Holy Grail 3 (upright): Problem solving.

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Hogwarts, England

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It was time for the second event, February 24.

Early in the morning, spectators began to enter the seats outside the arena, and the seats that surrounded the dragon arena last November were now lined up on the other side of the lake, and reflected in the lake below. By the time Opal arrived, Victor and Fleur had already arrived, talking to their respective leaders.

Next to it was a table covered with a golden tablecloth, and the referees sat on the edge of the table and whispered to each other.

Seeing Opal coming, Fleur snorted and turned her head, but there was still a trace of anxiety in her eyebrows. Victor, on the other hand, smiled reluctantly at Opal - a rare feat for his always gloomy appearance.

Harry hasn't arrived yet?

Looking left and right to see that Harry was not there, Opal was a little surprised, and glanced into the audience to see that Brace was sitting there with an anxious expression, and Pansy and Draco were not there as a matter of course.

In principle, because it was the Slytherin students who appeared here as warriors, the person who appeared in the playing field should be Snape as the Slytherin headmaster, but for some unknown reason, Snape did not appear at the moment, and was replaced by Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor.

"Where's your other Hogwarts Warrior?"

As the minutes ticked by, it was soon approaching half-past nine, but Harry never showed up, so Fleur couldn't help but speak to Opal, who was flipping through a book on the side, with a hint of mockery, "You won't run away, will you?" ”

The referees on the side seemed to be talking about it.

[You're not Harry, why do you come to such conclusions?] ]

Flipping through a page of the book casually, Opal didn't even lift his head, [Isn't the game not started yet?] ]

"What kind of attitude do you have?!"

was completely annoyed by Opal's attitude, and Fleur's eyebrows were about to attack.

By this time, however, a man had hurried in their direction—it was Harry, but he seemed to be in a hurry or something, and he looked a little bad at the moment.

"I ...... I'm coming......"

Harry, who had run to the race in one go, said breathlessly, slid in the mud, stopped, and even accidentally splashed Fleur's robe - but thankfully Fleur didn't notice it.

"Where have you been?"

Percy Weasley's domineering voice was full of dissatisfaction at the moment, "The competition is about to start!" ”

"Alright, alright, Percy!"

Ludo Bagman acted as a peacemaker, "Let him catch his breath!" ”

Dumbledore smiled at Harry, but Karkaroff and Madame Maxime seemed upset to see him...... Judging by the expressions on their faces, it was clear that they thought Harry wouldn't show up.

Harry bent down, clasped his hands on his knees, and gasped for air. Opal, on the other hand, shrugged his shoulders and put down the book in his hand after confirming that the time was almost half past nine.

Victor was quietly muttering something with his eyes closed, while Fleur moved her limbs and waved her wand a little nervously, as if testing her performance.

Ludo Bagman had now come to the brave men and ordered them to line up on the shore, each ten feet apart. Fleur the first, followed by Opal. Harry was last in line, next to Krum.

Anyway, Krum was wearing his swimming trunks at the moment, and he had already pulled out his wand and was ready - it took courage to wear it in this climate, at least Fleur and Opal on the side were dressed fairly warmly.

Bagman returned to the referee's table after arranging for the warriors to stand, pointed his wand to his throat, as he did in the World Cup, and said, "Sonorus!" ”

So his voice roared like thunder, sweeping across the dark lake and into the stands.

"Listen, everyone, our warriors are ready for themselves. As soon as I whistled, the second project began. They had a full hour to reclaim what had been snatched from their hands. I counted to three. One...... Two...... Three! ”

A shrill whistle echoed through the cold, still air. And the stands erupted in cheers and applause.

Fleur, Krum, and Opal waved their wands at the same time, but Fleur and Krum used their wands against themselves, while Opal used the Flying Charm as in the first event.

Harry, on the other hand, took off his shoes and socks three times, took the handful out of his pocket and stuffed it into his mouth, and then waded into the lake. He was probably the quickest of the four to get into the water.

