Hermione, let's start a revolution from Hogwarts!

The next morning, Hermione went with Professor X and Cedric to the Black Lake. The reflections of the audience seats on the calm water were very clear. She looked down, trying to find some familiar faces.

'They should be down there by now...' she thought.

Karkarov and Maxim, sitting at the Golden Judge's Round Table, were both unhappy because of the previous "Daily Prophet," and even their initial polite smiles had vanished.

"Will Gabrielle be alright?" Fleur asked nervously. "I didn't know the question meant that..."

Her previous arrogance had now turned into deep remorse; she felt she had dragged her sister Gabrielle Delacour into a very dangerous situation.

"That depends on your abilities. Well, I believe in you," Mrs. Maxim comforted her.

Meanwhile, Krum was frowning as he did complex warm-up exercises. He took off his clothes, revealing his muscular physique, which drew cheers and screams from the witches in the audience.

However, the boys... they used to admire Krum a lot, but now they mostly dislike him.

"The reason Eloise danced with me was because I thought I could get Krum's autograph... even though he's eating with Slytherin, I just don't want to do it," Theodore shouted. "Go Granger!"

Warrington and the others also whistled a few times.

Hermione heard her name being called and turned around to see the Slytherins and Ravenclaws all waving their flags—symbols of boa constrictors and lions dancing together.

However, most of them were boys, and they hated Krum. There was nothing they could do, since the girls had revealed their intentions after the dance.

As for Slytherin... well, there's no way around it. They're the only Slytherin, and Hermione's 'golden egg.' Who else can we support if not her?

Ten minutes later, Harry Potter finally arrived, clutching the area in the middle of his chest and abdomen, panting heavily as if his ribs had been injured.

"Are you ready?" Hermione asked him with concern.

“No problem. Professor Moody borrowed a book from Neville called ‘The Wonderful Aquatic Plants and Their Characteristics in the Mediterranean’, which will come in handy…” Harry curled up like a compressed spring.

Scrimgeour, who replaced Crouch, stood up, and Moody, sitting in the audience, stared intently at him.

"You have only one hour to take back what you each value most from them... Three... Two... One!"

The whistle echoed across the cold, damp lake like the first rays of sunlight piercing through the clouds at dawn. Hermione took off her cloak and first took out her wand and tapped it against her clothes.

"Bubble"

Afterward, she cast a head-soaking spell on herself before jumping into the lake with Fleur and Krum.

The water in Black Lake was extremely cold at the end of February. Although her clothes wouldn't get wet, the lake water could still seep into her wrists, neck, and trouser legs, and her head felt like it was inside a glass fish tank.

The biting cold initially caused her some pain, but slowly, as she went deeper, her limbs began to stiffen, and the surroundings began to darken.

The depths of Black Lake are as dark and gloomy as the seabed. Ordinary people cannot see anything around them. The constantly writhing water plants below are like a black forest in a raging storm.

Besides the sound of flowing water, Hermione could only hear some strange howls.

Intense light illuminated a small area of ​​the Eternal Night, and because it was underwater, the buzzing was more intense than ever. Several Grindelwalds had just extended their long claws when they were sliced ​​in half by the scorching lightsabers.

Blood spread through the water, and the hidden water monsters, like a swarm of sharks that had smelled blood, charged towards her.

Movement underwater was very inconvenient, and the resistance made Hermione's movements even slower. She thought of a flame—the blue flame of lily of the valley, which could burn underwater with the help of oxygen.

But that's not enough. Although lily of the valley fire can burn underwater, it can only maintain itself in a small cluster.

Therefore, mermaid language is needed at this time. For mermaids, the underwater world is just like the land, which allows the lily of the valley fire burning underwater to burn as fiercely as it does outside.

“Blazing flames (mermaid language),” Hermione stammered, flames erupting wherever the sword passed.

Thus, people on the shore could witness a unique spectacle:

Beneath this black lake, a storm seems to lurk. The dark lakebed is always shimmering with flashes of dazzling blue light, and the dragon-like flames of lily of the valley make the black lake look like a cracked mirror.

Dumbledore seemed to realize something and turned to look at Grindelwald behind him with a questioning gaze.

'It can't be the fire of the past...'

Grindelwald, along with the seaweed, was churned to ashes by an underwater fire tornado, while Hermione was able to see the group of stones sitting on the mud.

Immediately afterwards, a figure swam over from a distance.

“I saw those flames, and I almost got lost.” Harry had gills growing on the sides of his neck and webbed hands and feet.

He seemed much freer than Hermione, like a real fish that darted to her side with a slight shake.

“This is the Mermaid tribe.” Hermione said, hovering in the air.

The mermaids seemed frightened by the previous sight; their skin appeared stone gray under the blue-white light, and their heads looked like clumps of dark green seaweed stuck to a round rock.

The mermaids surged in from all directions, brandishing tridents and iron spears, with Hermione brandishing her yellow fangs and letting out malicious grins.

"How are we going to get across?" Harry pulled a small silver knife from his waist and gripped his wand in his right hand.

“Your…project…is inside.” One of the mermen swam over, leading a small Grindelwald along on a seaweed tether, and pointed behind him. “The mighty warriors…the guardians…must overcome…”

The grammar was terrible; Hermione didn't understand its inverted sentence structure at first.

Dozens of merfolk parted to let Hermione see what was happening in the center of the settlement: a mermaid plaza. Beneath a massive statue of a mermaid girl, Hermione found four unconscious people and a...broom.

Nietzsche, Ginny, Gabrielle, and Cho Chang lay beneath the mermaid girl's tail, constantly spitting out long strings of bubbles.

She suspected that the flying broom was one of Krum's most cherished possessions.

