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[HP:Failed Art Student]-Chapter 78: The Night of Rain and Wild Flow
🕑 Added 2025-08-23 06:23:42 +0000 UTCThe camp.
“ROAR—!!!”
A terrifying roar suddenly erupted from within the dense forest!
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up in horror.
Gemma Farley sprang to her feet.
Her small face was pale as she stared intently at the dark, dense forest, tightening her grip on her wand.
Two seconds later, she spoke, her voice trembling:
“Immediately… immediately pack your things! Prepare to leave!”
That monster had finally caught up!
Someone shouted, “But, but Hamburg and Chips, they…” However, facing Gemma’s cold gaze, they swallowed their words.
They waved their wands, folded their tents, and swept their belongings into their bags in a rush.
They had only gone to set up a barrier, yet they hadn’t returned.
It was likely that those two were already in grave danger…
Damn it! When they participated in the challenge three years ago, it wasn’t this terrifying!
Was this still a youth competition?!
Just then.
A rapid sound of footsteps echoed from within the dense forest.
“Whoosh!”
A figure stumbled out of the bushes, rolling several times, then scrambled towards them on all fours!
Holy cow! Was it a monster spawn?!
A teammate shivered in fright, their scalp tingling.
They raised their wand and instinctively shot a Blasting Curse!
“Bang!”
“Ah!”
The spell exploded.
They heard the “four-legged monster” let out a shrill scream, rolling on the ground in pain.
“Idiot!” Gemma glared at the person who cast the spell, “That’s Hamburg Carrow! Our teammate!”
Boom!
A clap of thunder ripped through the dark sky, illuminating the face of the person on the ground.
The teammate realized, with a jolt, that this thing crawling on all fours like a wild beast was indeed Hamburg Carrow!
That Slytherin who prided himself on his noble pure-blood status!
Large drops of rain began to fall from the sky.
They splattered onto the face of this youth, once named “Hamburg,” washing out channels in the mud and bloodstains.
His robes were blackened by the earlier spell, hanging on him like rags, and his face and hands were covered in long, thin cuts.
His hair was wet and matted to his forehead, no longer clean and tidy as before.
In just over ten minutes, he looked as if he had suffered immense torment.
Even more chilling was Hamburg’s completely different demeanor from before.
“Save… save me…. Save me…. There’s a monster chasing me…. Chips is already…. Ahhh!”
Hamburg babbled maniacally.
His hands trembled like he was having a seizure, and his pupils shook violently.
On his face, covered in rain and mud, only the fear in his eyes was so clear, so palpable!
It was hard to imagine what kind of terror he had experienced to transform from that arrogant Slytherin into such a miserable state!
“Crunch.”
Not far away.
A faint sound, like glass being crushed, was heard.
The protective barrier had been breached.
Completely without any resistance.
Something had entered.
And was watching them from the darkness and shadows.
In the dead silence.
Heavy rain poured down, dousing the bonfire and drenching everyone, yet no one reacted—they didn't dare to move or make a sound.
Only Hamburg’s intermittent whimpers echoed in their ears.
A scorching heat, like a probing tentacle, swept across their exposed skin.
They stared into the darkness, but could see nothing.
This unknown, however, was even more terrifying.
Giving rise to countless twisted and horrifying imaginings.
They didn’t know what kind of end awaited them ahead.
Suddenly.
“Slap!”
A crisp, loud sound broke the suffocating atmosphere!
Everyone turned their heads in surprise.
They saw Miss Gemma Farley slap Hamburg across the face, knocking his head sideways.
Hamburg’s head was tilted, his cloudy eyes gradually clearing.
“Pack your things, we’re heading to the mansion immediately.”
Gemma’s voice trembled, but she still maintained her composure.
She didn’t know why the unknown monster hadn’t jumped out and attacked them.
…Perhaps, it wanted to play cat and mouse.
First, exhaust its prey, then devour it whole.
At this moment, strangely enough, what emboldened Gemma was not her role as captain or her trust in the competition organizers.
But the agreement she had with that boy, Ethan Vincent.
“I won’t attack you during the competition.”
