Hogwarts: Bourne Returns from Warhammer

Chapter 165 The Apparition of the Ball Escape Bird
The deck of the Hydra turned into yellow sand.

A group of wizards struggled hard in it, and their bodies would sink every time they moved, like trapped animals trapped in the Sahara Desert.

They began to chant curses one after another in an attempt to save themselves.

Some people tried to call out the strong wind, intending to blow away the fine sand covering their legs and allow them to pull out their legs again;
Someone untied the belt around his waist and used crude transformation techniques to lengthen it and turn it into a rope, trying to wrap it around the railing on the side of the ship to secure his body;

Some people simply used the "universal counter-spell" in an attempt to break the curse that turned the deck into quicksand.

However, the power of quicksand was more powerful than they imagined, and those spells never had any effect.

Those who called out to the strong wind found that the quicksand was not moved by the strong wind at all;

The person who took off his belt found that the railing seemed to be greased, and the rope could not be fastened to it for a while;
The person who used the "universal counter-curse" was even more surprised to see that although the counter-curse had a certain effect, when he just pulled out one foot, the other foot was covered again by the yellow sand flowing from all around - - Over and over again, like an unbreakable cycle.

Seeing that his men's self-rescue operations were becoming more and more panicked, and even tended to interfere with each other, the leader of this group of Berber hired wizards quickly shouted: "You all don't move yet, let me do it!"

With that said, he took off the travel bag that he had been carrying on his back and quickly opened the zipper on it.

This is a bag.

The so-called "catching bag" is actually the full name of "magical animal catching bag", which is a magic prop specially used to catch magical animals.

No one knows who originally invented it, and there are very few such props left in the world.

Because, today’s magic world no longer has the profession of “magical animal hunter”, but only “magical animal protection scholar”.

Only poaching gangs like this group of Berber wizards would secretly use an old-fashioned magical animal-catching prop like a "fetch bag."

And the moment their leader opened the bag, a strong attraction came from the bag's pocket.

However, this attraction did not seem to disturb the deck that had turned into a piece of quicksand - or, to be more precise - it was not directly directed at the quicksand, but at the thing that caused the quicksand.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Just when everyone continued to feel anxious because they felt that holding the bag had no effect, there was a soft "pop" sound, which was like opening a cork of champagne or pulling out a radish from the ground. A small furry thing suddenly jumped up from under the quicksand, drew an arc, and flew toward the bag held by the leader of the Berber hired wizards.

When the thing was put into the bag, the leader took one look at it and quickly closed the bag.

"I knew it!"

He snorted coldly.

"I've encountered this thing before, a nasty long-eared gerbil that always likes to turn the furniture in our house into quicksand."

It was a rodent about the size of a fist, with big feet, a long tail trailing from its back, and its ears were almost as long as its body.

The long-eared gerbil is a magical animal that lives in the Sahara. They can run quickly on the sand dunes and are alert by nature. They also have the talent to create quicksand to protect themselves.

This amazing animal is now rarely seen. However, more than a hundred years ago, they were a best-selling product in major pet stores in the wizarding world.

However, keeping them at home can easily damage the floor and other things. Later, long-eared gerbils gradually became less popular.

When the leader caught the long-eared gerbil in a bag, the quicksand on the deck quickly disappeared without a trace.

However, because the quicksand conjured by the long-eared gerbils actually consumed the deck of the Hydra, many of the soles and legs of these Berber wizards were sunk into the deck.

They had to work hard to get their legs and feet out of the hole, and they had to be careful to break the thinning, brittle deck and fall under the next cabin.

"Be careful and alert."

The leader reminded everyone.

"This magic ship has its own defense mechanism. We may not be that easy..."

However, his reminder was half a beat too late this time.

Before he finished speaking, a cable that was originally tied to the mast automatically untied, turned into a living tentacle, and quickly tied up a Berber hired wizard who was carefully pulling out his legs.

