Professor Vampire.

Chapter 270: The clues and solutions for the second project

"Throw it in?" Harry asked in astonishment, "What if it gets damaged by soaking?"

"Don't worry, you'll be right if you listen to me!" George patted his chest and assured, "This is at least a special alchemical product for the semi-finals, it's not that fragile."

Harry looked at George doubtfully, thinking that no matter what, it would be right to try. So he gritted his teeth and threw the golden egg into the water.

With a "plop", the golden egg fell into the foamy water and quickly disappeared.

"Then what?" Harry was stunned for a moment, turned his head and asked George.

"Then you have to jump in too." George smirked, stood behind Harry and secretly made a move, pushing him into the bathtub.

"Hey, wait, I haven't changed my clothes yet... Gurgle Gurgle..."

The water here is very deep. He stood up, but his toes could only barely reach the bottom of the pool. Harry accidentally choked on a large mouthful of water.

After a while, he struggled to float to the surface of the water and glared at George with a smirk on his face.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm helping you!" George had no idea what he had done, but said with a joking face, "Why don't you go and see what happened to your golden egg?"

Harry took a deep breath and decided to find the information of the second project of the semi-finals first, and then settle the score with George alone.

He swam back and forth in the water twice before finally finding the golden egg in the hot, humid and foamy water.

He plunged into the water and picked up the golden egg.

There were colorful mists floating around, and this atmosphere made Harry's head dizzy. He didn't notice what changes had taken place in the water.

"It doesn't seem to react?" Harry asked.

"Why don't you try to open it?" George said.

Harry stretched out his arms, held up the golden egg with his wet hands, and opened it. Suddenly, a piercing scream filled the bathroom, echoing and vibrating between the marble walls -

But the sound was still as inexplicable as usual, and mixed with all the echoes in the bathroom, it was even more puzzling.

He snapped it shut, worried that the sound would attract other prefects and Filch.

"George, you are not playing a prank again, are you?" Harry looked at George suspiciously and asked with a frown.

"Who do you think I am, Harry!" George shouted indignantly, "No matter how much I like pranks, I will not make fun of your game!"

"Think about it carefully, did I just ask you to jump into the water with the golden egg?" He sat on the edge of the bathtub and said to Harry.

"Yes, am I not standing in the water with the golden egg now?" Harry still looked very confused.

"Think about it, Harry. If this egg can be solved by just soaking it in water, then why did I bring you to this bathroom?" George said, "I mean - you bury your head and the golden egg in the water, and then open the golden egg..."

"Is that so?" Harry was still a little skeptical.

But with the mentality of being here, he took a deep breath, dived under the water, and opened the shell of the golden egg again.

Now, he sat on the marble at the bottom of the bubble bath, and heard some strange sounds singing in unison in the opened golden egg in his hand.

Harry clenched the golden egg in his hand in surprise, and hurriedly listened to what those strange voices were singing——

"Find us, where our voices sound, we can't sing on the ground.

When you search, please think carefully:

We have robbed your most beloved treasure,

You only have one hour,

To find and take back the objects we took away, when the time is up, bury hope,

It has completely disappeared and will never see the sun."

After listening to this, Harry stepped on the bottom of the water with his feet, let himself float up, and got out of the water full of bubbles.

He shook his head, shook his hair out of his eyes, and then took a breath with a pale face.

"Did you hear anything?" George asked excitedly.

"I heard it..." Harry said thoughtfully, "'Find us, where our voices sounded...' In fact, this hint doesn't need to be said... Wait a minute, I need to listen to it again..."

As he said, he dived under the water full of bubbles again.

The song of the golden egg was sung three times underwater before Harry could barely remember it in his mind.

He emerged from the water again and shouted to George anxiously: "George, do you have paper and pen?"

"What's wrong, can't you remember it?" George asked.

"I can almost remember it, but I'm afraid I'll forget it after tonight." Harry said, "It's better to write down the contents here as much as possible, just in case there is something missing!"

"Let me look..." George said as he rummaged around in his pocket, "...Ah, I got it, here is a color-changing feather pen and a piece of parchment that I usually use to record inspiration."

"Color-changing feather pen? Isn't this the magic joke prop that you and Fred are studying?" Harry asked worriedly.

"No problem, as long as you write in a specific way, the color-changing feather pen can write clear enough." George said confidently, "You can read it, I'll help you write it down."

After they wrote down all the songs word for word, Harry finally climbed out of the bath in wet clothes and sat next to George.

"I have to find those who can't make sounds on the ground..." He said slowly, "Well... who could it be?"

"I feel it's obvious." George raised his eyebrows, "What else can it be except those underwater animals?"

"That's right," Harry nodded, "The first project is to face the dragon, so the second project should be facing some magical animals living in the water, and this time there is an hour to find those "treasures."

"Then there is a problem, how do you stay underwater for an hour?" George asked pointedly.

Harry was stunned.

Yes, swimming in the Black Lake in such a cold weather is already difficult, not to mention that those so-called "treasures" must be in the deepest part of the Black Lake... How can he hold his breath for an hour and persist until he finds those "treasures"?

"Don't think too much for now," George saw that the atmosphere was a little solemn, so he played his usual strengths and made a face at Harry, "It's not too late to think about it slowly during this period, there are still two months before the start of the competition!"

"Yeah, that's right." Harry nodded gently.

