There was no helping it—Avada simply did not have that much energy to spare for a fair and square battle against a Horned Serpent right now.
His stamina and focus had to be reserved for dealing with any possible accidents that might arise on Dumbledore's side. If he truly went all out without holding anything back, the strength he could unleash at this point was at least on par with a Head of House. And some of the original spells he had developed in secret—spells he had never exposed before—could even be capable of turning the tide of battle under certain circumstances. So his true influence probably had to be estimated even higher than that...
On any battlefield, at any level, that was already a force that absolutely could not be ignored.
He could not afford to waste it in an unimportant place.
In truth, even without using such rule-breaking methods, and simply relying on careful use of Transfiguration to wear it down, it was not as though he could not defeat the serpent in the water.
But if he did that, then by the time he beat the Horned Serpent, his mental energy would likely already have been drained by a considerable amount, and his body would also be left fatigued. And right now, he was not carrying any restorative potions on him.
So, under the control of Avada's already masterfully refined Imperius Curse, the Horned Serpent began cooperating with him in perfect sync.
Man and serpent traded blows back and forth with flawless coordination. Dazzling moves appeared one after another, and powerful, dangerous magic flew everywhere. Several times, Avada even seemed to be in imminent danger, on the verge of defeat, only to forcibly reverse the situation again through sheer exquisite technique, drawing repeated cries of alarm from the audience by the lakeside...
"Mr. Ken seems to have grasped the attack rhythm of that Horned Serpent!"
Amid the chaotic roar of the crowd, Barty shouted excitedly, "Look! He's once again dodged the Horned Serpent's attack as if he'd predicted it in advance, and then guided it at exactly the right moment into a trap he'd already laid down... Oh! That one definitely didn't feel good for the serpent. Is this battle about to come to an end... Well, the serpent hasn't lost consciousness yet, but it's very clear that it's started to feel fear..."
"The serpent has once again entered an invisible state. It seems unable to realize that its invisibility has already been completely seen through by its opponent, and it's still trying to struggle a little longer. But Mr. Ken seems to have made up his mind to end this battle... Merlin's beard! What is that?"
"A giant net that appeared out of nowhere has directly trapped the serpent! Its invisibility was completely useless, because that net covered the entire area of water, including the ghost ship itself. No matter how it dodged, there was no escaping it—but how did Mr. Ken construct such an enormous Transfiguration creation in only a few seconds?"
"No, this wasn't something constructed in a short period of time... He had been planning to build this net from the very beginning! He had been continuously creating threads beforehand, quietly weaving the net into shape little by little—his fighting, his movement, his spellcasting... all of it had been laying the groundwork for this final strike!"
"Now the Horned Serpent has completely lost the ability to resist. That means there are no more obstacles between Mr. Ken and his ghost ship... He's swimming over now, cast a few more Stunning Spells on the poor serpent, then released part of the giant net and dragged out the ghost ship that had been caught inside it... Excellent! Mr. Ken has become the first champion to enter a ghost ship!"
Seeing that Avada had already vanished from the section of mist showing his view, leaving behind only an old wooden boat floating quietly in the water, Barty hurriedly waved his wand and split off part of the mist to form a new screen, explaining things to the audience as he did so:
"To withstand the enormous water pressure in the deep lake, the champions' ghost ships have been protected by extremely powerful spells. Even our broadcasting magic cannot directly see inside them, so we could only add another separate broadcasting spell inside the hull itself..."
"We know this may cause some inconvenience for everyone watching, but this is also for the safety of the champions, so please be understanding... Look! Mr. Krum has reached the vicinity of his ghost ship a step ahead of Miss Delacour. He seems to be under attack, but he doesn't know what is attacking him. That is actually a Kelpie. They are capable of blending almost completely into the water currents, making them extremely difficult to detect..."
"Miss Delacour has run into trouble once again. Her progress is now considerably slower than that of the other two champions. She seems very unaccustomed to the underwater environment..."
...
Avada had already entered his ghost ship.
Just as Barty had said, the ship was indeed tightly protected by layer upon layer of powerful magic. The moment he opened the cabin door, the waterproofing spell within the ship alone was enough to effortlessly resist the immense water pressure from over a hundred meters below the surface. When Avada stepped out of the water and into the air inside the cabin, even the droplets clinging to his clothes and hair were left behind in the water outside.
The cabin was not large, only a few square meters or so.
There were no lamps, yet the air itself seemed to be filled with light, illuminating the whole cabin clearly. Inside there was only a chair, along with a small platform about the size of a tabletop positioned in front of it.
Avada, however, did not immediately begin piloting the ghost ship.
Instead, he first carefully examined the surroundings.
...Just as hidden as I expected.
After sweeping the area thoroughly with his magical senses and analyzing it for quite some time, Avada could not help nodding inwardly, acknowledging Barty's talent for causing trouble.
Before the golden egg makes contact with it, the trap here is both extremely well concealed and incomplete. Even if Dumbledore personally inspected it, without knowing the inside story, he would probably dismiss it as minor redundancy and overlook it...
Almost unconsciously, he touched the phoenix feather hidden inside the inner layer of his clothing, then lifted the golden egg that had been tucked under his arm the entire time.
Let's see how effective it is... Hopefully Grindelwald didn't get anything wrong.
As he thought to himself, he placed the golden egg onto the platform in front of the chair.
In the next instant, the surface of the golden egg directly melted away, turning into a pool of slowly flowing golden liquid that wrapped itself around the entire platform. Meanwhile, the bottom of the egg gradually fused with something hidden inside the platform, then, under the effects of Transfiguration, transformed into the shape of a ship's wheel.
And that was the final function of the golden egg—
The key to activating the ghost ship.
Moreover, the more complete the golden egg was, the better the resulting wheel could control the ghost ship.
And the reverse was true as well.
But since all three champions had obtained fully restored golden eggs, naturally no one would get to experience what it felt like to operate the ship with a poorly functioning wheel...
Of course, what had also been completed along with it was the trap spell partially hidden within the golden egg itself—
The one meant to drive Barty's final plan forward.
(End of Chapter)