I, Hogwarts Second Week

The waves were stained with murky oil.

Zhang Xiaolin's small boat sailed out of the harbor in the darkening evening and slowly slid into the turbid water.

A windproof lantern hangs from the tentacles of the wrought iron statue on the bow, like a lone star in the darkness.

She sat on the stern of the boat, one hand on the side of the boat, her fingers lowered to the water, and she drew across the oil floating on the surface, leaving a series of swirling ripples that drifted along with the blood waves.

"It's so barbaric." She muttered, and the magic power of the Cleansing Charm flowed to her fingertips, but unfortunately the greasy stains were not washed away and were still clinging to her hands.

"The flesh and blood of the sea beast Leviathan contains powerful magic. Ordinary magic cannot remove it." Mr. Pierre, who was sitting at the bow of the ship, said gently. Then a handkerchief was handed out from his arms.

Zhang Xiaolin took the handkerchief, wiped her fingers, and put the handkerchief into her pocket.

"Wealth stirs people's hearts," continued M. Pierre. "Besides, there are ripper fish and skinned eels hidden in the water. This is when they feast."

Are you afraid that my finger will be bitten off? "Zhang Xiaolin raised her head and said.

"You can't hold the wand without your fingers."

"You worry too much, Basil."

"My job is to worry about things for you where you are too lazy to worry."

"Like that time in the Congo?"

"That time - it happened for a reason!" Mr. Pierre said excitedly, "I didn't expect that the other party's witchcraft would break through my magic."

"Just tell me generously who saved you." Zhang Xiaolin looked at Mr. Basil jokingly, "Someone really has no conscience."

"." Mr. Pierre blushed and wanted to explain, but when he opened his mouth, he didn't know where to find the reason, and he could only fall silent immediately.

Yes - he was not good at learning at the beginning, but - now is different from the past.

Now he was confident that - never - never would he be held back.

"You have nothing to say!" Zhang Xiaolin said proudly, as the boat beneath her moved automatically.

She couldn't really play for a few days.

The day after returning from Lisbon, she and Basil began to explore the surrounding waters.

According to tips from town residents, many strange things happen only at night.

This is why they stay up late at night rowing.

Would anyone think they were dating?

As he spoke briskly, sea fog suddenly rose in the sea ahead.

It is different from the gray-white fog in other places.

The mist in front of me actually showed a strange lavender color.

"Here we come!" Zhang Xiaolin immediately clenched the folding fan in her hand.

Mr. Basil Pierre also quickly took out his wand from his arms and stood ready.

The purple mist quickly covered them.

There is a faint corrupting smell in the air. If you smell it carefully, it feels like a rotten flower. It has both fragrance and odor, and the smell is very complex.

Zhang Xiaolin looked dazed for a while, then quickly regained her composure.

She tried Apparition and found that there was no anti-Apparition magic set around her, which meant that she could leave at any time if she wanted to. Soon, she felt a little nervous and relaxed again.

Mr. Basil Pierre also discovered the anomaly, but when he knew that he could leave at any time, he spoke gently, "Don't be afraid - it may be the mist formed by the dissipation of the magic power after the death of the sea beast Leviathan. There are also similar situations in some places - such as around some ancient magic ruins, where the surrounding magic is shrouded in smoke all year round due to the gathering and dispersing magic power."

"Who is afraid?" Zhang Xiaolin said stubbornly, "In the Ming Dynasty, places like this can be found everywhere. Chang'an Imperial College is built in the virtual realm, and the protection from this mist is much higher."

Mr. Basil Pierre smiled noncommittally, he understood this talented girl.

Known as the best graduate of Chang'an Imperial College in the past century. Although she was taught by her master to be humble and cautious, the pride in her bones is still dazzling. This is what makes her cute, proud, smart, and a little evil. As long as they spend some time with her, both men and women will be 'captured' by her nature and fall in love with her.

Zhang Xiaolin cast her gaze behind him, and through the heavy fog, she saw the shadow of a huge ship gradually emerging.

"That is?"

It was a very old sailing ship, a cargo ship from the medieval navigation period that should be placed in a museum.

Old and arrogant. On the wide deck, the faint flames of dozens of hanging lamps outlined tall masts.

The outer layers of the two reinforced mainmasts are coated with waterproof caulking material, and the carved scales form the shape of a giant python coiled around them.

At the seams of the wood, the hardened salt caps glowed silver in the moonlight. Although the sails were stowed, Zhang Xiaolin knew that those sails made of silver canvas must be expensive to make.

The Federation has invested heavily in this ship. The battering ram-like bow statue is a python with exposed fangs. It is cast from the goblin's favorite work, the magic cannon.

"I don't even remember how big it was!"

"The Camelot," said Basil Pierre, "the Federation sent it."

This is a research ship, a sailing ship used by the Federation to explore legendary ruins such as the Arctic and Antarctic, the sunken Atlantis, and the South American underwater continent.

It is very precious, and there is only one of them. Under normal circumstances, they are not willing to use it at all.

