"..."
Harry was still a bit flustered, after all, being accused of cheating by a headmaster - the more crucial part was, he didn't even know if he actually was cheating. Although Hagrid and William both said that cheating was an ancient tradition of the Triwizard Tournament, and the latter even gave them a hint, but...
The performance and visual impact of those vines were simply too exaggerated - the reason why he didn't rush forward to grab the Golden Egg at the first moment was because he was so shocked.
As Neville had emphasized to him more than once, these enchanted seeds could barely control the Fire Dragon, so he believed him.
Harry looked back, watching the Hungarian Horntail still struggling, embedded in the tree trunk formed by Devil's Snares, and sighed helplessly - Neville misled me! Had I known, I wouldn't have thrown so many seeds!!
Just as Harry was filled with regret, the argument on the podium continued.
"This is cheating! Blatant cheating! A fourth-year student can use such, such..."
Karkaroff was at a loss for words, he didn't know how to describe the brown-green ocean not far away, and... little wizards tend to be impulsive, what if this Harry Potter takes a shot at him if he spoke too harshly?
Unlike the Fire Dragon, if he gets entangled by those vines… he might really have to meet his great-grandmother, right?
Although the possibility of the opponent doing so is low, it still isn't zero.
"Such powerful magic? But in my opinion, perhaps it's not magic?"
Compared to Karkaroff, Dumbledore's tone appeared rather gentle. Sitting beside him, Bagman was already cursing, appearing to have no intention of sparing Karkaroff's face - but upon hearing Dumbledore speak, Karkaroff chose to stay silent, merely casting an encouraging look at Harry.
As if saying, don't worry, I'll stand up for you!
Why is this old man being so nice to me? He just wanted to help him cheat...
Harry thought about it, his face showing an expression of horror. He instinctively stepped back two paces as if he just remembered something unpleasant, placing his hands behind him, covering his rear.
"Not magic? Then it's just cheating—"
Karkaroff felt he'd caught a loophole in Dumbledore's words, his face bursting into joy, "The Triwizard Tournament clearly stated that during the first task, champions may only rely on their magic wands - just like Viktor, though he didn't acquire the Golden Egg, he definitely didn't cheat!"
Karkaroff spoke the latter half of the sentence assertively, yet also somewhat resentfully—
He truly didn't cheat, who knew that the Ministry of Magic would carry out confidentiality work so well? From start to finish, not a trace of a Fire Dragon was revealed! Moreover, while he was left in the dark, it seemed others already knew - he tried to inquire, even offering money for information.
But, as if agreed upon, they all clammed up upon discovering his ignorance.
Bunch of bastards!
Karkaroff crossed his arms angrily, his voice filled with a hint of irritation.
"—using props does not count as cheating, Karkaroff."
Dumbledore shook his head, his tone remaining calm, placid as ancient wells, "Mr. Diggory, Mr. Hamilton... they all used props, yet this does not signify they cheated. The rules merely indicated that when entering the arena—
The elder emphasized his words, "as long as they enter only carrying their magic wands, I think you haven't violated any rules, right? Harry?"
"Ah... yes, Professor Dumbledore!"
Harry was still observing William saving the Horntail, momentarily caught off guard, but he still instinctively answered Dumbledore's question.
"...I still insist, zero points!"
Karkaroff took a deep breath, his gaze scanning those around him, but in the end, he could only close his eyes, rise, and leave his seat. Before departing, a silver zero shot from the tip of his magic wand, lingering in the air.
The spectators around were in an uproar; it was the first zero of the day.
"But your score won't matter! Igor!"
Bagman chuckled, speaking mockingly as he too brandished his wand, awarding the first hundred points of the day, "just like mine!"
Thus, the scoring proceeded orderly, with Harry's score eventually settling at 91 points.
Still unable to surpass Cedric's high score—a number of headmasters believed the magic items he used were too powerful. Though not cheating, it warranted a deduction. Bagman argued passionately for a while but ultimately couldn't change their decision.
Bagman bit his nails, his gaze flitting between Harry and Cedric.
"Alright then, you all did a great job!"
Finally, Bagman seemed to relinquish contemplating, his tone light as he spoke, "Now, I have only a few words to say—the second task will start at 9:30 AM on December thirteenth, until then, you can have a break—"
"However!"
