Should We Just Set It on Fire?

"Sir, we are just Merpeople..."

Late at night, beside the rocks by the Black Lake, two Merpeople stood obediently on the sand, their tails slapping the ground anxiously and fearfully.

"Hiss—" A long tongue stretched out from the side, the red tongue almost as big as a red carpet, enough to completely envelop the Merpeople.

"Sir! Sir!" the two Merpeople screamed.

Of course, to other people's ears, this would sound like a jarring Merpeople song.

But for Sean, who possesses the skill "Beast Speaker," communicating with Merpeople, these highly intelligent Magical Creatures, is very convenient—he hadn't realized it before, until today when he "invited" the Merpeople and discovered that the Beast Speaker works on Merpeople songs as well.

Sean, sitting atop the Basilisk's head, casually asked while toying with his wand, "I have no intention of doing anything to you?"

They're not planning to do anything to us?!

The two Merpeople didn't even dare to raise their heads, but they really wanted to question the boy in front of them: Did your inaction mean that the two giant monsters would drive us out of the lake?

But these words could only be kept to themselves, and Murcus, the leader of the Merpeople, dared not refute them at all—clearly, this boy gave all the Merpeople a very good first impression, a feeling that made them want to get close to him.

However, he was completely different from the kind-faced Dumbledore.

"Sir..." she managed to utter a weak sound.

Sean glanced down, feeling no pity whatsoever— the Merpeople looked much like the Merpeople, or perhaps "yaksha" would be a more accurate description.

"Your Excellency, all I need is for you to tell me the information you have."

"I'll answer anything you know, please ask," Murcus said quickly, she was really scared.

"I heard from Mr. Bagman that you would tell Professor Dumbledore about the situation at the bottom of the lake—meaning you have informants all over the Black Lake?" Sean asked.

Murcus nodded eagerly. "Yes, our Black Lake community should be the largest Merpeople community in England. Mr. Dumbledore can speak Mermish, and we have a trade relationship with him. As for informants, we have tamed most of the Grindylow in the Black Lake, and we can also communicate with some large fish."

Sean snapped his fingers, "That makes things easier—that day, you should keep an eye on all the Champion who enter the Black Lake, right? Tell me their whereabouts, don't miss a single one."

Murcus recalled for a moment, then recounted what his people had seen that day, occasionally confirming with his guards.

After a while, Sean frowned.

According to Murcus's recollection, the Merpeople ' surveillance could not cover the entire area, but they could detect most of the Champion ' movements.

As Sean had predicted, all three of the Newmontgard were under surveillance, but Hugo was attacked while passing through the seaweed area. The Merpeople did not find the attacker, so they reported Hugo's unconsciousness to the people on the shore.

When Hugo was attacked, there were five people whose whereabouts were unknown. Durmstrang's three members had temporarily disappeared from the Merpeople ' sight, and the two female contestants from Beauxbatons, apart from Phoebe, had also not been noticed for the time being.

When their group was attacked, Durmstrang's Reinhardt Nott and Krum had just reunited, the whereabouts of the remaining man were temporarily unknown, Beauxbatons ' men were still on their way to reunite, but according to the description of the large fish, the three Beauxbatons had been seen in other places.

The other teams had basically already joined up by this time.

In other words, there was only one person who went missing in both attacks: Leon Schneider of Durmstrang, a dark-haired, gloomy-faced seventh-grader.

Seeing Sean's furrowed brow and silence, Murcus assumed he wasn't satisfied with his recollection and stammered, "Sir, we're just Merpeople... We can't completely control what's happening at the bottom of the Black Lake. We're just a little better informed than other creatures... We couldn't even figure out the identities of the people who attacked you that day..."

Sean looked up, snapped his fingers, and a huge wooden crate appeared before Murcus's eyes.

The familiar, delightful aroma immediately filled the Merpeople ' nostrils. Murcus wiped away his uncontrollable drool—it was malt whisky! And it was made from pure malt!

