"...Whew."
Watching the two evil wolves in front of her wailing and burning to ashes in the flames, Hermione weakly wiped the sweat from her forehead, while her heart couldn't help but marvel. Clearly, she should be dreaming now, but all her senses felt no different from reality—
She finally understood why Cedric woke up clutching his neck.
So, is there really no logout button here?
Using the time between rounds to rest, Hermione quickly tapped the pillars around the crystal platform, but still found no response. After multiple attempts, she gave up on what seemed like a futile effort.
"Boom—"
The dull sound of mechanical movement echoed as the bridge connecting to another platform lowered, and in the next moment, eight bloody black wolves appeared in the center of the platform. As soon as they appeared, they spread out in harmony, eyeing Hermione fiercely from the edge of the platform.
"Great, two more..."
Hermione also maintained her slow movement to ensure she could react in time when the wolves attacked. She held her magic wand in her right hand while her left hand quickly swept her fluffy brown hair from her face to her back. In the previous battle, a wolf's paw had snatched off her headband—
Luckily, she reacted in time; otherwise, it wouldn't have been just a headband and a few strands of hair that were taken but possibly her scalp.
The girl still felt a slight chill on her scalp.
After several consecutive battles, Hermione had noticed several patterns, such as the difference between crossing the metal walkway and waiting in place. The former allowed her a sneak attack opportunity when entering the opposite platform; the Disillusionment Charm made it easy for the big dogs not to notice her. Waiting in place was different; although it conserved energy, all her charms cast would be interrupted as the monsters refreshed...
It seemed like a balance mechanism.
There were many similar patterns, like the dogs' attack method... just now!
"Awoo!"
Seeing the first big dog couldn't wait to pounce at her, Hermione swiftly twisted her body, swinging her magic wand, "Wingardium Leviosa! (Wingardium Leviosa)" "Expelliarmus! (Expelliarmus)"
The red charm flashed, and the evil wolf in mid-air was directly struck, flying off the cliff.
...
"This is the most efficient method. Continuous battle means you need to solve the enemy with the least magic, energy, and simplest spells—"
Staring at the black-and-white scene projected by the Meditation Basin in front of him, William crossed his arms, instructing the two boys standing behind him to watch and learn sincerely, "And us wizards are quite fragile, and I haven't left Hermione any healing items, so she smartly chose to solve battles with long-range charms—"
Speaking, William turned his head, giving Cedric a deep look as he scratched his head, "And not rush up to punch a dog."
"Cough cough... I just wanted to try."
Cedric scratched his nose helplessly, something he did on his first dream entry, confronting the big dog head-on—it actually somewhat worked, as the dog was visibly stunned, staring at him with disbelief through its dark beady eyes.
Low damage, highly insulting.
"Cough cough..."
Hearing the conversation between the two, Harry couldn't help but cough twice.
He wanted to laugh.
But at the same time, he was somewhat amazed by Hermione's quick-thinking. Using Disarming Spell as Expelliarmus was creative, but maintaining such calm to use effective and energy-saving spell combinations while surrounded by so many evil wolves—he probably wouldn't have thought of it.
Wasn't Hermione nervous?
Of course, she was tense, but she remained calm—solving one, without watching as the other fell into the abyss, taking advantage of the wolves' momentary pause due to the scene, Hermione swiftly waved her wand, "Impedimenta! (Impedimenta)"
The invisible force slammed onto the wolves' heads, slowing their movements.
"Incarcerous! (Incarcerous)" "Accio! (Accio)"
Out of thin air, coarse ropes appeared, binding the three evil wolves approaching the girl together, then flew towards Hermione, and she lifted her wand high, "Incendio! (Incendio)"
The hot, deep red flames instantly ignited these black-furred evil wolves, familiar wailing resounded again—lots of hair, weak against fire, simple knowledge.
Alright! Half solved!
Hermione nodded, turning her gaze towards the remaining four wolves further away. She wanted to repeat the same trick, but their learning ability completely surprised her. Seeing close proximity resulted in being burned to death, the remaining evil wolves instantly spread out, slowly approaching from four directions.
They stopped pouncing, Hermione tried casting several spells, but they evaded swiftly.
Tricky...
Watching as the wolves started crawling toward her, sweat dripped from her forehead as she had already battled for half an hour. For a third-year little wizard who hadn't really attended Defense Against the Dark Arts classes for over two years, and only practiced a few spells in Duel Club—
This was outstanding performance.
What to do?
Even though she guessed she might end up being bitten to death by these black dogs, Hermione still wanted to continue, as survival certainly led to better results.
And at this moment, the four wolves in front changed their formation, the two at the back stopping, crouching while staring at Hermione, and the two in front continued their approach slowly—
"Roar!"
Finally, as they reached a close distance, the leading two evil wolves suddenly leaped fiercely, mouths wide open, charging at Hermione's calf. The two at the back also split, beginning to encircle from two sides, their speed allowing only blurring shadows for Hermione to see—
Now!
And Hermione finally used the spell she had been preparing for a while, pointing her grapevine wand sharply into the ground, "Deprimo! (Deprim)"
"Boom—"
The translucent deep blue glass instantly cracked open a large gap, leaving no room for reaction as the four running evil wolves uncontrollably fell into the misty valley.
"Hah..."
Looking at the hole she had blasted open, Hermione hadn't the time to rejoice when the sensation of her magic being drained suddenly surged, leaving her dizzy, and she uncontrollably fell forward, dropping into the hole along with them—