struggle

The next day, Hermione tried to drag the other three to the library early in the morning to find out a way to safely pass the dragon.Looking at the thick dark circles and bags under her eyes, Ginny amused to find that she seemed to have a more nervous expression than Harry, worrying about next week's game.

Ron yawned and was reluctantly dragged away by Hermione: "Hermione, don't go to the library in the morning, Harry doesn't play until next Tuesday."

"Yeah, the match is 'right' next Tuesday!" Hermione turned her head and gave him a stern look, "Ron, you need to keep your spirits up. We must help Harry find a way these days, otherwise it will be too dangerous."

Ginny smiled secretly and shook her head, but she planned to find a chance to express her thoughts after arriving at the library, lest she come up with a solution too quickly and arouse the strangeness and suspicion of the other three.

When he arrived at the entrance of the library, he unexpectedly saw Krum coming out of it, and behind him, a group of girls surrounded him in the distance, pointing and whispering at him while giggling.After seeing Hermione, his eyes suddenly lit up, he took a step forward, and greeted with a stiff tongue: "Hermione, hello!"

"Oh, Krum, hello!" Hermione greeted absent-mindedly, but Ron seemed to wake up suddenly, swept away his listless look, and took a step forward to block Krum's view Looking at Hermione: "Hi, Krum, hello! I'm Ron Weasley, Hermione's 'good friend', nice to meet you!" He deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of "good friend" , the look in his eyes is not the excited look of seeing an idol when he saw Krum in the past, but a somewhat hostile and defensive look.

"Hello, Weasley!" Krum greeted casually, and wanted to get close to Hermione to say something, but Ron suddenly pulled Hermione back: "Hermione, didn't you just say that time is short?" Then let’s go in and check the information.” He said hello to Krum hastily, “Sorry, we’re in a hurry, let’s talk next time, goodbye!” Then, without waiting for Hermione’s objection, Just dragged her into the library.

Harry stared at them blankly, then glanced back at Krum, and Krum obviously didn't expect this situation, and stayed where he was for a while.Harry smiled at him apologetically, then dragged Ginny into the library as well.Ginny only had time to say to the poor famous Quidditch star: "Goodbye!" She didn't expect that Krum, who she casually said to Ron a while ago, seemed to have a crush on Hermione, and if If you like someone, you have to start early, which has played such a big role, and even seems to have promoted the early development of Ron and Hermione.

And after sitting down in the library, Ron kept asking Hermione: "How do you know him? And he looks so familiar that he calls you Hermione." After realizing it, Harry finally understood and covered his mouth with a sneer.

Hermione replied impatiently while flipping through the books related to dragons: "I met him a few times in the library, and he said he just wanted to know more about Hogwarts. Ron, please concentrate on me, not now When discussing my friendship problem."

"He obviously has bad intentions, maybe he wants to know a little about Harry's situation from you." Ron still looked resentful, trying to find a reasonable reason for his selfishness, "So Hermione, you should Get away from him."

"I know, I know, Ron, I have the brains to judge." Hermione seemed to be unable to bear it, but there was a hint of joy in her eyes.

This seemed to be a good topic to use, and Ginny leaned closer and pretended to be curious: "What method do you think Krum might use to get past the dragon?"

"It's impossible to guess." Hermione took another thick book and quickly flipped through the pages, "Durmstrang has always been famous for black magic, maybe there will be some special method. "

Ginny seemed to say casually: "It's also possible. However, in fact, I think that at Krum's level as a famous Quidditch Seeker, he just needs to fly on a broomstick and he can pass the dragon smoothly." .”

Hearing Ginny's words, Hermione suddenly stopped turning the pages of the book, looked up at Harry who was also thinking of something, and then looked at Ginny: "Ginny, what did you just say? "

"I said that if Krum used the broomstick, he would be able to cross the dragon smoothly." Ginny knew with satisfaction that they had understood her hint, but she still had a bewildered look on her face.

"If Krum can do it, so can Harry, can't he?" Hermione snapped the book closed in her hand, "Stop looking up the information, Harry, let's just go back and check your Firebolt carefully to make sure It’s business as usual.”

