Chapter 316: Underwater Mutation
Chapter 316: Underwater Mutation
Three Death Eaters had already drawn their wands.
Just as they were about to use Apparition to take Crouch away, a crow with blood-red eyes and pitch-black feathers, without a single speck of color, suddenly glided down from the sky and landed in front of them.
Gagson and the other two Death Eaters involuntarily stopped their movements, their eyes locking onto the crow's pupils. Then, each of them was overwhelmed by a tremendous wave of fear.
It was as if their master was standing right in front of them, his cold, expressionless face staring at them, then slowly and elegantly raising his wand and pointing it at them.
"Useless."
A jet of dark green light accompanied the spell's incantation.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Gagson was the first to snap out of the silent terror.
He had extensively studied dark magic, and consequently, he was well-versed in similar spells.
The Fidelius Charm could trigger the deepest fears within a person, but once the person realized that everything happening to them was an illusion, they would quickly break free from the fear.
Gagson clenched his right fist tightly and punched his own face, using the pain to speed up his recovery from the fear.
As he opened his eyes, he saw a young, slender wizard standing in front of the Death Eater who was still carrying Crouch and trapped in fear. The wizard's hand was already on Crouch's body.
Gagson recognized Sherlock's face; Voldemort had shown the photograph of this young Hogwarts professor to all the Death Eaters after learning about him.
Voldemort promised that whoever could bring this young professor to him, dead or alive, would be rewarded with infinite wealth and power!
While no Death Eater had yet dared to reach into Hogwarts, which was under Dumbledore's watch, many were envious of Sherlock.
But at that moment, Gagson had no time to consider how much benefit Sherlock could bring him. If Crouch was rescued, he would lose his life!
"Avada Kedavra!"
Without hesitation, he aimed his wand at Sherlock and cast the unforgivable curse!
However, just as the green light began to flash, he hadn't noticed that Phoenix Fawkes, perched on Sherlock's shoulder, had already emitted a golden-red glow.
The light enveloped Sherlock and quickly spread along his arm to the stunned Crouch.
In the next instant, both of them vanished without a trace, along with the crow that had been circling in the sky above the forest.
Gagson's Killing Curse, once cast, could not be stopped. It missed Sherlock and instead hit the Death Eater who had been carrying Crouch and was still trapped in fear.
In the depths of despair, the Death Eater was killed by his own comrade.
The notorious blond wizard's enraged cry echoed through the forest, startling a flock of birds.
Under the Black Lake at Hogwarts.
Harry, already under the effects of a Stunning Spell, was being held by the arm by a male mermaid. In front of him, the mermaids responsible for guarding the hostages that the champions needed to rescue were all looking at him with shock.
"Litch! What are you doing? Why are you knocking out a Wizard's student!"
One of the mermaids issued a reprimand in their unique language.
The mermaid named Litch, however, remained calm. He held Harry's arm, preventing his body from floating naturally, and said calmly,
"This is the intention of Hogwarts Headmaster Dumbledore."
Upon hearing his words, the mermaids holding tridents exchanged glances. Among them, the mermaid named Litch was the one specifically responsible for communicating with Wizards.
Even the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, which involved helping the Wizards, was arranged by Litch. He claimed that doing so would allow Dumbledore to provide them with more resources and help them secure a more reasonable status within the Ministry of Magic.
This forward-thinking young mermaid had secured many benefits for the mermaid community through his communication with Dumbledore. In the batch of mermaids living at the bottom of the Black Lake, he was already seen as the next leader.
Thus, his words carried a lot of weight. Even though some mermaids felt something was amiss and had their doubts, no one voiced them publicly. Instead, they watched as Litch dragged Harry deeper into the Black Lake.
"Continue with your tasks. I need to complete the task Dumbledore has given me."
His voice, devoid of any emotion, echoed through the water and back to the mermaids' ears. Then he disappeared into the dark depths.
Harry felt extremely uncomfortable.
His neck ached as if it had been snapped, the pain continuously stimulating his brain. Breathing was difficult. In his stunned state, he had forgotten about the Gillyweed he had taken, and his nose felt useless, unable to draw in any air. He could only rely on some mysterious organs on the sides of his face to extract oxygen from the water, a process that was extremely painful.
As his consciousness began to drift into a dazed state, a burning sensation, much stronger than the pain in his neck, suddenly shot through his forehead.
A faint female voice echoed in the depths of his mind.
"Harry. Wake up. Harry."
Harry's dazed thoughts slowly cleared. With what seemed like the last of his strength, he finally managed to open his eyes.
What he saw was a dark, muddy bottom of the lake. He had been brought to the deepest part of the Black Lake, where there were no fish or even much vegetation.
Harry sensed the presence of the mermaid who was holding his arm, seemingly searching for something. He did not move, pretending to still be unconscious, but his mind raced.
This definitely wasn't part of the competition!
Neither the riddle from the golden egg nor the additional instructions given by Bagman before they entered the water mentioned anything about this.
It was also impossible that this was some kind of personal vendetta from a mermaid who held a grudge against him.
Before the competition, he didn't even know what a mermaid was!
The only thing Harry could think of was that this had to be related to the person who put his name into the Goblet of Fire!
(End of Chapter)
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