Before he could react and others had no time to rescue him, the cables were tied to everyone just like the previous ones.

Even the most powerful leader was the same. As soon as he put the zippered bag back on his back, his body was tied up with a cable like a rice dumpling.

In desperation, he quickly turned his wrist and tried to point the wand at the cable.

However, it was okay if he didn't struggle. Once he struggled, a stronger binding force came from the goose egg-thick ship cable.

Not only that, as these people continued to struggle and breathe heavily, some of the smell emanating from the cables was gradually inhaled into their mouths and noses.

"not good!"

The leader suddenly realized something.

However, this time it was completely too late.

The smell emanating from those cables was the unique smell of the best quality "life and death water" - absinthe with the taste of African sea salt - which rushed directly into his nose.

Immediately afterwards, it was like a ball of wet firewood was lit in his brain, and the rising smoke slowly covered his consciousness.

"You can't sleep on it, you have to hold on."

"Can't sleep, must persist."

"Can't... persist..."

Even though he gritted his teeth and his will kept resisting sleepiness, his body was honest.

Soon, the leader of the Berber mercenary wizard who was tied up with a cable and made into a rice dumpling to shepherd the sheep began to snore. He stood there and snored like thunder.

The same was true for everyone else present. The difference was nothing more than speed. They all fell asleep within a time interval of three to four seconds at most.

"In the [Slug Potion Finished Products Store], the [Life and Death Water Puree] needs to be diluted with 10 times the volume of dew before it can be sold. The effect is so overbearing."

From the shell of the color-changing giant snail came a rather conceited statement.

"And this ultra-high-quality potion is exactly the dozens of kinds that were optimized by old Slughorn, the grandfather of that little guy Horace and the founder of [Slug Potion Store] when he was young. One of the ancient magic potions.”

Bourne stopped it under his arm with one hand and responded: "It's really amazing."

While speaking, Bourne walked out from the corner of the lower deck of the cabin. This deck contains many supplies needed for the Hydra's voyage. However, because the Hydra just controlled the hull and had a battle with the Berber wizards who boarded the ship, the cabins on this floor were also messed up.

The wine barrels that were originally neatly stacked on the shelves were now everywhere, and a few of the special wine barrels with "guards" hidden among them were opened.

The quicksand that leaked from the upper deck covered many places here with a layer of sand. Even the pieces of fresh Riem beef and Porter's warthog ham that Momo prepared before boarding the ship were covered in dust.

As Bourne walked, he held the wand and cast "Repair to Original" to restore some of the messy and damaged areas to their original state.

Out of cooperation, the Hydra also released some defensive measures at this time, so that Bourne's repair spell would not be interfered by the original magic on the ship - unlike the previous Berber leader who clearly used "Room" "Collapse the ground and trap the curse", but the curse spread strangely.

After cleaning up the supply storage deck, Bourne immediately climbed up the stairs to the top deck.

The Berber hired wizards were all hung up on the thickest mast by cables, like bunches of grapes.

"one two three four five six……"

The Joking sound of the Hydra sounded again from the shell of the color-changing giant snail.

"...There is another person who I locked up in the cabin. Wait...take him out and hang him on the mast, so that the gang can be organized."

But just when the Hydra was manipulating a cable deep into the cabin, trying to catch the wizard trapped in the maze expanded by the "Traceless Stretch Spell", there was a sudden burst of air on the deck.

A wizard carrying the same bag as the leader of the group of Berber hired wizards suddenly appeared in front of Bourne.

And he was the Berber wizard named Ziad who was the first to board the ship and the first to break into the cabin. At this time, he was holding a wand in one hand, and the other hand was holding the neck of a ball escape bird.

The ball escaper is a fat, downy, flightless bird native to Mauritius.

Muggles were once familiar with this creature.

In fact, they are known as the "dodo" and are thought to have been driven to extinction by humans.

