"There's quite abundant vegetation in the secret realm, but where are the divine beasts? I haven't spotted a single one."
Hermione had already begun surveying their surroundings, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. She was clearly eager to encounter Dragon Kingdom's legendary divine beasts.
"There are several in that stream over there—fish with avian wings."
"Avian wings... wait, let me consult..."
Hermione immediately produced a substantial tome from her robes and began rapidly flipping through its pages. The cover bore the inscription "Complete Illustrated Guide to Dragon Kingdom Divine Beasts"—she had obviously come thoroughly prepared.
"Fish with avian wings, um... ah! Found it, but I can't pronounce this character."
Hermione's page-turning displayed remarkable speed. Years of research experience enabled her to locate the desired information instantly. She immediately thrust the open book toward Glenn's face, indicating the specific characters.
"That character is pronounced 'luǒ'—Luoyu Fish. Fish body with bird wings, sounds like mandarin ducks. When they appear, great floods come to that region. If memory serves, that's precisely how the text describes them."
Peiheng approached in his flowing white Daoist robes, reading aloud what Hermione's finger indicated.
"Luoyu Fish... but doesn't this passage suggest that wherever these divine beasts appear, floods will follow? Are we in imminent danger?"
After contemplating momentarily, Hermione suddenly grasped the passage's implications and grew visibly anxious.
"Actually, the original meaning is 'wherever these divine beasts manifest, floods occur in that location,' rather than simply 'when observed.'"
Glenn considered the text's content carefully and corrected Hermione's vernacular interpretation.
"That hardly seems the crucial point here."
Peiheng appeared somewhat bewildered that their conversation had suddenly diverted toward classical Chinese translation, though he didn't dwell on the matter. Shrugging, he began explaining:
"Regarding the Luoyu Fish abilities within this secret realm, there's genuinely no cause for concern. Perhaps during ancient times, Luoyu Fish truly brought catastrophic floods to surrounding regions, but after countless generations of reproduction, modern Luoyu Fish are merely descendants of their primordial ancestors. Their powers have been substantially diminished and diluted through the passage of millennia."
"Contemporary Luoyu Fish can at most influence local weather patterns toward cloudiness and produce rainfall—that represents their absolute limit. So please, don't worry."
"Furthermore, aside from Luoyu Fish, the remaining divine beasts inhabiting this secret realm pose virtually no threat to humans or the environment—provided you treat them with kindness. Those genuinely dangerous divine beasts, or rather fierce beasts, have either been contained and relocated to inaccessible locations, or imprisoned entirely. How could we possibly permit them to roam freely and endanger innocent people?"
"Moreover, if this secret realm truly harbored perilous divine beasts, we likely wouldn't conduct this expedition at all."
Peiheng gave the pair a meaningful glance, his words carrying subtle implications.
Hermione made an understanding sound and nodded obediently, while Glenn paid little attention to this exchange, instead beginning to discretely catalog the harvestable magical botanical specimens surrounding them.
"Glenn, do you suppose we could secretly transport a Luoyu Fish back to Hogwarts and have it generate storms for us? Would such a plan prove feasible?"
Turning her head and shielding her mouth with her hand, Hermione leaned close to Glenn's ear and whispered conspiratorially.
"I'm afraid not. The storms required for Animagus transformation apparently cannot be artificially manipulated. Throughout magical history, there's no recorded instance of any wizard attempting Animagus transformation while using weather charms to create the necessary atmospheric conditions."
"Perhaps wizards who attempted such methods all lost control during Animagus transformation and vanished after becoming neither human nor beast."
Glenn retrieved relevant memories and shook his head definitively. He had once contemplated similar approaches, including technological storm generation, but for safety considerations had thoroughly researched the matter. Finding no such methods documented in wizarding history had raised red flags, prompting him to abandon the concept entirely.
There was no urgent need anyway. Based on his meteorological experience and weather predictions, the next natural storm wouldn't arrive for approximately six months.
"Then we'll abandon that idea."
Observing Glenn's resolute opposition, Hermione conceded defeat, though she felt somewhat disappointed.
Truthfully, she was quite eager to observe Glenn'sAnimagus form and interact with it directly. She hoped his transformed animal wouldn't prove excessively large.
"You came here intending to select a divine beast companion to assist with your Beast Master coursework, correct? My recommendation is avoiding hasty decisions regarding your chosen divine beast. After all, this location represents merely the secret realm's outermost perimeter—the divine beasts here possess relatively modest abilities and bloodline power. The deeper you venture into the secret realm, the greater variety and quantity of divine beasts you'll encounter, and their capabilities and bloodline strength will prove correspondingly more formidable."
"Very well, rejoin the formation now."
Noticing Lin Yu already organizing their group ahead, Peiheng offered brief counsel before advancing to assume his position within the formation.
"Abilities aren't particularly crucial. I believe it would be wonderful if some adorable, fluffy creature chose to accompany me..."
Hermione expressed mild disagreement with Peiheng's assessment, muttering as she guided Glenn forward to catch up with their companions.
Once they had integrated into the formation, Lin Yu commenced organizing the group according to their predetermined tactical arrangement.
"As you're all aware, our objective involves continuously advancing toward the secret realm's deepest regions. We'll proceed on foot, pausing every two hours for one hour of rest. At five o'clock this afternoon, we'll establish our encampment for overnight recuperation until eight o'clock tomorrow morning."
"No one may depart the formation without legitimate cause during travel. Should emergencies arise, remember to notify me at the formation's center. You may move freely during rest periods, though paired travel is strongly advised. Remember, this remains a secret realm with inherent dangers. Your activity radius shouldn't exceed three hundred meters from our camp's center. All other matters are at your discretion. Has everyone understood these instructions?"
"Yeswehave~"
Hermione mimicked the other young sorcerers' enthusiastic response to Lin Yu's directives, smiling discretely as she commented to Glenn:
"Though Brother Yu appears rather reluctant, he demonstrates remarkable organizational skills with students."
"Naturally, considering his recognition as North China Academy of Sorcery's premier talent. I'd find it peculiar if he lacked such leadership abilities, charisma, and commanding presence."
"Mm, excellent point. I should study his methods. Sigh, when might I command similar respect at Hogwarts as Brother Yu does here?"
"Given Hogwarts' deeply entrenched prejudices and institutional biases, plus the inherently immature personalities of young wizards, such achievement would prove exceptionally challenging."
"Really, you're thoroughly undermining my confidence, you know?"
"Merely stating objective facts. However, Hermione, you're hardly the type to be discouraged by my realistic assessment."
"True enough. If everyone claims something's impossible to accomplish, I'll simply have to prove them wrong!"
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