novelcrest Chapter 420 Secret Realm
Chapter 420 Secret Realm
Chapter 420 Secret Realm (Part 1)
The next day.
Durmstrang students get up before dawn.
As the saying goes within their college—you haven't seen the Durmstrang sun at five in the morning.
Not a qualified Durmstrang student.
Everyone agrees with this point.
Krum gets up very early.
In other words, he always gets up earlier than everyone else.
If others wake up at five o'clock, he wakes up at four-thirty.
If he wakes up at four, then he'll wake up at four.
Time is something you have to squeeze out, and that's how you build up your grades.
This is also why he is stronger than others and can perfectly balance Quidditch and his studies.
So, he got up at four o'clock today.
The cool air seeped into the dormitory through the tall windows. Krum got up, splashed his face with cold water, and chased away the last of his sleepiness.
He pulled up his robe, hurried through the still quiet corridor, and headed toward the small training ground outside the auditorium.
After walking to the empty area, Krum stopped.
His hands were in the pockets of his robe, his head tilted slightly back as he looked at the dark sky dotted with starlight and took a deep breath of the cold air.
The chill in his nasal cavity jolted him awake.
"Posture, gait, eye contact..." He repeated in a low voice what Professor Phillips had taught him the night before, his eyes filled with a hint of determination.
Krum took a step, trying to adjust his pace.
He straightened his back and stretched his shoulders back, imagining himself walking towards a match, towards a stadium where everyone was watching, towards himself under the spotlight, facing the empty training field.
However, the half-hour practice session did not go smoothly.
Krum felt his shoulders were still a bit stiff and his steps weren't smooth enough.
He tried to make his movements natural, but found that the more he tried to adjust them, the more awkward they looked.
After taking a few deep breaths, Krum finally couldn't help but scratch the back of his head and mutter to himself, "This is even harder than Quidditch. ::"
He stopped, relaxed slightly, and glanced at the mirror in the corner of the training field. It was a simple aid he had brought specifically for this purpose. He walked to the mirror, stood up straight, and looked at his slightly stiff reflection.
"Confidence, composure, strength—" Krum silently repeated Professor Sean's keywords. Then, he forced a smile.
"It looks more like a toothache," he muttered under his breath.
As dawn broke, the morning light shone on the training field, and the other students from Durmstrang gradually emerged from their dormitories.
Someone noticed Krum adjusting his pose in front of the mirror and couldn't help but take a second look.
"Krum is training again early in the morning. No wonder he's so good at Quidditch," a boy said in a low voice, his tone filled with admiration.
"But—what is he doing? Posing?" another person asked, somewhat puzzled.
"I don't know, but it was Krum who did it, so he must have had his reasons."
Krum heard the whispers but ignored them. He looked up at himself in the mirror and grinned. "Just you wait, Professor Phillips," he said, "I'll make this 'posture training' work."
The first period was a morning self-study session led by Lu Ping.
When Krum entered the classroom, many students were already seated.
Professor Lupin was standing at the podium, flipping through a thick book, "Advanced Guide to Defense Against the Dark Arts".
Compared to Professor Witte, Professor Lupin's classes were... a bit easier.
Krum usually sits quietly in a corner near the window to complete his studies, but today he deliberately adjusted his posture to make himself look "more charismatic".
He silently recalled Professor Phillips's advice:
Confidence comes from within, but it also begins to be expressed outwardly.
Lupin looked up and noticed Krum coming in, then nodded to him: "Good morning, Mr. Krum."
Krum straightened up and responded politely, but his expression was slightly stiff, and the smile on his lips looked somewhat unnatural due to deliberate adjustment.
Selena, who was next to him, gave him a rather strange look. When morning self-study ended, she finally couldn't resist nudging him.
He asked in a low voice, "What's wrong? Did you eat something bad this morning?"
Krum was slightly taken aback, then realized that Selena was referring to his smile.
