Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 353 The Strange Giant Squid

One by one, the warriors plunged into the water, while Cohen slowly took off his clothes—it was unimaginable how uncomfortable it must have been for Harry and the others to swim wrapped in robes.

However, Cohen himself did not feel that wearing clothes would hinder his swimming. In fact, Cohen would not get wet at all after becoming a Dementor. He took off his clothes simply because he did not want to use a drying charm on himself afterward.

Cohen, shirtless and wearing only his underwear, jumped into the lake amidst shouts from the crowd on the outer ring.

Very well, the last warrior has entered the water, so there's nothing left for the spectators to watch—

They could only stare blankly at the calm lake for an hour, contemplating the meaning of life and the competition, waiting for the soaking wet warriors to surface one by one with their captured hostages, then symbolically cheer for the winner, before returning to the castle to eat, sleep, and repeat that monotonous life...

However, the audience's tedious wait and philosophical contemplation had little to do with the warriors in the lake. The warriors had to face not only the strange and wonderful creatures in the lake, but also the extremely low temperature and the eye-watering impurities.

Cohen transformed into a Dementor the moment he entered the water, and the warriors should now have figured out Cohen's true nature from the principals of their respective schools... except perhaps Cedric.

"Harry? What are you still doing here?"

Cohen spotted Harry swimming around nearby.

“I see you haven’t come down yet—” Harry said, his voice barely audible as he put on the fishbowl head Cohen had made.

If Harry hadn't witnessed Cohen transform from a human into a Dementor in an instant, he would never have gotten used to Cohen's black cloaked appearance.

"It's an individual competition, not a team competition..." Cohen said helplessly, "but it doesn't matter, there's nothing particularly dangerous in the water."

There's nothing more dangerous than Cohen.

Harry and Cohen swam together into the deeper waters, surrounded by a dark, hazy landscape. Due to the water quality, they could only see within a ten-foot radius.

Below lies a jungle of tangled black seaweed, scattered with glittering pebbles and a wide, flat expanse of mud and sand—at least for now, one can still make out a few things.

But the next second they couldn't see it anymore; a huge black shadow slowly swam past overhead.

“Giant squid!” Harry said in a low voice.

“It probably doesn’t eat people—it just wants to get people to the surface.” Cohen pulled Harry along and hid in the seaweed.

The giant squid at the school must be semi-domesticated and friendly to humans, which is why it pushes students who usually swim to the shore and even floats ashore on sunny days so the students can scratch its back.

“Don’t let it lift you up—if you go up and down again, there won’t be enough time,” Cohen said.

“But…it doesn’t seem to be planning to leave?” Harry said in a strange low voice.

The giant squid continued to swim around above their heads, showing no sign of leaving.

“Then let’s go down there.” Cohen pointed with his withered, thin fingers to the area below the seaweed, where visibility was even lower, but the giant squid wouldn’t go in because it would easily get tangled in the seaweed.

They chose a direction, parted the water plants, and went straight through.

Strangely, no matter where they went, the giant squid would always follow them on top of their heads.

"What's going on? Aren't there other people in the lake?" Harry asked, bewildered. "Why is it only chasing us?"

“I don’t understand this either.” Cohen had already considered the possibility that the giant squid was related to him several times, but he had ruled it out—aside from the tail of the Chimera Beast, none of his parents were aquatic creatures.

This giant squid has always stayed in the lakes of the Scottish Highlands, so it certainly has nothing to do with the Greek chimera… “Grindylow!” Harry suddenly whispered, his wand immediately pointing at his feet—

A green-skinned, long-horned water monster had grabbed Harry's ankle with its abnormally large claws.

There was more than one Greendylow, but when another tried to grab Cohen next to Harry, it couldn't grasp anything that resembled a "leg".

There was nothing under the Dementor's cloak.

"What are you catching?"

Cohen asked the aquatic goblin who had pounced on him in a friendly manner.

The other party looked far more terrified than the "human captured by Grindelwald"—it had never seen a Dementor before, and the contact with this strange and terrifying creature made its heart tremble.

"The force is released and the energy dissipates!"

Harry's wand tip shot out a jet of scorching red water, and Greendylow's skin turned bright red after being hit, causing him to release his grip in pain.

The Greendylows, who were still waiting to be attacked, hurriedly fled with their companions—before leaving, they waved their fists menacingly at Harry and Cohen.

"At least they're very bold," Cohen commented.

“Oh no, I need to surface again to check my bearings—” Harry looked around and realized he had lost his way because of the Grindelwalds; everything here was the same seaweed.

Taking advantage of the moment when the giant squid turned, they swam out of the seaweed area, glanced in the direction where the seaweed disappeared—and then swam back, continuing their journey under the cover of the seaweed towards the possible habitat of mermaids.

Soon, they heard the mermaids singing.

...there was only one hour.

To find and reclaim what we have taken...

Finally, after traversing the entire area of ​​aquatic plants, they saw traces of the mermaids' lives.

It was a huge rock, with many mermaids chasing giant squid while holding spears, sculpted on it with green moss.

However, judging from the quality of life of the Black Lake giant squid, this picture is just their wishful thinking—because they certainly can't beat this one in the Black Lake.

...Don't delay any longer, half the time has already passed.
Lest what you seek rot here...

The giant squid didn't follow; it seemed to be blocked by a group of dark shadows at the other end of the seaweed patch. Cohen felt that it was like mermaids protecting their underwater village.

Beyond the boulders, they saw many stone dwellings at the bottom of the lake, adorned with aquatic plants, and faces faintly visible through the dark windows.

The mermaids here are not "good-looking" at all, or even "ordinary". They have iron-gray skin, long, messy dark green hair, and pebbles strung together with thick ropes around their necks.

These merfolk stared in horror at Cohen, who stood next to Harry—this black-cloaked monster was no longer resembling a human; he was completely unrelated.

It shouldn't have gone into the lake!

A few of the braver mermaids gripped spears and watched Cohen warily—as if they would fight to the death should Cohen attempt to attack them.

(End of this chapter)