0196 Race (Part-2)

0196 Race (Part-2)

Harry soon discovered a trick after mastering the boat.

The speed of the oak boat depended on the amount of magic that was infused into it. Under normal passive magic absorption, the boat only moved as fast as a young wizard jogging. But if he relaxed his mind and actively cooperated with the infusing of magic power, the boat could be as agile as an old-fashioned flying broomstick. Of course, the price of doing so was huge. In just half a minute, Harry felt as exhausted as if he had played a fierce Quidditch match.

He smashed a dull yellow cloud of smoke, but everything in front of him was still desolate. With misty clouds everywhere, they couldn't figure out which direction to go, nor where their classmates were. The swamp was vast and gloomy, with no signs of life or landmarks. The only sounds were the splashes of the boat and the occasional croaks of frogs?

"Why didn't he point out a direction, since it's a race?"

Harry spat out the slightly fishy mist that he accidentally inhaled into his nose, and muttered a little dissatisfied. He felt like they were wasting time and energy in this pointless exercise.

"Maybe it's to increase the difficulty, Harry–" Hermione analyzed rationally,

"Don't you understand Professor Watson's style, Harry? To create such a large swamp in the staff Lounge, I can't imagine how many complex spells he had to cast. If it's just to let us understand the Hinkypunk, I don't see the need for this."

She sounded both impressed and annoyed by the professor's creativity and challenge.

Harry moved his lips, and had to admit that Hermione's opinions were very accurate and reasonable most of the time.

He withdrew his slightly stiff palm, and the oak boat slid forward by inertia for a distance. Harry looked at a strangely shaped charred tree, and his brows frowned suddenly. The tree was blackened and twisted, as if it had been struck by lightning. It stood out from the other green and brown trees in the swamp.

"Do you feel it, Hermione,"

He said in a very ethereal voice in the empty and silent environment,

"That dead tree, we seemed to have passed by it a minute ago. Hermione, are we going around in circles?"

Harry's guess made Hermione frown too. She quickly took out her wand and pointed to the ground to cast a spell. She looked at the wand and gasped.

"You're right, Harry, we are lost. The wand is spinning like crazy. There must be some kind of enchantment here that confuses our sense of direction." She said with a worried tone. She hated being lost and helpless.

Because Professor Watson didn't give a direction to go, and there was no reference in the swamp, the two confused young wizards just picked a direction at random and kept going straight ahead. But they didn't realize that, because of the constantly moving clouds and poor visibility here, people were prone to go around in circles in this situation.

Harry took his palm off the wooden ball. He couldn't figure out the direction of progress, and he couldn't afford to consume magic like this. He felt his forehead sweating and his stomach rumbling. He wondered how long they had been in the swamp, and how much longer they had to endure.

It was time for the unpleasant brainstorming session. Harry squatted in the cabin to rest, and Hermione sat opposite him with her legs together, muttering incessantly. She was trying to recall everything she had read or heard about swamps, spells, and navigation.

"–Oh, I remember, in some Muggle books, it said that when you lose your way in the wild, you can tell the direction by the sun or the stars." She said with a hopeful voice.

Harry immediately looked at the sky, and then lowered his head listlessly. The sky was covered with thick gray clouds, blocking any glimpse of the sun or the stars. He doubted that they even existed in this artificial swamp.

"That's right, Hermione, but the problem is that we are in the professor's lounge now. Professor Watson obviously won't be kind enough to give us a sun or a star."

Harry said sarcastically.

"I know there won't be that, Harry,"

"Maintain the shield and speed up at the same time, I'm afraid I can't hold on for long!"

He said, feeling his magic draining rapidly. He felt his palms getting cold, and his arms getting numb. He knew that he had to conserve his magic, and find a way out of the swamp.

"But–"

Hermione protested. This vague instruction was the most deadly for her. She liked to have a clear and logical plan, and she hated to act on impulse. She looked around anxiously, controlling the boat to dart in and out of the clouds, hoping to see something that could indicate the direction.

The clouds were thick and gray, and they obscured the view. They also moved constantly, and changed shape. They made it hard to tell where they were, and where they were going. And just then, in the misty clouds, a suddenly appearing orange light ball caught her attention.

The light ball was like a lantern, swinging and flickering. It looked warm and inviting, and it seemed to beckon them to follow it.

In this moment of panic and anxiety, Hermione didn't have time to think more. Instinctively, she turned the rudder, and controlled the boat to fly directly towards the swaying light ball.

The appearance of the shark fish was like a signal. The staff lounge that was filled with suppressed silence was suddenly filled with terrified screams and painful wails from all directions!

"Don't go there, Hermione!"

Harry shouted loudly, taking a quick look at the direction of the boat's head. He saw the orange light ball, and he felt a chill in his spine. He remembered what Professor Watson had told them about the Hinkypunk, the small one-legged creature that could lure travellers with its lantern.

"Can't you see, Hermione, Professor Watson wants to use this method to make us panic, lose our calm, and be bewitched by the Hinkypunk!"

He said, trying to warn Hermione.

"Oh, maybe you're right–"

Hermione said, turning the direction urgently. She turned the rudder, and controlled the boat to fly away from the light ball. But she was too late, She felt a sudden jolt, and then a sharp pain. She screamed, and grabbed Harry's hand. She almost threw herself and Harry out of the cabin, and into the water.

"Let me do it, Hermione, you're not good at this!"

Harry said, taking advantage of the cabin's drift by inertia. He climbed to the bow in three or two steps, and Hermione moved away.

"It looks like a flying broom on the water, I can handle this. Hold on, Hermione!"

It turned out that as the youngest Quidditch seeker in a century, Harry was not just so in a name. He had an outstanding talent in maneuvering fast-moving vehicles, whether they were flying brooms or floating boats. At the same speed, Hermione couldn't get rid of those shark fish, but Harry only relied on a few agile turns and the visual obstruction of the surrounding clouds. He didn't need much effort to make those magic fish dizzy and completely left behind. He made the boat swerve and spin, and disappear into the clouds.

But now, their oak boat was very close to the orange light ball that Hermione wanted to approach in the clouds. Guessing that there might be a Hinkypunk living there, Harry felt uneasy instinctively. He quickly turned the rudder, trying to get away from that area. And just then, in another direction, a much larger oak boat, suddenly broke through the clouds and appeared in front of Harry and Hermione.

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Author's Note: Shall I change the name of the fish or is it good? I was thinking of Silverback fish if the name shark-fish is not good. And I changed the previous chapter and upcoming chapters name to Race.

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For More Chapters; /FicFrenzy