Chapter 155: Hermione is John

The next day, the second challenge of the Triwizard Tournament officially began.

This challenge, as they expected, was conducted in the Black Lake.

Now the ice on the Black Lake had long melted, and the water surface was sparkling.

And the lake surface, which was empty yesterday, had three wooden high platforms standing on the lake surface this morning.

Students took small boats to the high platforms one after another.

John also came to the central high platform with the company of Titus and the others.

Here, John saw Harry who was already prepared here; Harry saw the bandage on John's face and asked strangely.

"John, what's going on with the wound on your face..."

"It's nothing, scratched by a madman yesterday."

John responded faintly, looking in a very bad mood.

Harry scratched his head strangely, but seeing that John didn't seem to have much to say, he didn't ask.

"By the way, have you seen Hermione?"

At this time, John asked back; he had been looking around, but didn't see Hermione.

"No, haven't seen her today." Harry shrugged and said.

"And I don't know why Ron is missing too; he was called away by Professor Moody last night and hasn't come back."

Hearing this, John frowned.

Yesterday Hermione was also called away by Professor Moody, and Ron was too, and they both disappeared...

Today is the day he and Harry compete; it's impossible for them not to come to watch their competition.

At this time, Dumbledore began to speak, interrupting John's thoughts.

"Welcome to the second challenge of the Triwizard Tournament!"

"Last night, several warriors had something stolen, something precious."

"Now, those treasures are at the bottom of the Black Lake; the warriors need to dive into the Black Lake and retrieve the treasures taken away by the merpeople!"

"Very simple, but the warriors only have one hour; if you exceed the time, your treasures will never be retrieved, and no spell can save them!"

The cold wind on the lake was biting, and the four warriors had already stood at the edge of the high platform.

And John listened to Dumbledore's opening speech, his brows frowned into a lump.

Something precious stolen?

Did he have anything stolen?

And if you exceed the time, you can't save them.

The more he thought about this statement, the more wrong it felt.

Using the word save proves that the so-called treasure should be some kind of living thing.

Recalling that Hermione and Ron both disappeared suddenly last night...

John's expression gradually turned cold.

"The cannon sounds, and the competition begins!"

As soon as Dumbledore spoke, the cannon on the high platform roared.

Krum and Fleur jumped into the lake first, and Harry also reacted and hurriedly followed and jumped in.

John didn't hesitate anymore, took a deep breath, and jumped down.

The cold lake water instantly wrapped around his whole body; he had already identified the direction of the Mermaid Square in advance.

So he also plunged into the water, and then waved his wand in the water.

A strong wind spell formed behind him.

With the reaction force of the strong wind spell, he pushed himself forward at high speed in the water, like an arrow off the string.

People on the high platform could only vaguely see John under the water surface suddenly darting out, and disappeared from view in a short while.

The bottom of the lake was dark and cold, and dark shadows swam by from time to time; John narrowed his eyes and waved his wand again.

"Ultimate Flash!"

A dazzling white light exploded suddenly, piercing the dark lake water and illuminating the scene nearby.

It was more than a dozen Grindylows swimming toward him.

Those Grindylows were ugly, swimming fast with octopus tentacles under their bodies, and had a row of fangs.

After being stimulated by the strong light, they became even more manic and rushed straight at John.

John waved his wand quickly, Stupefy!

The Stupefy spell hit the nearest Grindylow group accurately, making them unable to move.

And the remaining few Grindylows were hit by the Stupefy spells he cast one after another, rolling their eyes and sinking to the bottom of the lake.

After solving the Grindylows, John didn't stop and continued to gallop forward; as he went deeper, the water pressure gradually increased, and breathing began to become difficult.

But he didn't slow down, cast the strong wind spell again, and forced his way forward in the water.

Ahead came the faint singing of merpeople; John gripped his wand and continued to accelerate.

Gradually, he saw some stone pillar groups covered with seaweed.

Hazy halos floated between the stone pillars, and strips of merpeople swam back and forth nearby, holding bone-made tridents in their hands.

John slowed down, hid behind a stone pillar, and poked his head out to observe the surrounding environment.

In the center of the stone pillar group, it was indeed a square.

And in the center of the square, four motionless human figures were floating.

It seems that those are the so-called "treasures," which is the same as his previous inference.

The event organizers will not hide things in nooks and crannies, but find an open position to place them uniformly, allowing the warriors to come and seize them.

He was able to rush over here because he knew the location of the Mermaid Square in advance, while others had to rely on their own groping, and they must still need some time to catch up.

