Chapter 675: Chapter 675: End and Settlement (Edited)
Cedric's approach alarmed the mermaids in the village. They swam out of their stone houses and glared at him maliciously, like an unwelcome intruder.
Observing the spears in the mermaids' hands and their strong, muscular arms and fish tails, Cedric grimaced; now he was grateful that these mermaids were not hostile forces.
He wasn't fooled by their spears; if he really engaged in combat with them, he wouldn't even be enough to fill their teeth.
Cedric closely observed the world of the mermaids and noticed a fundamental difference from the magical creatures he had seen before. Unlike other magical creatures, even the powerful ones like dragons or as sacred as unicorns, they didn't have such a detailed social structure.
To Cedric's eyes, the mermaids seemed to have the appearance of a primitive tribe. They had their own architectural styles and raised other magical creatures to assist in their hunting: some houses had grindylows tethered outside, and there was a clear distinction of status and wealth.
Some houses were simple stone shells, while others had grindylows tethered outside and gardens filled with aquatic plants. Overall, the closer to the center, the more "luxurious" the mermaids' houses were, and the inhabitants were stronger.
Cedric vaguely heard a song and understood that the mermaids were guiding him through it. So he swam towards the song, which was in the direction of the center of the mermaid village.
As he advanced, more and more mermaids emerged, looking curiously at the strange visitor. For the mermaids, wizards were rare creatures they barely saw once in a hundred years.
The number of mermaids increased to the point where Cedric could no longer count them. Just from the quantity and considering their advanced social structure, Cedric realized a fact: mermaids were undoubtedly the rulers of the underwater world.
The sky and the land of the magical world belonged to wizards, while the underwater world was the domain of the mermaids.
He also noticed that all the mermaids that appeared here were males.
Maybe the female mermaids are prettier! Suddenly, this idea crossed his mind.
In the center of the mermaid village was a small square where Cedric saw a huge mermaid statue with three people tied to the statue's tail: Tom, Cho Chang, and Luna.
A large group of mermaids was singing around them.
The three hostages were asleep and bubbling continuously from their mouths.
The potion Professor McGonagall had given them allowed them to breathe freely underwater, as if they were back in their mother's womb.
Cedric spat out bubbles and pulled a small knife from his pocket, cutting the seaweed ropes that bound Cho Chang.
An idea crossed Cedric's mind: if he took the other champions' most important "treasures," couldn't they complete the task?
"You can't do that, you can only take your own hostages," a seven-foot-tall mermaid told him, stopping him with a spear in hand and persuading him to abandon that bold idea.
"Alright." Cedric wasn't stubborn, and realizing there were no loopholes to exploit, he immediately brought Cho Chang to the surface.
The next step was to return to the surface as quickly as possible to have more time and earn more points.
Ten minutes after Cedric left, Krum arrived at the mermaid village with a shark's head over his shoulders.
His speed was astonishing.
Indeed, in the wooden building, Krum had spent much less time than Cedric. After passing Madame Maxime's test, he entered the third level with a desire to kill and, quite luckily, found the peculiarity of the sundial and used the same approach as Cedric to break the root blocking the needle, passing Dumbledore's test.
Dumbledore had nothing to say to the young wizards who didn't follow the rules of the game.
After reaching the mermaid village, Krum had to make an effort to bring Luna back, trailing behind Cedric by only seven minutes.
Finally, Cedric completed the competition in one hour and fifty-three minutes, while Krum took exactly two hours.
As both were drying off on the shore, they saw Fleur running towards them from the wooden cabin. She had completed all three levels of challenges, which meant she wasn't finished when Cedric and Krum were already done.
However, Dumbledore was relieved to see that Fleur had perfectly understood his intention. She found all the traps he had left and overcame them with the right approach.
Seeing the two on the shore, Fleur felt at a disadvantage. But she couldn't afford to waste time, so she mustered her courage, took the gillyweed, and dove into the lake.
With the help of the gillyweed, Fleur swam faster than the other two champions. But when she saw Tom Yodel underwater, she lost her composure.
She repeatedly asked the leader of the mermaids if Tom was her mission target, until the mermaids grew tired and confirmed what she already knew: the competition organizers really considered Tom their "treasure."
At least she wouldn't have to leave her sister at the bottom of the lake, Fleur comforted herself as she brought Tom back to the shore.
The final results were not surprising. Cedric, with the shortest time, scored the highest. But the gap between him and Krum did not widen, as Krum had also shown an impressive performance, receiving a high score of 60 points and trailing Cedric by only 5 points.
Adding the remaining points from the previous challenges, Cedric still held the first place with 75 points, while Krum had 70 points, trailing in second place by 5 points.
Fleur, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. Even if Dumbledore gave her the maximum score, she only scored 45 points in the second event, leaving her with a total of 47 points...
It was evident that Fleur had little chance of winning the Triwizard Tournament.
The second event narrowed the gap between Cedric and Krum, creating some suspense in the battle between the two.
After announcing the scores of the three champions, the second event came to a complete end.
"The last event will take place on the afternoon of June 24th. The champions will be informed in advance of the specific content of the event. Thank you all for your support and love for the champions. See you in June!" With Bagman's energetic voice, the second event of the Triwizard Tournament came to a close.
"Do you want something warm to drink?" Hermione approached Tom, who was shivering, and handed him a small bottle of water.
"Thanks." Although he had already dried off, Tom still felt uncomfortable after being submerged in cold water for three hours. Impatiently, he opened the warm bottle and discovered it was filled with cinnamon cider.
It was an unusual drink that combined powdered cinnamon with red wine and had the effect of warming the body, perfect for someone with a cold. Although the taste was a bit strange, it was just what Tom needed at that moment.
