A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Felix smiled, waving his wand. A golden mist gathered in the water, forming a screen quite similar to the one on the shore, albeit smaller. Even Ludo Bagman's voice echoed distinctly.

"An hour remains, twenty minutes short. Six brave warriors are still struggling to adapt to the chaotic magic, yet they've all ventured out of the protective barrier, relying on the primitive method of breath-holding to explore. It's an undoubtedly right strategy as each of them is surrounded by at least one golden gem."

"An hour's nearly up! Only two warriors remain, one from Durmstrang and another from Uagadou. These two will be turned into hostages. Security officers, ensure their safety."

Felix rose, bidding farewell to the mermaid leader. A silver cloak materialized behind him, unfolding silently into the dim lake water. In an instant, he dashed like the wind.

The cloak seemed sentient, swiftly parting the water ahead. Within a minute, he spotted his first target.

Glancing at the diminutive student before him, Felix bent down, the cloak billowing behind him. "Adim Buweck?"

"Y-yes, it's me," the wizard stammered, looking utterly disheveled. An hour had passed, yet he couldn't wield his wand, forced to hold his breath underwater. February's waters weren't forgiving without magic.

"Following the rules, you'll be a hostage next," Felix said softly, observing the wizard's terrified expression. "If your teammate rescues you, you can rejoin the contest. There's an opportunity with effort..."

Amidst a cluster of mermaids...

With his wand pointed at the wizard, magic gathered at its tip. Before the wizard could plea, he drifted back into slumber.

"Next one." Felix straightened, peering towards his next destination.

On the shore, the audience struggled to keep up with the enthralling scenes. Ludo Bagman, his face flushed from the winter wind, animatedly narrated—

"Our safety officers have successfully rescued the first hostage. Although their pocket-stuffing technique might seem rough, rest assured, there's no risk of drowning... Two hostages will be tied to the stone pillars at the mermaid square awaiting rescue."

"Let's do a quick recap:"

"The two teams from Hogwarts are progressing steadily. Each member has collected around three golden gems, restoring their spellcasting abilities. Cedric Diggory used an ice bomb, magically enlarging the frozen area, successfully immobilizing a dozen Grindylows; Colin Creevey's dark mist was quite impressive..."

"The second team did well too. Harry Potter's control over the rainbow fish is remarkable. He's the fastest gem collector among all warriors, gathering five in total. Though the poor fish couldn't keep up with him, Potter successfully cast an advanced variation of the Shield Charm. Hermione Granger didn't utilize the rainbow fish as expected, an unconventional move indeed. Her progress isn't slow; she decoded five blue-level challenges, each time choosing a map of the surrounding area as a reward, securing four gems so far."

"Last but not least, Ron Weasley wasted some time initially. However, during his fourth breath-holding dive, he found a golden gem and managed to escape a pursuing Grindylow, thanks to his silly faces strategy. That Grindylow seemed spooked. He cast a bubble-head charm, trudging through the mud. Unfortunately, his direction seems off, heading towards the mermaid encampment. Let's hope for his safety..."

"The third team hails from Uagadou. They've passed several challenges, though luck hasn't been on their side. They've averaged two golden gems so far. But from my perspective, that warrior named Elephendi has progressed faster than Potter."

"The fourth team from Durmstrang has made excellent progress. Krum's performance is commendable, encountering minimal danger. However, he needs to infiltrate the mermaid camp to rescue his teammate; let's see if he can do it..."

"The fifth team from Beauxbatons, led by Fleur Delacour, started well. However, after an encounter with the Grindylows, she had to sacrifice her ink and water bombs for self-defense. Her exploration became cautious afterward. Her two teammates haven't faced any issues yet but seem overly cautious, falling significantly behind. Nevertheless, in these circumstances, as long as they don't err, they'll secure decent scores."

"The sixth team from Uagadou, switching their captain this time, with the round-faced wizard named Byles Bach, and their former captain both performed admirably. They've cleared seven and nine challenges respectively, the fastest in progress. However, their gem collection speed doesn't match their performance. Let's wait and see..."

