The upgrade of the Refilling Charm this time didn't actually bring Link too much surprise.
He was just too familiar with the Refilling Charm, the very first spell he mastered in this world after crossing over.
The abilities gained from upgrading were nothing more than, larger casting range, stronger spell power, and being able to cast the Refilling Charm without the limitation of "requiring a container."
Among these, the only thing that truly increased Link's combat strength was the last one.
This made it so that Link practically gained an ability to freely control and create liquid.
He only thought about it a little before he developed high-speed water jets and ice-control techniques, based on the Muggle water-jet cutting machines and cooling systems.
But if one were to speak of the most terrifying means of attack, it was still directly pouring water into an enemy's body to cause fatal injury.
In the past, Link often used this trick, but as a general utility spell, the Refilling Charm was just too slow in flight and had very poor penetrating power.
The enemy could casually throw up a defense spell and block it, so later on, he barely used it anymore.
But after the Refilling Charm was promoted to lv6, these limitations no longer existed. Naturally, Link felt that from now on, he could once again include this method into his primary offensive techniques.
After all, this kind of eerie and bizarre killing method, in the eyes of others, practically seemed tailor-made for assassination.
Still, all of the above methods were something Link had already anticipated.
What truly surprised him was that he suddenly discovered that his curse power seemed to be able to combine with his water-control power.
Between the two forces, there were even faint signs of being able to moderately fuse.
Of course, this was only an accidental discovery by Link. At the moment, it was still in the exploration stage. Developing a truly practical method for real combat in the short term was still far off.
The smell of the "Hidden Things Room" that had been burned into ruins was just too unbearable.
So, after experimenting and summarizing his newly gained abilities, Link immediately switched the Room of Requirement into the "Nature Reserve Mode" he usually used for rest.
He released Arkam and Yoyo, letting them frolic with a few Skars, while he himself put on an eye mask, curled up on a recliner, and went to sleep.
He slept straight through the entire afternoon, only waking up groggily around dusk.
To be precise, Link was pecked awake.
And the culprit was none other than the phoenix Fawkes, who was now standing proudly on his chest.
"Yaaah!"
Fawkes, seeing Link finally awake, happily spread his wings.
Arkam and Yoyo also came over, first greeting Fawkes affectionately, then staring straight at Link with gleaming eyes.
They were hungry.
"All right, all right, I'll get you fed."
Struggling to sit up, Link shoved two "floating coconuts" at Yoyo, then tossed a beef thigh at Arkam, before turning his gaze back to Fawkes, who was curiously watching them eat.
"Dumbledore sent you to call me to a meeting, didn't he?" Link said softly, still not fully awake.
He wasn't surprised at all that Dumbledore could find him. That man was the headmaster of Hogwarts, how could he possibly be unaware of the state of the Room of Requirement?
If he hadn't said anything earlier, it was most likely because he had tacitly allowed it.
Hearing this, Fawkes flapped his wings and chirped happily, nodding.
Looking at him, Link suddenly recalled the jar of phoenix tears Dumbledore had brought out last night.
Who knew what kind of exploitation and torment Dumbledore put poor Fawkes through to collect so many tears?
"You poor little thing."
Link said sympathetically, while stroking the "dumb feather" on Fawkes's head. "How about from now on, you come with me instead? Don't keep working yourself to death for that old geezer Dumbledore."
"Yaah?"
A melodious trill rang out again.
Fawkes tilted his head, his face showing a very human-like look of confusion, as if saying, 'I don't understand human words, what are you talking about?'
Link froze for a moment at this. Clearly, Fawkes's intelligence was much higher than he had imagined, he could even fake ignorance like this, which was a pretty advanced skill.
But even though his attempt at stealing away Dumbledore's phoenix failed, Link wasn't discouraged. He patted Fawkes on the head again and said, "All right then, no more fooling around. Take me over."
Sure enough, this time Fawkes could "understand" again. He immediately spread his wings, fire wrapping around Link, and in the next moment, the man and bird vanished, leaving Arkam and Yoyo behind still happily munching away.
———
In a small chamber next to the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, Dumbledore, Maxime, Karkaroff, and the other Triwizard Tournament judges, as well as Moody and Snape, Dumbledore's two trusted aides, were seated around a long dining table.
The only source of light in the room was a few candles standing upright in the center of the table, which made the surroundings look particularly dim.
Under the flickering candlelight, the circle of people, silent all this time, looked even gloomier.
And in truth, their moods were indeed not good.
Dumbledore had suddenly invited them to a small banquet today. But now they had all been present for nearly an hour, and yet the banquet still hadn't begun.
It was obvious that Dumbledore was waiting for someone.
But this was a bit much.
They were all people of high status, usually, others had to wait for them.
Feeling the oppressive atmosphere in the room, Bagman swallowed nervously. He sensed that someone here was about to explode.
Realizing this, Bagman forced a smile onto his face and glanced at Dumbledore, who was still cheerfully smiling, planning to say something to ease the tension.
But before he could speak, a burst of dazzling flames suddenly leapt out from behind Dumbledore.
Then, carrying Fawkes on his shoulder, Link appeared before everyone.
"Oh! So this is a dinner party, huh?" Link stepped out of the flames with a grin.
One glance at the setup, and he knew Dumbledore wanted to discuss business at the dining table.
To be honest, this kind of thing was rare in Western Europe, where "dining table politics" wasn't that strong a tradition.
"Link, did you have a good rest?" Dumbledore's smile grew even brighter. He even personally waved a hand to pull out the chair at his side, motioning for Link to sit next to him.
Naturally, Link didn't stand on ceremony.
"Since everyone is here, let's begin the feast!"
At Dumbledore's order, steaming hot dishes finally appeared on everyone's plates.
