A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

"The fourth team is from Durmstrang. Krum is making good progress and hasn't encountered any dangers along the way. Of course, he has to break into the mermaid camp to rescue his teammates. I wonder if he can do it..."

"The fifth team is from Beauxbatons. Captain Fleur Delacour made good progress at the beginning, but after being ambushed by Grindylow, she had to discard her squid ink and water bombs to protect herself. After that, her expedition became more cautious... Her two teammates are also doing well so far, but they seem to be too cautious and are far behind the others. However, under these circumstances, as long as they don't make any mistakes, they can get a good score."

"The sixth team is from Iphamoni. By the way, they've changed their captain this time; it's that round-faced wizard named Byersbach. He and the former captain have performed exceptionally well, clearing seven and nine levels respectively, making them the fastest progressers. However, their speed in collecting golden gems doesn't match their performance. Let's wait and see..."

……

Ron trudged along the lakebed, his head bearing an irregular bubble-head spell that he had to recast every two minutes. He encountered no obstacles along the way, but instead easily found two golden gems, making a total of three.

After another face-peek into the bushes, he unexpectedly encountered a giant squid. The squid chased him for three or four minutes, breaking two of his Bubble Head Charms. The most dangerous time was when he was unable to breathe because his neck was locked by two long tentacles. In desperation, he smashed its head with his wand, causing it to spew out streams of foul-smelling ink. After gaining a chance to catch his breath, he successfully used the Escape Charm. Then, he used his wand to push the giant squid into a narrow crevice between rocks.

Before he could catch his breath, another enormous squid flew overhead, its huge, glassy eyes staring at him. Ron trembled as he hid behind a rock. He recognized the creature; it was a well-known giant squid from Black Lake. Perhaps the one he had just knocked over was its offspring.

Hopefully it didn't see this...

The giant squid slowly glided across the lake and disappeared into the distance before him. Ron looked around and realized he was completely lost. Although he hadn't found a familiar route before, he guessed it was related to the change in his perspective. But he really didn't want to expose himself to the darkness. In the entire Black Lake, only human eyesight was the worst. The thought of countless eyes staring at him in the dark sent chills down his spine.

Ron pulled the water snail off his neck, chose a direction and moved forward. When he got tired, he swam close to the ground. Before he knew it, a steep underwater cliff appeared in front of him. He looked down and saw blurry stone pillars below. There seemed to be people tied to two of the pillars...

Ron gaped, lay on the ground observing for a long time, and finally concluded that he didn't recognize either of the two people, secretly letting out a sigh of relief. At the same time, he made a decision in his heart: he must not be discovered by the mermaid.

Over the next few days, he began to explore both sides, but with little to show for it. As time passed, he grew increasingly anxious. He had only obtained three golden gems so far, and he was still a long way from "growing up."

He had seen a silver light earlier, which seemed to be Professor Hyp. He almost mistook it for Harry's Patronus and ran a long way after it.

He missed Harry and Hermione even more, when a familiar voice entered his mind:

"Listen... I only have ten seconds: I don't know how many gold gems you've obtained, but I've discovered a secret. Every purple level, blue level, and gold gem is distributed in groups. If you find one, you can definitely find two more nearby. I've tried it six times—"

The call abruptly ended.

Ron was stunned. "Hermione?" She's talking to me? Where is she? How is she talking to me?

Thinking about what Hermione had mentioned earlier, he finally decided to turn back. At this moment, he couldn't help but feel glad that he had waded all the way here, and the footprints he left were still quite clear. When he passed the crevice in the rock where the giant squid had attacked him, the giant squid was gone, and he quickly quickened his pace.

Upon returning to the location where he found the golden gem, he indeed found a small blue house behind a patch of seaweed. "Blue...a test of wisdom..." Ron felt a chill, but he still went inside.

The next second, he was pulled into a quaint library.

The room was empty. A hollow voice echoed, "Warrior detected. Test begins." A golden wheel appeared in mid-air. Ron had just seen the options "Potions," "Magic Knowledge," and "Intelligence" when the wheel began to spin rapidly.

He was filled with anxiety, muttering, "Please don't let it be a magic potion, please don't let it be a magic potion..."

Finally, the wheel stopped, and the pointer pointed in the direction of "Muggle Research".

Ron breathed a sigh of relief, but the voice continued, "Please choose open or closed book—"

"Open the book!" Ron shouted immediately.

A golden parchment appeared on the table, and the dark bookshelves of the library began to move, until a bookshelf full of books came to rest in front of him.

The hollow voice said, "All the answers are in the book. The time allotted for answering the questions is ten minutes outside. The time ratio is 1:5."

Ron's eyes widened; why did this level seem so familiar to him?