The effects of the spell soon became apparent.

Fleur's head was covered with a bubble that seemed to be transparent, enveloping her entire head.

Krum's body began to deform - but sadly only his upper body changed, and he eventually became a human with a shark's head on it. So the audience on the sidelines let out a good-natured laugh at this.

Opal took out the materials in the potion box and directly began to concoct the potion on the spot, but this time the time for her to configure the potion was very short, because the preliminary work was very sufficient, so it only took about 3 minutes to complete the "long-acting underwater breathing potion" - of course, the effect of the potion was also extremely weakened, and the "long-lasting underwater breathing potion" that could have lasted for three hours could only last for a maximum of an hour at the moment.

At this moment, Opal was the only one left on the shore, but Opal was unhurried, and took off his coat to reveal a tight, waterproof leather suit inside—this was probably the wizarding world's version of diving. After casting a transformation spell on his feet, making it grow into webbed, he came to the shore with a vial containing the potion, moved his body and slowly entered the cold lake, and then drank the potion in one gulp and dived into the water.

Opal swam to and fro in a strange dark and hazy landscape, and there was silence in his ears.

With a wave of her wand and a few handy spells on herself, she could see again what was happening within a ten-foot radius: a jungle of undulating, tangled black aquatic weeds, and a wide flat sand of sparkling pebbles. And through the gray, treacherous lake, in the distant lake, the lake water there is dark and hazy.

The little fish in the lake swam by her like silver darts. Soon Opal was approaching a field of turquoise aquatic weeds, two feet deep, like a very dense lawn.

But Opal stopped as he approached the lawn: [Come out, I know you're inside.] ]

As if commanded, several Grindillos poked out of the weeds—a horned water monster with a horn on its head, with long fingernails and pointed fangs.

One after another, voices rang out, and these Grindillo bowed slightly to Opal.

[No apologies, I know it's a contract, just let me go.] ]

Smiled at the group of Grindillowe, Opal didn't make it too difficult for them, [just scare the brave men who will come over, don't really hurt it, it will be troublesome for you.] ]

The Grindilows laughed together, and their voices rang out again.

[OK, I see.] This is a bribe, let me pass. ]

Opal took a small bottle from his waist-side pocket and uncorked it - the effect was immediate, and the aquatic weeds inhabited by the Grindillos were once again partially derived. It was a great reward for the Grindilows, and they laughed and got out of the way.

Opal continued on his way, and at this moment the bottom of the water was a large expanse of black silt, and the lake was blackened by her agitation. After a long time, she finally heard the mermaid's unforgettable song.

[There is only one hour to spare]

[To find and retrieve the objects we took......]

After swimming to the song, Opal saw a large rock in the murky water in front of him, painted with many mermaids, spears in their hands, chasing what looked like giant squid.

【…… Don't delay any longer, it's already halfway over]

[Lest what you are looking for rot here......]

As Opal advanced, a number of rough stone dwellings appeared in all directions, speckled with algae. There were faces in those dark windows......

The mermaid's skin is iron-gray, and its dark green hair is long, unkempt. Their eyes were yellow, their mutilated teeth were yellow, and they wore pebbles strung with thick ropes around their necks. As Opal swam by, they saluted her and moved out of the way, while Opal raised his hand slightly in return and moved on.

Soon, there were more and more stone dwellings, some with gardens around them. There's even a little Glarrow tethered to a door. The merfolk seemed to be notified and came from all directions, all looking at her curiously, covering their mouths with their hands and whispering. Opal ignored them and continued along the road, and then came to what seemed to be a small mermaid village, surrounded by houses, and in front of them floated a large group of merfolk. In the middle, some merfolk are singing in unison, calling for the brave to come over. Behind them towered a crude statue: a mermaid carved out of boulders. On the tail of the mermaid statue, four people are firmly tied.