Ron finally understood what they meant, and clapped his hands excitedly: "Yes, flying is also Harry's specialty. At that time, just use the 'Flying Charm' to recruit the broomstick." After Lupine and Moody Even Ron has been able to use the simplest basic spells such as "Flying Curse", so this time, everyone thought of the most practical spell at the same time.

"Wait, what if the dragon breathes fire?" Hermione thought of another question, "That way, even in the air, you can't avoid it, and you might get burned."

Ginny said softly: "I remember Charlie said last night that dragons are highly resistant to magic spells, but not so strong against potions. If Harry can fly into the air, before the dragon reacts, he should first point the shrinking potion at him." If it is sprinkled, will he be able to return to the appearance of a dragon's egg? In this case, the dragon will not pose a threat to him."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Ginny, you're so smart, thank you!" Harry hugged her forgetfully, and after he realized it, he blushed instantly and apologized loudly.

Ron coughed a few times in embarrassment, while Hermione sorted out all the books on the table pretending to be nonchalant: "The shrinking potion is indeed a good way. I'll take a look after I go back and see if I can strengthen the shrinking potion." The effect of the potion. After all, it is to deal with dragons, and the potion may need to be improved."

"Then I'll go back with you and help you try." Ginny said with a smile.

Harry hesitated for a moment: "I think, I should tell Cedric the first event. After all, all the warriors know now, and he is the only one who is kept in the dark. That's not fair."

"Harry, you..." Ron seemed to object, but Hermione stopped him.She nodded encouragingly towards Harry: "I support your approach, Harry, we will win in a fair and square way." Derek, it will definitely affect his emotions instead, it is better to let him do what he wants to do, so that he can participate in the competition with a clear conscience.

Ron muttered something in a low voice, but in the end he didn't object, but followed Harry to find Cedric.Meanwhile, Hermione and Ginny went to the Room of Requirement and began to brew the shrinking potion, and tried to add some auxiliary potion ingredients according to the properties of the medicine to improve its effect.

When all the ingredients were poured into the cauldron, and the potion began to glow the correct green color, Ginny and Hermione finally sat down in peace, waiting for its final purification stage.Just now, she had been nervously brewing the potion and didn't feel it yet. Now that she relaxed, Ginny immediately smelled the pungent smell that filled the surroundings. Obviously, although the Room of Requirement can be changed into various forms, it is a closed room after all. , the smell still hasn't come out.Ginny murmured in a low voice, "Cool breeze!", and finally drove away some of the smell.

"All potions seem to have this common problem. They have weird colors and bad smells. No wonder my brothers don't like to drink potions unless they have to." Ginny complained casually, thinking about the potions in the Muggle world at the same time. , those pills are the real convenience stuff.

"Yeah!" Hermione replied casually while doing the final stirring, "Among the potions, probably only Veritaserum is colorless and odorless, after all it is often used to ask the truth, and was discovered by the questioner It wouldn’t be possible.”

"Teritaserum? Colorless and odorless?" Ginny jumped up suddenly. How could she keep forgetting about this potion? Using this potion seemed to immediately solve some problems that had troubled her for a long time.

"Yeah, Ginny, what's the matter with you?" Hermione gave her a suspicious look, puzzled by her sudden agitation.

"It's nothing, I just think you are amazing, Hermione, and you understand all the properties of potions very clearly." Ginny smiled, and found an excuse to prevaricate.Hermione didn't doubt anything anymore, but continued to turn around and stir the shrinking potion, while Ginny evoked a satisfied smile behind Hermione's invisible back.During training every night, Tom had the habit of preparing black tea, and the colorless and odorless Veritaserum would be the best and most suitable potion.Maybe this time, she can figure out who in Hogwarts is the person sent by the main soul.

In the next few days, Harry suddenly relaxed, and just went to fly for a certain period of time every day.And Ginny quietly boiled the Veritaserum in the Room of Requirement, referring to the relevant books provided in the room.At the same time, during the nightly training, she also gradually stopped confronting Tom, and even stopped trying to find out relevant news, in an attempt to slowly break down his defenses.

When the day of the game finally arrived, the sky was unexpectedly clear, with a cloudless blue sky, making today's game destined to have a good view.With everyone's blessings, Harry confidently walked towards the dragon circle, while Ginny, Hermione, and Ron arrived at the auditorium early, found a position with a good viewing angle, and waited Cheers for Harry.Soon after, the students arrived one after another, while the referees and guests were the last to arrive.Ginny saw that Sirius was waving his fists excitedly at the guest table, while Lupine was smiling and patting him on the shoulder, as if to calm him down.