"What Guardian?" Hermione asked in her quacking mermaid tongue.

“You can speak our language too…” said one of the old merfolk who wore a necklace made of shark teeth. “The guardian is the creature that protects this black lake, and the whole village lives under its protection.”

If Hermione were to ask what could protect the mermaids in the Black Lake, the first thing that comes to mind is Headmaster Dumbledore.

But in this match, it's clearly impossible for them to deal with the referee... so there's only one possibility—that giant squid!

As the merfolk curiously observed Hermione creating the underwater fireworks, they pushed out a drummer from the stone house. The drumbeats created ripples and bubbles on the lakebed, and then several more merfolk blew conch horns.

During this mysterious ceremony, a dark, enormous shadow rose from behind the Mermaid Square, completely obscuring the entire Mermaid tribe.

The enormous tentacles that once surfaced to bask in the sun and had students help scratch their itch were merely the very tips of the giant squid.

"Fhtagn!"

Chapter 256: CEO K's Sweet Treats!

The shadow that blotted out the sky was probably as big as two giant lighthouses, and that didn't even include the tentacles that flew around, stirring up the mud and sand from the bottom of the lake. Hermione raised her wand high, and she could even see the teeth inside those suckers.

Of course, the second game wouldn't just be a matter of letting the Warriors go underwater.

It's not that simple.

"Save them first." Harry swung his arms backward and charged like a torpedo to the base of the mermaid statue.

He hesitated, feeling a little embarrassed as he carried Ginny, and then changed his mind and carried her on his back.

Just then, a shark rushed over... However, this was a freshwater area, and it wasn't until the shark swam to the base of the statue that Hermione and Harry could see clearly—it was Krum, wearing swimming trunks from the bottom and with a shark's head.

He crashed violently into the mermaid statue, causing the flying broom embedded inside to fall out.

"Is this your goal?" Harry's fish eyes widened.

This is so unfair! If he had known it would be like this, he would have just picked something randomly instead of worrying about Ron's sister's life during the competition.

“What else? I have nothing to miss at Hogwarts,” Krum’s shark-haired mane hissed. “This broomstick accompanied me to the Quidditch World Cup final…”

Cedric followed closely behind, his arm around Cho Chang's waist, looking as dashing as they had at the Christmas ball, with a smile on his face.

Hermione supported Nietzsche's back with one hand and used the other to create a barrier above their heads.

"Where's Furong?" she shouted from inside the hood.

“I don’t know, they’re probably lost… I mean, what do we do now?” Cedric shouted back.

"Cooperation."

But Krum ignored her suggestion, stepped onto the flying broom first, and rushed upwards without a word. Judging from his shark-like head, it was hard to tell if he was mocking her, as he quickly ascended without looking back.

But a second later, the giant squid flicked its tentacles, and he was sent flying back to the bottom of the lake, the splashing mud and sand obscuring everyone's view.

“Well…cooperation seems to be the only way,” Krum said, rubbing his head.

“But we can’t just leave her like this, can we?” Harry looked back at the pale-faced silver-haired girl and struggled to say, “While I wouldn’t say I like Fleur, I don’t think her sister should die here.”

"You think you can play the hero? No one will die in this match," Krum said in a gruff voice.

Although they felt that with Dumbledore around, nothing serious would happen, Hermione, who had been in her first to fourth year, wasn't so trusting. It was already a miracle that she had survived until now!

Hogwarts is the safest place, you're right, but:

First grade, Voldemort.

Second grade, Voldemort Jr. and the Basilisk.

Third year... Although it was related to the Death Eaters, it was the most relaxed year, but it wasn't much better, because Nietzsche was with her during the summer vacation, and she escaped death several times.

Thinking of this, Hermione angrily pinched Nietzsche's face hard, only to find that it felt surprisingly good.

While he was still asleep, Hermione pinched his cheeks to vent her anger, and thought: If it were Nietzsche, what kind of reason would he give?

So she said, "Don't be silly. The sudden restart of the Triwizard Tournament is a symbol to maintain peace in the European wizarding world. Because Fleur and Madam Maxim have a good relationship, we have to help Fleur."

Harry Potter has a high level of empathy; he wouldn't refuse.

Cedric, being a good student, agreed as soon as he heard it would help unite the wizarding world.

Krum doesn't care about these things, but as a rising Quidditch star, he's someone who cares a lot about what others think and has a strong sense of self-esteem. He can even sign autographs for fans while feeling annoyed.

Therefore, when Harry and Cedric looked at him with admiration, he could only nod silently.

“Very good... Harry, you tie them to Krum’s broom with waterweed. Cedric, you lead the way, I’ll go up above you and hold off the giant squid.” Hermione, carrying Nietzsche, began to lead the way upwards.

While the giant squid at Hogwarts are usually quite docile and occasionally push students who accidentally fall into the lake back into their boats, they are a completely different story during competitions.

Its enormous size meant it could shatter the Ironclad Curse with a single swing.

Underwater, only Hermione and Cedric, protected by the bubble head, could cast spells. Harry was more agile underwater and could push the flying broom to accelerate, while Krum was responsible for controlling the direction of the broom carrying all four of them.

"Raise the sails!!" Krum roared indistinctly in the water as the dark figure pressed in.

It was too heavy... Five people were sitting on a flying broom. Luckily, it was underwater, or it would have been crushed long ago.

Harry kicked his legs with all his might. He didn't need to worry about oxygen at all and could breathe and push as hard as he could.

They were like a fleet of ships encountering a storm at sea. When the first giant wave hit, Cedric used a barrier spell to slow the impact. Although he was tossed around several times by the current, the mission was considered a success.

Because Krum and Harry were able to withstand the pressure and continue to rise.