Chapter 592: Hermione's Test (Edited)

"Wow, I didn't expect them to be so weak!" Hermione looked at the two people lying on the ground, unable to fight back, and rolled her eyes.

She thought it would be a tough battle, but it turned out she easily defeated these two with a surprise attack. They didn't even have time to react and stood there like sitting ducks for Hermione.

It was due to their lack of combat experience.

Hermione believed that if it were Tom in her place, he surely wouldn't have been caught off guard by her attack.

One of the Durmstrang students was unconscious, and the other had lost his fighting ability, and the remaining stone statue had run out of magic and now had the normal size of a chess piece. Hermione landed on the ground and gently stroked her magical silver wings with her hand, feeling a bit lucky.

If it weren't for the silver feather wings Tom had given her, she might not have won so easily. In a prolonged confrontation, Hermione would most likely have been the loser and might even have been captured.

Thinking about what might happen if she were caught, Hermione couldn't help but shudder. The earlier conversation between the two had already made it clear what awaited her, and along with the tent in the camp, it was obvious what would happen.

Hermione could easily imagine that what awaited her would not be a single violation but something ongoing, and it would most likely continue until the end of the event. Anthony had mentioned he was good at Memory Charms.

Hermione felt a chill run down her spine.

Fortunately, she had won. She touched the wings on her back and wondered if this could be considered Tom protecting her. Although her mind was filled with tenderness and sweetness, Hermione's movements didn't stop. First, she created several ropes to tie up Anthony and Poliak like zongzi (Chinese rice cakes) and then cast a Stunning Spell on Poliak to end his suffering.

After finishing, Hermione's gaze fell on the wands of the two that had been left on the ground.

Although, theoretically, the two had lost their ability to resist, and she should have stopped attacking them, as they had themselves said, there were no spectators here.

Hermione thought it would be quite interesting to break the rules from time to time.

After all, if she herself lost her ability to resist, would they leave her alone? Hermione knew deep down in her mind.

She approached the wands of the two, lifted her foot, and stomped on them strongly twice, breaking them into four pieces.

After bending the rules a little, Hermione nervously looked around and felt relieved to see no one nearby. But before she could exhale fully, she heard a rustling sound from the bushes.

Hermione quickly returned to her battle-ready state, gripped her wand, and observed the source of the sound while simultaneously extending her wings and hovering about a foot above the ground.

A few seconds later, the bushes trembled, and Krum appeared holding his wand about ten meters in front of Hermione.

Seeing Hermione, Krum was stunned. It was evident that Hermione's appearance with her wings was too striking: she wore a plain black wizard's robe, but she had a pair of silver wings on her back.

The small wizards watching the scene burst into excitement. Many recognized Hermione Granger from Ravenclaw immediately—the girl with wings on her back!

"Where did she get those wings?"

"Those wings are way too cool!"

"She's getting too close to Krum, damn it! Damn it, you, a fox who only knows how to reproduce, even with a boyfriend, you still think about him..."

Many of Krum's female admirers lost their heads with jealousy seeing that Hermione could have a face-to-face conversation with Krum in this manner.

Changes on the Quidditch field couldn't affect the situation in the Forbidden Forest. As a Quidditch Seeker, Krum had sharp eyes and noticed his surroundings clearly the moment he saw Hermione. He also saw Anthony and Poliak lying on the ground, tied up.

Krum's pupils contracted. He knew Anthony and Poliak's fighting ability very well. Putting Poliak aside, who was unreliable but also had no negative effect on the battle, Krum quickly came to a conclusion: the witch in front of him had incredibly strong combat skills.

'Wait a minute, this person seems familiar.' Krum stared at Hermione for a few seconds and finally remembered seeing her several times in the Great Hall. He hadn't paid much attention to her before, but now that he looked closely, the girl seemed quite attractive to him.

His gaze quickly shifted to the surroundings and finally stopped at a closed book. At that moment, a look of consternation crossed Krum's face.

"Did you bring that book with you?"

Hermione: ???

As Krum observed Hermione, she was also closely examining this legendary Quidditch player. To be honest, her first impression of Krum was good, but Krum's question caught her off guard.

"Uh... yes." Hermione felt a bit confused for a moment.

Krum fell silent after receiving an affirmative answer. After a few seconds, he managed to articulate, "That's impressive!"

His words came sincerely. It's incredible that a girl hasn't forgotten how to read in the Forbidden Forest!

Hermione: ...

Should she thank him for the compliment?

"Have you also come to confront me?" Hermione felt it was time to get serious.

To Hermione's surprise, Krum shook his head. He felt he was no match for Hermione, so giving up the fight was necessary.

"I was just drawn by the sound of battle," Krum replied.

"Oh, I see..." Hermione pondered for a moment. "You can get my help by completing my task."

Before they could continue their conversation, the sound of footsteps interrupted. In no time, Cedric appeared in Hermione's small camp, holding his wand aloft and wearing an alert expression.

Seeing Hermione and Krum talking, Cedric felt his brain was running out of capacity.

"Uh... it seems like the situation here is complicated..." he finally blurted out.

Hermione, Krum: ...

Little wizards from the Quidditch field: ...

This Forbidden Forest is really small!

But everyone quickly got excited. It was the first time the champions met face to face, and no one knew what sparks would fly between them.

"I propose that we all put our wands aside, what do you think?" Hermione felt there was no need to fight at this moment, and it was better for no one to point their wands at each other to avoid making everyone nervous.

"I agree." Krum was the first to respond and lowered his wand to his side.

Cedric felt a headache coming on. He had spent a lot of energy finding Hermione, and now it seemed someone else had beaten him to it.