Ginny shook her head with a bit of a smile, looked at the dog godfather jumping up and down, his face glowing with excitement, and then his eyes wandered, and he inadvertently met Tom on the referee's bench.When he noticed that Ginny had noticed him, Tom suddenly smiled at her strangely, his face full of amusement.Such an expression made Ginny look a little uneasy at the tent of the warriors not far away, but she could only see faintly moving figures that appeared through the surface of the tent, but could not clearly see the specific movement inside. .

Could it be that Tom knew something?Or today's first item, what actions will the people sent by Voldemort do?Ginny couldn't help wondering what Tom's smile might mean.But at this moment, loud applause broke out in the crowd, accompanied by Bagman's loud voice: "Gentlemen and ladies, the first event of our Triwizard Tournament is about to begin. Our warriors will start from Next to the dragon, pick up the golden egg, and judges will score the warriors according to their respective performances. First of all, please welcome our first warrior, Cedric Diggory from Hogwarts!"

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The author has something to say:

I searched for Veritaserum on the Internet, it seems that there is indeed something, it is colorless and odorless, ah, good stuff, I want a bottle too...

Chapter 61. Successfully passed the first competition...just something unexpected happened again

After the first three warriors had completed their tasks one after another, Harry finally made his appearance.Amid the huge applause, he raised his wand: "Firebolt is coming!" After a moment of waiting, the Firebolt roared through the auditorium and the referee's seat, and flew steadily into Harry's open hand.Under the surprised eyes of everyone, he took down the crystal bottle hanging on the end of the Firebolt, stepped on the broomstick, and quickly rose into the sky.

The Hungarian Horntail on the ground spewed flames angrily after seeing Harry hovering above its head, and Harry quickly pulled up the broomstick to avoid the dangerous flame.On the referee's bench, Bagman said incredulously: "My God, he can fly. Our youngest warrior flies so well and quickly."

After dodging another burst of flames, Harry spotted the Hungarian Horntail before it could brew a second burst of fire, and swooped down. At the same time, he unplugged the crystal bottle and poured all the liquid in into the mouth of the dragon who roared furiously towards the sky.Before everyone realized what he was doing, the dragon howled, and after a puff of white smoke, it turned into a gray dragon egg, mixed with all the other dragon eggs.But Harry calmly landed the broomstick on the ground, walked over to pick up the golden one in the nest, and lifted it violently towards the audience.

After a moment of silence, everyone burst into enthusiastic cheers. Hermione laughed and danced while hugging Ginny, while Ron stood up and waved his hands continuously: "Merlin, he succeeded, Harry succeeded." Already!"

Amid waves of cheers, Sirius' voice overwhelmed everyone's cheers, and rang out on the playing field: "Harry, great job!" Obviously he couldn't bear the loneliness, so he simply used "The voice is loud", I want to express my congratulations to him at the first time.

After the audience calmed down a little bit, Bagman's voice sounded again: "Nice job! The combination of flying and potion is incredible. Our smallest warrior got the golden egg the fastest, which is worthy of congratulations." The moment! Next, we invite all our referees to score."

On the referee's seat, Madam Maxim hesitated for a moment, and raised her magic wand towards the air. A long, silver ribbon-like thing shot out from the magic wand, twisting into a big "9" in the air .When Ron saw it, he curled his lips secretly: "She's really eccentric. She didn't give Harry such a perfect way, but she didn't give it full marks."

Afterwards, Crouch, Dumbledore, Bagman, and Tom scored one after another, all giving a perfect score of 10, and the applause from the audience became higher and higher every time.In the end, Karkaroff hesitated for a while, glanced at Tom secretly, finally gritted his teeth, and gave a perfect score of 10.Bagman said excitedly: "The total score is 59 points, the highest score so far, this is simply great!"

After scoring, Harry was about to exit, while the dragon trainer who was waiting on the side was about to step forward to restore the dragon egg to its original shape.Ginny glanced at Tom with some doubts. Judging from his attitude just now, the person sent by Voldemort should make some moves. Why hasn't anything happened yet?This doesn't seem normal.However, she didn't seem surprised to find that Tom still had a calm expression on his face. This strange situation made her frown involuntarily.

