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The Christmas ball is held between the first and second tests to select who is the warrior's baby.
Normally, a warrior's dance partner has a very good relationship with him, but who would have thought that this year's warriors did not play by the rules. Except for Cedric Diggory, none of the warriors had a good impression of their dance partners.
I really don’t know whether this group of Warriors is not good enough or the girls and boys lack charm.
As a result, the rest of the warriors could only look for their usual friends, and the value of the 'baby' was greatly reduced.
For a warrior like Zhang Lingyu who has lived in the mountains for a long time, has a dull mind and simple relationship chains, he has fewer choices. He is not very familiar with the employees of Nadutong.
The person Zhang Lingyu has in her heart is naturally the best candidate, but she is far away in the East and her whereabouts are unknown. It is simply unrealistic to bring her to Hogwarts, and Nadutong will not agree to let people from the British wizarding world find someone in the country.
Now in Hogwarts, only Hu Xiuwu and Zhang Zhiwei can be considered to be close to him, but Zhang Zhiwei not only has a high status, but is also the referee of this competition, so he cannot be Zhang Lingyu's treasure.
The only option left is Hu Xiuwu.
Of course, all the headmasters and team leaders were aware of this matter, otherwise the Aurors would not have easily entered Beauxbatons' carriage and Durmstrang's magic ship.
Before, Kingsley Shacklebolt thought this was a simple matter, and even felt that it was an exaggeration to ask him to do this. However, he was usually cautious in his actions, so he still hid his whereabouts and launched a surprise attack.
The main reason was that he was afraid that the little wizard would fight back and hurt himself.
As a result, he didn't expect that he was the one who didn't understand the situation clearly.
The Ministry of Magic only informed Dumbledore that an Auror was going to take away the warriors' treasures, and did not tell them what the so-called treasures were. Therefore, the Ministry of Magic did not know that Moody's sneak attack on Hu Xiuwu had failed, and did not understand Hu Xiuwu's strength.
Although, after seeing Zhang Lingyu's record of fighting against the fire dragon, the Ministry of Magic had already anticipated Hu Xiuwu's strength, and for this reason, they specially asked the senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt to take Hu Xiuwu away.
But unexpectedly, Kingsley still failed. Even Moody, who was considered a legendary Auror, failed to launch a sneak attack on Huxuwu. How could Kingsley Shacklebolt succeed?
After hearing what Kingsley Shacklebolt said, Hu Xiuwu did not believe him immediately. A blood-red energy rose from the hand holding the sword, like five red snakes winding from the fingertips to the sword, and climbing to Kingsley Shacklebolt's chest like vines.
Kingsley Shacklebolt didn't dare to move, allowing the three corpse qi to attach to his body.
After confirming that Kingsley Shacklebolt was telling the truth, Hu Xiuwu put away his sword and reluctantly believed him: "So, what do you want?"
Kingsley Shacklebolt smoothed his purple robe and picked up his wand. Although he was well-informed, he had never experienced such a situation before, and he said stutteringly:
"I will use a sleeping spell to put you into a deep sleep, and then sink you into the Black Lake. All the 'treasures' need to fall asleep to avoid disturbing other warriors. It would be unfair to them."
Hu Xiuwu nodded: "Okay, then you come."
Then, he faced Kingsley Shacklebolt with an unguarded attitude.
Kingsley Shacklebolt managed to maintain his composure as a person of Hu Xiuwu's previous generation, but he felt extremely aggrieved in his heart. He felt that he had learned everything from dogs in the past thirty years. He had to deal with a teenager in his twenties and he had to let down his guard himself.
But tomorrow morning will be the second event of the Goblet of Fire. Kingsley Shacklebolt can't waste any more time, so he waves his wand:
"Dizzy."
The coma spell hit Hu Xiuwu. Hu Xiuwu blinked his eyes and felt a sense of tiredness rising from deep within his body, and his head felt dizzy.
But before he could truly fall asleep, his body and soul, sensing the external energy in his body, had already spontaneously surrounded this outsider.
Like a pack of wolves surrounding a sheep, staring at it with eager eyes.
Little guy, don’t you know whose territory this is?
Then he tore it into twenty-four pieces.
Hu Xiuwu, who had just felt tired, immediately perked up again, but saw Kingsley Shacklebolt looking at him suspiciously, as if wondering why he hadn't fallen down yet.
Suddenly, he realized what was going on, his eyes rolled back, he fell backwards and fell into a coma.
Kingsley Shacklebolt: "..."
You are being too perfunctory.
