When Ludo Bagman proposed speaking with Sherlock and Harry alone, the group instantly exchanged glances with one another.
The atmosphere at the wooden table paused for a moment, and even the crackling of firewood in the hearth seemed to grow clearer.
By conventional standards, Bagman, as one of the judges of the Triwizard Tournament, should have deliberately avoided any appearance of impropriety during the competition and refrained from private contact with the contestants as much as possible.
Yet here he was, not only initiating conversation in a crowded public place like the Three Broomsticks but also directly proposing a private discussion. It was highly irregular.
However, what came next was even more surprising.
"I'll pass, thank you."
Sherlock's voice was calm, as though he were discussing something completely unrelated to himself, yet his words directly cut through the anticipation in Bagman's eyes. "Whatever you have to say, you can tell Harry alone."
"Wh-what?!"
The smile on Bagman's face froze instantly.
His round eyes widened slightly, clearly not expecting Sherlock to refuse so decisively.
After all, in his view, although this Gryffindor Lion King was unconventional, he was still a Hogwarts student who should at least show some deference to a Ministry of Magic official.
Especially during the Triwizard Tournament, when facing a member of the judging panel, he shouldn't be acting like this.
However, Bagman quickly recovered. On second thought, what he had to say was indeed more suitable for Harry alone.
From what he'd gathered about Hogwarts, this Savior had a gentle temperament and was far easier to persuade than Sherlock.
Moreover, his entire fortune and very life depended on this conversation—he couldn't afford a single mistake.
"He looks rather nervous," Gemma observed, watching Harry follow Bagman toward a corner of the pub. Her gaze swept over the group of goblins still standing with their arms crossed before returning, her fingertips tapping lightly on the table. "He gives off the impression of a debtor being pursued by creditors, even his steps seem unsteady."
Sherlock nodded, his gaze resting on Bagman's retreating figure. "You're right."
"What?" Gemma looked at him with some surprise, her sea-blue eyes full of curiosity.
"Those goblins are indeed his creditors."
Sherlock spoke with a slightly mocking tone. "Because he's burdened with enormous debts, he's being so proactive in seeking out Harry and me. Right now, we've become his lifeline in his eyes."
Hearing Sherlock's words, the girls perked up immediately, all looking at him with interest as he explained his deductions about Bagman's behavior.
While Sherlock was dissecting Bagman's motivations, Bagman had already led Harry to a corner far from the bar.
The lighting here was dim, with only an oil lamp hanging on the wall casting weak illumination, just enough to light up their faces.
"Harry, first I want to congratulate you again on your outstanding performance against that Hungarian Horntail," Bagman said, looking at Harry with sincere enthusiasm. "You were absolutely brilliant! No one could have imagined turning the competition into a Quidditch match with a simple summoning charm. Not even Viktor Krum, and he's one of the world's best Seekers! Instead, your match gave him inspiration—and that's all my fault, I made a serious mistake!"
"Ah?" Harry looked at him in bewilderment, his brow furrowing slightly.
On one hand, Bagman's sudden familiarity made him somewhat uncomfortable. Their relationship shouldn't be this close, should it? Although Bagman had helped the Weasley family get good tickets at the Quidditch World Cup, Harry himself wasn't a Weasley.
On the other hand, he couldn't understand what Bagman was blaming himself for. After all, as a judge, there was no way to pin any fault on him.
"It's all because I was commentating too loudly!" At that moment, Bagman immediately displayed an expression of chagrin.
He slapped both hands on his thighs, his voice full of self-reproach. "The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang contestants couldn't see what was happening in the match! Viktor Krum must have heard my commentary and understood your tactics, which led him to think of the same approach. It's all my fault—I really wasn't careful enough!"
Harry paused, instinctively adjusting his glasses. When Bagman put it that way, it did seem to make some sense.
The cheering at the arena had been so loud that if Bagman hadn't used the Sonorous Charm as he had during the Quidditch World Cup, making his commentary exceptionally loud, Krum indeed wouldn't have been able to figure out their tactics.
However, as a match commentator, Bagman's passionate style had always been this way. This could only be considered a minor issue, nowhere near the level of "serious mistake" he was describing.
Harry was about to explain when Bagman had already changed direction and continued speaking. "Fortunately, the imitation couldn't match the original! Even though he's one of the world's best Seekers and learned your tactics through my commentary, without adequate preparation he still couldn't match you! In my professional opinion, if you went into Quidditch professionally, your future achievements would definitely be no less than Krum's! No, I should say you'd definitely be even better than him!"
"Ahem..." Harry felt embarrassed by Bagman's praise and quickly waved his hands. "Actually, our advantage in the first task was mainly due to Sherlock—he was the one who thought of using the Summoning Charm to bring the broomstick. Krum's flying technique is much better than mine. They didn't perform well in the first task because they weren't united like we were..."
"Those details don't matter!" Bagman waved his large hand dismissively, saying cheerfully, "In any case, you performed brilliantly in the first task! You successfully represented Hogwarts, no, the entire United Kingdom with distinction!"
"Thank you, Mr. Bagman." Harry thanked him again.
But he wasn't foolish. He was well aware that Bagman surely had more to say than just this. Otherwise, he could have simply congratulated Sherlock and himself in front of their friends rather than requesting a private conversation.
However, at this moment, Bagman didn't seem in a hurry to reveal his true purpose. He glanced toward the goblins at the other end of the bar.
Following his gaze, Harry looked over and saw the goblins squinting their dark eyes, silently watching Bagman and himself.