Chapter 439 Adventure at the Bottom of the Lake (The End)

On the shore, it was already afternoon. The students were starving, and Ludo Bagman's commentary was becoming listless, but no one chose to leave. The competition was drawing to a close, and most of the warriors (except those captured by the mermaids) had obtained enough golden gems. They only needed to reach the last location and gather together to successfully complete the competition.

"In the third hour of the competition, the warriors were severely exhausted. Moreover, with the first warrior successfully collecting all the golden gems, the entire Merfolk tribe mobilized to patrol the Black Lake, making the warriors' situation even more dangerous," Bagman said in a hoarse voice.

Felix stood by the lake, touching his nose. He wondered if the merman chieftain had misunderstood his intention in giving him the magic phonograph, and became unusually diligent. An hour and a half earlier, merman guards, leading their tamed Grindylo, had been traversing the Black Lake, capturing exhausted warriors one by one.

Those who weren't caught immediately are now hiding and dare not show their faces.

……

Ron breathed a long sigh of relief, finally passing the test. He didn't know if this could be considered a loophole he had discovered, but he found that if he failed the first time, he could try a second time, a third time... Moreover, he discovered a second secret: only when it came to Muggle studies and history of magic could he choose to open or close the book.

After learning this secret, he found the best way to pass the game—keep choosing the blue levels, and when he encounters these two options by luck, choose to open the book, and then flip through the book to find the answer. He may fail two or three times along the way, but he will definitely succeed.

After passing the level, select the nearby terrain to find the location of the golden gem.

He yawned, and Ron felt as if he had forgotten he was in the dangerous tournament, and was back in class. He was very glad that he had read "The Adventures of Mick the Wizard of Oz" over and over again, and that he knew a lot of things...

Both the blue and purple levels have their own protective shields, making them rare safe zones. Ron took a deep breath, preparing to find the seventh golden gem. Just as he took one step out, a tall and burly figure swam past him.

Those were warriors of Vagado. Ron turned his gaze back in the direction he had come from and saw a group of merfolk chasing after him menacingly. Ron grinned and pulled his outstretched foot back.

Unfortunately, a mermaid spotted him. This tall mermaid was blowing a whistle on her chest, and three other mermaids stayed behind, surrounding him. Although mermaids are generally ugly, Ron recognized the leader by her clothing and bone ornaments.

Ron swallowed hard, realizing he might have kicked him.

The mermaid clearly recognized Ron, grinning and revealing a mouthful of fangs as she laughed happily. Just then, several beams of light from incantations illuminated the area.

The two mermaids collapsed instantly, their braided hair swaying in the wind. Ron raised his wand and cast a stun spell.

The light of the Stunning Spell pierced the water, its speed noticeably slowed, but it was still close enough that the spell successfully struck the leading merman. The merman stared at Ron in disbelief, then froze for a moment before collapsing into the mud.

Harry and Hermione emerged from the corner.

"How did you guys meet?" Ron asked, his head still covered in pufferfish-like hair.

"After collecting the seven gold gems, the watch can display the location of your companions as three little red dots. I guess a tracking charm must have been cast... I found Harry first and wanted to come to you right away, but we encountered a large group of merfolk... They were so agile in the water that Harry used the light of his Patronus to scare them away, and that's how we managed to escape..."

Hermione explained, then looked at Ron, "By the way, how many gold gems are you still missing?"

“The last one, and I already know its location,” Ron said hastily.

“Then let’s hurry,” Hermione said, her face pale. “We’ve been dragging this on for too long. I don’t know if we’re the last group.”

“Definitely not,” Ron said. “I just saw a Vargadu warrior being chased by a group of mermaids.”

“Oh, I don’t think he can escape unless—” Hermione said pessimistically, then her eyes widened suddenly as a loud noise came from not far away, sending sand flying.

“Hermione, you and Ron go find the gem. I'll go check on things,” Harry said.

They quickly separated, and a few minutes later Ron and Hermione successfully found the gem, but the noise outside grew louder and louder, with shouts carrying far across the water.

After a while, Harry returned.

"Run!" he shouted, his expression terrified. "What's wrong?" Ron asked, puzzled.

“Let’s talk as we go!” Harry said decisively. They hurried toward the last spot, the roar of the rushing water behind them growing louder and louder, as if a thousand horses were chasing them. A tall waterspout, carrying a large amount of mud and sand, formed a brownish-yellow vortex.

“Several groups of warriors teamed up and stormed into Mermaid Square, rescuing all the hostages. I saw Durmstrang, Ilfamoni, and Cedric!” Harry said, bracing himself with the Humanoid Armor Charm.

“And Vagado,” Ron said, his face pale.

"How did you know?" Harry asked casually, as they got closer to their goal.

“I saw an elephant…” Ron said blankly.