He quickly composed himself somewhat, but still tried to remain "proper," and said in a low voice, "It's nothing, I'm just practicing a new method."
"Practice smiling?" Selena looked at him suspiciously, wanting to say something but swallowing it back. "Yeah, okay... whatever makes you happy."
Krum felt a little embarrassed and simply turned his head away, ignoring him.
Lupin walked to the front of the class and began to explain some of the origins of dark magic, while Krum secretly resolved to appear more natural in the day ahead.
After morning self-study, Sean began his practical training.
During his morning self-study session, he made some modifications to the briefcase he carried with him.
As mentioned before, Sean's briefcase has an absurdly large amount of space—thanks to the Seamless Stretch Charm.
He just now divided a section of the interior into a...:::.secret realm.
In fantasy novels, such places are usually called "ruins" or "abandoned caves".
In short, it's a place for young wizards to overcome obstacles, filled with traps he sets—including, but not limited to, dangerous magical plants, as well as some of the Weasley twins' gadgets.
So, on the podium, Sean slowly placed his briefcase on the ground.
"For today's practical lesson," Sean looked up, his gaze sweeping over the students, "we'll try some new things."
With a wave of his wand, the lid of his briefcase slowly opened.
The students below the stage stared wide-eyed, seeing the space inside the briefcase as a bottomless abyss, exuding a chilling aura.
As for the source of this aura, Sean referenced the haunted house he and Luna had visited last time.
"This is a 'secret realm' I've specially prepared," Sean straightened up and gently patted his briefcase. "You can think of it as a testing ground—a place full of danger and opportunity. Of course, I've designed many 'surprises' waiting for you. As for whether you can pass through, that depends on your abilities."
The students below the stage began to whisper among themselves.
This was the first time they had ever seen such an unconventional teaching method, as it was usually quite dull.
They were both excited and determined about this.
Professor Phillips' methods were evident to everyone yesterday, and as for the obstacles he set up, even Merlin's best judgment wouldn't suggest they were too bad.
“Three people go in each time,” Sean continued. “You’ll need to overcome various obstacles I set up inside. The goal is simple: find the exit while protecting yourselves from harm—ideally, don’t get eliminated.” He paused, then added meaningfully, “Of course, if anyone feels unprepared, they can choose not to participate.”
This statement made many students subconsciously straighten their backs, and no one was willing to show any sign of backing down in front of their peers.
In Durmstrang, failing to complete a task will certainly make you the laughingstock of others.
But... they didn't even have the courage to complete the task.
Then he'll have it for the rest of his life.
Krum frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed. He gripped his wand tightly, silently making a decision in his heart:
We must not only win, but also win the respect of our teachers.
This is the goal he set for himself.
As the first group stepped into the briefcase, the surrounding students held their breath, watching the eagle gradually disappear. As the briefcase lid closed again, the classroom returned to silence.
About fifteen minutes later, the trio slithered out of the briefcase like wolves.
Their robes were covered in mud and strange green vines, and one student had a Weasley gadget that sprayed powder (Sean had filled it with pepper) hanging from his hair, which made him sneeze several times.
Sean stood to the side, arms crossed. "It seems you guys need to practice your teamwork more."
Such words undoubtedly eased the tension.
The students couldn't help but laugh, and the next group eagerly stepped forward to the briefcase.
Krum stood at the back of the crowd, carefully observing the performance of each group.
Based on what others told him, he concluded that this so-called secret realm was full of traps and mechanisms.
It requires not only keen observation skills, but also teamwork.
When it was Krum's turn to be called, he took a deep breath, stepped forward, and stood with the other two students.
They nodded to each other and then walked toward their briefcases.
The moment he stepped into the briefcase, Krum felt the surrounding scenery suddenly change.
They were in a dark forest, the trees towering into the clouds, the air thick with a faint dampness. Strange noises reached their ears, and the feeling was... as if something was watching them from the shadows.
"We have to be careful," Krum whispered. "Anything here could be a trap."