Draco was tethered between Hermione and Pansie, and there was a little girl who was up to eight years old, and her cloudy silver hair was almost certain to be Fleur Delacul's sister. All four of them looked like they were sleeping deeply, their heads slung limply over their shoulders, and a string of thin blisters kept popping out of their mouths.

Opal checked the restraints on them—the rope that tied the hostages to the statues was made of water and grass, thick and slippery, and very strong.

Well, you know that you can't be lazy.

Opal waved his wand again, cast a Transfiguration Charm directly on the nails of his other hand, making them longer and sharper, and then went straight to Pansy and began tossing the aquatic plants on her body.

In about a minute, the aquatic plants on Pansie's body were broken, and Pansy floated a few inches above the bottom of the lake in a delirious sense, drifting with the waves.

And at this time, Harry also arrived. He looked surprised to see Opal here, but then smiled at Opal and opened his mouth to say something - but alas, only two bubbles of water came out of his mouth.

Harry's hands and feet were webbed at the moment, and there were several cracks in his neck—apparently gill grass.

[Hurry up and save your own 'treasure.'] ]

Opal smiled and said directly to him.

Harry looked envious at Opal's way of speaking almost immediately, and swam towards Hermione—but was then grabbed by several pairs of thick, gray hands. Six or seven merfolk pulled him away from Hermione, and they shook their green-haired heads and laughed.

"You can only take your own hostages."

One of them said to him, "Leave the others ......"

Harry looked stunned at the mermaid's words, and his mouth was filled with a series of bubbles—could it be that his treasure wasn't Hermione?

Opal, on the other hand, silently held his forehead: [Harry, your treasure is Draco.] Hermione is a treasure of Krum. ]

As for who Fleur's treasure is, Opal didn't say, but as long as he wasn't a fool, he could tell.

Harry's mouth was filled with a series of bubbles, but after scratching his head, he swam to Draco's side with a look of resignation, only to be stumped by the rope of aquatic plants on his body.

He looked around, apparently giving up on borrowing tools from the merfolk's hands, but when he saw Opal's fingers that hadn't been turned back, he immediately picked up a sharp pebble from the foot of the statue not far away and swam back, quickly untying Draco.

But like Opal, Harry didn't leave.

After waiting for a while, the merfolk suddenly screamed with joy. Harry and Opal turned around and saw a behemoth swimming towards them, with a human body underneath, wearing swimming trunks, and a shark's head on it...... It's Krum.

The half-human, half-shark Krum swam straight to Hermione, pulling and biting at the rope on her body, the problem was that Krum's new teeth had a strange structure, anything smaller than a dolphin, he bit awkwardly, and Harry was sure that Krum's movements were not careful, he was almost going to tear Hermione in half.

Harry rushed forward and slapped Krum on the shoulder, lifting the pointed stone. Krum grabbed it and began smashing the rope from Hermione's body. After a few seconds, he succeeded. He grabbed Hermione by the waist and didn't even look back before he quickly lifted her to the surface.

Harry felt a little uncomfortable with Krum's approach - even though he was in a hurry, thank you, right?

When Harry turned around, he was a little surprised to find that Opal was half-supporting Draco and Pansy over there, communicating something with the mermaid, and then gestured to him OK and pointed to the little girl: [The mermaid told me that there was something wrong with Fleur and I couldn't come over, you go and save the little girl, let's go up together.] ]

Harry nodded, and went straight to the rescue of the little girl - this time there were no mermaids to mess with him.

Harry then pushed her and Opal to start floating together, only to Harry's discouraged discovery of one thing: Opal was carrying both of them faster than he was with only a little girl!

Thinking about it, Opal himself came faster than him before, and he was able to negotiate with those ugly-looking merfolk to rescue the hostages, plus at this moment...... So Opal, the demon, was born to hit other people's self-esteem, right?! Right, yes, yes?!

I can't live this day!

Harry flipped the table in his heart.