Kelpie Knight

"Since we discovered it, we have lost more than a dozen soldiers."

The Merpeople chieftain said with a grave expression, "If you can help us get rid of this monster, then you will become a friend of our tribe."

"No problem, leave it to me," Kyle said, and swam toward the Kelpie.

Under the relentless attacks of the Merpeople, the Kelpie was indeed going mad. It struggled to shake its body and tried to Transfiguration other forms to break free of the ropes binding it.

The Kelpie is like the Metamorphmagus from Fantastic Beasts, capable of transforming itself into various different appearances.

But the Merpeople seem to have learned from this mistake, and they always manage to add a new rope the moment it Transfiguration.

Kyle had tried to relax the Kelpie, but it wouldn't listen to anything and immediately opened its mouth to bite Kyle upon seeing Kyle.

Kyle wasn't surprised by this situation, and he had several solutions.

But all of that takes time, and with the one-hour deadline fast approaching, he didn't want to waste too much time here.

Therefore, Kyle chose the simplest and most direct approach.

He extended his wand, and a small, golden-red fish made of flame emerged from the tip.

In an instant, the originally icy lake water began to heat up rapidly, and the Merpeople screamed and ran away into the distance.

Then Kyle waved his wand again, and the little fish made of fire disappeared.

Kyle has now mastered the Fiendfyre quite well. Since he is currently in the Black Lake, he has deliberately kept the Fiendfyre to a minimum to avoid being affected.

Even so, the results were quite obvious.

First of all, the icy lake water became much warmer, like soaking in a hot spring.

The Kelpie also quieted down. It stood there motionless, and its gaze toward Kyle lost all its madness, becoming clear and bright.

"It would have been so much better if you had done this sooner." Kyle swam to the Kelpie and whispered, "Don't get agitated, I'm here to save you... Come with me, those Merpeople won't attack you anymore."

He untied the ropes binding the Kelpie and climbed onto its back.

The Kelpie remained quiet throughout this period.

Kyle naturally grabbed the broad-leaved cattail on its body and pointed to the spot in front of him.

"Come this way, and hurry, I'm in a bit of a rush."

After realizing that the ropes binding him were gone, the Kelpie glanced back at the Merpeople approaching, let out a hiss, and then leaped away.

Compared to Kyle swimming on his own, the Kelpie was several levels faster... Kyle felt like he was riding an underwater Broomstick, and the bubbles on his head were Transfiguration by the water flow.

Whether it was Grindylow or any other creature, they were all left far behind. All Kyle had to do was hold on tight to the Kelpie to avoid being thrown off.

In less than five minutes, Kyle faintly heard singing.

"We'll be there in almost an hour..."

How long are you going to keep dragging this out...?

"Come and take back the treasure we took!"

Kyle patted the Kelpie and swam in the direction the sound came from.

Before long, he arrived in the middle of the Black Lake, next to a rock pillar painted with a Merpeople pattern.

This seems to be Merpeople tribe, because there are some stone dwellings that look like houses sitting around the rock pillars.

Some of these tiny dwellings even have gardens, while others have a small Grindylow tied to the door.

Upon seeing Kyle, the Merpeople excitedly surged in from all directions, slapping the lake water with their thick, powerful silver tails, seemingly trying to intimidate Kyle.

Then... they saw the Kelpie beneath Kyle.

The melodious singing instantly turned into a piercing scream, and the Merpeople who were nearby scattered in all directions, screaming as they tried to grab their weapons.

"Why is that monster back again...?"

"Run! It's eaten the leader!"

"Go get the weapons, go get the weapons..."

Chaos reigned all around. Clearly, as fellow aquatic creatures, the Merpeople had a natural fear of the Kelpie.

This made things convenient for Kyle, who didn't explain anything and instead went to a stone Merpeople statue.

Three people were tightly bound to the tail of the Merpeople statue.

I don't recognize the one on the far left, but judging from his clothes, he should be one of Durmstrang's men.

Karkaroff hadn't been to the castle recently, and others, including Krum, had also rarely appeared, so Kyle didn't really remember him.

In the middle is an eight-year-old girl, Gabrielle, Phoebe's younger sister.

On the far right is Kanna, who hasn't appeared since Professor McGonagall called her away last night.

The three of them looked to be fast asleep, their heads limply resting on their shoulders, and bubbles constantly rising from their mouths.

They were secured to the statue by three large, round padlocks, which were interlocked; only by opening all three could they be freed from the statue.

Kyle didn't have the key, but his wand was enough.

He stretched out the hand holding the wand, and the Kelpie beneath him suddenly trembled uncomfortably... It seemed to recognize the wand and wanted to escape.

Kyle quickly reassured him, "Don't worry... it's alright..."

The Kelpie was still somewhat uneasy, but it had calmed down considerably.

Kyle raised his hand again.

"Sectumsempra"

It was as if an invisible wind had sliced through the lake and then swept across the three large, round locks, cutting them all in two.

Kyle lifted Kanna onto the Kelpie and used the same method to rescue Gabrielle as well.

Okay, that's settled then...

Kyle looked behind him and saw a large group of Merpeople charging towards him with spears, then patted the Kelpie on the neck.

On the stands by the Black Lake, everyone was grumbling quietly.

Just an hour ago they were all in high spirits, thinking they were going to see a great game, but instead they spent an hour standing in the cold wind by Black Lake and didn't see anything.

"Who came up with this Second Task anyway..." Fred muttered idly, tugging at the loose thread on the flag. "Forbidden Forest and lakebed again, we can't see anything here."

"Couldn't Headmaster Dumbledore just tear down the ceiling of the Great Hall and move it here?"

George couldn't help but say, "That ceiling panel is enchanted; it can display the weather outside. It must be able to display the situation in the Black Lake too, right?"

"Who says otherwise? The headmaster is so stingy." Fred sighed. "I really want to know how Kyle is doing now."

"It should be soon." Cedric checked the time. "There are only a few minutes left until an hour. I trust Kyle; he'll definitely finish the project within an hour."

"I believe it too, but nothing..."

George stopped mid-sentence, rubbed his eyes, and looked incredulously toward the lake.

Merlin thought he saw a horse charging out of the Black Lake, but this was the Black Lake, not the area outside the Forbidden Forest...

Even more bizarrely, Kyle, sitting on horseback like a majestic knight, leaped onto the lake.

George felt a bit overwhelmed, but he still reflexively clapped along with the people around him.

"That's Kelpie!" Cedric shouted from the side. "They're as fast as Broomstick in the water! I never imagined there were such Fantastic Beasts in the Black Lake."

The stands were buzzing with excitement; people stood up, shouting and yelling, and the referees were clapping. Whether someone's clapping was genuine or not was unknown, but at least they clapped.

On the other side, as soon as Kyle left the lake, the unconscious Kanna woke up and blinked a few times in the bright sunlight.

"I knew you could do it," she said, looking at Kyle.

"I admit you have good taste," Kyle said with a smile. "And we were the first ones to come out."

Kanna laughed too, but then she quickly realized something and hurriedly asked, "What about Phoebe? Has Gabrielle been rescued? She's so young, the professors really shouldn't have sent her to the lake."

"I don't know where Phoebe is, but Gabrielle is alright now..." Kyle turned to the side, letting Kanna see Gabrielle lying on the horse's back.

The little girl woke up too. She spat out a mouthful of lake water and looked around blankly, clearly not understanding what had happened.

At that moment, Kanna also noticed something was wrong; she seemed to be sitting on a large clump of moving seaweed.

"What's this?"

"I rescued the Kelpie from the Black Lake on a whim," Kyle explained. "In return, it offered us a ride."