While he was wondering, there was a sudden change in the arena.When the dragon trainer was about to get close to the dragon eggs, the real dragon eggs suddenly and slowly cracked open, and there was a weird "click click" sound from inside.Then, there was a harsh scratching sound inside the egg, and then the shell cracked open, and the wrinkled dragon fell to the field with a "plop", its weak wings looking huge compared to its thin body.They all sneezed, and two pillars of sparks flew out of their nostrils. Then, they lined up in a row and swayed towards the outside of the field.

Suddenly there was a huge noise in the arena, asking and discussing with each other about this strange phenomenon, and Harry also stayed where he was for a while, holding the golden egg and watching the row of little dragons slowly move. walking.After the dragon trainer reacted, he quickly stepped forward, stopped the group of young dragons, and took them back together with the dragon eggs that had been transformed into the adult Hungarian Horntail.Bagman cleared his throat uncomfortably, and coughed a few times: "It seems that there was an accident. The dragon egg broke its shell early, but fortunately it didn't affect the game. Today's game is over, please look forward to it." A better game."

Without an explanation, everyone could only attribute it to an accident. After Bagman announced the end of the game, he began to exit one after another.And Ginny immediately looked at Tom who was not far away, only to see him smiling meaningfully at her, obviously everything was in his expectation.Ginny withdrew her gaze, bit her lower lip and thought quickly. From this point of view, this was by no means an accident, but more likely a deliberate arrangement by the person sent by Voldemort.Obviously, as long as the little dragon breaks its shell in advance, the female dragon will definitely chase after it, leaving only a golden egg in place.That way, Harry would have had no problem getting the golden egg and passing the first game with ease.This is also just as Tom hinted, that person will not do anything in the first game, but will help Harry so that he can enter the finals smoothly.

However, what that person didn't expect was that Harry would quickly pass the competition by using the method of flying and adding potions.Therefore, his timing was not accurate. When the dragon egg broke its shell, it was already time for Harry to end the game, making a deliberate arrangement into a scene that looked like an accident.However, in this way, it is even more difficult to guess who this person is.

That night, in the common room of Gryffindor, a celebration party was held for Harry again. The house was full of cakes, pumpkin juice and butter beer, and Lee Jordan lit the Ferrero fireworks. The atmosphere reached its peak.While holding a glass of butterbeer, Ginny watched the crowd's celebration absently. At the same time, she was still thinking about the situation during the day, trying to find some clues and deduce something.

First of all, she thought she had to figure out how these dragon eggs broke early, so that she could deduce who might have the opportunity to do so.Thinking of this, she approached Hermione, pretending to be nonchalant and asked: "Hermione, the shrinking potion used this time is corresponding to the effect of a magnifying potion, right?"

"Yeah." Hermione replied casually, her eyes still on Ron and Harry in the field, "God, I should stop it and let George and Fred drink them like this, even if it's just butterbeer, they will be drunk Yes." Saying that, she put down the cup in her hand and wanted to go forward.

"Hermione, wait a minute." Ginny pulled her back urgently, "Ask again, does the magnifying agent work immediately like the shrinking agent? Is there any way to delay the effect, such as setting Set a time or something?"

"It shouldn't be possible. After all, potion is just medicine, and it can only have a relatively fixed effect. Unlike magic, it can change and imitate various situations. Only by using time magic or related magic equipment can this effect be achieved." Hermione explained patiently, and then smiled apologetically at Ginny, "If there are any homework problems, can we discuss them after we get back to the dormitory tonight? I have to stop them first, lest they go crazy and drink If you're drunk, you should have a headache in class tomorrow."

Ginny nodded, and let go of Hermione's hand, and Hermione immediately ran forward, snatched the wine bottle from Harry and Ron's hands, and then, under the coaxing of George and Fred, seemed helpless Downed a mug of Butterbeer in exchange for sparing Harry the Warrior.

