Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 472 Seeing the mermaid in such a state, I feel relieved.

However, seeing his neighbors in Black Lake in this state, Rice felt at ease.

If there were a powerful alien civilization at the bottom of Black Lake or above the Slytherin common room, he wouldn't be able to sleep soundly.

The arrival of Rice and his companions startled the mermaids living in their stone abode. They rushed out of the cave, spears in hand, their yellow eyes gleaming with ferocity. As Rice and his companions passed by, they slapped the lake water with their thick, powerful silver tails, creating ripples.

The mermaids' actions did not anger Rice, because in his view, their actions were less a sign of attack and more a sign of self-defense; they seemed extremely wary of the four strangers who had intruded into the area.

Rice remained calm, but Harry and Neville tensed up, reaching into their robes and pulling out their wands.

The mermaids scattered like birds and beasts, trembling as they hid in their stone houses, huddled by the windows, and secretly observed them.

"It seems they still remember the dignity of wizards, which is good. Put the wands away; we don't need them for now." Rice didn't want to cause any more trouble, so he led Harry and the others to swim quickly forward.

As they ventured deeper into the mermaid village, the number of stone dwellings increased, and the dwellings gradually became more exquisite. Some dwellings even came with gardens, and some mermaids kept Greenlody as pets.

The wizard's arrival startled the local inhabitants, who swarmed out from all directions. Unlike the mermaids from before, these mermaids had curious eyes. Harry and his friends' webbed hands and gills behind their ears were eye-catching, and the fact that Rice, a pure human, could move freely underwater also astonished them.

After wandering around the fishman village for a while, the four of them arrived at the square in the center of the village.

Around the square were some houses, and in front of them floated a large group of mermaids, from whom the singing came. The singing mermaids gathered around a rough statue.

Upon discovering the mermaid statue, Reston immediately frowned. However, after carefully examining the sculpture and confirming that it had no connection to the royal family of the ancient mermaid kingdom, his frown immediately relaxed.

He saw many interesting phenomena along the way.

The dwellings on the outskirts of the village are simple, while those inside are luxurious, suggesting a growing wealth gap within this mermaid settlement. The mermaids on the outside are wary of the wizard, while those on the inside are relatively friendly; this difference in attitude is worth pondering.

The most interesting thing is that the inner circle of merfolk seemed to have been encouraged by Dumbledore to participate in the competition, while the outer and inner circle of merfolk seemed completely unaware that a wizard was coming, which is quite intriguing...

"In modern mermaids, the relationship between the upper echelons and wizards is close, the middle echelons are friendly to wizards but cannot get intelligence from the core decision-making circle—the upper echelons of the mermaids are afraid that they will make contact with wizards, and the lower echelons are hostile to wizards, is that right?" It has to be said that Rice is very satisfied with this social structure.

It would be terrible if the mermaid settlements were like they were a thousand years ago, all tightly bound together around the royal family.

While his mind was racing with calculations, Rice didn't stop walking, heading straight for the mermaid statue.

Under the mermaid's tail, there were hundreds of small boxes.

Rice, Neville, and the other two each picked up a box and then looked at the merfolk standing to the side.

A particularly savage and fierce-looking mermaid, resembling a leader, swam over and asked in a hoarse, deep voice, "Do you wish to continue accepting the challenge?"

Rice laughed heartily, completely ignoring the mermaid leader's words, and floated straight to the surface.

He could roughly guess what the reward would be after the challenge, something he didn't need at all. However, he didn't actually leave. Instead, he floated a short distance away and then concealed himself, observing from the sidelines.

Harry, his two friends, and others looked at each other, feeling that they still had enough time, so they decided to accept the further challenge.

Three mermaids separated from the group and led Harry and his two companions to three small houses next to the square.

Harry followed the mermaid into the house with a mix of trepidation and excitement, only to find the small room completely empty, devoid of any furniture, except for an hourglass in the corner. Besides that, dozens of shimmering silver fish swam about inside.

"Here you go." The mermaid handed Harry a seaweed basket.

