"This is?"
Harry was stunned for a moment, looking at the Herbology book that Cedric handed to him, and asked in confusion.
"There may be something you need in here." Cedric smiled, "Qiu just told me that she was also in the library and saw the three of you looking up information here..."
"I guess you haven't found a way to get into the water yet."
"Did you come here on purpose to laugh at me?" Harry's face changed and he asked stiffly.
"No, I just want to return a favor." Cedric smiled warmly.
"Favors?" Harry looked at him in confusion.
"Have you forgotten? Before the first game started, you told me that the event would be related to fire dragons." Cedric said, "If you hadn't told me this information, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to come up with such a clever method on the spot."
"I didn't do you any favors," Harry muttered. "Except for you and Kowalski, all the warriors in the first round know what the competition is. I just don't want to take advantage of you..."
"But this is indeed a great favor to me." Cedric smiled and sighed, "If you didn't want to take advantage of me, but chose to do the same as the principals of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, and wanted to foresee the competition..."
"If I don't know, I'll probably suffer a great loss, and I might even bring shame to the warriors of Hogwarts."
He forcefully thrust the book in his hand into Harry's hand and continued, "So take this book. I just happened to find it. Page 69 contains what you need."
Harry clenched the book in his hand stiffly, feeling mixed emotions.
He really needed a solution to help him complete the game, but this solution was given to him by his opponent, which made him very frustrated.
"We are more than just rivals, Harry." Cedric seemed to know what he was thinking and smiled and comforted him, "Isn't this just mutual help between friends?"
Harry was stunned for a moment, then he also laughed relaxedly.
Yeah, he and Cedric were more than just rivals—
In so many Quidditch matches before, Cedric and the Hufflepuff team's upright style had won Harry's favor.
After the experience of helping Hufflepuff snipe the Slytherin team in the second year, he and Cedric could actually be called friends.
"You give me the method to deal with the game, then what will you do?" Harry was no longer entangled in accepting Cedric's help, but was worried that he had no other way to deal with it, so he asked this.
"Don't worry. I've already figured out what to do." Cedric smiled. "What a coincidence! Mr. Filch found me a few days ago and said he had confiscated this book from a Hufflepuff student. He asked me, the prefect, to help return it."
"But I asked all Hufflepuffs but couldn't find the owner of this book, so I took the initiative to look through the contents of the book and happened to find something useful."
"Don't worry, I will return the original book to Mr. Filch. This one was copied using a copying spell. It will only exist for a few hours and Mr. Filch won't know about it. You don't need to read it for too long anyway, right?"
Harry was relieved and put away the book that Cedric brought.
"Thank you, Cedric." He thanked him sincerely, and then sighed bitterly, "To be honest, if I hadn't sent this book by you, I really don't know what I would do..."
"After all, you are still young and you haven't learned a lot of things yet. This is normal." Cedric smiled. "Your performance in the first game has impressed me. You can think of such a clever way to use the flying spell to summon a flying broom."
"Actually, this is what my friend thought of," Harry looked at Ron beside him and said softly, "If I were alone, maybe Professor Dracula would have to come out and rescue me in the first game, right?"
"It's okay, at least you've achieved good results." Cedric waved his hand and said goodbye to Harry, "I wish you good luck in tomorrow's game, Harry!"
"Good luck in your game tomorrow, Cedric!" Harry also waved.
After Cedric left, Ron and Hermione quickly came to Harry's side, staring at the book that Cedric had given them as if they had grabbed a life-saving straw.
"Harry, look at what's written here!" Hermione said hurriedly.
"Will this really work?" Ron asked suspiciously, "Maybe he just wants to interfere with his opponent... Harry, Diggory's score is a little lower than yours right now. If he wants to trip you up..."
"Cedric wouldn't do that." Harry shook his head and interrupted Ron. "I believe in his character. Just based on the fact that he would rather admit defeat than win unfairly on the Quidditch field, there is no need for us to doubt him."
As he spoke, Harry turned to page 69 according to the page number Cedric told him.
The page clearly records a type of herb - Glechoma longituba.
"Gill grass is produced in the Mediterranean area. It is gray-green in color, long and sticky..." Ron read the contents of the book, "This is not a spell. What does it have to do with tomorrow's game?"
"Keep reading, Ron!" Hermione glared back at him and continued reading:
"It was discovered by Elladora Catrich in the early years. According to him, after wizards take the gill grass, they will grow gills that can breathe underwater, and webbed feet and hands for swimming..."
Hermione looked up in surprise and found that Harry and Ron had the same look in their eyes.
"It actually works!" Ron exclaimed, "Does this mean that Harry can just hide a chinweed in his pocket and eat it before entering the water..."
"Don't be too happy yet. I think we'd better finish reading the functions of the scapula first—" Hermione said seriously, "What if it has any side effects?"
Then, she continued reading: "The effect of this herb was verified a century later by herbalist Beaumont Mejri Banks, who determined that the magic of a gillywort can last for about an hour."
The surprise in the eyes of the three of them grew stronger and stronger.
The effect of Gill Grass can last for about an hour. It is simply a herb tailor-made for the second event of the semi-finals!
"I've got to get a plant of Gillweed!" Harry slapped his thigh and jumped up from his seat. "I could just put on my Invisibility Cloak, sneak over to Hogsmeade and buy one from the herb shop there!"
