"So our goal should be to get all the seal fragments, then go to some place and combine them together?"
Looking at the badges in his and Cedric's hands that glowed slightly when touched together, Harry asked excitedly.
"That should be it." Cedric also nodded. "I also got an item whose description says it can speed up the fusion of seal fragments."
Scratching the lazy little black cat in his arms under the chin, Harry pondered for a moment with his head down, then nodded.
He'd met Cedric on the fifth floor ten minutes back, and after comparing notes, they'd teamed up.
He'd seen Cedric plenty of times before, being Hufflepuff's Seeker and all. But they'd never really faced off directly.
The last match against Hufflepuff had ended too abruptly. Due to Snape's biased refereeing, this senior hadn't seemed to play seriously either.
"Mr. Diggory, can I call you Cedric directly?"
"Of course."
The grey-eyed youth smiled gently and petted the Bowtruckle on his shoulder.
"Then, Cedric, after the assessment ends, want to train together?" Harry's eyes showed a trace of fighting spirit. "We haven't really faced off directly before."
Hearing Harry's words, a hint of subtle amusement flashed in Cedric's eyes too.
"Of course, if you want."
Their fists bumped together, and the two young wizards with considerable Quidditch talent made their agreement.
But the next second, violent explosion sounds came from a nearby corridor.
Bang! Pop!
Countless fireworks exploded in all directions from the corridor ahead, the bursting fireworks even dispersing some of the pure white mist. Blue and red sparks bounced back and forth between the corridors, constantly growing larger, completely enveloping the entire hallway.
Harry and Cedric, not knowing what had happened, stood there stunned. A few seconds later, an annoyed voice rang out from deep in the corridor.
"Could you tell me before your plans start next time?"
The next moment, three figures rushed out of the corridor. George and Fred charged ahead, with Ron stumbling behind them, covered in blue and red sparks, looking like a mobile firework.
"There wasn't time to warn you!"
"Exactly, you can't even be on the same page with your brothers, little Ronnie!"
Seeing the three people rush out of the fireworks, Harry's eyes showed some confusion.
"Ron? And George, Fred? You..."
But the next second, a roar from within the fireworks interrupted his thoughts.
"ROAR!"
A somewhat angry roar rang out from the corridor behind them; heavy footsteps came from within the fireworks, but there were just too many fireworks. The giant beast couldn't quite tell where it was for the moment.
Passing by the two, George and Fred ran toward the distance, not forgetting to shout before disappearing:
"Run, run! If you don't run now, you'll get caught by the monster!"
Second floor, Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
A gentle-looking girl crouched in the centre of the classroom, surrounded by a circle of semi-transparent dark creatures circling around her.
The quill in her hand kept writing on parchment spread on the floor. Each time she wrote down a dark creature's weakness and ability, one phantom would disappear in mid-air. At this rate, in another five minutes, all the phantoms would completely vanish.
The phantoms of dark creatures surrounded the girl with bared fangs and claws, as if they wanted to rush to her side to stop her from continuing to write. But whenever a creature tried to pounce on the girl, it would be scattered by a small Bowtruckle and regroup at the farthest distance.
This task had been very difficult at first, but as Della wrote more and more weaknesses and abilities, the task gradually became easier.
So much so that she even had time to be wary of the figure in silver-green robes that had appeared midway through.
"Why do you keep staring at me? I'll have my snake bite you!"
Looking at the small Bowtruckle that was vigilantly watching her, Gemma Farley crossed her arms and couldn't help frowning.
She clearly hadn't done anything; she had just encountered a classmate she knew and planned to work together afterward. Yet this Bowtruckle acted like she was planning something bad, which really annoyed her.
"Kaka, come closer. Miss Farley isn't a bad person."
The girl's gentle voice dissipated some of the anger in Gemma's heart. Looking at the girl who was concentrating on solving the puzzle, she snorted coldly, said nothing more, and found a chair nearby to sit down.
It wasn't that she didn't want to help, but when she found this place, Della's puzzle was almost finished and didn't need her help at all.
But this Bowtruckle really was protective of its master. Tsk.
Poking the head of the Runespoor in her hands, watching it curl up to avoid her touch, Gemma puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
They'd known each other for a long time, but this snake was still so timid, curling up even when touched.
"Let me pet you. What are you so afraid of?"
Muttering quietly, Gemma was about to scold the little snake when Della's gentle voice suddenly came from ahead.
"Runespoors are creatures born from poisoned wine goblets. They're naturally very timid. Any little disturbance will make them curl up vigilantly, even if they're very familiar with you."
"Tsk, of course I know! After all, I found it to help me complete the assessment!" Gemma turned her head, glanced at Della, who had stood up, and muttered quietly, "You solve puzzles pretty quickly. I've only solved two puzzles so far and haven't gotten the badge you mentioned."
"Professor Kahn's puzzles give rewards based on completion speed and difficulty. The puzzles in the cat sanctuary are generally quite simple, so not getting a badge is normal."
"Hmph, you already got a badge, so of course you have the final say."
Seeing Gemma turn her head away, a trace of amusement appeared in Della's eyes.
"Don't you want to guess what I got from that last puzzle?"
"Too lazy to guess. Probably some useless items. Keep them yourself."
She had also gotten two items from puzzles she'd solved before. One enhanced her and her magical creature partner's speed; the other was a map that could find seal fragments in the mist.
But that map could only be used once and needed to be very close to activate.
Lowering her head slightly, Gemma felt somewhat down. Her spirit was already somewhat depleted. She wasn't sure if she could enter the mist again to complete another puzzle.
But just then, Gemma suddenly noticed a pale hand extended in front of her, palm open, revealing a bright silver badge within.
She looked up in surprise to see the gentle girl showing a warm smile.
"Here, it's for you."