A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 699 The Fairy of the Lake's Deception

The time loop can only occur within Hogwarts.

This "inside" includes all the castle areas.

There are no restrictions at high altitudes, but the Chamber of Secrets deep underground in Slytherin is not included in this scope.

Slytherin clearly did this intentionally, to give himself some private space.

Tom had this in mind when he chose to hold the sacrifice in a secret room.

The edge of the Forbidden Forest is also within the area, while only a portion of Black Lake is included.

According to Vivian, Ravenclaw originally intended to include the Black Lake and drive away the Merfolk tribe.

But the mermaids are still around, so Ravenclaw has definitely failed.

Clearly, Vivian was not a woman to be trifled with.

Therefore, William, trapped in a time loop, cannot infiltrate the mermaid village and has to ask someone else to do it for him.

The best candidate is definitely... Cedric.

He was the mermaid's son-in-law, and he knew the place well. As soon as he showed his face, he would be noticed and then brought before the princess.

No notification is required.

"No, I'm not going! I'd rather die than go!"

Standing by the Black Lake, Cedric refused decisively.

"I'm in a time loop right now, you'll be fine," William reassured him, patting him on the shoulder.

"I don't believe it." Cedric shook his head.

William pulled him aside, and the two of them moved away from Hermione before William chuckled softly:

"Last night, you dreamed of Qiu. In the dream, she beat up the kangaroo you hired."

Then you played the hero and saved the kangaroo... and the kangaroo confessed his love to you.

"Don't talk nonsense..." Cedric glanced around warily and whispered, "How did you know? Did you use Legilimency on me?"

"I told you, I'm in a time loop," William shrugged.

"You told me this yesterday. It's my code, proving I wasn't lying."

Cedric's dream is truly outrageous; the ending is that he lives happily ever after with a kangaroo.

Rats lovers strongly condemn this!

Seeing that Cedric still looked doubtful, William continued:

"If you don't believe me, you can write something on a piece of paper at random, and I can tell you what you wrote."

William was a pro at persuading others, and Cedric was quickly convinced.

"But I still don't want to go. The Little Mermaid will grab me and we can marry at noon and sleep together at night," Cedric said worriedly.

"No, that won't happen," William laughed. "You always come back, really, I'm not lying to you."

No, William was really lying to him.

Cedric went there a few times, but never came back.

William also received news from the mermaid village:

The Little Mermaid and he cooked rice into porridge at noon.

But Cedric knew nothing about this, William continued, adding fuel to the fire:

"Now that we're in a time loop, you can do whatever you want. Don't you want to be a little more forceful in front of the Little Mermaid?"

Humiliating her,

Insult her,

Insult her!

Or perhaps we could break the taboos of species and try something new with her; after all, no one will remember tomorrow…

Cedric was somewhat tempted, though he wasn't sure in what way.

William pressed his advantage: "You confessed your feelings to Qiu multiple times in the time loop, and you succeeded once."

Don't you want to know how to confess your feelings?

"I agree!!"

William nodded in satisfaction and grinned.

"Tell the mermaid chieftain that I've come to find the Sirens as agreed, and that he should bring his trident...and run to see me!"

William tried many times to mention the Lake Nymph, but she completely ignored him.

This time, we'll have to try the Siren.

Cedric nodded, drank the sedative, and jumped into the water.

Sure enough, less than half an hour after he went down there, the Black Lake began to ripple violently.

Hermione took out her wand, stood beside William, and watched the Black Lake warily.

Many students noticed the anomaly; a flash of fire streaked across the sky, and Dumbledore appeared with Fawkes the Phoenix.

Suddenly, the waves crashed against the black lake, and a white line moved from east to west across the misty surface, with the tide rising higher and higher as it advanced.

When they arrived near William and Hermione, the giant waves had already risen four or five meters above the ground.

William remained unmoved, gazing into the distance, where a whirlpool appeared in the lake.

Vivian emerged from the whirlpool and walked slowly, causing the water to surge and boil wherever she went.

Dumbledore's expression turned serious. He lightly stepped to William and Hermione's side, confronting the witch directly from a distance.

The fairy in the lake continued to walk in the water; she did not leave the lake but stood in the giant waves.

He first glanced at Dumbledore, then looked at William, and then a smile appeared on his lips.

"I knew you would come looking for me."

William called out, "Is the agreement from last time still valid?"

"Of course," Vivian said. "What do you want to trade?"

"Ravenclaw's location, the Trident, or even how to find Death... I can tell you anything."

William smirked. He wanted them all, but unfortunately, he didn't have enough bargaining chips.

"I need to break Ravenclaw's magic so that I can enter the time loop outside of Hogwarts as well."

Vivian narrowed her bright eyes and asked languidly, "What can you give me?"

William frowned and asked curiously, "Didn't we agree on the Fairy Diamond?"

"No." Vivian held up a slender finger and shook it, saying, "That was the deal before. Now I want... the Holy Grail."

