After everyone boarded the wooden boat moored at the shore, it was pulled by some invisible force and sailed into the dense fog.
Visibility in the dense fog was extremely low. Matthew could only make out the blurry silhouettes of eight other people.
Matthew's heart suddenly jolted. I can see eight people?
Including myself, there should only be eight of us!
The boat was narrow, with room for only one person in each row. Matthew recalled the order in which they had boarded: Gryffindor first, then Slytherin. Seated in the middle were Slytherin's nephew and Matthew's two disciples, followed by Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Matthew had boarded last.
Yet there were now eight people seated in front of him.
Ravenclaw, seated ahead of him, suddenly turned around and handed Matthew something. It was the Azure Stone they had used before to communicate silently.
Matthew accepted the Azure Stone, and Ravenclaw's clear voice sounded in his mind. "There's an extra person on the boat!"
Matthew replied through the Azure Stone, "I noticed it too. Is Helga the one in front of you?"
Ravenclaw answered, "I checked. The Helga in front of me is a little off. I patted her shoulder just now and tried to pass her the Azure Stone, but she ignored me."
"It slipped between you and Helga without us noticing?" Matthew frowned.
The fog here had also blocked Matthew's Magic Sense, leaving him unable to tell what exactly had mixed in among them.
Ravenclaw asked, "King Arthur's legends never mentioned danger while taking the boat. What should we—"
Before she could finish, the boat began to shake violently. Everyone hurriedly grabbed the planks to steady themselves.
—Bang!!! A tremendous crash came from beneath the boat, as though something had struck its hull. The wooden boat exploded apart.
In an