Hogwarts Summoning Guide

Read the full text of Chapter 184, "Under the Black Lake," for free. Link:

If this were a simple competition, Bai Lin thought it wouldn't be a problem for Youxi to act as a hostage. However, considering that it was likely Old Barty who ordered the arrest, things might not be so simple. The hostage might be knocked unconscious, and if he did something to Youxi, Bai Lin would be caught off guard.

Thinking of this, Bai Lin quickly ran back and pleaded with You Qian until he finally got her to their temporary base. He also told them that if anyone came looking for her, they should notify him immediately. He added that if Old Barty dared to come in person, he wouldn't hesitate to bring him to justice.

With Easter fast approaching, Bai Lin has had little chance to see Harry and his two friends. It's likely that Dumbledore has arranged for Snape to give Harry special training in mind-binding magic.

Every day after school, Harry would secretly go to find Snape, which made Ron quite resentful. He didn't expect that in just a few days, Harry's attitude towards Snape would completely change, while Snape still didn't give Ron a good look in Potions class.

After the first match, each warrior received a golden egg containing information about the second level. However, Bai Lin scoffed at this, and his golden egg was simply displayed as a souvenir in the Hufflepuff lounge for everyone to admire.

He saw it in the first match; it was practically a large-scale cheating scene. In fact, every warrior knew before the match that they would be facing the Fire Dragon and had already thought of countermeasures. After all, no school principal would want their star student to be sprayed in the forehead by the Fire Dragon in the first round. After the first match, there was a second match. Teachers from various schools used some "hints" to let the warriors know the content of the match.

Just like in the original story, Cedric reminded Harry to open the golden egg in the water, thus learning that the second match would be held underwater. However, Bai Lin thought that anyone who wasn't blind could see the tall towers and some partitioned facilities that the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts staff had built in the Black Lake. Did they really have to guess the match events?

The day of the competition arrived as scheduled, but the weather was very uncooperative. Dark clouds covered the sky, and strong winds swept through the area. The three water towers swayed slightly, and the waves of the Black Lake crashed against the tower pillars, splashing water nearly ten meters high.

However, the enthusiastic atmosphere of the audience resisted the gloomy air. The students spontaneously prepared various slogans and decorations to cheer on the warriors. The twins and Li Jordan went back to their old ways and sold "lottery tickets" among the students.

"The current odds for the champion are as follows: Professor Karin White, 1:115;" Li Jordan enthusiastically explained to the students, "The first place is practically a foregone conclusion, but the odds are also the lowest. Even if you bet on him, you'll only earn a few silver shiks... I suggest you don't bet on Professor White. As the saying goes, even the best can make mistakes. The seemingly safest choice might not lead to the end. I strongly recommend everyone choose Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons, currently at odds of 127, and the dark horse of Hogwarts, Harry Potter! Currently at odds of 131. Buying him is a sure win! Betting on him is a guaranteed fortune!"

It has to be said that Li Jordan's influence was quite strong; many students took out one or two of their most treasured Galleons and bet on either Fleur or Harry to win.

"Professor, Professor," Bai Lin was staring blankly at the turbulent lake when suddenly a head popped up beside him. It was none other than Eddie, who had a chubby face.

Eddie leaned close to Bai Lin's ear and whispered, "Professor, I still have ten Galleons. Should I still bet on Harry to win?"

Bai Lin chuckled, then quietly pointed in the direction of the Durmstrang delegation and whispered, "Buy Krum, he's the fastest."

Eddie was taken aback, not expecting Bai Lin to recommend that he bet on other schools' students to win. However, he was also a Quidditch fan (what else could a young wizard be a fan of if not Quidditch? It's the only sport), and he certainly respected the world-class Quidditch star Krum. Of course, he didn't doubt Bai Lin's recommendation, nodded heavily to him, and went back inside.

Bai Lin looked towards Durmstrang, and Karkarov also turned to look at him. Their eyes met in the air, and Bai Lin seemed to glean some information from Karkarov's gaze.

Durmstrang is located in the north, and judging from their mode of transportation—the ghost ship—it's clear that their school is probably right on the North Sea coast. They must be experts in water-related activities. In the original story, Krum's shark transformation was indeed the strongest underwater skill, allowing him to easily win and even save Ron.