William took out his wine glass, gently weighed it in his hand, and found it to be quite heavy.

According to Nicol's investigation, the Holy Grail came from the third of the three brothers... namely, Jesus Christ.

After Jesus' death, the Holy Grail was found by Galahad, the purest of the Knights of the Round Table, and given to Merlin.

After Merlin sealed away the two dragons, he disappeared completely, leaving the Holy Grail in the Merlin Memorial Hall.

Later, due to the Roman invasion, the Holy Grail ended up in Constantinople, and then, after being looted by the Doge of Venice, it eventually ended up in Venice.

A thousand years later, it was acquired by William and returned to England.

It's like a cycle of reincarnation.

Because of Merlin's magic, William cannot use the Holy Grail, nor can he give it to Vivian.

The Holy Grail can pull Stonehenge, and perhaps she can escape completely because of it.

Even when suppressed, the Lady of the Lake displayed power no less than that of Dumbledore.

William couldn't imagine how strong she originally was.

"Forget about the Holy Grail," he said, shaking his head. "I'll only trade you the Fairy Diamond, just one."

Without exchanging, you'll get nothing.

Vivian seemed to have expected this; she leaned back, tilted her head, and stared at William, saying:

"Can."

Hermione tossed the smallest of the broken goblin diamonds to Vivian.

She caught it and smiled:

"It's not that difficult to crack the code; the key lies in the Holy Grail."

"If you release those two dragons, the Holy Grail will regain the power of the Deathly Hallows and be able to produce food."

"You will surely die once you leave Hogwarts, but..." Vivian's lips curled up.

"You will be reborn once you have consumed the food from the Holy Grail."

All you need to do is place the Holy Grail within the Hogwarts area.

Of the three brothers, the youngest received Death's goblet.

Among the third brother's followers, someone betrayed him and killed him.

But death could not take the third brother's life.

Because he ate the food from the goblet, he was resurrected on the third day after his death.

The Holy Grail's miraculous power lies in its ability to bring the dead back to life through communion.

Merlin's magic caused this ability to disappear, but it will automatically regenerate when the two dragons are released.

Vivian's method was to make William exploit this bug.

He will indeed die completely when he leaves Hogwarts, but he will also be resurrected by the Holy Grail.

If the Holy Grail is placed inside Hogwarts, he will be resurrected within the school, thus continuing the time loop.

William thought for a moment and asked, "How long can I stay outside the castle?"

If he dies as soon as he steps outside the school grounds, then this method is useless.

"It depends on how far you go... If it's not too far, you can stay for a while before you die," Vivian said.

William nodded slightly, then pondered to himself.

After he released the two dragons, he certainly wouldn't be able to seal them away due to the disruption caused by Merlin's magic.

But he is in a time loop, and everything will return to normal the next day.

The red and white dragons will be trapped again, but there's no need to worry about them causing serious damage.

This is indeed a good method.

William touched the Holy Grail with his wand, reciting the method the red dragon had taught him to release it.

Seven hundred years ago, a wizard in Sardinia, Italy, released a white dragon, which caused the island of Sardinia to be submerged.

A year ago, William and Hermione trapped the white dragon in the Goblet of Fire once again in Venice.

Unexpectedly, a year later, they broke the spell again and released the dragon.

A roar was followed by a white figure piercing the sky.

The white dragon suddenly appeared, landing on the top of Hogwarts Castle. With a gentle scratch of its giant claws, sparks flew everywhere.

The Great Hall of Hogwarts collapsed with a crash, filled with smoke, thanks to the white dragon's devastation.

Countless young wizards looked up, staring in terror at the suddenly appearing monster, their bodies trembling.

What kind of monster is this?

Minister Fudge also saw the fire dragon, and his legs trembled as he cried out, "Kingsley...save me!"

The white dragon looked down, glaring at William with furious rage.

William looked up and met its gaze.

He suddenly remembered Professor Trelawney.

Before going to Voldemort's Horcrux cave, he was in a Divination class when he received instructions from Fawkes to skip class and leave.

Trelawney, however, said that she gazed into the abyss with her third eye… like red and white dragons circling overhead, getting lower and lower… right above the castle… many people would die…

William's eyes glazed over, and he inexplicably stopped the magic.

The red dragon, who had just been thinking of getting out, was locked up again.

The Black Lake rippled again, and Vivian suddenly appeared.

She simply placed her thumb on the wand and pointed it out.

The specks of light coalesced into a net of light, leaped out of the water, and rushed toward the white dragon.

The white dragon spewed out a column of water, but the light was like countless white snowflakes, each forming a single cage.

The world seemed to freeze and stand still.

Only light.

Then, the white dragon was bound. After only a few seconds of frolicking, it was sucked into the whirlpool of the black lake, just like a fish.

……

……

(Please vote for this post, everyone!)

(End of this chapter)