutely no atmosphere for eating, and Hermione only managed a few bites before she couldn't swallow another single bite.

Neferpitou couldn't eat that much, and besides, her attention was all on Hermione.

The remaining food naturally ended up in Mr. Merlin's stomach.

Several tens of minutes later, Mr. Mei leaned back in his seat, facing the questioning eyes of the two girls—how could your stomach hold so much food—without any movement at all.

He beamed with a satisfied smile and patted his belly. "That's the magnanimity of a king," he said. "You can't be a king without a healthy stomach."

"The king can eat even the most unpalatable food."

"No one can eat potatoes for over ten years, except for the king!"

"."

"Oh! Right, after I finished eating, something came to mind." Master Mei suddenly stood up leisurely.

"Please order another one from the same menu, thank you!"

"..." The two girls stared in disbelief as the man greeted the boss kindly and then sat down on his own.

"Oh, that last serving was just me letting Wang taste the food to see if it suited his palate. The next serving will be mine!"

Feeding—what does that have to do with King Arthur?!

It's clearly you who wants to eat it!

Hermione thought to herself, her mind completely blank.

"Aren't you going to look at the gift I brought you?" Suddenly, the Great Master Mei stared at Hermione with a cheerful expression.

He glanced at the briefcase she had placed at her feet and gestured for her to open it.

"For me?" Hermione asked, puzzled. It was a brown, unidentified leather, antique-looking briefcase, probably from the 1950s or 60s.

In the Muggle world, these kinds of things are only available in junk shops or when brands reissue classic models.

So it's obvious that this is a briefcase that only a wizard would use.

Normally speaking, it would be very dangerous to open a wizard's box rashly, especially when she had doubts about the identity of the person in front of her.

However—this is Cairo, a bustling city, and the Ministry of Magic is not far away; you might even bump into their employees while eating, so Hermione isn't too worried.

Of course—what truly made her fearless was the little white cat sleeping in her fanny pack. With Sirocco around, she had nothing to fear.

After thinking for a moment, she picked up the suitcase and placed it on her lap.

The bolt was pulled open.

Then—then she saw—she saw a wooden staircase.

This box has been enchanted with a wireless stretching spell.

"Let's go in and take a look." Boss Mei gestured for her to put the box on the ground, then took the lead and went down the stairs first.

Hermione was a little flustered—the Infinite Stretch Charm was, after all, an illegal charm, and its misuse was not permitted without the authorization of the Ministry of Magic.

She had two pockets with the Infinite Stretching Charm on her, but knowing these items, Harry and his friends were now walking into the box openly. If any Ministry of Magic staff saw them, they would definitely cause her trouble.

In fact, some Ministry of Magic employees have already seen it.

These cubicles weren't private, and because Mr. Merlin had just finished his frantic rice-eating, many people's attention had been drawn to them.

Many of these were employees of the Ministry of Magic.

However—after seeing the other girl next to Hermione, the employees immediately fell silent and none of them went forward.

Meanwhile, Hermione had already followed Merlin into the box.

The wooden steps creaked and groaned, making one wonder if the next step might break.

The steps were black, greasy, and damp, with only the middle section still showing the original brown color of the wood.

The air was filled with the salty smell of the sea, a strong smell that could only be found on the sea surface.

After walking several dozen steps, they finally reached the stone ground from the stairs.

"this--"

"It's huge!" Hermione had never seen the interior of such a massive Infinite Stretch Charm before.

Whether it was her pocket or Irving's, the interior area was roughly the size of a house, but what was in front of us was clearly not—it stretched as far as the eye could see.

The entire space resembles a castle.

Layer upon layer, the stone fortress separates into a series of empty rooms.

These rooms are all different – ​​some are green meadows, some are deserts, some are under the blazing sun, and some are at dusk or midnight.

The wonder of magic is on full display in this little castle.

The three of them continued downwards until they finally arrived at a rooftop terrace.

Ahead lies a vast lake.