"If you can catch thirty small fish before the hourglass runs out, then you have passed the trial," the mermaid said slowly.

Harry was stunned. He carried the smooth, sturdy basket on his back, looking at the group of small fish, and a question couldn't help but cross his mind: Was this trial a little too easy?

However, he wished the mermaid's trial could be as simple as possible.

The instant the mermaid flipped over the hourglass, Harry shot out like an arrow, heading straight for the school of fish.

Harry was a Seeker by training, and his dynamic vision was excellent. He was also extremely agile. If he were on land, catching these slow-moving little creatures would be a piece of cake. However, this was underwater, which was different from land.

Harry missed his target. The fish, startled by the rush of water, darted away, leaving a shimmering silver reflection in the room.

Undeterred by his initial failure, Harry quickly adjusted his strategy and pounced again. This time he succeeded, but the little fish was slippery and, in a moment of carelessness, it slipped through his fingers.

Harry: ...

He suddenly realized that this trial was not so simple.

Harry made several more attempts. He improved with each attempt, and by his fourth attempt, he was able to catch a small fish.

The mermaid's expression gradually changed from disdain to surprise.

However, he couldn't help but laugh when he saw that Harry hadn't closed the lid of the basket.

Harry was so busy catching fish that he completely forgot about it. When the time was up, he looked down at his basket and found that only the two small fish he had just caught were left.

A wave of frustration washed over Harry, and he felt extremely disappointed.

"I... um, can I try again?" After a couple of seconds, Harry composed himself and asked the merman beside him, not too hopefully.

Subconsciously, he felt that this trial was unlikely to be repeated, but to his surprise, the mermaid agreed to his request.

Harry's spirits lifted. He'd figured it out; he just needed to try twice more, and avoid making any more silly mistakes, and he'd definitely pass the test!

Sure enough, when the time was up, he had caught a total of twenty-seven small fish!

"One more time!" Harry said excitedly.

"Okay, but please line up."

"Huh?" Harry looked outside and saw Cedric standing outside with a comical giant bubble on his head.

He suddenly realized that this trial was more difficult than he had imagined.

As one of the first contestants to arrive here, being able to participate in two consecutive trials is already a significant advantage. Presumably, the intervals between trials will become longer as the competition progresses.

Harry stepped outside and watched Cedric go in and frantically start catching fish.

Cedric's situation was worse than Harry's at first. At least Harry's hands and feet had grown webs with the help of gill sacs, but Cedric retained human hands and feet. He also had a huge burden on his head, and he couldn't even catch up with a school of fish.

Just when Harry thought Cedric was going to give up the trial, a miraculous thing happened.

Cedric suddenly stopped, as if suddenly realizing something, and slapped his head. The huge bubble on his head trembled twice, looking as if he had almost popped it.

Then he stood still.

Amazingly, the little fish began to fly towards his fish basket little by little, as if there was a powerful attraction inside.

Harry: ? ? ?

Cedric quickly caught thirty silver fish and passed the trial.

The mermaid handed him a box.

Cedric waved to Harry, swam towards the surface of the water, and quickly disappeared from sight.

Harry took two deep breaths, trying to forget Cedric's way of catching fish, and then went into the room to begin his third trial.

While Harry was undergoing his trial, the other contestants arrived one after another.

There's Fleur, who chose the same bubble hairstyle as Cedric; Krum, who transformed himself into a half-shark; and Daphne, who wore a strange mask.

They stood outside, watching Harry deftly collect the small fish one by one into the fish basket.

As the saying goes, "Third time's the charm," and this time Harry finally passed the trial.

After obtaining the second small box, Harry quickly floated upwards. As he ascended, he noticed a continuous stream of contestants heading towards the mermaid village.

They each displayed their unique abilities: some wore Muggle diving suits, some transformed into aquatic animals, and one even drove a fish deep into the Black Lake.

Harry was amazed by this.

When Harry swam to the shallow water, he realized that his transformation wasn't over yet!