Gemma brushed the hair sticking to her forehead back, and said firmly:
“Don’t be afraid, there are Aurors protecting us in the dark, nothing will really happen.”
“As long as we find the Portkey in the mansion, we can directly apparate out of this large swamp.”
Upon hearing this, everyone’s eyes lit up.
That’s right!
As long as they found the Portkey, they could instantly leave this cursed place!
Hamburg was the same.
Although half of his face was burning, that slap had indeed sobered him up.
…That’s right, the competition isn’t over yet.
How can I be on the same level as that mudblood…?!
Hamburg gritted his teeth and cast a Reparo on himself.
He stood up from his kneeling position, and a flicker of hope reignited in his eyes.
Since he was in such a sorry state, that first-year kid, Ethan Vincent, must have been eliminated long ago!
Perhaps, like Chips, who fell off the cliff.
He had silently perished in some corner.
Hamburg shivered, and quickly packed his things with his teammates, setting off again.
Yet, he still didn’t know that sometimes, an end was a kind of blessing.
Splish-splash.
The group walked through the rapidly accumulating puddles, ignoring the fatigue of their daytime journey, and hurried north.
No one dared to relax.
Because even if they couldn’t see them, it was as if pairs of eyes were watching them from the shadows.
Every branch that brushed their shoulders felt like the sharp claws of a beast!
What a sinister and terrifying monster, to use such a method to pressure them…
At this moment, only one thought supported them—as long as they reached the mansion, they would be safe!
At the same time.
A figure slowly walked out from the completely drenched campfire in the camp.
Under a dark red umbrella, a pair of cobalt blue eyes shone.
Quietly watching the direction they had left.
“How diligent.”
“They didn’t even rest, just went straight on their way.”
Ethan held up the umbrella he had conjured, murmuring with emotion.
He had originally stopped when he saw Miss Gemma Farley.
But for some reason, this group of people immediately packed up and left.
“I can’t fall behind either!”
Ethan clenched his fist, cheering himself on.
Behind him, shadows writhed.
Six orange-red eyes glowed like lanterns, and a colossal figure gradually emerged from the shadows.
“Grrrrrrr….”
Cerberus licked its fangs, still wanting more, and restlessly pawed the ground.
Ethan certainly hadn’t actually killed Chips, or any of the Ilvermorny competitors.
In fact, he didn’t even know the name of that Slytherin.
He just saw him alone and wanted to give him a little scare.
Who would have thought that the other party’s psychological endurance was so weak, that in his panic, he actually fell off the cliff himself.
And ended up half-crippled.
It wasn’t his fault, though. Ethan had even considerately waited for him to finish relieving himself and pull up his pants before summoning Cerberus.
He just didn’t know if this guy would be left with any psychological trauma in the future, unable to recover.
“All members of Ilvermorny, one Slytherin…”
Ethan counted on his fingers.
“That leaves Durmstrang, Krum, Beauxbatons, and Hogwarts.”
“Hmm, there are still a lot of people.”
Ethan tilted his head in distress.
He yawned, feeling drained.
“Cerberus consumes too much magic. With my current strength, I can only summon it for about half an hour at most.”
This was also why, after wiping out the Ilvermorny school team, the next victim didn’t appear until night.
“The personnel in the swamp are too scattered, it’s not easy to hunt them one by one.” Ethan thought.
“I followed the map, but I only encountered Ilvermorny and Gemma’s two teams along the way.”
After all, he was directly teleporting in segments using Cerberus, the eyeballs, and the portal.
Even if he encountered dangerous swamps or towering cliffs, he didn’t have to take detours at all.
He went straight ahead.
“To eliminate all other competitors, it’s best to find a way to gather them together… Hmm, what should I do…?”
“I got it!”
With a snap, Ethan snapped his fingers.
He curved his eyes, smiling gleefully:
“The answer is simple, I don’t even have to do anything!”
“Competitors capable of passing the competition will eventually gather in one place—”
“Herpo the Foul’s Abandoned Mansion!”
Then he would arrive at the mansion in advance and set up a “welcome ceremony.”
He just had to wait for them to come to him.