Mr. Merlin waved his withered, wooden cane, which was tied with a five-colored ribbon, and in an instant, the lake was parted.

Stone pillars on both sides extend into a stone staircase that plunges into the depths of the lake.

Hermione spotted some kind of creature in the lake from afar.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that they were all beautiful women—no, they were sirens.

She saw the sea monsters leap out of the water, their fish tails transforming into two legs, exuding a captivating charm.

There are probably a dozen or so siren sea monsters here.

Each one of them was unbelievably beautiful, like a perfect sculpture sculpted by the gods.

Her skin was fair and delicate, like the purest snowflakes, without a single blemish.

Her face was small and delicate, making one want to kiss her. Her eyes were bright and expressive, revealing both innocence and a hint of fear.

Her figure was curvaceous, with a slender waist, long and straight legs, and smooth, beautiful lines, which made her a little envious.

For a moment, she was completely mesmerized.

Until Hermione suddenly realized that these sirens were not wearing clothes; they were naked.

With a "boom," Miss Granger's cheeks immediately turned red.

His eyes quickly darted away.

Then she saw the strange man who called himself Merlin smiling as he looked at the innocent creatures with his violet eyes.

"Ara ara—what wonderful creatures they are!"

He commented.

"This reminds me of the Lake Fairy. They were also very beautiful, but unfortunately they never interacted with humans, and Arthur never saw their true faces."

"You don't interact with humans, so you..." Hermione immediately seized on the loophole in the man's words and questioned him.

"Well—I'm not exactly a complete human being!" said the Archmage Merlin with a smile.

"Not considered human?"

Miss Granger paused for a moment, then remembered the legend of Merlin.

Legend has it that he was the child of Nightmare and a princess from Wales, thus possessing half of Nightmare's bloodline and therefore never dying.

Could the legend be true?

But I've never heard of a creature called a nightmare in the magical world.

"What's going on with these sirens?" Nefertir asked from the side. This was the first time she had ever seen so many sirens.

"Heh—Mr. Trisk runs a hotel in Sicily called the Etna Tavern," Mr. May said.

“Oh! I know that tavern,” Nefertir said. “Almost every wizard who travels to Etna stays there.”

"Then you probably don't know that Mr. Trisk also has other secret businesses. Decades of living on the island have made him extremely familiar with the surrounding seas. I suspect that when the Great Whirlpool gradually expanded, a group of sea monsters escaped, and they were caught by Mr. Trisk who was lying in wait."

"What?" Neferpitou looked surprised. After these days of her and Hermione's "adventures" (crashing things), she naturally knew very well what Merlin meant by "career".

Selling magical creatures—judging from the other rooms in the castle, he sold more than one kind. It's quite possible that the magical creatures in the arena where she and Hermione encountered were obtained by him.

Moreover, judging from Grand Master Mei's tone, this Trisk is clearly a repeat offender, a criminal of decades, so he is extremely familiar with the surrounding waters and knows the sirens' paths clearly. That's why he was able to capture so many sirens.

Neferpitou's gaze swept over the sirens.

Look at that pretty face—cough cough—I'm sure someone would be willing to pay a lot of gold for it.

Because—it's really beautiful.

She wants a pretty older sister to warm her bed.

Eiffel, who had just had this thought, quickly shook his head.

Oh no—no, no—I already have someone special in my heart.

She glanced cautiously at Hermione, then immediately looked away from the others.

The sea parted at Meilin, revealing sandy ground. The three continued walking forward, trudging through the muddy sand, until they came to a rock wall and stopped.

The rock wall in front of them had been hollowed out by the sirens. They had gathered many plants from the seabed, along with furs from other rooms and other creatures, or magical items, to simply build a shed.

An extremely simple shack.

Inside the shack, four or five young, beautiful, and completely naked sirens gathered together, surrounding one person.

In an instant—Miss Granger's originally flushed cheeks turned ashen.

Her little hands were clenched tightly together.

He revealed a look that suggested he wanted to devour someone.

(End of this chapter)