In the end, everyone obviously only gave credit to Harry for insisting on saving both Ron and Bougainvillea. Bai Lin thought that Dumbledore, who announced the special commendation for Harry, must have been extremely embarrassed. Did he think Bougainvillea would just drown if no one saved her? Did he think the organizers were some Sith?

After rambling on about all that, Dumbledore had already begun announcing the rules for the second match. Bai Lin glanced at Harry out of the corner of his eye; Harry was just taking a wad of "dried pickles" from Dobby, the house-elf who had sneaked over. Bai Lin couldn't help but chuckle. This wad of dried pickles (gill grass) was something Dobby had found on Snape's desk, in a conspicuous little bottle with a label that read: "Don't let Potter get his hands on it." The original book said it was arranged by the fake Moody, but Bai Lin felt that the wording was clearly written by Snape himself, perhaps even thinking he hadn't been subtle enough.

On the other side, Krum and Fleur took off their coats, revealing professional diving suits underneath. Although Fleur's figure was very pleasing to Bai Lin's eye, he couldn't help but think that they probably already knew about the competition last year. Only Harry and Cedric, those two silly boys, stood in the wind wearing only a vest, shivering from the cold.

Just as Bai Lin had predicted, because of his unexpected arrival, the four hostages, who were originally placed in the same location and guarded by the merfolk (in the movie, the merfolk didn't attack the warriors, just a few Greendylo causing trouble), were now facing a different situation. To be honest, Bai Lin didn't know what the second competition would be about; it was probably just a swimming contest. Now, each person was in their own direction, relying solely on their abilities. This eliminated the need for mutual assistance and also removed the time limit, with scoring based on the order of completion.

Despite the complaints, Dumbledore finished reading the rules of the game. Dressed in a black trench coat and with his beard neatly trimmed, "Old Barty" came over with a small bag and let everyone draw lots to choose their playing area. He deliberately started with Beauxbatons' side, letting Fleur draw first, and only letting Bai Lin on the other side draw last, clearly arranging Bai Lin's turn in a very deliberate way.

When it was Bai Lin's turn to draw, Bai Lin stared into "Old Barty's" eyes.

The other person had a half-smile, a wise and calm look on their face. Bai Lin waved his hand, "No need to draw anymore, I'll take this one!" He pointed to the deepest and widest part of the water.

Old Barty chuckled and had the other four people reveal the numbers they had drawn, announcing the results of the lottery to the audience. Sure enough, Bai Lin received special treatment, while the other four had roughly the same difficulty level.

Harry swallowed the "pickled vegetables" in his hand in one gulp. Bai Lin must have felt sour and disgusting that he couldn't believe it. He took off his coat and handed it to Hufflepuff's little fanboy, revealing a sharkskin swimsuit underneath. Filch fired the salute "once again" before Dumbledore gave the order, and then nimbly plunged headfirst into the cold lake water.

"Summon the Mermaid's Blessing!" Bai Lin shouted immediately after entering the water. The underwater incantation caused him to choke on some water, but it didn't affect the effect. Taking advantage of the preparation platform obscuring people's view, a mermaid phantom danced lightly beside Bai Lin before attaching itself to him, enveloping him in a light blue "Water Shield." Within this water shield, Bai Lin could breathe freely, and his swimming speed increased by 300.

The four teenagers on the other side didn't change their approach much. Cedric and Fleur both chose the Bubble Head Charm, putting a large bubble over their heads. To be honest, this spell was really low-level. Although the magical bubble wouldn't cause excessive buoyancy and make it difficult to dive, it only solved the problem of underwater breathing and didn't increase swimming speed. Harry's Gillscapulae solved both the underwater breathing and swimming problems. Krum's was even better, and it also increased his underwater attack capabilities (by the way, this kind of transformation into a beast falls under the category of dark magic).

Since everyone had their own direction, it was like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each displaying their unique abilities. The most unfortunate one was Furong. Sure enough, she was destined to be the first to be eliminated. Less than ten minutes after entering the water, she encountered interference from the Greendy Loo group. In her panic, she popped the magic bubble on her head, choked on two mouthfuls of water, and was forced to float to the surface. She was rescued by Beauxbatons' classmates and brought to the platform, where they draped a blanket over her.

Furong is probably not good at swimming. She may have crammed for the competition, but after actually going into the water, she not only suffered from severe physical exhaustion, but also developed psychological trauma.

