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Chapter 655: The Mermaid's Song and Gillyweed
Chapter 655: The Mermaid's Song and Gillyweed
One evening a week later, Ivan transformed into a mermaid he had seen before and began conversing with the mermaid leader, his voice bubbling and gurgling.
"You must have misunderstood the Headmaster's instructions, Dumbledore. He wants us to oversee the second task...
To oversee it! Understand?
Imagine if we did nothing during the competition. He would be furious.
So we need to do something. Not just protect the hostages, but perhaps set up the arena or intimidate the participants a bit..."
Ivan spoke at length, spending over an hour successfully twisting the mermaids' understanding of Dumbledore's orders.
Of course, he didn't intend to do anything malicious. His main goal was to increase the difficulty of the second task, making it more intense and thrilling, so the Champions would have an epic experience.
Satisfied with his work, Ivan left the Black Lake and headed back to the dormitory to rest.
However, as he passed the Gryffindor Common Room, he was surprised to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushing over.
"What's going on?" Ivan asked, puzzled.
"We found the clue, it's a mermaid!" Harry panted, his face alight with excitement. "Remember that sound we heard? It was the mermaid's song!"
"How do you know it's a mermaid? Did someone provide you with a clue?" Ivan's expression turned serious as he quickly asked.
Harry and Ron hesitated, while Hermione pursed her lips, looking a bit upset.
Ivan, seeing their reactions, was confused, but Harry quickly explained. "Hermione found it. She's been flipping through hundreds of books related to sounds and finally found a similar account in a book about underwater magical creatures."
"That's right. At first, she even suspected it might be some kind of special code, like hidden information in the sound frequency. She listened to Harry's Golden Egg at least a dozen times..." Ron added.
Ivan looked at Hermione, realizing his mistake, and quickly tried to make amends. "Sorry, Hermione, I shouldn't have said that..."
"You were thinking that the person who put Harry's name in the Triwizard Cup might have secretly given him the clue for the second task?" Hermione interrupted, her expression thoughtful.
"That's impossible! It's not like one of the Dark Lord's followers suddenly decided to help Harry win the tournament", Ron said, laughing at his own joke.
Harry also looked at Ivan, perplexed.
Ivan shrugged, feeling helpless. He couldn't reveal something that hadn't happened yet, so he bluffed. "The Triwizard Tournament is dangerous. If someone really wanted to harm you, they could just give you false information, which could be fatal!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione found Ivan's offhand comment quite logical.
Think about it: if someone told the Champions that they would face Red Caps instead of dragons in the first task, everyone would be much more relaxed and wouldn't bother to prepare specific strategies. When the real challenge came, they could easily end up as dragon fodder.
"Since you already know that it was the Mermaid's song, have you figured out what the second task will be?" Ivan asked.
Harry hesitated, nodding and then shaking his head, indicating that he only had some uncertain guesses. He then repeated the song he had heard.
"We cannot sing on land, when you search, think carefully:
We have stolen your most beloved treasure, you have only one hour to find and retrieve the item we have taken. Once the hour is up, all hope is lost, and it will be gone forever, never to return."
After Harry finished, Hermione began to explain. "I think the second task will require you to dive into the Black Lake to find something the Mermaids have stolen. You will have only one hour, and if you exceed that time, the Mermaids will keep the item forever, and you will fail the task!"
Ivan nodded, acknowledging that Hermione had hit the nail on the head, although she didn't guess that the items hidden at the lake bottom would be hostages.
"But how can we stay underwater for a long time?" Harry asked, the excitement of solving the riddle quickly giving way to a serious concern.
Back home, the Dursleys had probably hoped he would drown one day, so they never taught him how to swim. In contrast, Dudley was an excellent swimmer and often boasted about it, but Harry had always thought it was nothing special, as Dudley was so overweight that he would float like a giant lifebuoy if he fell into the water.
"Maybe you could try a Transfiguration spell to turn yourself into a fish or something", Hermione suggested, then, as if remembering something, she looked at Harry apologetically and continued, "Oh, I almost forgot. Such Transfiguration spells are taught starting in sixth year, and they are very difficult, with few people able to master them. Ivan might be able to do it, but you definitely can't..."
"Yeah", Harry said dejectedly, his mind racing with ideas, but none seemed feasible.
"You could use Gillyweed, Harry!" Ivan suddenly said.
"What? Gillyweed? What's that?" Harry turned to Ivan, his eyes wide with excitement.
"It's a potion ingredient. If you eat it, you'll temporarily grow gills and webbed hands and feet, allowing you to breathe and move freely underwater", Ivan explained.
"Like the Mermaids?" Hermione recalled the description of Mermaids in the book Magical Creatures of the Water.
"Pretty much, but it's only a partial transformation. You won't be as agile as a Mermaid underwater", Ivan added, though he didn't mention that the transformation would also make him look rather ugly.
But Harry clearly didn't care about that. The prospect of being able to breathe underwater with a simple herb was enough to make him ecstatic—this meant he wouldn't become the first Champion to drown in the lake.
"There are still a few days until the second task. You can go to Hogsmeade to buy some Gillyweed and practice in the Black Lake when you have free time..."
Ivan advised, then suggested that Harry pretend he hadn't found any clues and pay attention to anyone who tried to give him information.
(End of Chapter)
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