Chapter 310: The Black Lake Journey
Chapter 310: The Black Lake Journey
As the whistle blew, Liam grabbed Harry, who was about to take off his clothes, and shook his head slightly before looking at the others. The contestants from other Schools seemed to be well-prepared; each of them was already wearing a swimsuit under their Wizard robes. They were now taking off their coats and warming up in the cold wind, ready to dive into the water.
Within a few minutes, the participants from the other Schools had already entered the water. Liam and Harry were the only ones still standing by the lake, fully dressed in their coats.
"Why aren't they taking off their clothes yet?" "Maybe they can instantly appear at the bottom of the lake—" "By the way, I heard Harry has a great body. Has anyone seen it?" Liam heard the last comment and felt a bit awkward, realizing the person who asked was a man.
"Alright, it's our turn now." Liam said, waving his wand a few times. Soon, a blue ice boat emerged from the water.
"The Hogwarts contestants have chosen an unprecedented method to attempt this Tournament. Let's see how they fare", Bagman's excited voice echoed from the judges' table.
After climbing onto the boat, Liam tapped the side with his wand. The boat shot forward like an arrow, heading straight for the center of the lake.
"Listen carefully to the sounds in the water and let me know if you hear anything unusual", Liam said as he pulled out a long, flesh-colored cord from his belt and inserted one end into Harry's ear, then dropped the other end into the water.
"What is this?" Harry asked while listening to the sounds in the water as instructed.
"An Extendable Ear, a new invention by me and the Weasley Twins. It will soon be added to their mail-order catalog", Liam explained.
"Cool. Wait, I think I hear singing", Harry said as they moved farther from the shore. He suddenly heard a song coming from underwater.
"It's probably the Merfolk. I think we've found the right place. Can you point out the direction?" Liam asked, pointing his wand at the back of the boat. Harry quickly indicated that the sound was coming from the north, closer to the center of the lake.
Liam waved his wand to adjust the boat's direction. Harry then asked, "How do you know the Merfolk's singing place is where we need to go?"
"The Black Lake is too large, so they must have placed our items in a conspicuous spot. From what I know, the most noticeable place at the bottom of the Black Lake is the Merfolk village. Their singing can guide everyone, and it adds a magical element for Wizards. The lake bottom is mostly mud and seaweed, making it hard to see any markers."
Soon, the ice boat approached the area where the singing was coming from, and the lyrics became clearer.
"To find the items we've taken, you need to go forward—yes, this is the place", Harry said happily, as the Merfolk's song now clearly pointed to their destination. They had only been out for about ten minutes.
The ice boat soon arrived above the source of the singing. Liam and Harry then took off their coats and each pulled out a vial of sky-blue liquid from their utility belts, drinking it down in one go.
As soon as the Elixir hit his stomach, Liam felt his mouth and nose start to struggle for air, and gills began to grow under his ears. He suppressed the discomfort and said to Harry, "This Breathing Potion is adjusted to last only 20 minutes. Grab the items and come back up immediately." Harry gave an OK sign and then they both plunged into the water.
Thanks to the Elixir, they didn't feel the water as cold and bone-chilling as before. The lake was pitch black with very low visibility, and Liam could only see about three or four meters around him.
"Stay close to me", Liam wrote in the water with his wand, creating a few glowing words, then swam forcefully toward the source of the singing. After about five or six minutes, they saw rough stone huts on the lake bottom below them, covered with patches of algae. Some faces peered out from the dark windows—faces that were completely different from what they had heard in legends...
According to legend, the upper bodies of Merfolk closely resemble human aesthetics. Unfortunately, this legend is only half-true. Only the Merfolk from the Mediterranean region are considered beautiful, and since ancient European civilization originated along the Mediterranean coast, the tales of beautiful Merfolk spread far and wide.
The creatures at the bottom of the lake, however, belong to a branch of the Atlantic Merfolk. Their skin is a dull, iron-gray, and their hair is a messy, dark green. Their eyes are yellow, and their teeth, also yellow, are chipped and uneven. They wear crude necklaces made of stones strung together with thick ropes, making them look more like Sea Folk.
The source of the singing was directly below Liam and his companions, in what appeared to be a small plaza. The plaza was surrounded by Merfolk dwellings, and at its center stood a large, rough Merfolk statue. A group of Merfolk gathered beneath the statue, singing the song that Liam and his friends had just heard.
Well, they weren't quite the same as Sea Folk. At least the song was as beautiful as the legends described. However, these Sea Folk had never expected anyone to plunge down from the surface of the water above them. When they saw Liam and his group, their singing paused momentarily, and the singers curiously looked up.
Once they swam to the plaza, Liam noticed that six bags made of seaweed were tied to the stone platform beneath the statue. Each bag contained a palm-sized, rectangular gold coin. Upon closer inspection, Liam saw that each gold coin bore the signatures they had made on the Golden Egg.
Traveling by boat on the surface was indeed faster than swimming. After counting the bags on the stone platform, Liam concluded that their plan had worked. Liam and Harry quickly found their respective gold coins, then drew their daggers to cut open the bags and retrieve the coins. Each gold coin had a slot, and when Liam inserted the crystal pillar into the slot, the coin emitted a white light, merging with the crystal. Harry followed suit and completed his gold coin as well.
With the gold coins in hand, Liam signaled to Harry to head back up. Within a few minutes, they were back on the surface. They realized that the potion's effects would last for another five or six minutes, so they still needed to remain in the water for a bit.
To save time, Liam created a few handles on the bottom of the ice boat. They grabbed the handles and let the boat carry them toward the Forbidden Forest, near the edge of the Black Lake.
Halfway through their journey, it was time to take the breathing elixirs. Liam and Harry quickly jumped onto the boat, and under Liam's direction, they each drank a vial of the orange elixir from their waistbands. Within minutes, steam began to rise from their bodies, and the bone-chilling cold was dispelled.
"Great, now we don't have to change clothes in this cramped boat", Harry said, feeling the warmth and giving Liam a thumbs-up. "How did you think to bring these elixirs?"
Liam looked at Harry with a bemused expression. "Everyone knew the Tournament would take place in the lake, so getting wet was a high probability. In mid-February, the water is freezing, and you'd need something to warm up after coming out. I figured most of the participants would think of this, but apparently, you didn't."
"Uh—" Harry scratched his head and chuckled. "You know I was brought into the Tournament unexpectedly, so I definitely wasn't as prepared as you guys."
Liam could only shake his head in exasperation.
(End of Chapter)
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