A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 511 St. Mark's Square on the Verge of Destruction

St. Mark's Bell Tower.

This place could be said to have changed Martell's life.

That year, he was seventeen, and she was seventeen too.

Two young wizards who had just joined the Ministry of Magic came here for a visit.

The clock tower collapsed without warning.

Muggle reports say that only one cat died, which is a miracle;

The wizarding newspapers reported that a young wizard named Martell had saved countless Muggles and was to be awarded the Governor's Medal.

But it wasn't just one cat that died, and it wasn't just one person who deserved the medal.

And that seventeen-year-old... witch.

The person who should have survived chose to save him, and then... was burned to death.

Time flies, and a hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye. Martell found that he could no longer remember what the witch looked like.

I only vaguely remember that she had a beautiful smile and a name—Ellaria Shad.

Therefore, every young wizard he adopted was named Shad.

Martell spent half a century investigating what happened back then.

He sneaked into the base of St. Mark's Campanile and found a hidden crevice beneath which lay a lagoon.

He then ventured deep into the lagoon and searched for seven or eight years before finally finding the sleeping monster.

That dragon was huge, completely different from the dragons in the reserve today.

However, it wasn't the one that could breathe fire, but another water dragon.

As a high-ranking official in the Italian Ministry of Magic, Martell naturally had access to top-secret files that ordinary wizards could not.

In the old papers, he found a few words about the Goblet of Fire.

Seven hundred years ago, a dark wizard conducted research on the Goblet of Fire in Sardinia.

In the end, a monster was created, which broke free of the Goblet of Fire's magical restraints and flooded Sardinia.

Submerging a large island is something ordinary dragons simply cannot do. Even a powerful creature like the Hungarian Horned Bee couldn't burn down an island.

This dragon is not something that a few dozen wizards can handle.

But the powerful contract of the Goblet of Fire can trap it.

What Maltay needs to do is slowly awaken this dragon... flood Venice, and then stop it with the Goblet of Fire.

But unexpectedly, the Goblet of Fire was lost.

He never expected that Trinity, who stole the Goblet of Fire, would find this place and hide it underneath.

Although Martell did not know the exact location of the hiding place, he was full of confidence.

Perfectly suited, the Goblet of Fire is hidden where the dragon was awakened, and then the entire St. Mark's Square is destroyed.

It's perfect; there's no better place.

Martell isn't someone who enjoys rituals, but at this moment, he felt inexplicably excited.

He knew Trinity wouldn't give in so easily, and might even want to kill him. But Trinity clearly underestimated his abilities.

Everything you know is taught to you by me, but you have no idea what I'm capable of, he thought to himself.

Martell knew that Treani wanted to save Stark and Granger, but according to his guidance, Russell should have already killed them both.

For Ma'ertai, the ending seemed sudden, but in fact it was destined long ago.

A hundred years ago, he survived and inadvertently glimpsed the secret.

After years of meticulous planning, enduring pain, waiting, and searching... this moment has now arrived.

He felt an overwhelming excitement. Grindelwald, Voldemort… Once he got the Goblet of Fire and bound the water dragon… he could do whatever he wanted.

……

……

Heavy rain was falling.

St. Mark's Square still has a lot of tourists.

A dark figure pierced through the fog and appeared in everyone's sight.

A handsome young man stands at the bow of a gondola, holding a uniquely styled magic wand.

Behind him, in the cabin, sat a young girl with thick, fluffy curly hair that fell over her shoulders.

She was navigating the boat, and even though she was almost at the shore, she showed no sign of slowing down.

It seems the brake button has been pressed!

The girl's driving skills were also skillful and bold.

He was skilled, yet miraculously avoided an accident while speeding; he was also aggressive, cutting in and overtaking other vehicles with the ferocity of an aircraft carrier.

Fortunately, it wasn't an aircraft carrier, otherwise everyone would have thought that the ship had been hijacked by terrorists and was rushing to crash into St. Mark's Basilica.

Seeing such a fierce girl, everyone couldn't help but feel worried for the boy at the bow of the boat.

My child, if she kidnaps you, just blink!

We certainly can't save you, but we can call the police.

Given the speed of Italian police response, your body should be found within a week at most.

