The threatened merpeople seethed with anger.
One hurled its spear, which Harry deflected with a spell.
"You've no choice," Harry stated coldly, tightening the vines further until a plumper merperson yelped in discomfort.
"You violate the rules!" the lieutenant growled.
"No," Harry's waterlogged brain worked surprisingly clearly. "The rules never said I couldn't negotiate. Whereas you probably can't harm champions, can you?"
The lieutenant tensed as Harry's wand tip found its mark.
Two muffled sounds erupted underwater as invisible projectiles struck the unprepared deputy leader, sending him flying dozens of metres away.
"When you display extraordinary power, even the most hot-tempered individuals will reason with you."
Harry firmly remembered Mr Grindelwald's words. He hadn't struck to kill – of course, he wouldn't – but this was an opportunity to demonstrate his strength to the merpeople.
"Honourable deputy leader," Harry said, bubbles escaping his mouth as the deputy floated back, "you wouldn't want your people to suffer, would you?"
"I'm not the leader," the deputy said warily.
"Then where's your leader? I need to speak with him. Quickly." Harry glanced around nervously, worried that other champions might appear.
The deputy pointed at Wayne, who was watching the spectacle from within a bubble: "Injured by him. Resting at home."
Harry: "..."
It seemed Wayne had truly grasped the essence of Mr Grindelwald's teachings. He still had much to learn.
"Will you agree or not?" Harry refocused.
"I agree. I swear by Tulaharl, god of the merpeople." The deputy's voice grew solemn. "Little wizard, I know you're bluffing. These scenes are being watched from outside. You wouldn't dare kill."
"But your strength has earned my respect. I'll honour our agreement."
Harry smiled, quickly releasing the four merpeople before swimming to Ron's side. As he approached, the bubble vanished, transforming Ron's deep sleep into unconsciousness. Well... not much difference really.
After giving Wayne a pointed "good luck" look, Harry hoisted Ron and began ascending.
Watching him leave, Wayne sighed inwardly.
What a fine boy, corrupted by Grindelwald in such a short time.
Though that final glance puzzled him – why did it seem to carry pity?
...
Spectator stands.
The audience and judges had witnessed Harry's actions.
Without underwater audio, they'd initially struggled to understand, but the unfolding events – plus the four additional merpeople guards now stationed by each hostage – made everything clear.
His methods immediately sparked heated discussion.
"He can do that?"
"Eight merpeople per hostage now? How will other champions pass?"
"How's Potter's magic so powerful underwater? He sent that merperson flying!"
"Utterly despicable. Isn't this a foul?"
The judges were equally divided.
"Sabotaging other champions, Dumbledore? This is your exemplary student?" Karkaroff predictably led the accusations.
"Rather excessive," Fontaine remarked coolly. "There's no direct competition between champions this round. No need for such measures."
Madame Maxime frowned but remained silent.
"I see no issue," Katerina side-eyed Karkaroff. "Weren't some people encouraging their champions to steal others' spoils last task? Suddenly concerned about etiquette now?"
Crouch stated flatly: "Potter violated none of the stipulated rules. Others may employ similar tactics."
"Our champions would never stoop so low," Fontaine sniffed.
The rebuttal came swiftly.
The second champion to arrive after Harry was Cassandra. Whether it was eight merpeople or four made little difference to her.
Having fought her way through, Cassandra had picked up some tricks for casting spells underwater.
Avoid projectile-type spells—their power and speed diminished significantly—but certain magic could produce surprisingly effective results.
With just a single Gust Jinx, Cassandra whipped up a towering wave that sent the merpeople guarding the hostages tumbling away, effortlessly securing the rescue.
Yet after accomplishing this, Cassandra didn't leave. Instead, she smirked coldly at Wayne.
Wayne, too, was admiring her fishtail. Paired with Cassandra's slender figure and striking beauty, removing the Bubble-Head Charm would make her the spitting image of a legendary Siren.
"You're beautiful," a line of large words floated before Cassandra.
"Flattery won't save you," Cassandra snorted softly before casting another Gust Jinx, sending the bubble encasing Wayne drifting far away.
You want to cosy up with Tomoyo? Well, I won't let you have your way!
Thus, Wayne stared blankly as he was shoved out of the merpeople's square—not just him, but the other bubbles were also scattered by Cassandra's spell, vanishing without a trace.
The competition had descended into complete chaos.
