In the moments following the explosion of red light that scattered into sparks in the sky, the rescue team swiftly arrived on flying broomsticks to this location, rescuing her and her sister, Gabrielle, from the labyrinth.
For her, though there was always a hint of reluctance, she had come to realize that with her abilities, she couldn't even rescue her sister. Even if she continued the competition, she wouldn't have the capability to get her sister out of this perilous maze.
After bidding farewell to Fleur and Gabrielle, Maca left ahead. However, he had only taken a few steps when he noticed Hermione quietly following him.
"Is she beautiful?" Hermione suddenly asked out of nowhere.
When a girl asks you if another girl is beautiful, it usually means trouble. Maca understood this well, but how to answer such a question?
"Well..." he displayed a hint of complexity on his face before nodding, "Yes, she is beautiful."
Maca had sensed some of Hermione's thoughts beforehand. Honestly, he didn't have any aversion to Hermione herself, but at the moment, his current situation didn't leave room for any early romance.
"What about Luna?"
Hermione didn't seem bothered by this question, but what surprised Maca was that she had a follow-up question waiting for him.
"Well, she's also very beautiful."
Maca thought to himself, might as well consider me a ladies' man.
"What about Professor McGonagall?"
Coughing, he almost choked on his own saliva.
Maca cleared his throat and then turned to Hermione, only to find her hiding a smile. Helplessly, he shook his head; it seemed he had been played by this clever young witch.
"If I get the chance, I'll ask Professor McGonagall for a picture of her when she was young. Then I'll show it to you, and you can judge whether she's beautiful or not," Maca joked.
However, what Maca didn't notice was that, although Hermione had a smile on her face, there was a faint hint of disappointment in her eyes.
As the two reached another fork in the path, Hermione suddenly spoke up.
"I have to go this way; my 'treasure' is Crumple-Horned Snorkack, and he should be in that direction," she began to reach out her hand but then pulled it back, just giving a gentle wave in front of her.
"I won't lose to you!"
With that declaration, Hermione turned and ran towards the right path without looking back.
Maca watched her retreating figure and couldn't help but scratch his head.
"...It seems that the heart of a young girl is even harder to decipher than Sphinx riddles."
He sighed softly and put these messy matters aside for now. His focus had to be on welcoming the crucial point of the plan.
For him, there was no time to think about anything else now.
It had been a while since the previous explosion, and the mist in the area had once again gathered, shrouding the surroundings in darkness.
However, Maca's pace quickened once more.
There were quite a few magical creatures in the maze, but most of them were not difficult to deal with. After racing along the path for a while, he finally realized that the route he had recorded matched a corner of the first map fragment.
And that first fragment partially overlapped with the one that indicated Luna's location. What needed to be done next was straightforward.
"This should be the shortest route."
After confirming the map, he quickly headed towards Luna's position.
In fact, Maca understood Fleur's feelings at the time. Leaving aside matters of liking or not, Luna did hold a significant place in his heart.
Perhaps Dumbledore's protective measures for the "treasures" were reliable, but what if? For instance, Gabrielle—what if the Blast-Ended Skrewt suddenly had a strange idea and decided to smash the pillars?
Maca didn't plan on winning the championship, but Luna had to stay close to him to ease his worries.
With an accurate route in mind, Maca soon found Luna in another open area—a steel cage embedded in the ground.
On top of that cage, a massive serpent-like magical creature was coiled, its three pairs of eyes fixed firmly on Maca, who had suddenly appeared before it.
This was a three-headed serpent, with a white belly and a bright orange back covered in black spines, giving it a fearsome appearance.
As for its three heads...
The one on the right was raised high, with a ferocious and menacing look, its red tongue hissing in and out; the one on the left was lowered, resting on the coiled snake body, its eyes gleaming with a cold light.
And the middle head... seemed to be daydreaming?
"What kind of creature is this?" Maca looked at it, showing an unusual hint of hesitation.
He seemed to have seen this type of snake in some guidebook, but such a large size... was it really the same as he had thought?
This three-headed serpent was massive, though not as large as a Blast-Ended Skrewt, it was still over twenty feet long and appeared to be a formidable opponent. Especially the one on the left, it clearly possessed a significant level of intelligence; perhaps it shouldn't be treated as a mere beast.
