Hogwarts Homecoming

Without any warning or any precautions, Hermione felt like she was being stuffed into a drum washing machine. The light and shadow in front of her eyes were spinning violently, and her ears were filled with fierce whistling sounds!

This sudden change caused her to scream uncontrollably. The sudden change in magic power caused her tail fin to transform into two slender and long legs again, and the bubbles covering her head burst. In the turmoil, the only way she could All she did was hold on to Harry and Ron, who were still in front of her.

When the world returned to stability, Hermione discovered that the people moving with her were not only Harry and Ron, Krum and Fleur, the most important people, but Gabrielle and Professor Karkaroff were also by her side.

The pressure brought by the deep water on the body suddenly disappeared. When the smelly and moist air flowed into the nose, the livid-faced 'treasures' gradually woke up, and the ropes that bound them were loosened.

Harry blinked, trying to drive the haze out of his vision, but no matter how hard he tried, his vision was blurry. Then he realized that it was the water droplets attached to the glass lenses that made him see. Not clear about everything.

After taking off his eyes and wiping them on his robes, Harry quickly put on his glasses to observe the situation. The first thing he saw was that Ron next to him was using his toes to step on a dusty rocky platform they were standing on?

"You succeeded, Hermione, you brought Ron and I out from the bottom of the lake!"

Harry happily held Hermione's arm, which was rarely dizzy, and shook it a few times.

"What's your rank?"

After asking, Harry realized that something was wrong. Gabrielle and Karkaroff were also here. They were not at the Black Lake. In fact, this was not Hogwarts at all.

Let alone Hogwarts, this may not even belong to Hogwarts territory, because even the surrounding hills around the castle are gone. The high platform is on a dark, overgrown cemetery, and you can see a tall stone on the right. black silhouette of a small church behind yew trees. There was a hill to the left, and Harry could vaguely make out a fine old house on the hillside.

Overcast clouds were rolling in the sky, and the sky was as dark as night. This was unreasonable. When Professor McGonagall called him out at dawn, the sky outside was returning to life and was cloudless. It should be a good day today.

For no reason, a strong throbbing feeling filled Harry's heart.

"Hermione?"

Harry looked at Hermione, who was trembling slightly as she stared at the tombstones.

"I don't know, Harry, as soon as I met you, we used the portkey to teleport."

Hermione's voice was filled with confusion.

"Nonsense!"

The only adult standing on the high platform spoke. Karkaroff's eyes also showed panic, but he glared at Hermione with a fierce look on his face.

"I've never heard that the second project will involve portkeys. What kind of trick is Hogwarts doing? Or is this another genius idea that Brain came up with?!"

When Karkaroff talked about Professor Blaine, the contempt in his tone made the three Hogwarts wizards present cast angry looks at him. However, in this situation, Karkaroff would not do it at all. To avoid the dissatisfaction of the three young wizards with him, he roughly pushed away Ron who was blocking his way, and walked down the stairs to the high platform.

Standing under the high platform, Karkaroff looked around, and the confusion in his eyes made the three of Harry believe that the "multi-tasking" Principal Durmstrang did not know.

"Actually, he was right on one point -"

Ron didn't want Karkaroff to think he was agreeing with him, so he whispered to Harry and Hermione,

"Professor Brain really likes to create 'surprises' for people."

"But he usually gives people hints."

Harry retorted. He reluctantly smiled at Gabrielle, who was standing behind the three of them. Her face was pale, her young body was trembling, and she seemed to be overwhelmed by fright. He immediately thought of a new situation.

"there's only us?"

Harry asked,

"Cedric and that group, and Krum?"

After being exposed to the air, the sportswear on several people immediately became dry again, but their hair was still wet. The cold attack even caused frost to form on Hermione's hair. Hermione shook her head, as if to drive away confusion. .

"When I saw you, Cedric and Cho Chang were gone. Krum was exhausted by a Kappa. He fell behind me. I didn't see Fleur."

"oh!"

Ron raised his eyebrows and looked at Karkaroff who seemed unconcerned on the surface but was actually eavesdropping on their conversation.

"I guess this is the second stage of the game. Warriors and important people get through difficulties together. This is in line with Professor Brian's style, isn't it? But it is a pity that someone fell behind and was not eligible to enter the second stage. !”

Karkaroff's expression suddenly became fierce. He turned his head and glared at Ron, bared his yellow teeth and said coldly.

"Boy, if Brian really comes up with such a stupid plan, then unfortunately, this competition will be deemed invalid because he changed the competition items and regulations without my consent!"

"Professor Brain's plan does not require your consent!"

Ron couldn't stand Karkaroff's intimidating gaze, so Harry stepped forward and gave him a cold look in return.

After a brief confrontation, the two of them withdrew their gaze.

"We'll see"

Karkaroff gritted his teeth and said,

"If this is really what Blaine did."

"Should we take a look around?"

Ron said.

Those cold tombstones standing in the eerie smoke reminded him of the test in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class in the second grade. At that time, he was completely defeated by the Inferi brought by Professor Blaine. But now, he seemed to With a chance to prove myself again,

"If this is really a test range and not an accident, we can't let Hufflepuff's pretty boy steal the show, can we?"

Ron said enthusiastically.

No one responded to Ron's call, and Karkaroff and Harry had the ugliest expressions on their faces. They both had a vague feeling of impending disaster.

"Let's look around first."

It wasn't until Ron felt embarrassed that Hermione pursed her lips and said cautiously,

"We can't just stand around here, can we? Come on, Gabrielle, you can follow us."

Several people walked off the high platform one after another, and Hermione, after helping Gabrielle, who seemed to be incapacitated, off the high platform, immediately formed a formation with Harry and Ron. The defensive formation in physical education class, although Ron's dodge still failed It wasn't up to par, but Harry still eagerly hoped to practice this with Ron.

Karkaroff glanced at the three little guys in the formation with disdain in his eyes. He planned to get rid of them and act on his own, but in the end, for some unknown reason, he still did not leave the team.

Tombstones exuding the smell of death were placed on the crooked graves. Harry and Hermione acted as the vanguard, and Ron acted as the rear. The three of them walked around the two connected graveyards step by step, forming a Y-shaped dividing line. The fork appeared in front of them.

There is a road with decayed branches on the roadside that connects many tombstones, and another road leads to the hill, where the old house stands on the ridge.

"Which way?"

Harry looked forward, only tilting his head slightly, and glanced at Hermione from the corner of his eye.

Hermione frowned slightly, feeling hesitant for a moment.

From a logical point of view, if this is really a large-scale exploration mission, the old house is obviously more in line with the goal. However, this tombstone path that breeds fog is also likely to be the right direction. If the competition team intends to let them deal with the Inferi if.

No one consulted Karkaroff for his opinion, even though he was the one with the highest magical attainments and the most experience among the group. Harry and the three of them knew very well that this guy who looked on with a cold eye was probably testing them with despicable intentions. Dangerous intentions.

"us--"

After thinking hard, Hermione pointed her gaze to the ridge, where the view was wider. If Cedric and Cho Chang had arrived here first, they should be able to find it easily.

"Listen!"

And just before Hermione was about to talk about the duel, Ron suddenly looked frightened, and every syllable he spat out was trembling. Fear even made his suppressed voice sound like crying,

"Someone is crying. It's a female ghost!"