The Admiral of Hogwarts

"What in the world is this?" Ron was the second to fall, landing rather inelegantly on all fours. Because of this, he clearly felt something soft cushioning his fall.

"I don't know, it feels like some kind of plant. Probably placed here to cushion the impact of the fall," Harry said. At the same time, they heard another thud nearby, indicating that Veneto had also fallen. "There aren't many wizards who can fly without any support, so if this place is designed like this, there must be some safety measures in place."

"This is not a safety measure at all! I really don't understand why there's such a large patch of Devil's Snare here," Veneto exclaimed before Harry could finish his sentence. "Oh, moving tentacles, this is just awful!"

As she spoke, she struggled towards a damp wall, while the vines on the ground kept trying to wrap around her ankles. However, because she was prepared and possessed considerable strength, she quickly broke free and stood outside the Devil's Snare's reach.

But Harry and Ron weren't so lucky this time. Because they were a bit slow to react, their legs were already entangled by the vines, making it impossible for them to move.

"Didn't you guys pay attention in class?" Veneto sighed, drew her wand, and quietly muttered a spell. Soon, a series of bluebell-like flames erupted from the tip of her wand, and the vines on the ground quickly retreated, avoiding the light and warmth.

Naturally, the vines that had been缠绕缠绕 Harry and Ron also retreated, allowing the two boys to escape from the tangled mess. Seeing that everything was safe, Veneto immediately started to nag. "This stuff is Devil's Snare! It wraps around and kills those who fall on it. But its weakness is light and heat. Sprout emphasized this repeatedly in class, how could you not remember?"

Amid Veneto's nagging, they started to walk along the only corridor in the area. Knowing they were in the wrong, Harry and Ron remained silent, except for Ron mumbling something along the lines of 'Maybe only Ravenclaw students remember every word the professors say.'

However, Veneto's nagging was much milder than Hermione's, so she stopped quickly. At this point, besides their own footsteps, the only sound in the corridor was the slow dripping of water droplets down the walls.

"Can you hear anything?" Ron suddenly asked after they had walked a short distance further. "I think I hear rustling and tinkling sounds ahead, like the rapid flapping of insect wings."

"I hear it too," Veneto said. "And I see some light ahead. I think if we go forward, we should know what's there."

With that, she quickened her pace, and the two boys could only exchange a glance and jog to catch up. Soon, they reached the end of the corridor, where a brightly lit room lay before them, with a high, arched ceiling. Countless small birds, as dazzling as jewels, fluttered around the room.

"I think I know what was making that noise, it's keys." Although she knew the plot, in order to avoid the butterfly effect, she still raised her head to look after entering this room. As a ship girl whose eyesight, especially dynamic vision, is better than ordinary humans, she quickly saw that these things were keys with wings, and even found the silver key with drooping wings at a glance.

"So, to open the wooden door on the other side, we have to find the right key from that pile and catch it," Harry said, scanning the room. He quickly found the flying brooms in the corner. "It seems the designer of this challenge is being quite obvious."

"In that case, what are we waiting for?" Veneto said, striding to the corner, picking up a broom, and kicking off the ground, soaring into the air. Then, she charged into the dense array of keys. Seeing this, Harry and Ron also grabbed the other two brooms and flew up.

Because she had already observed the key's location, Veneto steered the broom straight towards the large silver key as soon as she took off. Although she wasn't particularly skilled at flying compared to those aircraft carrier ship girls, her extremely strong physique still gave her a considerable advantage in this area.

So, only 30 seconds after taking off, she successfully forced the silver key with blue wings to fly to the wall. But at that moment, she analyzed from the known situation that these keys were too maneuverable. If she flew over in such a step-by-step manner, the key might have already escaped.

"Don't even think about running!" After reaching a conclusion, Veneto shouted loudly and pressed down on the broom, leaping off and pinning the key, which didn't have time to dodge, against the stone wall, making a harsh metallic clanging sound.

"Veneto—!" Harry and Ron, who were following behind, cried out in alarm at the sight. After all, although this place wasn't very high, it was still two or three stories tall. Falling from this height would almost certainly result in serious injuries.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Veneto shouted after hearing the exclamations behind her. At this time, Harry and Ron could see through the swarm of keys flying in the air that Veneto was holding a large silver key in one hand, and the other hand was hooked onto a groove in the stone wall, hanging there, not falling as they had imagined.

"You should know that I'm very strong, so you shouldn't worry about this," Veneto said, using the uneven surfaces of the stone wall as leverage, and quickly returned to the ground. At the same time, Harry and Ron also landed.

"That was so cool," Ron whispered after getting off the broom. After discovering that Veneto was fine, he and Harry immediately developed a sense of awe towards Veneto from the bottom of their hearts.

"I'm not quite the same as normal people, so don't try to imitate me," Veneto said, walking to the door and inserting the struggling large key into the keyhole, twisting it forcefully. With a click, the lock sprang open, and the key flew away again. It had been caught twice in a row and looked haggard.

"Let me see what the next challenge is," Veneto said, pushing open the door. The second room was pitch black, and nothing could be seen. But as soon as they stepped inside, the room suddenly lit up, illuminating a shocking scene.

They were standing beside a giant chessboard, with black pieces in front of them, all taller than themselves, seemingly carved from black stone or something similar. On the other side of the room, facing them, were some white pieces.

"It seems the next challenge should be chess," Veneto said, after seeing the situation on the field.