The days at Hogwarts

He smelled like orange.

Hermione took a deep breath, leaned her head on his shoulder, and rubbed it comfortably.

Loren shook his shoulders: "Be serious, Professor Morgan is giving a lecture."

"Oh." Hermione replied crisply, with a slight curve at the corner of her mouth.

They were still talking about the rune homework at first, but I don’t know who said something more, and the topic quickly changed. In the end, they couldn’t remember what topic they were talking about. They only remembered that the fireplace was warm in the lounge. The lighting is very gentle.

……

There are many portraits and statues of wizards in Hogwarts Castle. Unlike the portraits of celebrities in Muggle schools, these wizards may not have made any outstanding contributions, or their stories may be well-known.

For example, the silly Barnabas who tried to teach trolls to dance, or the confused Boris, who graduated from Hufflepuff and was always careless. There are many stories about him in the Potions Safety Code and the Herbology Safety Code: not wearing ears. Transplanting mandrakes with a hood, touching the slime of babbo tubers without gloves...

Even so, he lived to the age of 93, and eventually passed away due to an infection with dragon pox.

In memory of this unlucky and lucky fool, a statue of him was erected on the sixth floor of Hogwarts.

"Is this the entrance Cedric was talking about?"

Harry held a heavy golden egg under one arm while looking at the statue in front of him. It was a wizard with a blank expression, and the gloves on both hands were on backwards.

Harry found the door next to the statue as Cedric had told him, leaned forward and whispered, "Fresh pineapples."

The door creaked open, and the luxurious chandelier on the ceiling cast a warm and soft light into the room. Everything was made of snow-white marble, and a hundred golden faucets surrounded the rectangular bathtub, which was so big that it could For swimming inside, there is actually a diving board next to it.

Snow-white linen curtains hung on the windows, a pile of fluffy white towels stood in the corner, and a picture with a gilded frame hung on the wall.

The painting showed a blonde mermaid, sleeping soundly on a rock, her long hair stuck to her face, trembling slightly with every breath she took.

Harry walked forward, looking around in wonder, his footsteps echoing around the room.

This bathroom is indeed luxurious and beautiful, and he is indeed eager to try some of the faucets...

When Harry came to his senses again, he was already lying naked in the bathtub, shaking his hands, feet and limbs comfortably.

These faucets are indeed magical. They spray out various bubble bath liquids mixed with hot water. One of the faucets sprays out bubbles as big as footballs, which are also pink; the other sprays out crystal clear bubbles. , dense and thick foam; and purple mist, which fills the water surface.

Swimming in the hot, frothy water felt really wonderful. He swam in the water for two times before returning to the edge of the pool, lazily holding the golden egg in front of him to observe.

"If I were you, just put it in the water and try it." A high-pitched voice suddenly appeared.

"Myrtle! When did you come?!"

Myrtle blinked: "Earlier than you."

"!!"

……

The next morning, the auditorium.

The Christmas Eve decorations have not been completely revoked. The twelve Christmas trees are still hung with star and moon-shaped ornaments, but they only sparkle at night. The silver frost on the wall has dissipated, leaving four school flags, the colors seem not as bright as they were two months ago.

Breakfast time is almost over, but the auditorium is still empty, with only a few people at the four deans' tables.

Loren fed the little witch a piece of fried sausage, turned around and asked, "So you have solved the riddle of the golden egg?"

Harry glanced at him and Hermione with a resentful expression: "You already knew that, right?"

"Know what?" Ron interjected curiously.

"As for Myrtle, you know she would hide in the bath and watch the prefects take a bath."

Loren chuckled: "Have you been blinded by her?"

Harry choked and didn't know how to answer for a moment: "There was foam on the water. She said she closed her eyes when I went into the water, but I don't believe it!"

Loren immediately defended him: "Then you go to Myrtle to argue! I must take responsibility after seeing your body!"

Looking at the three people who were suppressing their laughter, Harry waved his hand helplessly: "Let's talk about the golden egg. Inside the golden egg is the song of the mermaid. You can only hear the lyrics clearly underwater."

……

"Look for us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing on the ground.