"N-nightmare, this is absolutely a nightmare," Bagman said, noticing Harry was also looking at the goblins. He lowered his voice. "Their English isn't very good... It's like being back at the Quidditch World Cup, dealing with those Bulgarians... But at least the Bulgarians could gesture and make themselves understood. These fellows just keep gobbling away in their Gobbledegook... Unfortunately, I only know one word in Gobbledegook: Bladvak, which means 'pickaxe.' I won't use that word in case they think I'm threatening them."
At this point, Bagman gave a low, brief laugh.
"So what do they want?" Harry had also noticed by now that the goblins were watching Bagman with extreme wariness, as if he might run away at any moment.
When Harry asked about this, Bagman suddenly became nervous. "They... uh... they've had a small misunderstanding with me."
"Misunderstanding?"
"Yes, a misunderstanding, but that's not important." Bagman lowered his voice again. "Don't worry about them. Actually, I wanted to talk to you and Sherlock today mainly to ask—how are you getting on with that golden egg?"
After finishing this sentence, he immediately added, "I already asked Diggory, and he said he gave the golden egg to you."
"Uh... it's going okay." Because he wasn't sure what Bagman was trying to do, Harry didn't tell the truth.
Although Bagman was a British Ministry of Magic official and had shown great favoritism toward Hogwarts in the first task, Harry still didn't dare trust him at this moment.
What if he was a spy who had been compromised by another country? Sherlock had said the British Ministry of Magic was like a ship, and that ship was leaking from stem to stern.
Bagman obviously knew Harry wasn't being truthful.
"Listen, Harry..." He lowered his voice even further and used as sincere a tone as possible. "I actually feel terrible about all this."
"What? Terrible?" Harry's eyes widened in surprise.
"Shh... keep your voice down. I mean... although I don't know why the Goblet of Fire chose you, but... you and Sherlock are the only two underage wizards among the three schools."
"So what?" Harry looked at Bagman in confusion.
"I'm saying you were forced into this tournament. Compared to the other contestants, you've had two to three fewer years of magical education, specifically the crucial fifth and sixth years. In fact, you haven't even passed your O.W.L.s yet..."
Watching Bagman's puzzled expression, Harry was gradually catching on. He stared at Bagman and said deliberately, "Mr. Bagman, why don't you speak more plainly."
"Very well. I mean, if I could help... I could give you an appropriate hint. Do you understand? Because I've grown fond of you and Sherlock. As the two youngest contestants, your bravery in facing that dragon has completely won me over! So it's fine, just say the word."
Harry looked up in disbelief. Bagman's round face was flushed red, like Ron's hair. Those wide blue eyes were so clear and foolish.
"But we're supposed to figure out the clues on our own, aren't we?" Harry tried to make his tone sound casual, not accusatory toward the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, a Triwizard Tournament judge, for improperly violating the rules.
How should he put it? After all, the man was trying to help him, showing good intentions. Or was he? Maybe he was actually trying to entrap him?
"Oh... yes, yes." Hearing Harry's words, Bagman seemed somewhat impatient. "Don't be silly, Harry—we all want Hogwarts to win, don't we?"
"Yes, we do think that way, but if we did this, even winning wouldn't be honorable."
"What?" Bagman stared at Harry as though he'd heard something utterly ridiculous. "Don't be foolish, child. History is always written by the victors! This is true for peoples, for nations, and for individuals as well! As long as you truly win, who will care about these details!"
"I care," Harry said calmly.
He himself didn't fully understand why he was refusing Bagman. The reason he gave Bagman was one aspect: if a judge helped him, even winning wouldn't be honorable—he wanted to win, but he wanted to win cleanly.
Another reason was that Sherlock had already solved the golden egg's puzzle, so they didn't need Bagman's extra help at all. He fully trusted his friend's intelligence, and would continue to do so in the upcoming competitions.
Come to think of it, having Sherlock participate in the Triwizard Tournament was already tantamount to cheating. If they also accepted Bagman's "goodwill," that would be an outright insult to Sherlock.
Wait! Harry thought one level deeper—Sherlock must have already seen through Bagman's intentions, which was why he disdained to come speak with him.
Of course, there was also a darker possibility, the one he'd initially considered. Ludo Bagman had already been recruited as a spy by Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, and he was trying to entrap them. If Harry actually agreed, Bagman would use his authority as a judge to directly disqualify the Hogwarts team. If that were true, Harry would become Hogwarts's sinner.
"Harry, how can you..."
Seeing Harry's obstinate attitude, Bagman, who had been smiling, now looked somewhat annoyed. He hadn't expected this Savior to be so difficult, no different from that Lion King who had directly refused him.
"Thank you, Mr. Bagman, truly," Harry tried to make his voice sound sincere. "But I think we'll be able to crack the golden egg's secret before long—with Sherlock around, this sort of thing isn't a problem at all. Also, we can't selfishly put you in an unethical position just for our own benefit."
Seeing Harry's earnest expression, Bagman stared at him dumbly, seeming at a loss.
Was this Savior for real? Was he truly this kind-hearted?
"He must think you're very kind!" When Harry recounted the entire conversation, Hermione couldn't help but laugh.
Cho Chang and Ginny looked at Harry with even more adoration. This kindness was exactly why they liked Harry.
"I don't care what he thinks!" Harry said irritably, then turned to Sherlock. "Sherlock, I refused him but didn't tell him you'd already solved the golden egg puzzle. I had three main considerations..."
He proceeded to explain his reasoning.
"Harry, I must say, you've really improved tremendously!" Hearing Harry's deductive process, Sherlock burst out laughing. "Not only can you make deductions, you've even developed three different levels of interpretation. I have to say, you've truly impressed me!"
Hearing this, Harry couldn't help but show a brilliant smile. Finally, he'd earned Sherlock's praise!
However, just as his heart was swelling with satisfaction, Sherlock's tone shifted. "The only problem is that all your deductions are wrong."
Harry: '(°ー°〃)
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