Although he doubted that Hu Xiuwu was not dizzy at all, the light in the sky was already breaking through the night, and there was no time to change someone.
Forget it, let’s take Hu Xiuwu over there first and leave the matter to Dumbledore and Barty Crouch, and let them worry about it.
After much thought, Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had no idea what to do, decided to take the risk and send Hu Xiuwu to the Black Lake to let Dumbledore and Minister of Magic Fudge make the judgment.
Kingsley took out a palm-sized silver mirror from his arms. He looked directly into the silver mirror, but what appeared in the mirror was not his appearance, but the figure of another person.
This is a traditional Western ritual implement, a double-sided mirror.
There is a pair of double-sided mirror magic tools in a complete set. Like Hu Xiuwu and Chen Duo's Pisces golden-eyed jade pendants, they are communication magic tools, and the two parties can communicate through the mirror.
Hu Xiuwu had also seen an upgraded version of the two-sided mirror. Dumbledore had a double-sided book made by Nicolas Flamel in his hand. Every page in the book could contact a person as long as he was near the double-sided book.
With the help of this book, Dumbledore secretly maintained a small intelligence network in Europe.
The person on the other side of the mirror teased Kingsley: "Kingsley, what took you so long? Have your legs become weak recently?"
Kingsley was still in the mood to joke with others: "Cullin, come and pick us up quickly."
"Okay, I'll be there soon."
Kingsley was usually like this, always serious and responsible in his work, so the Auror Cullin Cannon from the Ministry of Magic on the other side of the mirror did not suspect why Kingsley was a moment late in taking pictures of other people.
How could Kingsley fail against a teenager?
While waiting for the Ministry of Magic to pick him up, Kingsley used the Levitation Charm to raise Hu Xiuwu. He kept working and kept muttering, "Let's go to the Black Lake first. If nothing unexpected happens, we may be able to send you into the Black Lake."
"At that time, we will put protection measures on the 'Warrior's Treasure' to ensure that they will not be in any danger within the Black Lake. The protection spell will become ineffective after leaving the Black Lake."
There was no one around, but Kingsley kept on talking to himself for a long time, and no one knew who he was explaining to.
Snore, snore,
Under the moon, a carriage covered in night light and stepping on the morning light came from afar.
This is a four-wheeled carriage with oil lamps hanging on the four corners, not for lighting, but to identify itself and prevent collisions. The emblem of the Ministry of Magic is also carved on the body of the carriage.
The wizard from the Ministry of Magic, sitting high on the driver's seat, pulled the reins and controlled the carriage to land next to Kingsley.
The strange thing is that there was no Pegasus in front of the carriage.
Chapter 268 Black Lake
It’s not that there are no Pegasus pulling the carriage in front of it, but the Pegasus pulling the carriage is special and ordinary people cannot see it.
In Kingsley's eyes, there were four horses with long heads and black bodies in front of the carriage. They were pitch black with shiny fur, but they were skinny, like skeletons covered with skin. Huge bat wings extended from the ribs of these black horses.
This strange black horse is called Thestral, and it comes from the same place as the Basilisk and Dementors. However, compared to the other two predecessors, the Thestral is much gentler and can be tamed.
In addition, the Thestrals have a very strange characteristic: only people who have witnessed death can see them.
The Thestrals have excellent flying ability, strong load-bearing capacity, and are good at finding their way. They are an excellent breed of Pegasus, so the Ministry of Magic has always kept a certain number of Thestrals in captivity for travel needs.
After all, it is somewhat inappropriate for high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic to travel on a broom. It is more elegant and decent for them to ride in a Thestral carriage.
From cultivating the basilisk to bringing back the Dementors and the Thestrals, it can be seen that the three brothers who encountered the god of death in the fairy tale have already had a lot of experience in traveling between the two worlds.
Not only can the raw materials obtained from the body of the snake god be used to create the Deathly Hallows, but the creatures in Zhongshan can also be brought back in a targeted manner.
Of course Hu Xiuwu could also see Ye Qi. Even though his eyelids were closed and his expression was peaceful, with the blessing of his eyes, it was just a layer of eyelids, so how could it stop him?
Of course he was not unconscious. Knowing that someone was playing tricks on the competition, he was still foolish enough to follow the arrangements of the Ministry of Magic. He just became a fish on the chopping board of others.
Kingsley was also well aware of Hu Xiuwu's situation, but due to his identity and his own status, he did not point it out.
Auror Cullin, who was driving the carriage, teased Kingsley: "Kingsley, why did it take you so long to deal with a child? You are the last one to complete the task this time."
