A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

"Fish?" Harry's gaze gradually shifted to the wall, where there was a picture of a mermaid fast asleep.

"Is it a mermaid?"

“You took much less time than Cedric,” Myrtle praised. “The mermaid was still awake then, constantly showing off her fins, but he didn’t notice.”

Harry immediately perked up. "So the second activity is to go to the lake to find mermaids?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the excitement on his face vanished completely.

The clue has been found, but the problem is he can't swim!

Black Lake is no ordinary deep lake. Mermaids would never live in shallow waters, which means they would have to dive into deep waters, or even to the bottom of the lake.

The song says that he has an hour to search for the beloved item that the mermaid took away, which means he has to stay underwater for at least an hour, which is simply impossible for him.

Harry left the prefectural washroom in a panic. Putting aside what his beloved possessions were that had been taken away, the mere thought of breathing underwater was enough to give him a headache for a long time.

Back in the common room, he shared the clues he had obtained with Ron and Hermione.

“No wonder Aaron said we needed to crack the clues as soon as possible. If we find out too late, I’m doomed,” Harry said with a worried look. “Do you guys have any way to let me breathe underwater for an hour?”

“Uh… I haven’t seen this spell in any of the books I’ve read so far,” Hermione said. “It’s obviously a spell that only upperclassmen can master, or rather, very few upperclassmen can master it.”

"Beautiful, it dealt a heavy blow to my confidence."

“How about we try scuba gear?” Ron suggested. “That’s a Muggle’s underwater breathing apparatus.”

"Don't you know summoning spells? Buy a set beforehand and place it outside the arena."

"Uh... isn't this idea a bit...?"

"That's so unreliable," Hermione said speechlessly. "Scuba gear isn't something you can just buy and use; it requires specialized training, and Harry doesn't have that much time to study."

Moreover, operating that device is no easier than using magic; it's simply not enough to find something at the bottom of the lake within an hour.

Most importantly, in the Triwizard Tournament, if you're equipped with a set of Muggle tools, the audience could drown Harry in their spittle.

Harry shuddered involuntarily. "Let's try another method! This one is too risky."

"At least it will save your life," Ron said somewhat reluctantly.

“That’s not necessarily true,” Hermione retorted. “The Black Lake is home to a wide variety of creatures, many of which are aggressive. Wearing that suit would make it inconvenient to use a wand.”

“What about Transfiguration?” Harry said in a deep voice, “like Little Star, turn me into a fish or a frog so I can dive underwater.”

"Impossible, it takes several years to learn Animagus!"

And you also have to register with the Office for the Prohibition of Magical Misuse, which you simply don't have the time for.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Ron said listlessly. "We can't exactly shout across the lake and ask the mermaids to return what they took, can we?"

Hermione paused for a moment and then said, "Let's look in the library! There must be a way to make him breathe underwater."

"Why is it the library again? I think I'd rather buy a scuba tank!"

Hermione, perhaps there's another shortcut, as long as you go...

“Absolutely not.” Hermione glared at Ron. “This is the Triwizard Tournament, not a game.”

He's already done more than enough by telling me how to unlock the golden egg; any more and you might as well just have him help Harry find things.

"I was just saying it offhand, there's no need for such a big reaction," Ron said sheepishly.

“Let’s stick with the library!” Harry sighed. “We still have more than a month. We can ask him for help when we’re really out of options.”

Chapter 381 Exclusive News, You're not ready yet, are you?

In early January, the wizards who had gone home for Christmas returned to Hogwarts.

The first class of the new semester was the Magical Creatures Protection class, and Gryffindor and Slytherin went to Hagrid's hut with their respective books.

But this time there were no Bombshells on the field, and their substitute teacher had changed to an elderly witch with short, gray hair and a very prominent chin.

"Where did Hagrid go?" Harry asked.

“He…is not feeling well.” The witch frowned slightly. “Dumbledore has arranged for me to teach in the coming world. You can call me Professor Grapple.”

Professor Glapland led the students to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where a beautiful unicorn was tethered to a tree.

"Wow!"

"It's so beautiful."

"How did she do it? Unicorns are very difficult to catch."

The students expressed their admiration, and many felt more respect for the temporary professor, believing that this was how a magical creature protection class should be!

They didn't deny Hagrid's knowledge of magical creatures, but Blasttail and the like couldn't compare to unicorns at all.

"Boys, all of you step back," Professor Glapland said sternly. "Unicorns like to be touched by women. Girls, you can approach them cautiously, but try to relax."

Led by the professor, the girls approached one by one with great interest, while the boys were left by the stables, where Beauxbatons' Pegasus huddled together to ward off the cold.

"What do you think is wrong with Hagrid?" Harry asked Ron. "Could something have happened to Blasttail?"

“Definitely not,” Aaron said. “Hagrid is a professional when it comes to raising magical creatures. Cerberus and Octopod couldn’t do anything to him.”

The giant conch isn't even as tall as him; it would need the strength to hurt him!

“I do know a little bit about that,” Draco said with a smug look on his face.

"You didn't actually get Lucius to find a way to change the professor for Magical Creatures Protection, did you?" Harry looked at him coldly. "And what's the excuse this time?"