Harry and Hermione couldn't help but glance back. Hundreds of feet behind them, a bright light illuminated the bottom of the lake (Harry guessed Cedric had used a light spell). An elephant was charging forward, kicking up mud and sand, completely churning the lakebed. A dozen or so people sat on the elephant's back; among them, Harry could see Cedric, Collins, Roger and Krum, Fleur, and two other Vagado warriors.

“What do we do?” Ron asked hesitantly.

Less than two hundred feet away, a high platform stood on the bottom of the lake, shimmering and attracting their attention.

“You guys go first,” Harry said.

"You're not trying to be a hero, are you? They'll be fine..."

“No,” Harry hesitated, “I know they’ll be fine. I just wanted to use a spell. You guys hurry, I’m coming right away. This time we’ll definitely be number one!”

"Then hurry up and use it, we're waiting!" Hermione said impatiently.

Harry took a deep breath, held his wand level, and realized he had fully regained his magic power and could now unleash his full potential. Crucially, he had just witnessed Professor Hyp traveling in his silver cloak…

This made him see more possibilities for the spell.

"Call upon God to protect you!"

A massive burst of silver light erupted, and a silver, physical guardian rode the silver waves toward the elephant, where it was surrounded by hundreds of mermaids, with more Greendylos and several sharks forming a huge encirclement.

After reciting the spell, Ron grabbed Harry and rushed towards the platform. Meanwhile—

“What do we do?” Collins asked.

“Does anyone have any more ice bombs?” Cedric asked.

“We’ve used them all up,” Byers replied.

"We'll charge through!" Grevis shouted, his face as white as paper, though it could also be from being in the water for so long.

Look over there—

A massive silver stag charged forward, unaffected by the lake water. It swiftly swept past the group, blocking their path between themselves and the mermaid, ripples spreading across its surface. The mermaid, who had never seen a guardian deity before, hesitated to approach, warily watching this suddenly appearing behemoth.

"Let's go! Use Transfiguration to buy time!" Cedric was the first to regain his senses; he recognized the Patronus.

The elephants galloped again, and the rocks and water plants behind them transformed into hunting dogs, shields, and ropes under the power of the transformation spell, allowing them to run all the way to the high platform.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat on the high platform, looking quite exhausted.

Chapter 440 The Return Journey

The African elephant let out a sharp bellow and lay down on the ground. Seven or eight people stumbled and fell off its broad, heavy back. Some of them were so tired that they simply slid down like they were on a slide, rolling twice on the platform and panting heavily.

These warriors were exhausted, both physically and mentally, and had reached their limits.

Harry found it difficult to even move; every muscle from head to toe ached terribly. He tried to lift his head, but his neck felt like it was broken, and he could only squint and look at people out of the corner of his eye.

He glanced at Ron and Hermione; the three of them were breathing like leaky old bellows. At that moment, Ron suddenly burst into exaggerated laughter. He lay on the ground, pounding his fists on the white marble surface, laughing until tears streamed down his face.

"Look...look at the elephant's trunk...haha...it looks like a snot bubble..."

Harry and Hermione strained to look over, and there was an African elephant lying on the ground, slowly returning to human form. However, they could still see a bubble hanging from the end of the elephant's long trunk... Harry guessed it was the Bubble Head Curse, but... a snot bubble?

His shoulders suddenly twitched as he tried hard not to laugh out loud, and Hermione seemed to be struggling to hold it in as well.

Cedric, Collins, and Roger limped over to them, sat down on the ground in an unseemly manner, and gasped for breath. Cedric, who was already pale, looked like he had been in water for three days and three nights, like a vampire. Collins seemed to have caught a cold; his breaths were accompanied by intermittent whistling sounds. As for Roger, he lay directly on his back on the ground and began a duet with the Vagado warrior lying on the ground, snoring loudly.

“He’s exhausted…” Cedric said wearily, pointing to Roger Davis. “Thanks, your guardian angel has been a great help.”

“I’m fine,” Harry said awkwardly. He wasn’t used to the atmosphere and quickly looked up to look around—his neck was starting to hurt again, the skin on the back of his neck stiff like an old tire. “Is everyone here?” he asked, trying to make conversation.

He saw Fleur, pale-faced, talking to a girl. Krum, his face grim, paced back and forth with unusual stamina, occasionally glancing up at the approaching mermaid guards in the distance. Grevis's expression was comparable to Krum's; he glared at a warrior whose face was buried in his knees.

“He probably didn’t even step out of the protective shield in the first place, so he’ll probably lose a lot of points,” Cedric said, following his gaze. “Everyone’s here, but you guys, didn’t you get caught?”

Harry and the others shook their heads, and Cedric's lips curled into a smile: "Then you guys are lucky."

"Mermaids are tough to deal with?" Harry said, trying not to sound smug. He turned his head to look beyond the platform, where hundreds of mermaids surrounded it, but he didn't feel much of a sense of danger.