After diving into the water, Viktor Krum, the champion from Durmstrang Institute, immediately used a spell to transform his head into that of a shark. Another champion, Stanislav Ivaneski, used a similar spell to turn his head into that of a crocodile.
"Is this the beast-head transformation spell?"
Regulus Black was quite intrigued by this kind of transformation. Based on the original film, once Viktor Krum had turned into a shark-head, his swimming speed increased dramatically. With his sharp shark teeth, he bit through the ropes tying the hostage's feet in one snap—clearly, it was a very aggressive form.
Now that a crocodile head had also appeared, it likely possessed the same kind of biting power as a real crocodile. However, crocodiles weren't known for their swimming speed.
As he pondered this, sure enough, the two champions from Durmstrang made some gestures to each other and then split up.
After all, the faster one couldn't afford to keep waiting for the slower one. Headmaster Igor Karkaroff would likely kill the one who dragged behind once they got back on shore.
Viktor Krum, now with a shark's head, received widespread cheers from the audience for his speed.
"Shark Krum! Shark Krum! Shark Krum!"
Some Hogwarts students were cheering even more enthusiastically than the Durmstrang students.
This greatly improved Headmaster Igor Karkaroff's previously twisted expression.
"Igor Karkaroff's furious expression is now slowly twisting into one of arrogance."
Rita Skeeter, fearless as ever, whispered while scribbling in her notebook behind him.
Igor Karkaroff clenched his jaw and held back the urge to turn around and glare at the woman. If he had turned around, he might have genuinely killed her on the spot.
When the two Hogwarts champions entered the water, the audience's reaction was noticeably more subdued.
Cedric used a Bubble-Head Charm, enclosing his head in a large bubble of air so he wouldn't run out of oxygen.
Harry Potter, on the other hand, had found a bottle of gillyweed. After reluctantly eating the foul-tasting plant, he began growing gills.
Both of them relied on ordinary swim fins for propulsion, and that was it. Clearly, they weren't well-prepared.
The Hogwarts students gave them a few supportive shouts from the shore, but the mood was rather lukewarm.
Compared to Beauxbatons' mermaid transformation, and Durmstrang's beast-head transfiguration, a bubble charm and some gillyweed just couldn't compete. The contrast was humiliating. The groups who had enthusiastically helped the two search for information earlier now felt like drowning themselves out of sheer embarrassment.
Seeing such a stark emotional gap, Barty Crouch, facing Regulus Black, actually felt the urge to apologize. As the host school, Hogwarts' champions had performed far too poorly.
"The Bubble-Head Charm can be recast anytime, but gillyweed only lasts an hour, right? Did you give it to him?"
Regulus Black leaned toward Severus Snape, who was sitting three or four people away, and asked.
Although gillyweed allows one to grow gills, its effect lasts only about an hour. On top of that, it's quite expensive and more commonly used as an ingredient in potion-making, where its true value lies.
Just like in the original story, Snape's private stores had been raided again. The repetition of this event gave off an almost fated inevitability.
As the teacher most disliked by troublemakers like Harry Potter, Snape was always the one they thought of when they needed something. The effectiveness of potions was undeniable—once successfully brewed, their effects were more stable than most spells, especially for those who hadn't learned the corresponding magic.
"My private stores were stolen. I'd like to know who the culprit was. Instead of asking me, why don't you just ask Harry Potter directly?"
Snape's expression soured at the mention of his missing supplies. If there hadn't been professors around, he would've cleared the room with his rage—no one would've dared to stay.
"Looks like Harry Potter ate a good chunk of your inventory. At least he found the right materials in the end."
Regulus Black remarked sarcastically. Anyone who had read the original story would know that Snape had lost more than just one or two ingredients. Barty Crouch Jr. had stolen quite a few from Snape's stores to brew Polyjuice Potion. Harry's gillyweed was hardly the worst of it.
"Maybe it was my foolish brother who gave it to him."
Regulus Black directly cleared Harry Potter of the suspicion of theft, which greatly displeased Snape.
"I am a small stream, flowing all the way to the sea."
That was exactly how the underwater champions felt now—a stream flowing into the sea—because the lake, which didn't appear very large on the surface, was quite a different story below.
What had seemed a flat body of water turned into a three-dimensional underwater space, greatly expanding the area they had to search.
Fortunately, the key pointed in a specific direction and wasn't affected by the movement of the champions.
The Delacour sisters had already located their treasure chests, which lay scattered among the wreckage of several sunken ships. Mermaids had slipped into the cabins, and in the darkness, a few shadowy figures were waiting.
Mermen and mermaids are not the same species. Though similar in appearance, mermen have counterparts in different parts of the world and may share a distant bloodline. Despite these many resemblances, mermaids and the lake's mermen are entirely different beings.
A few mermen wielding small tridents were extremely hostile toward the approaching mermaids. They brandished their tridents, refusing to let the Delacour sisters come any closer—even though the sisters clearly carried the keys.
Because the mermaid pearls crafted by Regulus Black couldn't provide speech, the Delacour sisters were effectively mute. They tried to communicate with the mermen through gestures, but the results were poor.
"What do we do? They won't let us pass," Gabrielle Delacour asked her sister through hand signals.
"It looks like we'll have to fight our way through," Fleur Delacour replied.
"Regulus! If that was the song of the mermen, does it mean we'll encounter them once we enter the water?"
Earlier, Fleur and Gabrielle had accompanied Regulus Black on a walk along the lake and seen Hagrid tossing rock-hard biscuits into it.
The sharp-toothed mermen were actually able to chew through Hagrid's treats, which left the sisters quite shocked.
After all, those biscuits are called "rock-hard" for a reason—they're practically like chewing on stones, in both texture and hardness. Yet the mermen were crunching on them with great enthusiasm.
No one wants to get bitten by a merman; one bite could easily tear off a chunk of flesh.
But what about mermaids? In fact, they're no weaker than the lake's mermen. Think of the legendary sirens who lured pirates with their songs and devoured them—no matter how sturdy the ship, it would be smashed to pieces, and not a single crew member would survive.
Although Fleur and Gabrielle had become mermaids by consuming the special pearls, they still possessed considerable strength. The key was simply to avoid getting bitten.
To cast spells with a wand, one must correctly pronounce the incantation while executing the right wand movement. Now, in their mermaid forms, unable to speak, they had to rely on nonverbal casting—a skill developed for situations where a wizard has been silenced by a spell. Another related technique, wandless casting, is used when a wizard's wand is destroyed.
Thanks to Regulus Black's advice, Fleur had spent the past month strengthening her nonverbal casting, and it had paid off.
"Protego Armor!"
Spending a month learning this single spell had proven successful for both Fleur and Gabrielle.
Regulus Black had specially crafted two sets of half-body armor for them to use as models. By replicating those sets through magic, the spell Protego Armor would produce the same style and effect.
The upper half of the armor covered what had originally been exposed skin. The lower half appeared to be plated as well, but on closer inspection, it was made of rows of barbed whips, with all the sharp points facing outward—perfectly aligned with the lower bodies of their mermaid forms.
Once they signaled the start of their attack, the mermen immediately fled.
Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon
https://patreon.com/Glimmer09