Recalling the suffocating feeling on land, Harry decided to stay in the water a little longer until the effects of the gill sac grass wore off.

"I hope there's enough time," he prayed silently to himself.

If his gills haven't disappeared after an hour, he'll have no choice but to surface.

Harry drifted aimlessly underwater, and then he saw Neville and Luna, who had arrived before him. Both were carrying two boxes.

They clearly passed the mermaid's trial, but it's a mystery how they did it.

At that moment, Cedric also appeared.

Because he didn't have webbed toes, he moved more slowly, so he left earlier than Harry, but reached the water much later.

He gestured to the three people who remained underwater, asking if they wanted to float up together. The three shook their heads helplessly and pointed to the gills behind their ears.

Cedric immediately understood the three men's predicament. He waved his hand, indicating that he would take his leave first.

As he surfaced, Cedric felt a surge of excitement. He figured he was likely the first among all the contestants to complete the task and pass the additional trial.

Although the first and last ones are essentially the same, they still boost morale and bring honor to Hufflepuff School.

As he surfaced, Cedric released his head-bubbling curse, and then he heard a commotion from the stands.

"Strange, it doesn't sound like cheers, but rather—" Before Cedric could think any further, a spell flew past his ear.

If he hadn't subconsciously tilted his head to observe the audience, the spell would have hit him squarely on the head!

Cedric plunged into the water, and in less than half a second, a dozen spells landed where he had just been floating.

In the stands, a large group of people stood up, their faces filled with shock.

"Shameless!"

"That was a foul! Where's the principal? Where's the referee? Someone do something about it!"

"How could you do this?!"

It turned out to be the dozen or so contestants who hadn't gone into the water; they had already sprung into action. They hadn't given up on the competition; instead, they had decided to ambush the students who would surface after claiming the completion reward!

The moment Cedric showed his face, he was struck by more than a dozen spells and vanished without a trace.

Dumbledore also stood up, squinting at the farce unfolding by the lake. Beside him, Professor McGonagall angrily pounded on the railing in front of her.

"This is cheating, shameless cheating! Albus, we should—"

"The game continues." Dumbledore's voice rang out, silencing Professor McGonagall who was about to say the rest of her sentence.

"This... Albus, they—"

"There is no rule against this behavior in the game," Dumbledore said calmly.

Professor McGonagall fell silent.

As the masterminds behind the competition, Rowena and Helga didn't see anything wrong with the lakeside players' actions. They even thought it was how it should be done, and that these were the ones who truly grasped the essence of the game.

Dumbledore remained silent, so Henry and Bagman did not take any action either. The judging panel, composed of the headmaster and Ministry of Magic officials, ultimately acquiesced to the contestants' shady tactics.

Seeing that the referees did not react, the athletes by the lake were immediately reassured.

Among these people, some were those who hadn't found a suitable strategy, while others were contestants deliberately left on shore by certain magic schools. Their goal was to ambush the strong competitors, steal their rewards, and eliminate them.

They were initially quite anxious, unsure if their actions would be officially approved. The fact that there's no official response means they made the right bet.

There were more than a dozen snipers on the shore, and anyone who showed their face would be met with a dozen spells, something even the Fire Dragon couldn't withstand. They currently had a significant advantage.

Seeing that the principals didn't react, the students watching the competition understood what the referees meant. Now they began to worry about their school's contestants.

Cedric submerged in the water, calmly considered the situation for a few seconds, and quickly figured out the current state of affairs.

Then he laughed.

He surfaced again, and this time he immediately unleashed an Ironclad Spell upon emerging from the water, while simultaneously manipulating the mud on the shore to build himself a mud wall.

The mud walls and the iron armor spells blocked the incoming spells, allowing Cedric to rush ashore.

One contestant, still unwilling to give up, cast a stun spell on Cedric after he came ashore, but Cedric countered it and retaliated by knocking the uncooperative fellow unconscious.

Seeing how fierce Cedric was, the others immediately gave up the idea of ​​continuing the attack.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Update here, see you at midnight tomorrow night~

(End of this chapter)