Although he had expected what the treasure was, seeing this scene, John was still very angry.

The challenge of the Triwizard Tournament is designed to test the warriors.

Therefore, some challenge levels that threaten the life safety of the warriors will be designed, which he can accept; after all, everyone knows the danger and still comes to participate.

But involving innocent people, letting them serve as hostages to let the warriors save them, even if it is to simulate the crisis situation of family and friends being kidnapped, he cannot accept it.

Once there is a mistake, the lives of those hostages can never be retrieved.

John didn't hesitate anymore, waved his wand, and several giant rocks at the bottom of the water floated up, floating beside John.

Then John swam out of the stone pillar with the giant rocks and swam straight toward the four human figures in the center.

The merpeople nearby also immediately discovered John's approach, raised their tridents, and chased after John.

John waved his wand quickly, and a series of silent Stupefy spells spread like water; the merpeople rushing in front went limp and had no movement.

The remaining merpeople saw this, let out sharp hisses, and launched a collective charge; the bone tridents broke the water flow, stirring up layers of whirlpools in the water.

Watching those whirlpools approaching rapidly, John waved his wand and pushed the giant rocks beside him toward the rushing whirlpools.

The giant rocks collided with the whirlpools and exploded; the broken rocks splashed in all directions at the bottom of the water, forming a turbid barrier, forcing the merpeople group to retreat one after another.

And these giant rock fragments, under John's control, were like tracking torpedoes, automatically locking onto the scattered merpeople, shooting at them fiercely, and scattering the merpeople formation.

John also took the opportunity to rush forward, broke through the merpeople's defense line directly, and swam toward the four bound human figures.

Looking closely, two of the figures were indeed Hermione and Ron.

Their feet were tied with a thick hemp rope, their faces were soaked white, their eyes were closed tightly, and their chests still had weak ups and downs.

The other two were students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, obviously the treasures of the same warriors.

After arriving here, those merpeople didn't attack John again, just circling around John.

It seems that after breaking through the obstruction of the merpeople, you can directly rescue the bound ones.

He immediately raised his wand and pointed at the four hemp ropes connected to the hostages.

Prepared to save them all.

But at this time, a mermaid saw his intention, and a trident was placed in front of his throat at some point.

"Can only... save one..."

That mermaid's eyes were cold and vigilant, staring dead at John's every move.

But a cold light flashed in John's eyes, and his wand turned.

Before that mermaid could react, she was hit by a magic force and retreated.

Forget about this and that, I want to save them all!

Other merpeople saw this, emerged from the dark one after another, waving weapons and surrounding them.

Since John broke the rules of the game, they didn't have to keep their promise.

Sharp whistling sounds rose from all directions, and countless merpeople rushed out.

But John didn't retreat but advanced, his wand clicked continuously, and explosion spells and binding spells crossed out, setting off bursts of turbulence at the bottom of the lake.

The sound of water explosions exploded at the bottom of the lake.

The impact of these water explosions passed through the water, shaking John himself to the point of liver and gallbladder splitting, but he gritted his teeth and changed tactics.

Only then did those giant rock fragments gather, condense, and transform...

The audience on the high platform on the lake surface suddenly saw the water surface in the center of the lake begin to surge violently, and bubbles erupted like boiling water.

The next moment.

Boom!!

A huge stone dragon made of sections of stone pillars rushed out from the bottom of the water, exploding water waves more than ten meters high.

And countless merpeople were lifted out of the water by the stone dragon, flying high.

The stone dragon twisted in the air, then plunged into the bottom of the water again, setting off a monstrous turbid current.

The students on the high platform were all shocked; this move didn't need to be guessed, it must be John's masterpiece.

Only then did the stone dragon rampage at the bottom of the water, winding and tossing, directly crashing the formation of the merpeople group, and with a sweep of its tail, it could sweep away a group of merpeople.

The advantage of the merpeople's flexibility in the water disappeared in front of the stone dragon.

Even if the merpeople collectively used tridents to stir the water flow, forming whirlpools to impact the stone dragon.

But the stone dragon just condensed again after breaking, and then continued to rampage at the bottom of the water.

John didn't idle either, while controlling the stone dragon, he waved his wand to assist, attacking those merpeople who attempted to approach.

Magic spells like meteors cut through the water curtain, knocking the approaching merpeople unconscious one after another.

The movement here alarmed the entire lake area, and even the other three warriors noticed the movement here and rushed over one after another.

Then they witnessed the scene of John fighting a group of merpeople alone with a dragon.