But the reality is that the dodo is not extinct. Apparently, the Muggle world was unaware of the ability of the ball tumbler to disappear voluntarily, and thought the bird was completely extinct.

Wizards certainly know the truth, but have no intention of correcting Muggles' misconceptions, because the disappearance of the dodo has also raised Muggles' awareness of protecting other species.

It is somewhat similar to the way the leader caught the long-eared gerbil with a bag, except that Ziad stuffed a ball escaper into the bag in advance.

When he realized that he was not breaking into an ordinary cabin, but was trapped in a maze with a "traceless stretch spell". This guy decisively opened the bag, grabbed the ball escaper by the neck, and forced it to take him out of the maze.

In this way, he was able to escape and return to the top deck of the Hydra.

The traces of the battle on the deck had not yet been completely repaired, and the people hanging like bunches of grapes on the mast were hard to ignore, so Ziad immediately understood the situation.

"Stupef..."

Without any hesitation, he immediately cast the "fainting" spell on Bourne, the little wizard who also held a wand in his hand.

However, before he could finish reciting the spell, his wrist seemed to be grasped by a hand, and the wand and all were lifted to the sky with a strong force.

Bourne used telekinesis on it.

And this scene was like the little wizard casting a spell on him "silently and without a wand".

Ziad's eyes were full of disbelief.

However, it didn't matter what he thought about next - or to be more precise, he couldn't think about anything anymore, because Bourne had already used a wand to cast a spell on him that he was very good at.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

He did not use the psychic lightning mutated by this spell because he was worried that the psychic lightning would chop the man into charcoal. Bourne used the "Levitation Spell" to lift Ziad and hang him with his companions.

Then, he took off the bags on Ziad and his leader, and released the magical animals inside.

A long-eared gerbil.

A ball escape bird.

Perhaps it was because of the experience of patrolling in the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts, or perhaps because he had been with Professor Scamander for a long time and was tainted with the aura of that magical animal expert, so even if they met for the first time, these two people were very different. Not a single magical animal bared its teeth at him.

"Put them up quickly."

The sound of the Hydra sounded again from the shell of the color-changing giant snail.

At the same time, the magic ship also manipulated the cable to take out two empty wine barrels from the storage deck below.

In its view, its move was completely reasonable: these magical animals were put back where they were originally supposed to be on the ship. Moreover, the group of Berber invaders killed a sheep-eating beast that was originally sealed. Now it is equipped with a ball escape bird, which just completes the defense measures under the magic ship.

This is quite reasonable, okay?
However, the Hydra never thought about how resistant the long-eared gerbil would be to being sealed in a wine barrel again after being put in a wine barrel for more than a hundred years.

At the same time, it never thought about how easily the escape mechanism could be triggered by the ball-escape bird, which was used as a "magic weapon" for escape by the Berber wizard Ziad.

Squeak!

Seeing that the oak barrel was getting closer and closer to him, the long-eared gerbil immediately jumped up three feet in fright, and accidentally caught the ball escaper by the neck.

[The switch is triggered]

The big bird, which was still enjoying Bourne's caressing feathers, suddenly stopped, took a small step forward with its legs, and disappeared from the place with a "pop".

Moreover, this ball escaper also took Bourne away, leaving only the shell of a discolored giant snail roaring angrily on the deck of the Hydra.

"...Those annoying magical animals, I knew I couldn't keep them on the ship."

"...It's all my fault that the old man from the Slughorn family had to add such a trap to his ship."

"...You all have left? Who will sail the boat?"

"...Even if it is a magic ship, someone must be the pilot!"

While the ship's spirit of the Hydra was yelling anxiously, the free-range chicken-like ball escaper had already triggered the "switch" for the second time according to the stereotyped habits it had developed through long-term training, and when it phantomed, The location where he appeared was the safe place set by Ziad for the penultimate time.

And this safe place, by coincidence, happened to be in the garden behind the "Emperor's New Clothes" store.

(End of this chapter)