Hogwarts Homecoming

The second key is sealed in the ice-blue giant ice cube!

In the last round of the Starry Sky Walk, the two teams at Hogwarts lost Neville and Ron, and relied on Fleur's inspiration to finally overcome the difficulties and obtain a key.

Everyone expected that there would be a second key.

But they didn't expect that the second key would appear in front of them so soon!

Although the function of the second key is still unknown, it does not prevent everyone from knowing that it must be an extremely critical prop.

After seeing the key sealed in the center of the huge diamond-shaped ice cube, Fleur was stunned. Then, she slowly stepped back a few steps and smiled at the people whose eyes were focused on her.

"I already have one."

Objectively speaking, the more props that will definitely play a key role, the better. However, this will undoubtedly bear more competitive risks.

Fleur was the only one left in Beauxbatons, and it was indeed wise for her to withdraw at this time.

The remaining three teams formed a triangle to surround the ice, and the atmosphere between them became as subtle as when they had just discovered the first key.

"Ahem-"

But this time, Cedric quickly broke the silence. He turned his attention to Hermione and Harry.

"Wait until you take out the key to discuss its ownership?"

Harry pondered for a moment and nodded, while Hermione just stared at the ice and did not answer.

"What's your opinion, Viktor?"

Cedric looked at Viktor again.

Originally, Viktor wanted to determine the ownership of the second key first.

Of the three teams except Fleur, Hogwarts accounts for two, and with the key so straightforwardly exposed in front of them, it is very likely that there will be a armed dispute later, which is undoubtedly very important to Durmstrang. disadvantage.

But then again, what can we do otherwise?

"Just do it."

Victor's eyebrows became sinister again, and he nodded slowly.

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy--"

Just when Cedric, Luna and Harry raised their wands and prepared to split the ice, Hermione, who was silently staring at the ice, suddenly said.

"What did you find, Hermione?"

Harry immediately stopped moving and asked curiously.

"I just burned the ice cubes with magical fire--"

Hermione breathed out, pointed at the ice cube and said,

"The flames melted the snow covering the ice. But the ice was not affected at all. It should have melted at least some, right?"

Everyone's eyes quickly focused on the ice, and then they all frowned in unison.

Hermione was right.

The ice cube that had just been burned by the flames for a moment was still as hard as steel on the outside, with no sign of melting at all!

"perhaps--"

Cedric hesitated;

"It needs to burn for a while. The temperature here is very low, isn't it?"

"Let's try it."

Hermione didn't explain anything more, just said this.

As a result, the five people who were trying to take out the key all stepped back and raised their wands towards the ice.

"The keys are flying!"

Viktor was the first to shout, but unfortunately, the key buried deep in the center of the ice showed no signs of shaking at all.

call!

boom!

Hermione and Harry released magic fire at the same time, burning the ice.

"Thunderbolt explosion!"

Cedric yelled back, while Luna belted out those explosive notes of hers.

Suddenly, the surface of the huge ice-blue ice cube standing in the ice and snow was covered with bright curse lights of various colors, and the hot wind set off by the explosion drove away the cold!

The explosion only lasted for half a minute and then stopped. Now everyone was in the embarrassing situation of insufficient magic power and couldn't bear the waste.

The broken light dissipated, and everyone quickly looked towards the ice cube. At first glance, everyone fell silent.

Under the violent bombardment of five people, the huge ice block remained unscathed, its surface was as smooth as a mirror, and not even a trace of ice chips fell.

"It seems that Professor Blaine didn't leave any loopholes for us this time."

Cedric took back his wand and sighed, but he didn't look disappointed.

"If we want to melt the ice and get the key, we have to get into these doors."

Hermione turned around and looked calmly at the stone door.

"It seems so."

Cedric crossed his arms and looked at the doors with a critical eye.

"There are four doors in total. It seems that a team enters one door. There must be some difficulties inside. If you overcome the difficulties, you can get something that can melt the ice."

"That's fair."

Victor's eyebrows relaxed, his expression became clearer,

"Whoever gets through this first and melts the ice will get the key."

"Very reasonable."