As you search, consider:

We took away your most precious treasure.

You only have an hour,

To find and regain what we took,

After an hour all hope is gone,

It is completely gone and will never be seen again. "

After Harry finished singing, he shivered from the cold wind.

Loren stood on the ice surface of the black lake and stamped his feet. The ice was as cold and hard as frozen iron, very solid. He turned to look at the three people behind him with a serious look on his face: "It's not easy to fish."

Ron nodded in understanding.

Hermione deadpanned.

Only Harry's eyes almost rolled to the sky: "Is it time to talk about fishing now? Help me think of a way! Myrtle said, the second project is for me to go into the water to find the mermaid, and I have to Stay underwater for an hour."

While talking, several people followed Loren and walked forward, leaving a series of crooked footprints on the ice. They walked until they were more than ten meters offshore before taking out four small benches and sitting down.

Harry exhaled to warm his hands, took the fishing rod handed over by Loren, and watched him divide the bait into four parts: "How is this possible? How can I breathe underwater for an hour?"

No one paid attention to him, and the ethereal echo of the voice could be heard on the ice of the empty lake.

"[Thunderbolt Piercing]"

"boom!"

There was a splash of water under the ice cave, but when I looked down, I couldn't see anything clearly. An unknown fish passed by with swaying fins, flicked its tail deftly, and disappeared into the deep water.

Loren skillfully placed the bait and hook. After doing this, he clapped his hands and looked up at the sky. It was a rare blue color in winter, bright and clear.

“The weather is really good, and we can catch big fish at a glance.”

"Really?" Ron hooked happily.

Hermione was not interested in fishing, so she sat next to Loren and let a few crystal blue flames float in the air to dispel the coldness around her.

Harry watched with a dull expression as several people performed their duties, it was like a leisurely winter outing and ice fishing.

Harry felt a little confused.

No, I'm talking about the second event of the Goblet of Fire Tournament, a matter of life and death!

"Say something, come up with some ideas! I'm going to be drowned in three weeks!"

Loren stared at the fish bobber intently: "Neville has a copy of "Mediterranean Magical Aquatic Plants and Their Characteristics". It mentions a plant called gillweed. Do you remember it? There is also a head soaking spell..."

Harry's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Hermione nodded: "So what you need to consider now is what treasure you are looking for in the water, and how to determine the direction underwater."

"And there's this one-hour deadline, does that mean anything?"

"..."

The clear winter sky made people feel lazy. Professor Granger's voice slowly blended into the water under the ice, becoming blurry and distant. Some long-standing memories emerged in Loren's mind.

If nothing else goes wrong, the referee team will tie the person the warriors care about most underwater and hand it over to the mermaid. If he cannot be rescued within an hour, he will drown...

It’s really full of flaws.

Loren glanced at Ron out of the corner of his eye.

This time Harry asked Ginny to be his dance partner, and the two of them seemed to be on fire. I don't know who was soaked in the water as a hostage this time.

Chapter 480 Invitation from the Mermaid Elder

"Boom..."

With a tap of Harry's wand, the transparent bubble covering his head burst crisply.

"Oh, no," Harry frowned and said in distress, "This head soaking spell is too fragile, and it definitely won't last for an hour..."

"Let's think about where to buy gillyweed." Hermione held her chin in her palms, resting her elbows on her knees, staring at Loren's fish bobber intently, "That is a very uncommon herbal medicine, and it is not available in ordinary pharmacies. You can definitely buy it.”

"Oh..." Harry's eyebrows were knotted with worry.

"How about using the summoning spell again?" Ron pulled up the empty fishhook, re-hooked it and threw it into the water. "When the second project starts, you get a set of scuba from a nearby Muggle town."

"Sounds great!" Harry joked, knowing he was talking nonsense.

"Yes, as long as you learn how to operate a scuba within an hour, and then convince the referee not to care about your violation of the confidentiality law, so as not to disqualify you from the competition, if everything goes well, you can pass the second event smoothly." Hermione said in a tone of voice He poured cold water on them gently.

"It's just a joke, Hermione, don't take it so seriously!"