Because this ship is said to have been built under the supervision of Merlin when he was still alive. The ship is engraved with countless ancient runes, many of which have been lost. In other words, if the ship is even slightly damaged, modern wizards will not be able to do anything about it. Repaired.

Who would sail around in an antique when they have nothing to do?

The two were lost in thought when suddenly a figure appeared on the deck.

He had a cold face and lowered his eyes, looking at the two people below.

Basil Pierre and Zhang Xiaolin quietly apparated directly, and the next moment, they appeared on the deck of the Camelot.

"You don't pay attention to the Federation manual at all." The man said coldly, "Maybe I should remind you how many people died in the previous two wars caused by the obelisk? I need to read out their names one by one. Name?"

"I'm not sure whether you can win or not. If you can survive, of course we will be fine." Zhang Xiaolin looked at everything on the deck, not taking Sirius's warning to heart at all.

"Strength?" Sirius continued with a cold face, "Do you think you can defeat a Titan several hundred feet tall, or do you think you can defeat Voldemort?"

"If you are not cautious enough, then think about the expression on your face when I receive your death notice!"

"Okay, Black." Basil quickly stepped forward to interrupt the fight. They really shouldn't explore the sea at night.

After all, the wizard in front of them is a wizard who has experienced two obelisk disasters. He is their predecessor. To respect him is to respect the wizards of the Federation who have devoted their lives to sum up their experience.

"We're sorry," he said. "This is also for work. We got intelligence that some anomalies only appear at night."

"Calm down, there's no surprise." At this time, a young man with a round body and a prosthetic left arm walked forward with a smile, "Long time no see, Zhang - Basil."

"Winston!" Basil stepped forward and gave him a hug, "How are you doing at the French Ministry of Magic? Why don't you come back and stay with me in the Federation?"

"Why do you encourage people to join the Federation when you meet them?" Zhang Xiaolin also came to Winston, and the two shook hands, "I really wonder if you are a recruiter sent by Dumbledore."

"Haha - I lived a good life in France." Winston Norton smiled honestly, "The mentor is back, and Mr. Grindelwald is back too. There is no better time than this. But it's just with Garona , Kent, and Victor don’t meet often, which is a bit regretful.”

"You are shining in your respective positions. The sky is filled with stars." Zhang Xiaolin praised.

"For the greater good," said Winston, smiling.

Then the three of them got together and talked and laughed.

He didn't take the dangerous sea under his feet seriously at all.

Sirius remained silent, watching coldly and not caring about these three people.

The Federation is probably really short of people.

It’s not that there is no one, but there is a lack of experienced and stable people.

It's undeniable - he has seen the information of the children in front of him. The oldest is only twenty-two years old, and the youngest has just turned twenty this year.

They are indeed excellent, very outstanding. Judging from the information retained by the Federation, the witch from the Ming Dynasty even saw the future shadows of Owen and Hermione in her resume.

The same genius wizard masters the magic spell that other wizards only dream of and even spend their entire lives to spy on.

But - they don't understand the horror in the obelisk at all, and they have never faced the gods. No matter how others describe it, the ability to confuse people's hearts is far beyond most people's imagination.

God's use of magic is completely different from that of wizards. Wizards' spells cannot be compared with the vast, deep, and mysterious works of gods.

Only his works are deeper than the deepest ocean trench.

Sirius pondered, the surrounding waves pounded against the hull of the ship, and the surrounding purple mist did not dissipate.

Even with his eyes widened, he couldn't see through the fog, even through the looking glass.

He could only see a vast ocean, and the water was as dark as ink.

Suddenly, he heard a louder and louder sound, not the collision of the hull.

It was duller, like the sound of ten thousand buffalo feet stamping on the earth.

At the same time, the surrounding seawater became more and more turbulent, converging into a rolling ocean current.

"Reef the sails," cried Sirius, "open the sky."

Others - about a dozen wizards control the giant wheel together.

The towering mast is shrinking rapidly like a deflated balloon.

Then, from the bow and stern of the ship, there were countless pieces of wood that seemed to be laying tracks, forming a dome for the sailboat in an arc.

After a while, the boat turned into an oval cocoon.

But people inside can still see outside.

Looking from the inside out, the dome seems to be transparent, but with faint tree-like stripes.

"It's amazing. What kind of magic is this?" Basil Pierre exclaimed in surprise, while the other two were curiously looking at the sudden structure of the ship's hull, trying to figure out the principle.

Sirius had no time to pay attention to them.

He looked up and stared into the distance.

The surrounding lavender mist has dissipated.

The current under the ship gained unusual speed, growing every minute.

In less than five minutes, wherever I looked, the water in all sea areas became turbid and turbulent.

The roughest water is two or three nautical miles away from them.

Through the distant viewing function of the sky, everyone has noticed it.

The water there split into thousands of colliding currents, undulating and boiling.

A few minutes later the scene took another drastic change.