Harry also nodded. He did not want to fight for the key through direct force. If the rules of the game were set like this, it would be equivalent to Professor Blaine opening a back door for them, the students in the physical education class.

Fleur clasped her hands behind her back and listened to their discussion with great interest. Obviously, she did not intend to enter those doors.

In this case, there are four doors and three teams.

From the outside, the doors look exactly the same, and it’s impossible to tell whether they are good or bad. Most likely, the challenges inside are exactly the same.

So, there is no picking and choosing.

Hermione, Cedric and Viktor quickly picked out a door at random.

"Wish us good luck!"

Cedric led Luna to the door first, smiled and waved to the others, and stepped into the door eagerly. Viktor also stepped into the stone door he chose.

"Let's go, Harry!"

Hermione said urgently.

"I hope we don't run into anyone else in there."

Harry muttered, pulled Hermione behind him without saying anything, and then stepped into the illusory vortex.

After the light flashed in front of his eyes, the scene stabilized again in Harry's eyes.

It was still a world of ice and snow here. However, there was nothing around.

They seemed to appear in an ancient Greek duel arena.

The huge circular square was surrounded by a 30-foot-high wall, and above the wall were rows of stone steps and seats.

Harry stumbled around the stone door. The ground was covered with a layer of solid ice, which was very slippery.

Harry moved carefully on the ice, and touched the patterns carved on the brown rock bricks before standing in front of the wall.

The patterns on the stone were exquisite, and it seemed that they were not randomly carved with magic. They must have a source. It was unknown where Professor Braine had seen them.

"Harry."

Just as Harry squinted his eyes and looked at the patterns stained with white frost, Hermione, who was standing in front of the door without moving, called out softly.

"What did you find. Oh!"

The slippery ice surface made Harry stumble again. He grinned and looked at the ice surface under his feet in annoyance.

Did Professor Braine plan to let them have an ice skating show in the European magic world? !

"Over there--"

Harry returned to Hermione's side. Hermione grabbed his arm with one hand and pointed in a direction.

Just like outside, in the space hazy by the wind and snow, there were two huge black shadows full of oppression standing silently on both sides of the center line of the circular duel field.

Harry pursed his lips, and the frequency of his heartbeat gradually accelerated.

Although the two shadows were not as tall as the wall, they were still about ten feet tall. Most importantly, their swollen outlines looked a bit like humans.

"Trolls?"

Harry lowered his voice unconsciously.

"It could also be giants."

Hermione's voice trembled.

Harry looked at the hard ice under his feet and was speechless.

Whether it was a troll or a giant, they were not something they could deal with in this environment.

"Let's take a closer look."

Harry said, taking a deep breath.

This round of competition was a race between three teams. They were wasting time here because of the fear of the unknown. Maybe Cedric and Viktor had already started to act!

Hermione nodded. Just as she was about to take a step, Harry pulled her back.

Facing Hermione's puzzled gaze, Harry pointed to the ground.

"It's not easy to move on the ice, Hermione. I'll go closer to see. If there's any danger, you can pull me back with the rope."

This was indeed a safe suggestion. Hermione bit her lower lip and didn't object. She just looked at Harry with concern.

"Be careful, Harry!"

Harry nodded solemnly. When Hermione used her wand to conjure a rope to tie his waist, he began to move forward carefully.

"Oh, if I could skate, things would be much easier."

Harry complained as he moved forward with difficulty.

Skiing and skating are not difficult sports, but it's ridiculous to expect the Dursleys to pay for him to learn these recreational sports.

Harry's progress was very slow. He had to overcome the impact of the ice and the crosswind at the same time.

It took him two minutes to walk the distance that could be jumped in 20 to 30 seconds on a normal road.

When the two huge monsters came into view, Harry's face suddenly became dull, and the pressure coming from the front made it difficult for him to breathe!

Bang!

Hermione, who was waiting anxiously, suddenly felt the rope in her hand jump forward. At the same time, a faint sound in the dull wind made her heart beat to her throat.

In a hurry, Hermione pulled the rope back desperately! (End of this chapter)