However, due to the change in rules, Principal Maxim had to go over and say, "Fleur, my dear, I'm afraid I can only tell you that Gabrielle is your target, and she's still waiting for you underwater..."

Furong was shocked and jumped up. Without saying a word, she cast another head-soaking spell on herself and jumped into the lake.

On Bai Lin's side, the underwater light was very dim, and the aquatic plants at the bottom of the lake were more than ten feet long. He hadn't swum far when a group of Greendylo swam over. However, Bai Lin had dealt with them many times before, and they not only did not attack him, but even circled around him, as if reminding him of something extraordinary.

"You mean there are monsters ahead?" Bai Lin asked, pointing ahead.

The little creatures with strange, half-fish, half-human faces swam even faster, and some even linked head to tail, forming a long strip.

"Is this... a sea serpent?" Bai Lin guessed.

The Greendylows stopped, nodded to Bai Lin, made some strange gurgling noises, and then ran off in a flash.

Bai Lin understood. How could Old Barty not dig a hole for him? But he wasn't afraid at all and continued swimming forward.

This body of water was unfamiliar to Bai Lin, as it was somewhat far from the mermaid's settlement. Perhaps it used to be the territory of the Tyrannosaurus Octopus, but since Bai Lin sealed the Tyrannosaurus Octopus, it had probably become a no-man's land. The water was over forty meters deep; if it weren't for the wonderful use of the Water Source Shield, spells like the Bubble Head Spell wouldn't be able to dive that deep at all.

After searching underwater for nearly twenty minutes, Bai Linqu found nothing. Apart from Greendylo, whom he had encountered when he first went into the water, he did not see any other magical creatures, nor did he find his target.

As he swam, Bai Lin analyzed the situation and determined his location. If the Ministry of Magic had persuaded someone to become a hostage, they wouldn't have placed the hostage very close to the shore. Usually, it would be in the deepest part of the middle to rear section of this body of water. Bai Lin was already in this area. Although the underwater visibility in the Black Lake was very low, Bai Lin had excellent eyesight and could confirm that he hadn't missed any possible clues along the way.

Just as Bai Lin was getting anxious, he suddenly saw a large rock at the bottom of the lake. The rock was very large and protruded from the long water plants, making it very conspicuous.

Bai Lin twisted his body and swam over. Upon closer inspection, he saw a dark, bottomless hole under the rock. The hole's opening was more than two meters in diameter, allowing both humans and animals to easily enter and exit.

"Could this be the lair of the Tyrannosaurus Rex?" Bai Lin wondered to himself.

Although it looked very unsafe, Bai Lin was highly skilled and daring, and guessed that it was most likely in this big hole, so he went in headfirst.

"Flashing light!" Bai Lin stretched out one hand and a ball of firelight appeared in his palm, instantly illuminating the dark hole in front of him.

But this illumination had a disastrous effect; a gigantic snake's mouth was less than five meters away. Its gleaming white teeth reflected the light, a sight that sent chills down one's spine.

"WTF! They're waiting for me here!" Bai Lin was startled. Underwater is not like land, and it's unrealistic for him to turn around and dodge immediately. He could only bite the bullet and face them head-on.

"Summon the Fist of Orgrimmar!" Bai Lin shouted.

An arm as thick as an oil drum burst out from Bai Lin's shoulder, and without caring who was stronger or weaker, it shoved a fist directly into the mouth of the giant sea serpent, the fist striking the mouthful of sharp teeth.

The sea serpent was clearly startled, as if it had bitten into a steel plate. However, it reacted extremely quickly, immediately retracting its tongue, dodging Aug's fist, and biting at Bai Lin's waist. Its movements were as swift as a cat or leopard.

Bai Lin drew his sword with a "whoosh" and, facing the snake's head, thrust the sword at the sea serpent's discolored, bloodshot eyes. Underwater, he was not agile enough and could only use offense as defense, attacking the snake's defenses.

This sea serpent's head was four feet wide and at least a hundred feet long, similar in size to the basilisk Harry encountered in the Chamber of Secrets. However, it didn't have the basilisk's eyes that could petrify anyone at first glance. But the sea serpent was by no means weaker than the basilisk, because it had other special abilities.

The sea serpent dodged Bai Lin's longsword aimed at its eyes, then circled around to Bai Lin's other side. Suddenly, it opened its blood-red maw, and two streams of dark green venom sprayed directly from the venom glands in its mouth, pouring onto Bai Lin's head.