The human creations that Merpeople love most.

The Basilisk stretched out its huge tongue and pushed the wooden box in front of Murcus.

"I won't let anyone... the same goes for Merpeople, I won't Merpeople for nothing..." Sean smiled.

It seems the gentleman is quite satisfied! Murcus's eyes lit up. She Greed used her fishtail to prop up the wooden box, rubbing her hands together and smiling obsequiously, "You are truly a generous and passionate gentleman! A hundred times more benevolent than the greatest man!"

Without time to correct the other party's misuse of words, Sean continued, "This is my return gift... I understand the situation, and I hope you will talk to all your people again when you go back to see if there is anything you have forgotten."

"Of course, of course!" Murcus nodded quickly.

After saying that, Sean patted the Basilisk's head, and its huge body began to throb, preparing to leave the lakeside.

"Take care, sir! Have a wonderful evening!" Murcus said quickly.

But the terrifying figure stopped after swimming a few meters. Murcus panicked. Could this man have changed his mind?

"Oh, right, there's something I forgot to mention. Also, investigate the Bone Mountain at the bottom of that lake for me," Sean said, turning to instruct.

"Is that all?" Murcus breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, sir, no problem, sir."

"See you next time. If things go well, there will be more items."

Leaving behind a single sentence, Sean's figure gradually disappeared into the night.

Once he was certain the other side had left, the Merpeople leader, Murcus, finally breathed a sigh of relief. The pressure from those two colossal beasts was simply too overwhelming, and unlike the Fire Dragon in the sky, Merpeople could escape by hiding underwater, those two beasts, especially the Selma Lake Monster, were practically their Merpeople enemies. Murcus had no doubt that, if the beasts so desired, the Merpeople tribe at the bottom of the Black Lake could be completely wiped out overnight.

"Leader?" her guard asked in a low voice.

"What are you looking at!" Murcus regained his usual imposing manner. "Move this case of fine whisky to my palace!"

"Yes!" The Merpeople Guard lifted the wooden box with force, then hesitated before asking, "Mr. Dumbledore said that if there's anything happening at the bottom of the lake, it's best to inform him. Should we send someone from our tribe to let him know?"

Murcus thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Never mind..."

The Merpeople Guard nodded. "Yes, that person is much more dangerous than Mr. Dumbledore..."

Murcus sighed, "Mr. Dumbledore is a kind man, he won't do anything to us, but that person is completely different from Mr. Dumbledore ... Come to think of it, he's very similar to the old man who used to sit next to Mr. Dumbledore."

"What about tonight?"

"Keep it to yourself...and we haven't broken our promise to Professor Dumbledore," Murcus patted the sand with his tail. "This happened on the shore, not at the bottom of the Black Lake."

The guard was overjoyed. "Chief, you truly live up to your reputation!"

"Of course," Murcus smugly flicked his tail. "Let's move the stuff and go back!"

"Yes!"

Inside Durmstrang's large ship, the warm fireplace crackled and popped as Karkaroff sat in a velvet armchair, facing the three Champion of this year's Triwizard Cup.

"Viktor, Reinhardt," Karkaroff grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "I'm ready for the third match. In a month at most, the right project will be in our hands."

"Schneider— " When he looked at the other person, his tone was less friendly, and he still called him by his last name, "When the time comes, you have to cooperate well with those two. We only have one goal, and that is final victory!"

In the shadows, Leon Schneider didn't speak, but simply nodded silently.

Reinhardt Nott impatiently cracked his neck, making a popping sound like burning firewood, and said irritably, "I just want to know if this final competition allows me to directly face off against the opposing wizard."

Karkaroff was very lenient with Reinhardt's rudeness, saying almost indulgently, "Don't worry, my child, you will get this opportunity."

"That's good. I'll take care of Wallerup," Reinhardt said with a sneer.

Krum frowned. "We're here for the Triwizard Cup, not for fighting. Reinhardt, you're being far too hostile towards Wallerup."