Fontaine was utterly speechless.
The crowd had entirely forgotten Harry's earlier actions, their gazes now fixed on him with eerie fascination.
"Ahem," Fontaine cleared his throat, forcing a smile. "Well, it seems this task is quite... competitive. I was worried it might be dull."
"Indeed," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And the audience reaction appears rather positive, wouldn't you say?"
Positive was an understatement—they were practically howling with laughter. Ilvermorny students loudly praised Cassandra's cleverness, while Gryffindors, always up for a spectacle, cheered enthusiastically. After all, Harry had already rescued his hostage, so they had nothing to lose.
As for the others, they were torn between amusement and exasperation, but even they found it far more thrilling now.
All they wanted to know was what fresh antics the remaining champions would bring.
Finally, both Beauxbatons and Krum arrived at the merpeople's square almost simultaneously, staring in bewilderment at the two floating bubbles before them.
Where were their hostages?
It was only after the merpeople deputy leader's explanation that they understood what had happened, looking utterly miserable as they scattered to search the surroundings.
Krum found his hostage first. Relying on the shark's sharp teeth, he drove away eight merpeople and successfully rescued his hostage. Due to time constraints, he didn't do much else—just pushed Angelina further away when he saw her on the way before making his escape with the hostage.
Buso had it harder. His transformed fish form had no combat capability whatsoever. Forced to revert to human form, he activated his Command Seal to conjure solid walls that trapped all eight merpeople inside. Then, just before suffocating, he transformed back into a fish, bit through the ropes, and tugged at the hostage's clothing to swim upwards.
Buso was crying internally at this point.
He should have learned to transform into something larger during training. Now, dragging a person with his teeth felt like they might snap any second.
"Why hasn't Fleur come to save me yet..." Wayne propped his chin idly, manipulating an ocean current to push himself and Tomoyo together again.
As for Sakura...
Well, he'd leave that to fate.
They'd talked about it on Valentine's Day—Sakura had a terrible sense of direction. For her, the dangers along the way might not be the issue, but finding the destination was undoubtedly the greatest challenge.
Soon, Cedric arrived, his large head stuffed inside the Bubble-Head Charm, looking particularly ridiculous. The direction Krum had pushed Angelina happened to be the same way Cedric was coming from, which didn't delay him at all—in fact, it even helped.
Five minutes later, Sakura and Fleur finally arrived together.
Wayne excitedly conjured a line of text: "Fleur, you've finally come to save me!"
Fleur smirked coldly, conjuring her own reply: "I deliberately came late to avoid interrupting your little moment with Tomoyo."
Wayne's expression froze, his pupils dilating slightly as realisation struck.
Holy shit, did the live broadcast start early?
Tomoyo reached the same conclusion, her fair cheeks flushing crimson as she lowered her head in embarrassment.
Sakura glared furiously at Wayne, but before she could say anything, eight merpeople surrounded them—perfect timing to bear the brunt of her anger.
With the Power Card activated, Sakura transformed into a powerhouse. Without using a single spell, she simply whacked the merpeople over the head with her wand, leaving them covered in lumps. The audience outside watched in stunned silence.
Why was such an adorable girl so violent? Both rounds of the tournament had been solved through physical means.
Fleur used a sleeping spell to effortlessly knock out the merpeople.
Sakura forcefully popped Wayne's bubble, clearly venting her frustration. Knowing the girl was furious, Wayne pretended to suffocate, flailing his arms dramatically. This terrified Sakura, who immediately pressed her lips to his for artificial respiration.
Fleur's chest ached with anger—she knew full well Wayne was faking it. Only someone as naive as Sakura would fall for it.
She pulled Sakura away, pointed at Tomoyo, then wordlessly recast the Bubble-Head Charm on Wayne before dragging everyone off.
...
Ten minutes later, both groups reached the shore where Madam Pomfrey was waiting to escort them to the medical tent.
Wayne shook his head and declined. With a flick of his finger, their soaking clothes became perfectly dry, their hair returning to normal. Still, Madam Pomfrey insisted they each drink a potion to prevent catching a cold.
The stands were alive with noise, a cacophony of shouts and cheers. Wayne turned to glance at the screen—only the final group of champions remained unaccounted for.
Fleur pinched his waist discreetly. "You're in trouble when we get back," she whispered.
The boy grimaced, mentally cursing the Ministry of Magic staff responsible for the live broadcast equipment.