Chapter 676: Chapter 676: Harry's Dreamland (Edited)
After the conclusion of the second event, there was once again a grand celebration.
Exquisite wine, delicious delicacies, all sorts of fun toys, and also couples...
The young wizards of Hogwarts were celebrating in the name of victory. Even though the gap between them and the two following competitors had narrowed, Hogwarts was still in first place, so why not celebrate?
Or perhaps they were just looking for an excuse to celebrate.
After the celebration, the exhausted young wizards lay down on their beds and sank into sleep, Harry being no exception.
Butterbeer and various snacks filled his stomach to the brim, making it difficult for him to even turn over. As he lay in bed, Harry's awareness gradually blurred, and accompanied by the snores of his roommates, he fell into slumber.
Harry had another dream.
In the dream, he found himself on a rural road, surrounded by dry and desolate bushes. The stars in the night sky shone intensely, giving him a sense of unease.
In the dream, his heart was restless and anxious, and uncontrollable anger welled up within him. He flew quickly along a bumpy road, with a whisper behind him, as if some creeping creature was following him.
The road turned left, revealing a valley in his field of vision, where a small village lay. On the hillside was a large mansion that, despite the darkness of the night, looked decadent.
"Harry," he looked at the mansion, and the anger in his heart flared up once more.
This anger arose out of nowhere, but dreams don't require logic, so Harry didn't perceive anything unusual. He watched everything coldly from his dreamlike perspective.
After staring at the mansion, "Harry" turned towards a barely visible path leading into a dark forest.
Within the forest hid an extremely dilapidated cabin, covered in moss and grass. It could barely be distinguished if not looked at carefully.
The cabin's roof no longer had tiles, and it seemed that with a slight push, the house would collapse.
Harry arrived in front of the cabin's door, and with a single gesture, the thing that could be called a door collapsed, raising almost half a century's worth of dust.
When the dust cleared, Harry entered the cabin and carelessly pointed at an oil lamp in the corner, which lit up, filling the cabin with a glow.
Judging by the objects in the cabin, no one had set foot here in decades. The roof was covered in cobwebs, and all the furniture was shrouded in dust and cobwebs, so much so that Harry raised large dust clouds as he walked.
The house had three small rooms, and Harry was currently in the central room. In the center of the room, there was a table filled with various objects, and a ring lay silently on the table.
A burnt hand reached out and rested on the ring. In the next moment, a stabbing pain shot from his fingertips, as if flames were scorching his fingers.
After a few seconds, the black diamond on the ring shattered into pieces, and the burning pain in his arm disappeared.
Although he had paid a high price, Harry couldn't help but laugh wildly. Amidst his arrogant laughter, he suddenly woke up, feeling the scar on his forehead burning once again.
"It was Voldemort..." In an instant, he understood the dream: Voldemort seemed to have successfully healed his hand injury!
At that moment, in the distant village of Little Hangleton, Voldemort suppressed his laughter, waving his wand and cutting the withered hand in a single stroke. A silvery mist erupted from the tip of his wand and fell onto his arm wound, forming a silvery hand.
After resolving his concerns, Voldemort narrowed his eyes. He had already noticed something strange.
"A free show, but not that interesting."
...
"Your face looks really bad, want some fries?" Ron was surprised to see Harry early in the morning; Harry looked like he had spent the whole night without sleep.
"No, thanks." Harry's voice sounded hoarse, anxious to share his dream from the previous night with Ron.
After hearing Harry's dream, Ron's expression also worsened.
"At least he paid a high price," he said dryly.
"Harry!" Just as Harry was sharing his dream with Ron, Luna appeared. She rushed over to remind him not to forget to organize the process of the second task of the Triwizard Tournament in manuscript form since the next edition of "The Quibbler" would surely talk about the event.
Shortly after Luna left, Harry received another notification from Snape. He informed him that the "Occlumency" special training session would be on Saturday.
"But that's Hogsmeade Opening Day." Harry was furious, but he had no options. He couldn't refuse Snape's request.
During Hogsmeade Opening Day, Tom would naturally go on a trip with Hermione to Hogsmeade. For him, strolling through the streets with his girlfriend was a wonderful memory.
"A walk to the Three Broomsticks?" After taking a stroll through the streets, Tom suggested going to the Three Broomsticks for a while.
The temptation of having a couple of cups of warm butterbeer in the cold weather was quite appealing.
Hermione agreed without hesitation.
The Three Broomsticks was bustling with activity. Fortunately, Tom got lucky and managed to secure the last empty table, saving them from having to stand at the bar.
After Tom took his seat, Hermione arrived with two cups of butterbeer.
"Thanks-"
"Hey, Yodel, can we share a table with you?"
Just as Tom was about to take a sip of Hermione's drink, a voice reached them. Tom turned around and saw Ludo Bagman, who was accompanied by an Asian wizard.
"Don't you ever have to go to your office?" Tom muttered.
"Of course I do, but today, I have a special task. Let me introduce you to our distinguished visitor from the Far East, Mr. Tsuchimikado Genghu, Ambassador from the Department of Magic in Japan. We've had quite a few interactions recently between our department and Japan's..." Bagman quickly ordered some appetizers and a jug of eggnog, then sat across from Tom.
The wizard named Tsuchimikado Genghu wasn't as outgoing; he respectfully bowed to Tom and Hermione before sitting beside Bagman.
"So, why did you cross the entire Eurasian continent to come here?" Tom looked curiously at Tsuchimikado Genghu.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
0 Power
stone You may also Like
Paragraph comment