Reinhardt retorted without backing down, "So what if he is? I've been annoyed with that kid for a long time. Humph, during the summer recruitment season, he was targeting Durmstrang at every turn. This time at the Triwizard Cup, I'm going to teach him a lesson he won't forget."

"This is a team competition, not an individual competition!"

"Are you afraid, Krum?" Reinhardt asked sarcastically.

Krum was clearly used to this man's rude behavior; he simply frowned in disgust. "Watch your words."

"Have you forgotten your brain on your Quidditch Pitch? We are Durmstrang, not those little sheep from Hogwarts."

"Alright, alright, stop arguing." Seeing the atmosphere between the two becoming increasingly tense, Karkaroff stepped in to smooth things over.

After some mediation, the two snorted, but at least they stopped arguing.

"By the way, sir," Reinhardt said as if he had just remembered something, "Can that thing actually be used in a match?"

Karkaroff pondered for a moment, then frowned and said, "It shouldn't be a big problem... Even Dumbledore won't be able to see what's happening in the arena during the last match... Just keep an eye on things, and if necessary..."

A dangerous glint appeared in his eyes, and he ran his fingers across his neck.

Reinhardt smiled and said, "Don't worry, sir..."

Krum frowned and remained silent, while Leon Schneider, who was in the shadows, slowly raised his head slightly.

After they left Karkaroff's office, Leon Schneider returned to his room alone.

After locking the door, a string of misty black particles swirled up in his palm.

"I can't see what's going on..." He gave a sinister smile.

"Is there a curse blocking it?" Sean asked.

Naja the Occamy nodded.

"That's normal. Durmstrang is, after all, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities. Let's come back first."

Sean put the Occamy back into his robe and glanced at the large ship docked at the pier in the distance.

He had just sent the shrunken Occamy to try and sneak into Durmstrang's large ship to check the situation, but the ship was covered in Defensive Spell, and if Naja forced her way in, it would trigger a spell alarm.

After talking with the Merpeople, Sean still focused his suspicions on Durmstrang, since the school had an unclear connection with the Returners, and Leon Schneider was also the most suspicious.

I originally wanted Naja to sneak in and check the situation, but since she was blocked by the curse, I had to find another way.

If possible, it would be best to directly cause trouble for Durmstrang during the last event, but Sean dislikes the situation of being spied on and attacked while he can only wait helplessly.

Moreover, while he believed in the saying "a gentleman takes revenge even after ten years," Sean Wallerup believed in the principle of "revenge is the only thing that matters."

Once he finds out whether the guy who attacked his group that day was indeed Leon Schneider, he doesn't care what kind of contestant you are. If you dare to stop him, he'll wipe out Karkaroff along with you.

This is no longer a matter of contestants competing in a game. The other side knows what Daisy is truly afraid of, and they have connections with the Returners —which means they are now Sean's enemies.

Under the cover of darkness, Sean eyed Durmstrang's large ship with ill intent—should he just set it on fire?

However, now was not a good time, and the magic ship couldn't be set ablaze overnight. After much deliberation, Sean headed towards the castle.

He needs to make a plan.

Hugo woke up on the third day after being admitted to the hospital, Sean rushed to the Hospital Wing upon hearing the news.

How are you feeling?

Hugo, still somewhat dazed in his hospital bed, rubbed his head and asked, "Sean?"

"Oh no, I'm stunned!" Patricia exclaimed in alarm.

"Madam Pomfrey said Hugo is fine now, but I think he might need a good meal and drink," Ian Teach analyzed seriously from the side.

Sean shook his head. Hugo's condition seemed to be under some kind of hypnotic spell, even somewhat similar to the Imperius Curse, but neither he nor the other professors detected any trace of Dark Arts.

However, once this curse is broken, it takes some time for the person to regain consciousness.

Sure enough, after a while, Hugo finally perked up.

"That guy who ambushed me is weird," Hugo said, wolfing down a hamburger from his hospital bed.

"How so?"