Hermione glanced at him sideways: "Speaking of which, the ideal way is to let you transform yourself into a submarine or something... But unfortunately, although the Animagus teaching class has taught some knowledge about human body transformation, But it’s not enough.”

"..."

After going round and round, things finally came back to practicing the head bubble spell and looking for gilly grass.

Harry looked dejectedly at the ever-flowing lake in the ice cave, sighed and muttered: "It would be great if the competition allowed others to help. I can violate the school rules in front of Professor Moody, and he might turn me into a shark." …”

Ron was amused and laughed twice. While he was distracted, the bait on the hook was stolen by the fish again.

He returned to the bait nonchalantly: "Speaking of which, Professor Moody has been teaching for half a year. I think he is quite good. Although he is a little weird, he is very competent. What do you think?"

Hermione was noncommittal, turned her head and exchanged glances with Loren, silently silent.

Loren stared at the dark and deep ice cave and couldn't help but recall Professor Moody's recent Defense Against the Dark Arts teachings and his actions after the start of the Goblet of Fire...

He was certain that Professor Moody still smelled of lacewings, which meant he was still taking Polyjuice Potion. Judging from what was observed during meals and at the Yule Ball, the fake Professor Moody seemed to be very familiar with Barty Crouch. The two of them were keen on talking to Snape, and they were both warm-hearted and cold-blooded. Not annoyed at all.

What on earth was Dumbledore thinking...

Loren's mind floated along with the fish float, and his mind seemed to sink into the deep lake water. The sound of gurgling bubbles and the crackling sound of ice cracking could be heard in his ears...

Ok?

The crackling sound of ice breaking!

As three huge cracks spread from the ice cave to all directions, Loren's eyes suddenly widened and he pulled Hermione into his arms. Harry and Ron also clung to each other in fear.

The distance here from the shore was too far, and the ice was unstable, so a few people did not dare to run rashly for a while.

"Crack, click, click..."

Slight vibrations are transmitted from the ice along the soles of the feet into the heart, shaking people's hearts, as if huge waves are lapping on the ice, and humming and rumbling sounds are coming from all directions.

At a certain moment, the ice in front of him suddenly cracked and shattered into pieces.

"what!"

"Ah-ah-well..."

The four of them stepped into the air instantly and were pulled into the water by gravity. Their screams were scattered by the waves.

There was no cold as expected, nor was there the suffocation of falling into the water.

The cold water is sucked into the lungs smoothly like air, turns around in the chest, and is exhaled through the mouth and nose again, as naturally as breathing.

Loren quickly adapted to this kind of breathing, and felt that the little witch was holding his hand tightly, even a little painful. He reached out and hugged the little witch who had her eyes closed tightly.

Shaking his limbs and floating in the water, the surrounding light was not dim, but rather bright.

Hermione opened her eyes and looked around in astonishment, but she only saw floating long strips of water plants, as dense as a forest. He saw countless black shadows gathering around the water plants, which were constantly shaking, and could only be seen clearly. Silhouette human figure.

Harry and Ron were floating behind and above, their expressions dull, and they were dumbfounded.

The sound of the ice cracking disappeared, and the bright and blurry skylight shone down. The few people gradually calmed down and swam forward to see clearly what was floating around them.

Mermaids, each dragging a long fish tail.

Different from the mermaids they were familiar with, they looked a bit green underwater and looked scary. Their fingers were webbed, their skin was iron-gray, and their dark green hair was long and unkempt. Their eyes are yellow, their incomplete teeth are also yellow, and they wear pebbles tied with thick ropes around their necks.

Holding a spear in his hand, his thick and powerful silver fish tail slapped the lake water.

The leading mermaid has a long green beard, and wears a bracelet made of red coral stones, emitting a soft red light.

There were faint blue shadows floating in Loren's pupils. He saw a similar red light floating on the four of them. It was weak and soft. It was this soft red light that caused their bodies to undergo strange changes, allowing them to survive the cold. Breathe freely in the lake.

This is completely different from the feeling of breathing underwater under the Bubble Curse. The Bubble Curse still stores air or draws oxygen from the surrounding water, and the red coral stone directly allows their bodies to adapt to the underwater world.