Then Dumbledore patted Link on the shoulder warmly and said, "Link, eat plenty. Today's appetizer is cream pumpkin soup, prepared especially for you."
"Oh really! Thank you, Headmaster Dumbledore!"
Having slept the whole afternoon, Link was starving. He immediately launched into eating mode.
Beside him, Dumbledore simply watched him eat with a satisfied smile, as though just watching was enough to fill him up.
But seeing this, Maxime and Karkaroff's expressions became even more unpleasant.
They truly hadn't expected that the one they had been forced to wait nearly an hour for was a junior nobody like Link.
It was an insult.
So, a bizarre scene appeared.
In the entire chamber, only Link was eating heartily, while everyone else stared at him with varied expressions.
"Ahem!"
Karkaroff finally couldn't hold back, coughing twice to draw attention, wanting to start criticizing Dumbledore and Link with some sarcastic remarks to save face and maybe gain some advantage.
But before he could, Link, who had been eating, frowned and spoke first, "Headmaster Karkaroff, we're eating here. Can't you cough more discreetly? How rude!"
With that, he even pushed away his half-eaten pumpkin soup, as if he'd been disgusted enough to lose his appetite.
"You..."
Karkaroff was so furious his long face turned red, but since he was indeed in the wrong, he couldn't come up with a rebuttal. He could only point a trembling finger at Link.
"Heh heh heh!"
Link wasn't afraid in the slightest, sneering as he stared him down.
By now, his Legilimency was nearly at lv4, so the hostility in Karkaroff's heart was impossible to hide from him.
Beside them, Maxime shook her head helplessly.
Her own thoughts were much the same as Karkaroff's. The reason she hadn't spoken just now was precisely because she wanted Karkaroff to play the role of the first bird out of the cage.
But the result wasn't ideal, Karkaroff was just too stupid.
So she straightened up. Due to her figure and the lighting, this immediately made her appear even more imposing and solemn, naturally drawing everyone's attention.
"Albus, what exactly did you call us here for today?" Maxime asked bluntly.
Dumbledore's smile didn't fade as he replied, "Of course, it's about the third task of the Triwizard Tournament."
"After so much planning, the Ministry and I have already drawn up a preliminary scheme, and I wanted to discuss it with all of you."
"In that case, why is Link here? If you think it necessary for a champion to participate in today's discussion, then why didn't Fleur and the other champions come?"
"Dumbledore, are you openly favoring your own school's champion?"
Maxime narrowed her eyes coldly as she spoke.
She had already guessed today's agenda long ago. The reason she asked was just to draw out this point.
This was also what she was most dissatisfied about.
In her view, Dumbledore was being utterly shameless.
At this moment, Karkaroff finally caught on too, and quickly added, "Yes! That's right! You must give us an explanation!"
But Dumbledore didn't answer. He didn't even look at Maxime and Karkaroff. Instead, his gaze fell on Link.
Link also wasn't listening to Maxime's words, because he had noticed something much more interesting.
At today's banquet, besides the familiar faces, there seemed to be an unfamiliar guest.
It was a beautiful mermaid girl.
She had snowy white skin unlike ordinary Merperson, long smooth shiny black hair, and wore a gorgeous gown woven from seaweed, gems, and pearl shells.
Her appearance was sweet and lovely, far more beautiful than the mermaid in the Prefects' Bathroom portrait.
Most importantly, in her pair of gem-bright eyes shone a rare innocence.
The moment their gazes met, Link felt his heart skip a beat.
"Mmm…"
He couldn't help but sigh softly.
He wondered how a mermaid could appear inside Hogwarts, this land-locked castle. Could it be that her fish tail was soaking in a giant tank?
He wasn't too sure, because he noticed the mermaid girl at that moment looked very dehydrated.
She was hugging a large water bottle, drinking continuously, and even splashing water onto herself from time to time to stay moist.
This left the ground and walls around her soaked and messy.
The other guests all kept their distance, as though afraid of being splashed.
But how could Link, who prided himself on being a gentleman, watch a girl in distress and do nothing?
He stretched out his hand and tapped lightly. Instantly, a thick mist wrapped around the mermaid girl.
The sudden change startled her, but almost immediately she turned toward Link and smiled.
Link was briefly entranced again. He felt that the girl's smile carried a kind of magic that even Occlumency couldn't resist, compelling him to want to reach out to her.
Just then, Dumbledore's voice suddenly rang out.
"Wow, how did you manage that?"
Link shot him an annoyed look and said casually, "Just a little trick, nothing special."
"Is that so?"
Dumbledore looked at the mist surrounding the mermaid girl, murmuring meaningfully, his smile growing even brighter.
Then he turned back to Maxime, "Sorry, Olympe, I was momentarily distracted."
"As for your question, I can certainly answer it."
"The reason Link can be here, participating in our discussion of the third task, is not because he's a champion, but because the Flamel family, as governors of Hogwarts, will be providing external security for the third task. Link is here as the Flamel family's representative."
Strictly speaking, Dumbledore's explanation didn't really hold water, it was full of points that could be argued against.
But upon hearing it, Maxime fell silent, only casting a complicated look at Link.
She wasn't a fool. She could clearly see how exquisite Link's wandless, wordless mist spell just now had been.
It made her involuntarily recall Link's use of curse power.
What Link didn't know was that the ability to freely control elemental magic at will was in fact one of the key hallmarks of legendary wizards like Dumbledore and Voldemort, and also the greatest bottleneck preventing ordinary wizards from reaching that level.
At present, Link's raw magical strength was still far from legendary. But sharp-eyed people like Maxime could see that the greatest obstacle blocking his path had already vanished.
What's more, it now seemed that Link had also mastered another path, freely controlling liquid magic.
'Was he really still human?'
Maxime couldn't help but let out a profound sigh.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.