Ginny sat on the sofa at one side, knocking her head in thought. According to Hermione, the magnifying agent is impossible, and time magic is very profound. At present, almost no one can master it unless it is combined with magic equipment.Now, the most commonly used and most famous time-related magic device seems to be the Time Converter.By the way, the Time Turner, Ginny jumped up suddenly. She remembered that in the original book, it was mentioned that in the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic, there was a special room for researching the Time Turner. There was a device in it, which seemed to be a clock. A shaped glass case in which a bird's egg floats up and down.When it rises to the top of the glass cover it is a bird, and when it reaches the bottom of the glass cover it is an egg, that magic device seems to be able to achieve this effect.

Just, how exactly does this device work?She only remembered that it was mentioned in the original book, but she didn't know the specific situation very well, and she couldn't be sure whether it was this thing.Moreover, is this thing only available in the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic, can it be accessed elsewhere?Only by confirming these points can the scope of suspicion be narrowed and the people in Hogwarts be investigated.Perhaps, the only possibility now is to at least get answers to these doubts from Tom.

While Ginny was thinking about the possible situation at a loss, in the middle of the common room, Harry had already been urged by everyone to open the golden egg.After a piercing scream, everyone blocked their ears, and Fred yelled: "Shut it up." When Harry hurriedly closed the golden egg with a "bang", the horror was finally dispelled. the sound of.Everyone was stunned speechless by the terrifying sound for a moment, and the sound finally awakened Ginny who was in deep thought.Thinking of the Veritaserum that was brewing in the Room of Requirement, Ginny finally made up her mind to use it tonight and try to get something out of Tom.

In the end, everyone quarreled for a while before they dispersed and returned to their dormitories.And Ginny took out Hermione's time-turner again and sneaked out of the Gryffindor tower.She first went to the Room of Requirement and took out the brewed Veritaserum, then found Tom as if nothing had happened, and followed him to the secret room.

The light in the secret room was dim as usual, and the statue of Slytherin was still standing tall, casting a large shadow on the ground.Tom let go of Hai Erbo and let it move on its own. He just paid attention to the ability to restrain his eyes and not kill anyone. Then he smiled and taught Ginny the forbidden magic in a corner of the secret room as usual, and patiently corrected him from time to time. Watching her wrong way of casting spells.And Ginny was studying hard as usual, asking earnestly when she didn't understand something, and she didn't show any abnormality at all.

When the study was over, Tom brought two cups of black tea casually, put them on the table, and gestured "please first" to Ginny in a gentlemanly manner.Ginny got up, deliberately stood in front of the table, blocking Tom's sight, took out the veritaserum in her arms, poured it into one of the cups, then picked up her own cup, and poured the veritaserum into the cup. The other glass was passed to Tom.

Tom didn't notice anything strange at all. After taking the cup, he glanced at her with a smile: "Little Ginny is in a good mood today. Could it be because your savior won the first game, so you feel honored too?" Said Then, without waiting for Ginny's answer, he picked up the cup and took a sip, then put the cup on the table beside him.

Ginny watched Tom's actions nervously. After making sure he had taken a sip of tea, she observed Tom's expression carefully.When she found that Tom's expression was very relaxed and even slightly dazed, she carefully stretched out her hand and waved it in front of Tom's eyes: "Tom, can you hear me?"

"Yes." Tom murmured, his cheeks very slack, his eyes lifeless.

"Very good, then can you tell me, do you know what happened to the dragon eggs today?" Ginny asked cautiously.

"It was done by someone sent by the main soul. They wanted to help Harry Potter pass the first event smoothly and let him enter the finals." Tom's eyelids trembled a few times, and he finally replied.

Apparently, the veritaserum really worked.Ginny quietly breathed a sigh of relief, and continued to ask: "Then what method did he use? Did he use a magic device related to time?"

"Yes, it's a magic device about time, which can control the growth process of living things." Tom's eyes remained blank, and he seemed to answer subconsciously.

When it came to the crucial question, Ginny took a deep breath: "Then who is that person?"

"Yes..." Seemingly knowing that this was the biggest secret, even the effect of Veritaserum could not be fully exerted, Tom hesitated, and gradually lowered his voice.

"Who is it?" Ginny leaned closer, trying to hear his whisper.

"Yes..." Tom's voice became lower and lower, and the vague voice made Ginny anxiously get closer and closer, almost touching his lips, and after hearing his words clearly, her eyes suddenly opened wide.

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The author has something to say:

Guess what is the truth?