Chapter 570 First Contact With The Beings Of The Water
The report from Hogwarts' magic newspaper on the Triwizard Tournament and the interview's contents were printed and published the day after the interview.
This report caused quite a stir and reaction in the magical world.
Aside from the vampire hunt, which hadn't made much progress, the Triwizard Tournament was the hottest topic in the magical realm.
Wizards wanted to know who the champions of the three magic schools were and wished to meet them. They also wanted to learn the specific reasons for having an additional champion, as well as the tournament's content and more.
Evan and Hermione's reports were very timely, and the detailed content also quenched everyone's curiosity. Sales were booming.
This was not surprising, but it was strange that Rita Skeeter's report had not yet been released. She and the Daily Prophet did not appear to be in a hurry. Clearly, their concerns were not aligned with those reported by Evan and Hermione.
It seemed they were going to wait until the fervor over this report in Hogwarts' magic newspaper subsided before publishing their own report.
In the following two weeks, school life returned to its peaceful normalcy.
Hufflepuff and Slytherin seemed weary of the endless hostility with Gryffindor. Though not particularly friendly, they resumed normal communication with others. Only when faced with Ron did they show clear hostility and endless taunting.
Gabrielle became increasingly familiar to everyone and almost a full-fledged member of Gryffindor.
Ron finally recovered from the excitement of becoming a champion and began contemplating how to face the first task.
He had started to fear the prospect of tackling an unknown, dangerous, and extremely difficult task in front of all the school's students. With the help of Evan, Harry, and Hermione, he finally learned many spells and charms.
These were too rudimentary; Ron had skipped too many lessons before and had much to learn.
However, Evan couldn't see how learning these basic spells would help in facing dragons.
And Ron was not studying very diligently, expending a lot of energy on other things. Though he started to take this matter seriously, overall, he still did not grasp the gravity of the situation and did not anticipate that the first task would involve facing a fire-breathing dragon!
In addition to occasionally guiding Ron, Evan's magical dictionary was finally starting to progress. At least, that's what he thought. He memorized most of the words he encountered in the book.
By the second weekend, he was prepared to venture to the lake to attempt to communicate with the water beings and put his newly acquired skills to the test.
If he was fortunate enough, he might obtain information about the secret keys to the Four Founders' treasure.
Unlike the lake near the Moon Temple of the centaur colony, the lake in front of the school castle was wider and deeper.
After a swift, uncomfortable, and eerie five-minute dive, Evan reached the lakebed.
There was a jungle of black, undulating plants and tangled algae, and vast stretches of sand with shimmering pebbles.
Moving forward, he could encounter a Triton or a giant squid at any moment.
In the central position of the lake, he also spotted many remains of the water beings.
For instance, a large rock emerged from the muddy water. It featured paintings of Tritons; they wielded spears and pursued what appeared to be a giant squid or a strangely shaped stone statue.
After some exploration, Evan discovered the water beings' tribe in the deepest depression at the center of the lake. It was a cluster of rudimentary stone dwellings stained with algae.
As Evan approached, a few faces suddenly appeared in the dark windows, staring intently at him. They were all water beings, and the scene was rather eerie.
In the darkest part of the water, Evan was instantly surrounded by water beings emerging from all directions.
Unlike the blond sirens in fairy tales, they had grayish skin and long, wild, dark hair, with a malicious grin on their faces, as if they were abyssal monsters.
Their eyes were yellow, much like their jagged teeth, and they wore thick strands of pebbles around their necks.
These Tritons struck the water with their powerful silver fish tails. Upon seeing Evan, they said nothing and attacked, with spears clenched in their hands.
After a brief encounter, Evan managed to communicate with them calmly. Of course, he did not do so with the language he had just learned but with magic.
It wasn't really that difficult. The Tritons appeared fierce, but upon seeing the light emerging from Evan's wand, they immediately turned around and fled back to their stone dwellings.
Evan had never seen such timid creatures before; they gazed at his wand with their yellow eyes, looking very frightened.
Although they were numerous and Evan was alone, the expressions on their faces showed that, like the giant squid, they knew nothing of magic and remained astonished.
Evan used magic to control the Triton closest to him. He was a very strong individual. He stared at Evan and his wand in horror, his large yellow eyes trembling.
The next communication was not smooth. It was not pleasant for Evan to keep spitting bubbles from his mouth underwater.
Judging by the expression on the other individual's face, Evan doubted whether he could understand what he was saying.
It took him a few seconds to spit many bubbles towards Evan.
This time, Evan could be certain that the Triton did not understand what he was saying. He could only recognize a few words.
Just as he was about to make more attempts, the Triton under his control could not bear the tension and simply fainted.
Evan smiled ironically, not expecting such an outcome.
Surveying the surroundings, the dark stone dwellings resembled haunted houses, and no traces of the Sea Goblins could be seen anymore.
In the end, he had to give up on the unsuccessful exchange and ascend the dark and cold lake back to the castle.
Certainly, this was not going to work. This experience of failed communication indicated to Evan that he needed to prepare some gifts for these shy Sea Goblins. Perhaps in this way, they would sense his goodwill.
In the book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," he discovered that the oldest recorded Sea Goblins appeared in ancient Greece. They lived in warm waters, possessed a beautiful appearance, and powerful magical abilities.
After thousands of years of evolution, Sea Goblins existed worldwide today, varying in appearance. With different habitats, their appearance and skills also differed.
In conclusion, the Sea Goblins that had settled in the lake in front of Hogwarts Castle were a group of ugly creatures unfamiliar with magic.
They might possess great strength, but they had nothing to do with the Mermaids that frequently appeared in legends and myths.
The love for music was probably the only pastime they had inherited from their distant ancestors.
Evan decided to prepare some human classical music for the next time they came, which might work.