...
Meanwhile, Sakura pulled Tomoyo aside.
"Tomoyo, how could you and Wayne do... that sort of thing during a live broadcast?" Sakura's cheeks burned, though she avoided stating it outright.
"We didn't know it was being broadcast," Tomoyo replied, equally troubled—not by regret, but by the realisation that her first kiss had been witnessed by countless eyes.
"What exactly happened?" Sakura pressed.
After Tomoyo's explanation, Sakura's expression shifted through a spectrum of emotions.
All because of something so trivial?
Tomoyo suddenly hugged her. "Just now, Wayne said your lips are softer than mine," she murmured.
"I—I—" Sakura flushed crimson. "Don't listen to his nonsense!"
...
Wayne was busy putting out fires—figuratively speaking.
Publicly cuckolding someone was simply too outrageous. He repeatedly explained that he'd had no idea the broadcast had started, and that he and Tomoyo had merely been engaged in serious academic discussion.
The first half of this excuse was widely believed; the latter half, even Wayne himself found unconvincing.
Fortunately, Vladimir's belated arrival temporarily diverted attention from Wayne's predicament.
The judges were preparing to award scores.
The allotted time was one hour, yet in the end, only Harry and Cassandra had completed the task within the limit.
Their performances had been flawless, each step executed without error.
It was their final actions that had thrown the competition into disarray, preventing other participants from finishing on time.
Thus, despite some full marks being awarded, both ultimately received only sixty points.
Next were Cedric and Krum, both exceeding the time limit by under ten minutes. Cedric, having finished slightly earlier, earned fifty-three points to Krum's fifty.
The remaining scores continued in descending order.
The final results were: Buso—47 points.
Sakura and Fleur—44 points.
Vladimir, the last to return—40 points.
The audience voiced no objections to these results, deeming them fair.
"A tremendous round of applause for our champions!" Bagman launched into his customary lengthy speech, yet the crowd showed no impatience, instead offering enthusiastic applause.
The champions' performances had indeed been remarkable.
Even Harry—initially suspected of securing his place through favouritism—had excelled. After three rounds, his scores not only remained competitive but also placed him solidly in the upper midfield.
Dumbledore beamed with pride.
Throughout the tournament, aside from Wayne's first-round hint about the dragon's presence, Harry had relied entirely on his own abilities for the subsequent challenges without external assistance.
Yet a question lingered in Dumbledore's mind.
What had come over Harry today? Resorting to merpeople to hinder other competitors seemed uncharacteristic of his usual... well, temperament.
"After three rounds of competition, the Holy Grail War is approaching its finale!" Bagman continued his enthusiastic commentary:
"On the twenty-fourth of June, we shall hold the final contest to determine the champion."
"The last round will be the traditional maze event. Champions will enter the maze in staggered intervals based on their current point differences - a thirty-second delay for every point behind."
"You have four months to prepare thoroughly. We hope to witness another display of exceptional skill!"
Amid cheers and applause, Bagman lowered his wand. The students finally understood the purpose of the points system and began rapid calculations.
An excited badger shouted, "Cedric's currently in first place!"
Hermione quickly calculated Harry's position: "Harry's fourth! He's only thirteen points behind the leader - that's six and a half minutes."
Nearby, Malfoy's face turned red with rage. He kicked his two lackeys and stormed back towards the castle.
The crowd gradually dispersed. Neither Newt nor Nicolas had attended today, so Wayne decided to head straight back.
Spotting Harry after he'd received Professor McGonagall's praise, Wayne beckoned him over.
"Was that move today taught by old G?" Wayne asked.
Harry smiled sheepishly. "Just something I came up with. Mr G said to use my advantages, and if I don't have any, create problems for others."
"Good lesson," Wayne said approvingly, patting his shoulder. "But I should warn you - don't mention him in front of Professor Dumbledore."
Harry looked puzzled. "Why?"
"They had... let's say significant disagreements in their youth. Their relationship soured, even came to blows."
"That's why he never visits Hogwarts in person."
Harry's eyes widened in understanding. "I see now."
"But Mr G often praises Professor Dumbledore. I thought they got along well."
"Perfectly normal," Wayne waved his hand. "Madara kept praising Hashirama, too - makes him look more impressive."
Harry looked completely lost.
"Just remember what I said."
With that, Wayne left him behind, catching up with Cho and Hermione as they walked towards the castle.