"Let's go back to the common room together." George said, "I think you should have a good rest tonight."

...

In the Charms class after the Christmas holiday, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat alone at a table at the back of the classroom.

In the second half of the semester, the practice of the Spell has basically come to an end. The spell that the little wizards have to practice in this class is exactly the opposite of the Spell - the Expulsion Spell.

Because things flying around in the classroom can easily cause unfortunate accidents, Professor Flitwick prepared a lot of soft cushions for each student to practice with, so that even if the spell is misplaced, it will not hurt people.

Professor Flitwick's choice is indeed very foresighted. Many young wizards are not good at spells, such as Neville. He is too inaccurate when chanting spells, and always accidentally makes some heavy things fly all over the room-

For example, the thick pile of books under Professor Flitwick's feet.

Professor Flitwick has fallen off his books several times, all because Neville used the Banishing Spell to pull the books out from under his feet...

Fortunately, there is a little witch next to Neville, Hannah Abbott, who has learned spells well. She can correct Neville's flaws and omissions in casting spells in time, so that he will not completely cast the Banishing Spell on Professor Flitwick.

Since the Christmas ball, Hannah and Neville have been surprisingly close. Neville likes Hannah's kindness, while Hannah thinks Neville's honesty and clumsiness are cute.

In contrast to these two little wizards, Ron and Hermione's relationship has never been reconciled.

Although after Professor Sprout's persuasion, Ginny and Harry told Hermione why Ron behaved like this, so that Hermione was no longer as angry as she was at the ball, but Ron's awkwardness in his heart could not be easily resolved in a short time.

Hermione and Krum maintained a good relationship, which made Ron jealous for a long time, and he always liked to stab Hermione when he had nothing to do.

Of course, Ron and Hermione at least had Harry as a glue.

As the holiday ended, the second project of the semi-finals was getting closer and closer, and they needed to turn all their attention to the imminent problem at the moment-how could Harry survive underwater for an hour on February 24th.

Ron was inclined to use the Summoning Charm again - Harry had told them about the use of the water-scuba on the Muggle side, and Ron thought that Harry could get a set of water-scuba from a nearby Muggle town.

Hermione flatly rejected this suggestion.

"Ron, even if Harry learned how to operate the water-scuba within the required one hour under impossible circumstances, he would definitely be disqualified." Hermione said.

"He will definitely violate the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy - it's a pipe dream to fly a set of scuba gear across the countryside to Hogwarts without being seen by Muggles!"

"You're making a specious argument!" Ron stabbed Hermione unconvinced, "Can't we get a set of scuba gear in advance so that Harry can learn how to use it first, and then wear it directly into the water when the time comes?"

"That would be using other tools, which is also against the rules of the game." Hermione emphasized, "The rules of the game clearly state that warriors cannot use tools other than wands in the game."

"Then what do you think Harry should do?" Ron snorted, waved his wand, and accidentally smashed the cushion in front of him on Neville's head, "Oh, sorry, Neville! I didn't mean to..."

"I think the best way is to use Transfiguration to turn Harry into a submarine or something." Hermione looked up, waved her wand, and lightly placed a cushion in the box in front of the blackboard.

"Unfortunately, we haven't learned advanced human body transformation yet, which is something that will only be taught in the sixth grade... and if you transform yourself without fully mastering it, the consequences will be disastrous..."

"Yeah, I don't want to walk around with a diving telescope on my head." Harry also waved his wand, and to his surprise, his cushion just fell on top of Hermione.

He then lay on the table and said in self-abandonment: "You say... if I provoke Professor Dracula during the game, will he be angry and use Transfiguration to turn me into a fish or a penguin..."

"I think he is more likely to turn you into a duck, the kind that can only stare at things underwater but can't get them." Ron complained.

"Forget it, you'd better not think about using Transfiguration, Harry." Hermione shook her head helplessly and said, "In that case, I think you'd better use a spell..."

Just like that, Harry, Ron and Hermione went into the library again, immersed in studying those dusty tomes, hoping to find a spell that can keep people alive without oxygen.

During lunch time, evenings and the entire weekend, the three of them soaked in both sides of the library, searching hard.

Hermione went to Dracula again and wrote her a note, approving her to use the books in the restricted area, and even asked for help from the vulture-like librarian Madam Pince-

However, they didn't find any way, as if there was no simple and effective spell that could make Harry stay underwater for an hour and come back alive.

After all, his age was too disadvantageous, and he didn't learn a lot of things.

Until the last afternoon before the semi-finals, Harry and the others didn't find how to deal with this underwater competition.

Harry knew very well that even if a miracle happened and he suddenly found a suitable spell, it would be difficult to master it overnight.

How could he let things fall to this point? Why didn't he start studying the clues provided by the golden egg earlier? Why did he skip classes - maybe a professor once mentioned how to breathe underwater?

The sun outside the window gradually set. Harry, Hermione and Ron sat in the library, anxiously flipping through spell books. There were several piles of books on the table in front of each of them, and they couldn't see each other.

Whenever Harry saw the word "water" in the book, his heart would beat wildly, but if he looked more carefully, it was often two pints of water, half a pound of chopped mandrake, and a newt...

However, just when they were about to fall into despair, a turning point appeared at an unexpected time -

As Harry's opponent, Cedric walked in a minute before the library closed and handed a book to Harry.