That group of merpeople couldn't approach John at all, let alone stop him from rescuing.

After the situation stabilized, John also waved his wand quickly, accurately cutting off the hemp ropes of the four people, and then his wand lifted, and a gentle buoyancy lifted them up.

The four people rose slowly at the same time and floated toward the lake surface.

John followed closely behind, while the stone dragon circled around, deterring the remaining merpeople from acting rashly.

Until John and the four hostages completely rushed out of the water surface, the stone dragon floated on the lake surface, carrying them up together.

"Pfft cough!"

As soon as the four people came out of the water surface, they woke up immediately.

Lying on the back of the stone dragon, they coughed violently and breathed heavily.

John transformed four large towels, wrapped them one by one, and at the same time controlled the stone dragon to carry them and float slowly toward the high platform.

And the high platform erupted in bursts of exclamations and applause, and the teachers and students of Hogwarts stood up excitedly.

When John appeared with four people, they knew what the so-called treasure was.

Those four rescued hostages were the close friends or relatives of the warriors.

And now all four of them were rescued by John alone.

This means that John successfully completed the challenge and exceeded the task.

The other three warriors also surfaced one after another; Harry looked very surprised, but more was admiration and happiness.

And Krum looked at John's back, his expression complex.

The applause and cheers on the high platform were endless, but John didn't pay attention.

He came to Hermione and the others, checking their physical condition.

Found that except for the skin being a bit white due to being soaked in water, there was no major problem, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

And John also found that there was a protective spell on them, which could ensure that they would not suffer substantial harm underwater.

It seems that the school still left a backhand and didn't treat the students' life safety as a child's play.

John's dissatisfaction with the school subsided slightly.

"John..."

Hermione was wrapped in a towel, her face recovered a lot, but she was still trembling constantly.

She didn't feel surprised after waking up, because after going to Professor McGonagall alone last night, she knew she would become one of the hostages.

"How are you, why is there blood on the corner of your mouth, and wounds on your face..."

Hermione reached out worriedly, cupped John's face, and her fingertips wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth lightly.

John smiled and shook his head; that was actually a nosebleed, the same as last time, caused by overdrawing magic power.

Although he now has high attainments in magic spells, limited by his own age, the total amount of magic power is still limited, and forcibly casting high-level magic inevitably brings backlash.

"I'm fine, Hermione, sorry, I'm late."

John reached out and hugged her lightly, saying softly.

Hermione leaned in his arms and also smiled.

"No, I knew you would definitely be able to save me back."

John smiled slightly, tightened the strength of his hand, but soon he noticed that Hermione was still shivering, so he hurriedly waved his wand.

A hot wind blew up, wrapping all of them in it, and the soaked clothes gradually became dry and warm.

Ron also stood up, shook the towel on his body, his face was still a bit blue, but his eyes were full of luck.

"John, thanks."

He smiled at John with difficulty, obviously still having lingering fears.

Come to think of it, this is the first time Ron has given John such a good face.

It seems that being saved once made him change his attitude toward John greatly.

The other two didn't know them, just sat obediently on the back of the stone dragon, waiting to land.

Soon they came to the three high platforms.

Everyone was cheering, and the applause surged like a tide.

John hugged Hermione generously, and Hermione didn't struggle, supporting him with a slightly red face.

After all, she is the "weak" hostage who was just rescued from the bottom of the water.

Supporting John is very reasonable, right?

"Woohoo! Hermione is John's treasure!"

A familiar booing sound came from the high platform.

It was shouted by that guy Titus.

John and Hermione blushed at the same time; although, being shouted out so directly, it was quite shy.

Suddenly many people followed suit and booed, they could only pretend not to hear.

Soon they returned to the high platform one after another.

That stone dragon also turned back into rubble and sank to the bottom of the water.

Dumbledore stood at the edge of the high platform, talked to a mermaid on the water surface in sharp mermaid language for a few sentences, and then turned around with a smile.

"Everyone, the second challenge ends here!"

"Today's winner, without a doubt, is John Merrick!"

"With his exquisite Bubble-Head Charm and powerful Transfiguration, he broke through the successive sieges of Grindylows and merpeople alone, and successfully rescued everyone!"

The audience erupted in applause, and fireworks exploded in the air.

John directly won a full score of 40 points, even Karkaroff couldn't raise any objections, while other contestants received corresponding scores based on their performance.

But because people were rescued by John, they didn't do anything.

Could only uniformly give a 20 points for participation. ===== CHAPTER 156 =====