“Don’t get me wrong, although I’d ​​love for him to get fired, this really has nothing to do with me.” Draco pulled a copy of the Daily Prophet from his pocket. “Take a look at this and you’ll understand.”

Aaron took the newspaper, and after reading only two lines, his lips twitched involuntarily. "So it fell into her hands. No wonder we got a different professor."

"Who has he fallen into their hands?" Ron asked curiously.

“Rita Skeeter, the most shameless and unscrupulous reporter.” Aaron shrugged and then handed the newspaper to Ron.

Dumbledore's major blunder... Mad-Eye Moody becomes the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor... but compared to the Magical Creatures professor, he's relatively kind...

Rubeus Hagrid, expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, schemed for himself to secure a position in the Protection of Magical Creatures class from among many qualified competitors...

The newspaper then mentioned that Draco was injured by a hippogriff, Crabbe was bitten by a caterpillar, and there was the dangerous creature, the Blasttail. But what was most shocking was Hagrid's background: a half-giant.

"This is just too... disgusting!" Ron said with a strange expression. "It's one thing to be half true and half false, but to exaggerate that little bit of truth by a million times is another."

"I have to admit, Skeeter is quite capable," Aaron remarked. "He even managed to dig up Hagrid's mother's name."

"Friedvar, I bet Hagrid didn't even tell you that name."

"Of course not, why would he tell us his mother's name for no reason?"

"That's not important. What's important is that half-giants don't have a good reputation in the wizarding world, and on top of that, there's the incredibly dangerous magical creature, the Blasttail... I think that idiot's teaching career is over," Draco said smugly.

"You're overthinking it," Aaron said dismissively. "Don't forget, this newspaper will only make Hagrid uncomfortable for a while. Once the storm passes, he'll naturally go back to teaching."

"Surely it's not that bad?" Draco frowned in displeasure. "The Daily Prophet has portrayed him like this, how can he still continue teaching?"

“Why not?” Harry asked eagerly.

“I didn’t ask you, Potter.”

"The Daily Prophet criticized Fudge, yet he was still Minister for Magic; it criticized Dumbledore, yet he was still Headmaster of Hogwarts; it criticized Arthur Weasley, yet he still held a position at the Ministry of Magic; it even criticized Harry Potter, yet he still did just fine."

Don't forget, Dumbledore is the headmaster, and his relationship with Hagrid is quite special. Do you think he would expel Hagrid because of an unrealistic newspaper article?

Moreover, Hagrid had been the forest ranger for decades, and it's fair to say that the Hogwarts students of recent decades knew him inside and out; they could all testify for Hagrid.

"This..." Draco opened his mouth, but was speechless.

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, then gave Draco a defiant look.

"Someone's idea may not be realized."

"You should all be secretly happy!" Draco said with a look of disdain. "At least you don't have to deal with those disgusting Blasttails anymore."

The two looked at each other, then lowered their heads in embarrassment.

Although I don't want to admit it, Draco is telling the truth. If you had to choose between a unicorn and a Blasttail, anyone with a brain would choose the former.

......

Hagrid was deeply affected by the newspaper and locked himself in his room for more than half a month without seeing anyone.

It wasn't until the end of January, after repeated persuasion and reassurance from Dumbledore, that he decided to return to teaching.

When Hagrid returned, he didn't have the students feed the blasting snails anymore. Instead, he continued the lecture about unicorns, following Professor Glapland's lesson.

As a forest ranger, he knows as much about unicorns as anyone else.

When the two pure golden baby unicorns were brought before the crowd, almost all the students could not hide their excitement and joy.

"Ahem! Baby unicorns are easier to spot than adult unicorns. They turn silver around the age of two, start growing horns around the age of four, and only turn pure white when they reach adulthood."

In addition, cubs have no defensiveness and do not dislike boys.

If you'd like, you can come over and pat them or just order a sugar cube.

For a moment, everyone gathered around the cubs, watching them with great interest. The girls were thrilled, and the boys were deeply attracted by their adorable appearance.

Abe snorted and turned her face away in dissatisfaction.

Aaron patted its head, both amused and exasperated, knowing it was upset that it had been outdone by two unicorn cubs.

"You are a holy dragon, you can easily defeat them with your wings spread, but now is not the time for you to reveal yourself."

Upon hearing this, Abe nodded slowly, glanced at the two unicorns with disdain, and decided not to lower himself to their level.

Time passed day by day, and soon it was mid-February.

Harry's progress, however, was not going well. He, Ron, and Hermione spent all their free time in the library searching for a way to allow him to breathe underwater for an hour.

But they searched through all the magic books related to water, and found nothing.

Hermione also asked Professor McGonagall for the forbidden book zone permit, but even those ancient spells didn't involve underwater breathing.

"There must be a way, there must be." Hermione kept encouraging herself. The magic books beside her were stacked more than a meter high, but she kept flipping through them.

“We weren’t this serious when we were looking for Nicolas Flamel.” Ron yawned and rubbed his sleepy eyes. “Hermione, I hate to say this, but the answers to all questions aren’t necessarily in the books.”

“But the answer to the second question can definitely be found in the book,” Hermione said very seriously. “They couldn’t possibly design a competition that’s impossible to pass.”

You've all seen Krum practicing diving these past few days; there must be some magic helping him."