Homecoming from Hogwarts

"What on earth did you see, Harry?"

When Harry was pulled out of the raging snowstorm, Hermione finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was intact, at least his body parts were still intact.

Hermione quickly dropped the rope, staggered forward, and helped Harry, who was strangled to death, up from the ground.

Harry was obviously frightened. His face turned blue and there was bitterness in his expression.

"Our guess was not wrong, Hermione."

Harry pulled at the rope that was folded across his chest to allow himself to breathe more easily.

He didn't keep anyone in suspense and said directly,
“Those are two giants.”

Seeing Hermione's sudden change of expression, Harry hurriedly explained,
"Oh, it's not a real giant, Hermione. Professor Brain used Transfiguration to turn the stone into a giant. The giant looks a bit weird. The giant has no legs, only oval stone pillars to support the body. It looks like it can slide on the ice!"

"Didn't you wake them, Harry?"

Based on the vague outlines of the black shadows in the wind and snow and Harry's narration, Hermione roughly imagined the appearance of the two stone giants, and she asked in a tense voice.

"No--"

Harry shook his head,

"The stone giants aren't moving, but if we attack them, I bet they won't just stand there quietly!"

There is no need to think too much, their mission must be to destroy these two giants, and then, they should get something that can melt the ice outside.

That being said, this matter is extremely difficult!

Although it is unclear how powerful these two stone giants are, their huge size means they will not be easy to deal with.

What's more, the ice under their feet was slippery, making it difficult for them to walk normally, let alone move quickly in a fierce battle.

"I have to see it for myself, Harry, before I know what to do."

Hermione noticed that Harry was looking at her eagerly and said with her brows knitted, thinking hard.

Harry's close observation just now confirmed at least one thing.

That is, these two stone giants will not blindly attack anyone who approaches them, so there is no danger in observing from close range.

Pop, pop!

Hermione was just about to move closer to the center of the duel arena to observe, when two consecutive light noises made the two men's faces suddenly change!
"what sound?"

Harry immediately became alert, the two strange noises just now were right beside them, very close. He raised his wand and looked around vigilantly, but he found nothing. The coldness that came upon him again made Harry understand what was going on!

Gordon, click, click--
The teeth of both of them chattered at the same time. Hermione glanced at Harry and then turned her gaze back to herself.

"It was the red smoke that helped keep us warm. The effect of the stone has disappeared."

Hermione shrank into a ball again, her face pale as she said,

"This should be a rule. The warming effect of the red stone only lasts about ten minutes, and then it disappears. We have to replenish it."

"Oh, damn!"

Harry cursed loudly, cursing this perverted setting and the wizard who came up with it.

"Then what are we waiting for? Frozen to death in the Triwizard Tournament. This will make the entire European wizarding world laugh!"

The extreme cold made it impossible for the two men to think, and they crawled towards the stone door leading to the outside world.

The light flashed again, and they appeared in the outside world again.

Hermione couldn't wait to look at the ice block surrounded by four stone doors. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found that the huge ice block was still standing there intact.

At the same time, two of the other three stone doors flashed with light, and Viktor, Cedric and Luna also rushed out in a hurry.

Needless to say, they were also frozen and had bruises on their faces. Moreover, the clothes of these three people were a little messy, as if they had fought with someone.

Harry was about to ask what happened to Cedric and Luna, but then he thought it seemed to be someone else's secret, so he stopped talking and supported Hermione as they walked across the snow and ran towards the slope.

Furong was coming down the gentle slope. She had already replenished herself with warmth. Seeing the three teams fleeing in panic from the space behind the stone door, she asked Harry, who was closest to her, with great interest,
"What happened to you in there, Harry?" "Oh, I can't tell you yet."

The lightning of the disarming spell blew up the snow layer, and the spell light penetrated a piece of red stone. Along with the red smoke, warmth returned to his body again.

"It's not a secret, Fleur. The situation is not very clear right now."

Seeing Viktor and Cedric's teams, who had also replenished their warmth, rushing back without hesitation, Harry and Hermione knew that they had to hurry up. Harry responded to Fleur with a word, and the two of them rushed into the dueling arena again.

Harry glanced at the watch on his wrist to check how much time they had to complete this level.

"What now, Hermione?"

Facing ordinary opponents, Harry knew what to do, but when it came to such a huge stone giant, he had to use his brain.
"That giant doesn't have nostrils like a troll. I can't stick the wand into its nose."

Harry said helplessly.

Hermione didn't say anything, she bit her lip in confusion.

"We must first overcome the problem of movement, Harry—"

Hermione looked at the ice below her feet, her brows furrowed.

"If we can't even walk, let's not even talk about defeating giants. Oh, to be honest, I'm not very good at sports like skiing and skating."

"Me too."

Harry shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly,

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley wanted to let Dudley try, but they couldn't find a pair of skates that could bear Dudley's weight."

"Well, melting the ice is unrealistic. With such a large venue, we are not as good at fire magic as Professor Brian. Moreover, at this temperature, even if we melt the ice into water, the cold will cause the water to freeze into ice quickly."

Hermione pondered.

"We can't skate. Oh, I figured it out!"

Hermione's frown suddenly relaxed, and before Harry could ask, she pointed her wand at Harry's sneakers.

Harry, who was confused, suddenly felt that he had grown taller. He blinked and lifted one foot to look at it, and found that some dense "nails" had grown on the sole of his shoe!
"That's a good idea!"

Harry said excitedly, he put his foot down and jumped, then tried to walk again.

"It's much better than before. You're a genius, Hermione!"

Hermione also made her shoes grow spikes. She moved around the stone door for a while. Facing Harry's praise, she just smiled.

"It's useful, but certainly not as flexible as we usually are. Come on, Harry, I want to take a closer look."

The two men looked solemn and tried to make their footsteps as soft as possible.

When Hermione saw the giant, she understood why Harry had said it looked so strange.

Just as Harry said, the stone giant was supported by an oval, flat stone.

The other parts of the stone giant's body are also very rough. Its body is a huge oval stone, its two arms are long stones, and its head is a round stone.

Although it looks crudely made, the oppressive feeling brought by its two-story-high body is not enough to make anyone underestimate its power!

Gollum—
Harry swallowed his saliva, and looked around, looking at the two identical stone monsters on both sides of the center line of the duel field.
"Which one do we mess with first, Hermione?"

"That's not important, Harry. The point is—"

Hermione took two steps back, wrinkled her nose and observed the stone monster's body structure, judging its attack range.

"Obviously, we can't fight a monster like this in close combat, so..."

Hermione looked at the stone monster's one foot, then her gaze fell to her feet, and finally fixed on the stone door where they entered the duel arena.
After a moment of silence, Hermione took a deep breath and the light in her eyes stabilized.

"Listen, Harry, this is the plan!" (End of chapter)