After parting ways with Tom, Cedric seemed to have good luck. He no longer encountered any tough bosses to defeat and instead met an NPC from Hogwarts. After a brief "conversation," Cedric managed to win a treasure from their hands and, following the clues within the treasure, opened five or six boxes and found a clue indicating Hermione's location.

But his good luck ended there. When he saw Hermione, she had already encountered Krum.

Cedric struggled to find the right words. He didn't want to reveal the purpose of his visit now because Krum didn't seem like someone who had received a task from Tom.

So, better not reveal the information for now!

"I think..." Cedric finally found an excuse, but before he could finish speaking, his speech was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps through the forest.

Cedric, Hermione, and Krum fell silent simultaneously, and a bold idea crossed their minds: Could the one coming be...?

By the time a beautiful silver flash appeared, cold sweat broke out on the foreheads of the three.

It was Fleur Delacour! The Forbidden Forest was indeed small!

"Did you also come to complete Yodel's task?" Fleur asked curiously.

Cedric: !!!

Krum: ???

Cedric really wanted to curse someone right now, especially when he saw the confused expression on Krum's face. He felt frustrated and wished he could fight Fleur right then and there.

He was sure that if he had come alone, getting Hermione's help would be a piece of cake, as both of them were Hogwarts students, and Hermione wouldn't make things difficult for him.

But now the other two champions had also arrived.

Hermione couldn't make the situation too easy either because the next step of her mission was filled with variables. Not getting Tom's help wasn't the worst outcome, but Krum or Fleur getting Tom's help would be a nightmare ending.

Krum noticed what Cedric had also discovered. The two Durmstrang students lying on the ground were evidence of Hermione's battle prowess. If he could get both Tom and Hermione's help, the outcome of this event would be in no doubt.

Fleur, observing the reactions of Krum and Cedric, understood the situation immediately. Cedric and she had received the task from Tom, while Krum obviously knew nothing and had come here by pure chance.

Actually, Fleur had no right to say someone else was lucky. Throughout the game, apart from a brief encounter with Tom, she hadn't had a real fight and had opened several treasure chests. She had been quite lucky with the chest openings, so much so that she had even arrived ahead of Cedric by a narrow margin.

Seeing the three champions gathered in front of her, Hermione also felt overwhelmed. She had never considered that this situation would occur, after all, the Forbidden Forest was a vast forest, and the chances of all three champions finding her at the same time were very low.

But as the saying goes, "the probability of a cat killing you is infinitely low, but not impossible." This low-probability event came true due to a series of timely coincidences.

"So, whoever passes my test, I will help." Finally, Hermione decided to follow the rules.

She rummaged in her tent and pulled out three scrolls of parchment. Looking at the three curious gazes and the concentrated looks of the students and teachers from the three schools behind them, Hermione said shyly, "Now, let's take an exam."

Fleur: ?

Krum: ??

Cedric: ???

"I will give away my treasure, this fragment of a magical bracelet, to the champion with the best result in the exam. If there is more than one person with a perfect score, I will fulfill a reasonable request from each."

Fleur frowned. "What if more than one person gets a perfect score?"

"Then, each will have a request fulfilled," Hermione said nonchalantly. "I don't think that's very likely; the questions are quite challenging."

Although this set of questions was something Hermione had quickly put together after entering the Forbidden Forest, it was difficult to get a perfect score due to the wide range of topics.

At this point, Krum was already in total silence and felt he could leave. An exam like this was too complicated for him as an athlete. He didn't believe he could outperform the other two.

Cedric finally accepted reality and nodded. "It's a fair way to do it; is there a time limit?"

"Three hours, ninety questions," Hermione announced, revealing the incredibly long duration of the exam. Three hours and ninety questions.

Her proposal sounded fair, but in reality, she was already showing a lot of favoritism toward Cedric. Who would have the advantage in an English exam between a Brit, a Frenchman, and a Bulgarian?

You didn't need to think too hard to realize that Cedric, whose native language was English, had the advantage. Although Fleur and Krum spoke English well, it wasn't their native language, giving them a natural disadvantage.

As expected, once the three started answering the questions, it became clear who was in the lead. Cedric responded fluently and quickly, while Fleur wasn't far behind, just a bit slower than Cedric. But Krum was struggling, his face turned red, he tried his best, but still lagged behind the other two.

Without sound and only hearing confused comments, the little wizards in the stands were baffled. They only knew that the three champions had gathered.

When Hermione pulled out the parchment, most wizards didn't know what she was planning.

Only a few wizards guessed Hermione's idea.

"Hey, wait, is this a joke? Does Granger want them to take an exam?" her dormmate, Sue Li, sat in the stands, rubbed her eyes, and sounded completely astonished.

"So, will we be watching the champions answer questions? This is so... amusing!"

For students, exams were painful, but watching others answer questions was very entertaining.

Seeing the champions struggle to answer the questions was more exciting than scoring high on one's own.

The giant screen also faithfully broadcasted the answers of the three champions, allowing every wizard to clearly see the questions on their exams. The questions weren't too deep, but they covered a wide range of topics, almost all the subjects Hermione had mentioned, including Charms, Potions, magical creatures, ancient runes, Herbology, History of Magic, and Astronomy.

With free time, many people began to discuss the answers to the questions.

Professor Flitwick even chuckled and cheerfully said to Professor McGonagall next to him, "It seems I can let Granger handle this year's final Charms exam."

"And Transfiguration as well," replied Professor McGonagall, interested, as she watched the giant screen and solved the questions along with the champions.