As he said this, he prepared to rush back to the common room to get his invisibility cloak.
However, at this moment, Hermione caught a glimpse of the last line of small words on the page:
"P.S.: Gillsacaceae is relatively rare and is a precious potion material. It is not recommended to be consumed for a long time as a means of swimming. It is also not recommended to be sold on a large scale."
Her eyes widened and she grabbed Harry's arm in panic.
"Wait a minute, Harry, the herb shop in Hogsmeade probably doesn't have chinook..."
"Why?" Harry and Ron stopped eagerly.
Hermione pointed to the last line of small print in the book, and the delighted expressions on Harry and Ron's faces suddenly froze.
"So what should we do?" Harry asked blankly.
Ron looked at the various other books piled up next to him, and his eyes gradually became a little dazed.
"Diggory probably didn't see the small print, or he wouldn't have given you the book..." He murmured, "Is there no way for Harry to complete the game?"
The three of them stood there in a daze, hardly noticing even Madam Pince's ferocious move to chase them away.
"I've told you many times that the library is closed!" Madam Pince shouted angrily, "Are you three challenging the authority of the librarian?!"
She has been the librarian at Hogwarts for so many years, holding the power of life and death over all books. Any young wizard who needs to borrow a book needs to have a certain degree of respect for her, and she is proud of this.
However, just today, someone actually dared to ignore Madam Pince, the librarian. This was definitely a direct rebellion against the librarian's authority!
"Oh, sorry, Madam Pince, we were distracted just now." Hermione, who often came to the library to borrow books and had the most dealings with Madam Pince, was the first to react and apologized quickly, "We'll be leaving right away!"
Having said that, she immediately pulled Harry and Ron out, leaving Madam Pince resentfully sorting through the pile of books they had left behind.
…
On the other side, Hermione, holding Ron and Harry in each hand, ran towards the Gryffindor common room.
As she ran, she said hurriedly: "Hurry up, you two, maybe we still have a chance now."
"Give up, Hermione, we have no chance..." Ron let Hermione pull him, and said dejectedly, "Just let Harry swim a few laps in the Black Lake, and Professor Dracula will fish him out of the water."
"I'd better go to Hogsmeade and take a look. What if the herbal medicine shop there has gillyweed?" Harry didn't give up on himself like Ron, but his expression was also not optimistic.
"The game isn't over yet, and nothing has been decided yet!" Hermione looked at them sternly and said loudly, "Cheer up, both of you. Harry still has a chance to succeed in tomorrow's game!"
"Have you thought of any solution, Hermione?" Harry looked at Hermione hopefully, raising the last glimmer of hope in his heart.
"Yes." Hermione nodded heavily. "Just because there's no gillyweed in the herbal shop in Hogsmeade doesn't mean there's none elsewhere!"
"you mean… "
"Gillweed is not only a tool to help people swim, but also a very precious potion material." Hermione said, "Let's go to Snape's potion storage room and look for it. I think we'll find something."
Ron and Harry's eyes widened in surprise.
They never thought that Hermione, an excellent student who always abides by school rules and regulations, would be the first to propose the plan of stealing the Potions Professor's things...
"Hermione, are you sure you haven't been infected by Fred and George and have been breaking school rules?" Ron asked in a low voice after hesitating for a moment.
"I'm only doing this for Harry, just this once!" Hermione glared at Ron and said sternly.
Then she looked at Harry, "Harry, hurry back to your dormitory and get your invisibility cloak. Let's go to Snape's office in the basement of the castle... In addition, I think we need a few helpers."
That night, Fred and George did something big in the corridor of the dungeon of Hogwarts Castle.
They first threw several large dung balls at the entrance of the Slytherin common room, and then set off several exaggerated fireworks outside Snape's office door.
According to Fred and George, they had wanted to do this for a long time.
Snape was so angry that he didn't sleep in the middle of the night and rushed out of the office in rage, determined to catch the troublemakers who ignored them.
However, Fred and George had the advantage of the Marauder's Map. They moved back and forth between the various secret passages in the castle, tricking Snape into running around. They even took him from the underground to the eighth floor of the main tower without being caught once.
At the same time, the three little wizards hid in a large invisibility cloak and sneaked into the castle dungeon when Snape went out to capture Fred and George.
"Alohomora."
Hermione pointed her wand at the lock of the potion material storage room and whispered.
The door unlocked and Harry, Ron and Hermione pushed the door open and walked in. They saw countless potion ingredients and many experimental products in jars, some of which were extremely strange and looked particularly creepy.
"Is it so easy to get in here?" Ron asked doubtfully after closing the door. "I thought Snape was very powerful, but I didn't expect his protective magic to be so poor."
"Maybe... he never thought that anyone would dare to sneak into his potion storage room?" Harry said uncertainly.
Hermione frowned, staring at the wand that had just cast the Unlocking Charm.
"Why do I feel a little strange..." she whispered, "Snape's protective magic should not be so fragile. Instead, I feel that it is more like it has been cracked by someone, leaving only an ordinary door lock for me."
"Don't think too much, just get in." Ron said carelessly, "Instead of thinking about these things, you might as well hurry up and help Harry find the gillyweed!"
"Yeah, that's right." Hermione nodded in agreement.
Then, the three little wizards began to search Snape's potion material storage room inside and out, comparing it with the description in the book sent by Cedric, trying to find the gillyweed that Harry would need in a few hours.
…
…