Inevitable Accident

8:30 in the morning, the long and exhilarating novel experience finally came to an end.

Inside the space locked by the Mirroring Curse, Vincent and Hermione were nestled together inside a giant bubble.

"Krum's coming again." He raised his hand and pointed to the rapidly descending figure. "Not bad Transfiguration skills, he can even partially transform the human body."

Hermione, with a rosy complexion, glanced over casually.

He was still only wearing underwear, but his head had been transformed into a somewhat frightening shark's head.

Human body transformation has always symbolized the highest level of Transfiguration, and many adult wizards may not be able to partially transform like Krum.

Although it doesn't look particularly complete, he can at least breathe underwater for a long time.

However, compared to Vincent, who can change his bones, figure, and even appearance to be completely identical to Snape, his Transfiguration skills are still far behind.

Hermione lay on Vincent's lap with a faint smile, "Are you still jealous?"

He gently brushed her scattered long hair, "If I said no, you definitely wouldn't believe me. Maybe a little."

"Hmm~" Hermione's small mouth tilted slightly upward, seeming to be in a good mood.

Jealousy is a sign of affection, applicable to both men and women.

Almost an hour later, they could finally see the shark-headed Krum again.

He ascended very quickly, like a real shark.

Moreover, the skin on his body wasn't as pale as before, probably because he used a Potion or charm with warming effects.

"Strange..." Vincent noticed that he would occasionally look back.

Hermione also noticed that his ascending posture was a bit awkward, as if he was wary of something. "Could he be in trouble?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the water currents at the bottom of the lake surged upward as if they had been disturbed.

Krum, who wasn't far from the surface of the lake, stopped and rapidly dived down, brushing past the disturbed water currents.

"This is..." Hermione sat up and recognized that it was a Water-Blade Curse fired from the bottom of the lake.

Hogwarts' Black Lake, like the Forbidden Forest, is home to many different kinds of magical creatures.

And the only ones who can cast magic underwater, firing Water-Blade Curses from the bottom of the lake with some remaining attack power, are the Merfolk, who, like the Centaur, have a strong sense of territory.

After dodging the attack, Krum stopped diving and straightened his entire body, darting towards the surface of the lake at an even faster speed.

The Merfolk didn't attack again, probably because he was out of their detection range.

Vincent and Hermione both breathed a sigh of relief.

If they went to save him, it might not expose the fact that they were hiding in the Black Lake, but it would definitely alert the Death Eaters.

Vincent lowered his tightly gripped Alder Wand, "It seems the attack was just a warning."

Hermione was still wary of the bottom of the lake, "The Black Lake is too dangerous. If the champions accidentally wander into some place and offend those underwater magical creatures..."

Even adult wizards who haven't been specially trained would find it difficult to guarantee their successful escape, let alone students who don't have much practical experience.

Once injured underwater, even if it's just a small cut, the cold lake water will accelerate hypothermia, which may eventually lead to confusion or even unconsciousness.

Vincent gently hugged her, "Don't worry, the Ministry of Magic definitely won't let that happen. They should have reached an agreement with the underwater magical creatures in advance."

Hermione felt relieved after hearing this, "Right, as long as there are no accidents, the champions are safe."

Hmm—accidents?

The two looked at each other.

The Death Eaters hidden in the school don't need to prepare in advance. They only need to cause a disturbance at the beginning of the task, such as killing a Merperson or something, which will make them mistakenly believe that the wizards have broken the agreement and attack the innocent champions.

"What should we do?"

"Let's go back and tell Professor Dumbledore first, he speaks the Merpeople's language."

Back at the castle, breakfast had already started in the Great Hall.

Vincent and Hermione didn't stop and went straight towards the stairs.

Arriving at the Headmaster's Office on the eighth floor, Dumbledore happened to be out.

A stone Pensieve was placed on the round table with claw-shaped legs, and several small bottles were placed next to it.

Vincent walked to the portrait of Phineas Black with wide eyes, "Headmaster Black, where did Professor Dumbledore go?"

"Hmph!" Phineas turned his face away. "Don't you have that communicator thing? Go contact him yourself!"

He was already extremely disgusted with Muggles. Ever since Sirius Black and old Shafiq founded the Prongs brand, he felt that the Black Family had completely degenerated, actually trying to manufacture magical appliances by imitating Muggle technological principles.

Therefore, he hated Vincent, the instigator of all this.

Although he didn't like him much before, he now clearly hated him to the extreme.

"Oh." Vincent turned on the projected light screen of the Magical Communicator in front of Phineas, angering the latter to turn around and face him with the sparse hair on the back of his head.

The communication took a long time to connect. It was easy to see from the background that Dumbledore was at the Ministry of Magic.

"Professor, is this a good time to talk?"

Dumbledore smiled and nodded, "Speak, child."

Vincent first cast a silencing charm around them before sharing his and Hermione's speculation.

"Professor, if the Death Eaters really do resort to this, we can't possibly lie in wait for 24 hours until the task begins."

Dumbledore didn't seem surprised, as if he had already considered this possibility.

He thoughtfully hummed for a moment. "I understand. I will speak with the Merfolk beforehand."

After hanging up the Magical Communicator, Vincent was met with Phineas's large, curious eyes.

"Headmaster Black, are you wondering—"

"I don't want to know!" Phineas huffed, covering his ears and turning his sparse-haired head towards him once more.

The headmasters chuckled amongst themselves, and Hermione couldn't help but giggle.

Dumbledore's reputation still held weight. If an accident truly was unavoidable, informing the underwater magical creatures in the Black Lake beforehand would ensure that, being forewarned, they wouldn't try to kill the champions.

Vincent's mood lightened as well. He turned and curiously examined the Pensieve on the round table.

Now that they were here, it would be a shame not to take a look.

There were quite a few memories. Where to start?

Hermione was still reserved, but just like before, she initially refused sternly, only to later join Vincent in selecting one.

"Let's look at this one first." She glanced cautiously at the Headmaster's Office door, but her small hand swiftly poured the memory from the bottle into the Pensieve.

"Hey! Are you two little brats pretending we don't exist?!" Phineas was so angry that his whiskers stood on end.

However, nothing he said mattered. Vincent even provocatively twirled his Alder Wand.