One of the girls in the group nodded, while another boy seemed a little nervous. "Which way should we go?"
Krum glanced around and his gaze fell on a path covered with vines.
He pointed with his wand, "Go that way. It looks dangerous, but it should be the way out."
The three of them walked cautiously forward, their heads bobbing up and down like rattles, alert to any movement around them.
Soon, they discovered that the middle of the road was covered with thorny plants, like a trap.
Krum raised his wand and whispered a cutting spell, trying to clear a safe path for the three of them.
However, just as they were walking through the plants, they suddenly heard a low growl.
Immediately afterwards, a huge magical creature—which looked like a monster that was a combination of a wolf and a lion—pounced out of the shadows!
Despite being called a magical creature, it was actually a casual alchemical creation by Sean.
After all, he wasn't Newt; he didn't have the time or energy to collect those strange magical creatures.
However, this also means that, unlike magical creatures, alchemical creatures do not know pain or fear; they will only resolutely carry out orders—attack, attack, and attack some more.
"Get out of the way!" Krum roared, quickly blocking the two of them.
At that moment, he forgot the "demeanor" and "composure" he had maintained all day.
"We need to coordinate!" he said in a deep voice, turning to his teammates. "I'll hold him off, you guys flank him from both sides!"
The two quickly split up, while Krum stood still, drawing the monster's attention.
The monster lunged, its sharp claws slicing through the air as it headed straight for Krum.
Krum quickly rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack.
The instant he landed, he flipped to his feet, his wand swiftly pointing at the monster, and whispered, "Stunned!"
A beam of red light shot from the tip of the wand and struck the monster in the side.
But how could such a spell possibly work on alchemical creatures?
The massive body trembled slightly, and the monster let out a low roar—stage two activated! Its eyes glowed green as it stared intently at Krum in front of it.
"This spell won't work on it!" Krum roared through gritted teeth, then shouted to the two beside him, "Watch its tail when you're flanking it; it might use it to attack!"
At that moment, the girl on the left quickly circled around to the side of the monster, pointed her wand at its leg, and quickly cast a spell: "Freeze Spell!" A beam of blue light shot out and hit the monster's hind leg.
Frost spread instantly, freezing the monster's hind legs to the ground and slowing its movements slightly.
At the same time, the boy on the right nervously chanted a cutting spell, and a sharp light slashed towards the monster's other leg, trying to weaken its ability to move.
However, the monster suddenly swung its tail, creating a gust of wind that sent the boy staggering backward, nearly causing him to fall.
"Lane, watch out!" Krum shouted, and at the same time, to give the monster no more chance to breathe, he quickly changed position.
Move around to the monster's front and cast another blazing fire spell: "Blazing Flames!"
Flames exploded in front of the monster, and the scorching heat forced it to take a step back.
Although the flames did not directly harm it, they successfully attracted its attention.
The monster growled and lunged at Krum, opening its massive jaws full of sharp teeth as if to bite him in one strike.
Krum's eyes narrowed, and with a leap of his legs, he used the agility of a broom to jump to the side, while waving his wand to erect a protective barrier in front of him.
"Armor for protection!"
The monster's massive maw slammed into the barrier with a dull thud, and the immense recoil caused it to stagger back a few steps.
"Now!" Krum shouted at the boys and girls.
Eileen quickly seized the opportunity and shouted, "Entangle!" The green light emanating from the tip of her wand swiftly transformed into flexible vines that wrapped around the monster's forelimbs and shoulders, pinning it to the ground.
The monster struggled furiously, its roars shaking the surrounding air.
Krum did not waste this crucial opportunity.
He rushed to the monster's front, concentrated all his power on its chest, and unleashed a powerful "Explosion Curse!"
With a loud "bang," the Explosion Curse exploded in front of the monster's chest, and the powerful impact caused it to crash to the ground.
Its bound limbs could no longer support its massive body, and its huge head slammed heavily onto the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
Is it over...?