There are now large strips of foam appearing on the sea surface. Mixed with oil stains and unknown fish carcasses, the foam belt gradually spread into the distance, and finally connected into a line.

Eventually it begins to exhibit a swirling, rotating motion.

In the blink of an eye, a large whirlpool has clearly formed.

More than half a mile in diameter.

The inner wall of the funnel is a smooth and shiny wall of water.

The angle between the wall and the water is approximately 45 degrees.

It rotated rapidly at a dizzying speed and emitted a terrible sound into the air, which was half like a wail and half like a roar. Even the majestic waterfall had never made such a wail to the sky.

The ship's hull trembled, and various strange ancient runes appeared on the wooden boards. Those shining words were exuding vigorous magic power, and together they maintained stable magic.

On the deck, the wizard only felt a strong shaking, and then everything calmed down. Some are just slight tremors.

"Maelstrom?" Basil Pierre stared dumbly at the whirlpool that existed in the mouths of the townspeople and sailors, and was similar to the legend.

He had explored the surroundings during the day a few days ago.

There couldn't be a whirlpool around. If there were fishing boats, how could those wizards not know where they were?

Only a few wizards regard it as a legend.

Basil Pierre asked several experienced old wizards who had fished here for decades, and learned from them that the legendary whirlpool seemed to exist in the Tasman Sea between the Tasmanian Channel and New Zealand. .

But the closest distance between the two sides is more than 1,500 kilometers.

It is simply wishful thinking for me to search such a large area of ​​sea in just a few days.

What's more - at this time, it was only an hour before he and Zhang Xiaolin sailed away from Tasmania.

No matter how fast the magic boat is, it will not travel more than twenty kilometers during this period.

It was just a simple magic-driven ordinary boat. There is no speed blessing, and they have no destination, they are just rowing on a date bar.

Twenty kilometers!

There are so many fishing boats coming and going every day, how could we not find it?

There are also fishing boats at night!

"Something weird!"

Everyone is aware of it.

But the ocean currents encircled by the huge whirlpool could no longer allow the sailboat to sail out.

"Don't panic!" a wizard yelled, "The Camelot is a creation left by the Archmage Merlin. It can sail normally in seawater tens of thousands of feet below, where the pressure and destructive power are far greater than this vortex. So we can't be in any danger."

I have to say, his voice is very effective.

After knowing that the sailboat under their feet was so solid, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

And it seemed to verify his words.

At this time, the giant ship had already sailed into the vortex, and the surrounding seawater was slashing at the hull like a long knife, but the giant wheel remained stable without any sign of shaking.

Now - no one doubts the gold content of Merlin's works.

Sirius calmed down and made a foolproof plan. There were several portkeys on the sailboat. They were all new products carefully modified by Victor. They were much more stable and powerful than ordinary portkeys that cast spells at will.

Dumbledore even installed a replica of an artifact on the ship. It's the one in the Room of Requirement.

If anything unexpected happened, he would take everyone and the ship directly back to England.

At this time - everyone's mood gradually stabilized and they looked around with a mixture of awe, fear and praise.

The giant wheel is like a gecko and looks like it is hanging on the inner surface of a large and deep funnel. And if it weren't for the smooth inner wall rotating at an astonishing speed, and if it weren't for the glittering light it was shining on, the surface of the water might have been mistaken for smooth ebony.

High in the sky, the bright moon tilts the silver light into this huge vortex, and the light shines along the dark vortex wall to the unfathomable bottom of the vortex.

But everyone still couldn't see anything clearly.

Ahead, there seemed to be a layer of pitch black ink wrapping the dome.

There is a magnificent rainbow in the ink, like the legendary Asgard's Rainbow Bridge. Gonna bring them some of the Kingdom of God.

The giant wheel rotates with the vortex wall round and round, followed by a dizzying halo of light.

Looking around, everyone found that they were not the only boat in the whirlpool, but there were many more, with different shapes, including ferries, sailboats, steel fortresses, and even rafts.

Time seems to have gone wrong here.

There were actually humans on the raft. They were wearing animal skins and clothing, and they looked like they were thousands of years removed from their civilization.

"I think the situation is a little bad!" Winston Noam said solemnly, "We seem to have sailed into the long stream of time."

"I know." Sirius frowned and immediately ordered, "Get ready to go home. Confirm the coordinates and we will come back later."

After saying that, the wizard in the cabin immediately waved his wand and input instructions into the crystal console in front of him.

Immediately afterwards, a golden magical item floating in the air like a prayer wheel appeared in front of them.

The golden lines and the inscriptions carved on it indicate that this is not a European alchemical product.

The prayer wheel floating in the air is divided into three layers, upper, middle and lower. The golden walls are carved with the sky, mountains and earth respectively.

and complex ancient Chinese character inscriptions.

"Shangri-La?"

Zhang Xiaolin just glanced at it and recognized the treasure - Kunlunxu's treasure of the town, one of the ancient artifacts recognized by the Ministry of Magic of the Ming Dynasty.