"Stop talking nonsense," Kingsley opened the door of the carriage, carefully let Hu Xiuwu fly in, and let him lie down on the seat in a comfortable posture.
In addition to Hu Xiuwu, there were Ron and two men whom Hu Xiuwu was not very familiar with in the carriage. They should be from Durmstrang and Behemoth.
In addition, there was a cute little girl with the same silver hair as Furong, who was curled up in the deepest part of the carriage, snuggling with Zhang Qiu and sleeping soundly.
The two men were in comfortable postures and sleeping peacefully, obviously having been gently carried into the carriage. They were unlike the other three teenagers, who were stacked together in a messy manner like sacks.
Obviously, girls and boys are treated completely differently. Of course, people with strong abilities are treated differently as well. For example, Hu Xiuwu was placed on the side of the carriage by Kingsley. It was spacious and comfortable, and he didn't have to squeeze with several people like he and Ron did.
Kingsley closed the door of the carriage, climbed into the driver's seat, and sat with the previous person.
This made the Auror, who was also a part-time coachman, very puzzled: "Why don't you go home and rest, or just use a broom to go to the Black Lake?"
The second match was held under the Black Lake. The audience could only see the calm lake surface. It was not as exciting as the first match against the dragon, so many Aurors took the opportunity to go home and rest after completing their tasks.
Wouldn't it be nice to go home, curl up on the sofa, drink beer and watch the game?
Even if there were those who were curious and wanted to join in the fun, they would all ride on brooms and blend into the ordinary student seats and follow Kulin back. If they hung around in front of the boss, they might be drafted.
Since you still have time to come over, I'll arrange a few more tasks for you.
No one likes to work unless they are a power-hungry person like Percy Weasley.
"Stop talking nonsense and go over there quickly!" Kingsley's self-confidence had just been hit by Hu Xiuwu, and he really didn't want to chat with him anymore.
What happened to Kingsley? Why is he suddenly not in high spirits?
Auror Cullin Cannon in the carriage muttered to himself, but Kingsley had a very high prestige in the Auror Office in the past. Seeing that Kingsley was in a bad mood, he did not dare to ask any more questions. He could only shake his shoulders and listen to his orders.
Snapped!
With a flick of the reins, the Night Thestral received the signal and immediately flapped its huge bat wings, driving the carriage towards the Black Lake.
The carriage was flying steadily in the air, and Hu Xiuwu quietly lifted the curtain and looked out.
They had arrived at the Black Lake. In the center of the mirror-like lake surface, three platforms rose up. One of them was a main platform, which was surrounded by the other platforms in a semi-circular shape. Each platform was several stories high and was shaped like the stands surrounding a stadium.
The floating tower used by warriors and judges is four or five stories high, like a floating tower on the sea.
Just overnight, so many platforms were able to rise from the lake. The British wizarding world is indeed very good at infrastructure.
If this art of transfiguration could have spread to the East, the country would probably have been filled with wonders long ago.
The Thestrals swooped down, their hooves creating ripples on the lake. Kingsley and Cullin waved their wands, releasing cold currents that condensed into a layer of ice on the water. The Thestrals' carriage happened to stop on the ice.
The calm lake surface seemed to be boiling, spitting bubbles upwards continuously. Soon, the ice layer under the Nighthorse carriage was filled with fish heads, just like the carp pond in the scenic area.
These fishmen have human-like upper bodies and fish-tail-like lower bodies, hair like seaweed, and a pair of big eyes that girls envy. However, their faces are pointed and look more like monkeys. With big eyes that take up half of their cheeks and green and sticky skin, they look a little weird and ugly, and not as beautiful as described in fairy tales.
The murlocs have their own special language, which few people can speak. Coincidentally, the Auror driving the car, Cullin Cannon, knows it. Before becoming an Auror, he had worked in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures of the British Ministry of Magic. That was why he was assigned this job.
Kulin Ganon uttered a strange tone, which was a bit harsh like the song in the golden egg, like a scream, but under Kulin's deliberate control, it was still barely acceptable.
He was talking to these fish-men like two babies singing high notes to each other.
After a brief exchange, a fishman leader holding a trident on the lake nodded slightly, as if agreeing with Kulin Ganon's words.
Kulin waved his magic wand and opened the carriage door. The warriors' treasures floated out of the carriage, fell on the water, and were caught by the fishmen.
It was just a simple levitation technique, but it made Kulin sweat profusely and almost faint. He wiped his sweat and said puzzledly: "Strange, I just sent a few children to the lake, why am I so tired?"