Ron treaded carefully at the lake bottom, a lopsided bubble-head charm adorning his head. Every two minutes, he had to recast it. While he encountered no challenges along the way, he managed to find two golden gems, totaling three.

After another episode of face-off with some tall grass and an unexpected encounter with a colossal giant octopus, which chased him for three to four minutes, rupturing two of his bubble-head charms, Ron faced the most perilous moment. The octopus's elongated tentacles wrapped around his neck, stifling his breath. Desperate, he wielded his wand, slamming it onto the creature's head, releasing a pungent ink. After gasping for air, he successfully cast a disengagement spell and then used his wand to wedge the octopus into a narrow crevice between rocks.

Before he could relax, another immensely large octopus soared overhead. Its colossal glassy eyes peered at him. Trembling, Ron hid behind a boulder, recognizing the creature as the infamous giant octopus of the Black Lake. Could the one he just knocked be its offspring? Hopefully, it hadn't seen him...

The giant octopus glided leisurely across the lake, disappearing from his sight. Ron surveyed his surroundings, realizing he had completely lost his way. Though he hadn't found a familiar route before, he assumed it had to do with his shifting perspective. However, he didn't want to expose himself to the darkness. Among all creatures, human eyes were the least reliable in darkness. The thought of countless eyes peering at him from the darkness made his spine shiver.

Tugging off the water snails stuck to his neck, Ron picked a direction and marched forward. When fatigued, he swam close to the ground. Unknowingly, a steep underwater cliff loomed ahead. Peering down, a vague, greyish silhouette of the mermaid camp's stone pillars greeted him—two figures seemingly bound to them.

Ron's jaw dropped, observing intently for a while, finally concluding he didn't recognize either of the two people. He silently breathed a sigh of relief. Simultaneously, he made a decision—absolutely mustn't get caught by the mermaids.

From then on, he began to explore in various directions, but the gains were meager. Time slipped away, and he started feeling anxious. Currently, he'd only obtained three golden gems, a long way from "growing up."

Earlier, he glimpsed a silvery glow, nearly mistaking it for Harry's Patronus, following it far away.

He missed Harry and

Hermione even more now. At that moment, a familiar voice echoed in his mind:

"Oh, Harry, Ron, listen... I've got only ten seconds: I don't know how many golden gems you've got, but I've discovered a secret. The purple, blue challenges, and golden gems are grouped together. If you find one, you're bound to find the other two nearby. I've tried six times—"

The voice abruptly stopped.

Ron stood frozen, looking around, softly asking, "Hermione? She's talking to me? Where is she? How is she communicating with me?"

Remembering what Hermione had mentioned, he decided to backtrack. Thankfully, he had left fairly noticeable footprints along the way. When he reached the crevice where he'd been ambushed by the large octopus, the creature was nowhere in sight. He hastened his steps.

Returning to where he'd found the golden gem, he indeed found a blue-colored small house behind some water plants. "Blue... test of intelligence..." Ron's heart skipped a beat, but he still stepped inside.

The next moment, he was pulled into a quaintly designed library.

Empty, the hollow voice echoed in the room, "Detected warrior, the test begins." A golden roulette appeared in mid-air. Ron just made out the options—“Potionology,” “Magical Lore,” “Intellect”—when the roulette swiftly started spinning.

Uneasy, Ron muttered, "Please don't be Potionology, please don't be Potionology..."

Finally, the roulette halted, pointing to "Muggle Studies."

Ron heaved a sigh of relief. The voice continued, "Please choose open-book or closed-book—"

"Open-book!" Ron promptly shouted.

A golden parchment appeared on the table. Dark shelves in the library began to shift, emitting creaking sounds. Once everything settled, a shelf full of books stopped in front of him.

The hollow voice spoke again, "All the answers lie within these books. Test time, external ten minutes, time ratio: 1:5."

Wide-eyed, Ron couldn't help but feel this challenge was oddly familiar.

>

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