Then, he switched topics, "we still left some problems for you to consider! Look closely at the Golden Eggs you are holding, you will find they can be opened... good, see the seam there? You must decipher the clue it provides—it will tell you the content of the second task, allowing you to prepare!
"Is that clear? Any questions? Alright, you can leave..."
"Not clear."
Krum's face looked awful, and so did Yamamoto Senren next to him, because among the champions present, only their hands were empty.
"Oh, I almost forgot—you didn't get the golden egg, so there's no clue for you—maybe, you should think of another way?"
Bagman shook his head cheerfully, clearly unconcerned whether the two had prepared at all. "Alright, I've said everything, any questions? ...Very well, since there aren't any, let's leave!"
Having said that, Bagman hopped away cheerfully, as if it was he who had successfully crossed a fire dragon just now.
"Well done, Harry."
Cedric patted Harry on the shoulder, his armor was already off, now held in his arms. Harry heard the armor groaning about a sore waist, until Cedric promised to apply two bottles of lubricant once back at the castle, at which point the armor hummed and went silent.
"You too."
Harry didn't mind and smiled at Cedric. The two walked down the stands together.
"They're just randomly scoring! How could you be second place, when you don't have a scratch on you—"
Upon stepping off the wooden platform, Harry heard Ron's complaints. At some point, Ron had appeared beside him, sounding excited yet also indignant, but as soon as he saw Cedric next to Harry, he added, "Oh, of course, I'm not saying you don't deserve it, you were really..."
"Alright, I know, thank you, Weasley."
Cedric sighed, interrupting Ron's declaration of 'innocence' and bid Harry farewell, then happily scampered off towards Cho Chang.
"...stop staring."
"I'm not staring!!!"
Harry shivered and instinctively refuted, but faced with Ron's gaze that felt like it could see through his underwear, the boy hesitated for a long time before finally sighing, "Don't worry, I haven't had any thoughts about her for a while now."
"Then who do you have thoughts about now?" Ron asked reflexively.
"..."
"...Why don't you say something?"
"Say something!!!"
"Ahem, let's not talk about this for now..."
Harry quickly changed the topic, and quite successfully, "Tell me about the performances of the other champions, you know, I was the last to go."
"I still think you're the best! Fastest and cleanest—the fire dragon didn't even breathe fire once!"
Ron nodded, smacked his lips as if reluctantly, and continued, "Apart from you, the most remarkable was Diggory. You didn't see him, he wore fireproof armor and chased that blue fire dragon with a great sword for half a lap—also, the girl from Uagadou, she turned into an elephant!"
"...Elephant?"
Harry blinked, instinctively looking at Neville walking on his other side. Seeing Neville nod, Harry realized Ron wasn't speaking nonsense.
"Yes, elephant! Almost as big as a Common Welsh Green, those fire dragons, as you know, are quite timid, it was scared off after a brief resistance, but during the resistance, the elephant got hurt, otherwise I'd estimate her score would be higher—"
Ron nodded, still with a tone of amazement.
"Delacour from Beauxbatons used a hypnotic spell, but the fire dragon's resistance was high, she still got a blast of flame while stealing the golden egg—"
Neville continued the explanation—
"I'm not quite clear what Stephens from Ilvermorny did, maybe some kind of confundus charm, after much struggle, the fire dragon mistook a pile of stones for dragon eggs, but Stephens got his hand burned by getting too close—Hamilton used fireworks, which caused most of his dragon egg to be crushed—"
"As for the Magic Institute and Durmstrang—as you saw, they didn't get the golden egg, in fact, Yamamoto Senren didn't get it because the fire dragon ate it directly—"
"?"
Harry felt his head was filled with question marks.
"The egg-eating fire dragon is Norbert—"
Neville helped explain.
Ah, Harry nodded, that made much more sense, "Then, what about Kodosdo..." Harry thought for a moment, realizing they seemed to have missed one.
"The 'Brown Bear' from Siberia, right? Oh, I almost forgot to mention, he fought that Hungarian Horntail directly—"
"Yes, and even slapped the fire dragon a couple times..."
"?"
Harry opened his mouth... How did this conversation become increasingly absurd? Was the world insane? Or was he?