If Hermione knew what everyone was thinking, she would definitely cry foul.

She was clearly a gentle, kind, and law-abiding model student, but the treacherous society has forced her into this state.

In fact, she hasn't had a peaceful year since she met William.

Their first meeting ended with the cauldron exploding. A trip to Gringotts led to encounters with a fire dragon and Voldemort...

However, Hermione discovered that she didn't seem to dislike the adventure of saving the world.

This has nothing to do with whether she is a Gryffindor or not.

Because what Hermione enjoys isn't adventure itself, but rather adventure with someone.

Modifiers are very important; without them, the adventure would be meaningless.

Therefore, Hermione insists that William was the one who was sorted into the wrong house!

He should be in the same courtyard as her.

William didn't think that way, because his attention was focused on the ship beneath his feet.

The gondola, without slowing down, sped straight down a curved slide from the river, like an arrow, into St. Mark's Square.

This is a projectile motion, and William can even mentally calculate the highest point and the landing position.

But if he doesn't stop, the ground will give him an inelastic collision energy, forcing him to calculate underground.

William aimed his wand at the small boat, and the gondola paused, hovering awkwardly in mid-air for a few seconds before continuing its descent.

Protected by magic, the small boat sped forward, rushing for more than ten meters before stopping.

But William and Hermione were unharmed.

"Are you asking for death?" many people shouted angrily.

"Boats sail on water, not on land! Are you out of your minds?!" said one of the tourists from China.

Several security guards rushed over.

The two people were clearly underage drivers and definitely didn't have driver's licenses. The boat might even have been stolen.

Too arrogant!

"A great flood is going to submerge St. Mark's Basilica! Run!" William shouted.

But nobody paid any attention to him.

Huh, why did you say "again"?

The old tour guide was still there, still dressed in his imam's clothes, diligently explaining the history of the square's architecture to everyone.

His memory has been altered, so he doesn't remember William and Hermione.

The old imam scoffed, "If there really is a great flood, God will surely send down Noah's Ark. With devout believers like me here, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

Whether God would send down Noah's Ark or not, William didn't know, but Jesus Christ certainly wanted to strike him dead with lightning.

You damned heretic!

William paid no attention to the surrounding tourists and put the gondola into the safety range.

This place is almost destroyed, who cares about violating the secrecy law?

William looked toward the St. Mark's Bell Tower.

In Merlin's story: King Vortigern wanted to build a tower, but no matter how hard the soldiers worked during the day, the tower would suddenly collapse overnight.

Merlin explained that the tower was built on top of a groundwater pool. He also predicted that if the groundwater were drained, two sleeping dragons would be found inside the two hollowed-out boulders.

The St. Mark's Campanile collapsed without warning back then. So that dragon is located beneath St. Mark's Square!

Martell is a witness!

Moreover, most of the Venetian Doges are buried in St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace.

If the remains of Governor Dandolo were sent to Venice, they would naturally be buried here as well.

The Holy Grail burned at the bottom of the tomb...

The Holy Grail burns beneath St. Mark's Square, and the dragon sleeps beneath it.

Death told him this very clearly.

"How do we get down?" Hermione asked. "There should be a path under St. Mark's Bell Tower."

"But we don't know exactly where it is, and we don't have time to look for it. Martell probably set up magic there as well." William shook his head.

"Death has shown us other paths."

He said softly, "In the depths of the phoenix's rebirth, the lagoon will not reflect the stars."

The entrance is right there at... the Phoenix Opera House!

William initially thought the statement referred to the appearance of a phoenix, most likely Fox.

But in the end, I realized that Death was referring to a place—the La Fenice opera house in St. Mark's Square, Venice!

The Phoenix Opera House, also known as the Phoenix Theatre, was founded in 1792.

It is named after the phoenix, and coincidentally, its tumultuous fate perfectly illustrates the legend of the "phoenix's rebirth".

Over its 200-year history, it was destroyed by fire three times and rebuilt or repaired three times.

William knew that the final destruction would come in two years.

However, it may now happen sooner than expected. Even the entire St. Mark's Square could be destroyed.

After destroying Notre Dame Cathedral, he's now targeting this place... It's really baffling...

I'm so excited!

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(End of this chapter)