"Hiss... Wizard, is the little witch down there... hiss... your 'treasure'?" The left head of the three-headed creature spoke first.
"Yes," Maca nodded, "Hand her over to me. What are your conditions?"
"Hiss... Dumbledore said if someone could solve our troubles... hiss... we could hand over the 'treasure.'"
"Hiss... you're relying on this little one? I think it's a terrible idea!" The head on the right suddenly screeched, "Hiss... terrible idea!"
"Shut up!" the left head immediately shouted loudly.
"Hiss... you're just messing things up, not letting me speak? Hiss... I have to say, cooperating with a wizard is simply foolish! Hiss..."
"Hiss—let me tell you! Shut up!"
Seeing that these two heads were about to start quarreling, and the middle head was still daydreaming, Maca began to feel somewhat sure of himself.
"But... is a Rune-Snake supposed to be this big?" he hesitated, "According to the records, the largest Rune-Snakes are about eight feet long, but this one is clearly over twenty feet."
The Rune-Snake was a type of three-headed snake native to the Upper Nile in Africa, once associated with dark wizards. Most of the wizarding knowledge about them came from Parseltongue conversations with the snakes.
Yes, these snakes shouldn't speak human languages.
"Perhaps it's because this one has lived long enough..." Maca thought for a moment and mused, "It makes sense. The left head of a Rune-Snake is highly intelligent. If it can learn human prophecies, it wouldn't be surprising."
In fact, Maca's guess was quite accurate.
All records related to Rune-Snakes indicated that their three heads often argued. This was because each of their three heads had distinct personalities—
The left head was the planner, deciding where the main body should go and what it should do; the middle head was the dreamer, always lost in brilliant fantasies and daydreams; and the right head was the critic, constantly commenting on the actions and words of the other two heads, often initiating arguments.
As a result, when the other two heads couldn't stand each other, they would team up to bite off the right head directly—hence, Rune-Snakes didn't have a long lifespan.
However, this particular Rune-Snake was different from its kin. Although its three heads often argued, they never escalated to the point of fighting due to some peculiar behavior of the middle head.
Just like now—
"Hiss..."
This was a magical roar, and with its continuous roar, even the ground around them began to tremble, completely suppressing the argument between the two heads on the sides.
Frowning, Maca waved his wand and cast a Silencing Charm over the area, bringing some peace.
Seeing the middle head closing its mouth, he released the Silencing Charm and calmly said, "You want me to solve the problem of them constantly arguing, right?"
"Yes, that's right!" the middle head grumbled, "These two fellows are always quarreling, and it's keeping me from thinking!"
"Isn't that easy?" Maca casually waved his hand, "Why not just bite off both of their heads?"
"Hiss... do you think I'm that stupid?"
"Crack—"
"Hiss... you're truly foolish!"
"Crack—"
Even Maca hadn't expected that his casual remark would lead to the middle head swiftly biting off the other two heads, leaving them completely severed.
"Wizard, you're quite clever... I've been alive for over 300 years, but I never thought of this solution," it mumbled drowsily, "But why do I feel a bit weak?"
"Oh well, thinking doesn't require much strength..."
After saying that, it simply slumped down and slowly closed its eyes.
Maca looked at the two enormous wounds and the snake blood oozing out, shaking his head with an odd expression.
"It seems that this Rune-Snake has survived for so long because of the strength of its middle head and, well, its foolishness!"
In the magical world, there were certainly many wonders, but such a strange experience was quite rare—Maca suddenly felt the urge to write down this story.
After regaining his composure from the rather speechless encounter with this peculiar snake, Maca quickly arrived behind it.
There, an entire steel cage was embedded in the ground. When Maca peered down, he coincidentally made eye contact with Luna.
"Maca?" she tilted her head, somewhat absentmindedly, "I'm a bit hungry. Is there anything tasty?"
Maca looked at her, then at the strange snake behind him. He suddenly felt that, in a certain way, Luna had some similarities with the middle head of that peculiar snake!
"Do you fancy some 300-year-old snake meat?" he shrugged, "It's just a bit foolish."
Hello everyone,
If you enjoy reading this novel and want to read 10 Chapters ahead of schedule, then please join my Patreon.
Your support is greatly appreciated