The day of the Eight-Team Tournament's second event quickly arrived—
"—Wake up!"
In the early morning, Hermione was pounding hard on Harry's dorm door, with Ginny weakly trailing beside her, her head hanging low, and red hair cascading like a waterfall, covering half of her face.
"... You really are energetic."
A very sleepy Harry opened the door, and seeing Hermione so full of energy, he couldn't help but yawn and mutter softly.
"What did you sa... never mind, don't worry about it, hurry up, you Champions need to be ready for the entrance, and we need to grab a good spot!"
Hermione waved her hand nonchalantly. Ever since the senior accepted her invitation to be her date for the Yule Ball, she had been in this oddly excited state.
"But we have to go underwater today, right? Even if you go, you won't be able to see—"
Harry rubbed his eyes, somewhat puzzled.
"Of course we can see, the senior arranged a live broadcast—with a television!"
As Hermione spoke, she used her wand to conjure a water bubble, which she smashed into Harry's face. Harry shivered instantly, waking up completely.
So he turned back into the room to wake Ron and Neville, and gave each of them a water bubble as well. The three wet boys fooled around for a bit and then slowly walked out of the boys' dormitory to join the two girls sitting in the common room.
"Wait, let me—"
Ron looked at Ginny, who seemed to have fallen asleep on the sofa, and he conjured a water bubble with a slight gleam in his eyes.
"Don't—"
But before he could move forward, Harry had already grabbed the back of his neck. Ron was startled, and his slightly trembling wand caused the bubble to plop right onto his own face due to gravity. He blinked silently and then turned to look at Harry, who wore a guilty expression.
"What... do you mean?"
Ron squinted, pushing his wet hair to the sides.
"Ahem, I mean, you shouldn't smash cold water into the face of someone who's sleeping. It might cause breathing problems, or even suffocation—this was even on Muggle news, it's backed by evidence, right, Hermione—"
Harry looked to Hermione with a pleading expression.
"...Yes."
The girl closed her eyes and nodded expressionlessly.
"See, see, that's why I made sure you were awake first—"
Harry nodded repeatedly, emphasizing how he was strict with himself first.
"...I see."
Ron nodded, apparently convinced by this explanation. He nudged the sofa Ginny was leaning on and was unsurprisingly met with an "Iron Fist of Love" from his sister.
"By the way, do you all have dance partners?"
As they walked out of the common room and down the spiral staircase, avoiding a trap they knew like the back of their hands after so many years, Ron seemed to suddenly remember something as he blinked and asked, "I know about Hermione, but what about you guys? Harry, are you planning to—"
"Uh—"
Harry instinctively lowered his head as he met Ginny's eyes, then the two of them instinctively looked away and turned to Hermione—who rolled her eyes and indicated with a look that everyone knew about her plans, suggesting they change the subject to someone else.
Therefore, Harry looked towards the only remaining "someone else."
"..."
Neville pointed to himself, a bit bewildered.
Yes, you! Harry squeezed his eyes decisively.
"...I found a dance partner."
Neville suddenly said, seemingly out of the blue.
Who asked you?
Ron blinked, having just contemplated giving Harry a piece of his mind if he really had found a dance partner and left him out. But now he was more interested in Neville's partner, so he promptly asked, "Who is it, who is it?"
"...A girl from Hufflepuff."
Neville hemmed and hawed for a long while before finally saying it slowly.
"It's Hannah Abbott, a blonde girl."
Ginny chimed in because, judging from Ron's puzzled expression, she could tell he had no idea who that was—she had played matchmaker, and with Kabuda's help, she had almost infiltrated every common room. Except for those "dark creatures" in Slytherin, she had quite a few friends in every house.
Hannah Abbott was also a member of the Duel Club, and recently, there had been a mutual attraction between her and Neville.
Nowadays, Neville was no longer the forgetful, honest, and somewhat silly figure he was over two years ago. The changes brought by his newfound strength were comprehensive. Although he still often lost things and received Howlers from his grandmother, the boy's charm had not diminished much—
"Okay, I don't know—what about you, Ginny? If you third-year students don't have an older dance partner, you can't even get into the Great Hall—what do you say, if you bribe me a little, I might take you in to have a look—ow—"
Ron's left foot suffered a heavy blow, and Ginny tossed her hair irritably, "It's really hard for you, don't worry, you don't have to worry, I already have a dance partner!"
"Who is it?"
Ron alertly raised his head, glaring around the entrance hall as if trying to spot the toad who dared to covet the Weasley family's swan.
"None of your business, just worry about yourself. If someone gets locked out—"
Ginny blushed and then click-clacked her heels as she ran towards the Ravenclaw table, where she found Luna—and the Niffler perched on her head. Kabuda slowly turned over and greeted Ginny, enjoying the massage service she provided.
Looking at its bulging pockets, it was clear that William hadn't cleaned it out lately.
"…Ha, her dance partner wouldn't be that Niffler, would it?"
Staring at the girl's back, Ron pursed his lips irritably, then patted Harry on the shoulder, "No worries, even if they've all found dance partners, I'll be with you, Harry—got anyone in mind?"
"...Yes."
Harry said with a straight face, expressionless.
"Who is it? We can give you some advice?"
Ron sat down by the Gryffindor Long Table, grabbed a bowl of Irish seafood soup, and asked with some curiosity.
"No need, I…have some confidence."
"...Alright."
Ron sighed, preparing to take a sip of the soup, but was then pulled aside by George, who had just entered the Great Hall. He and Fred had developed a new candy—the Daydream Curse—and wanted Ron to test the "effects," said to be absolutely explosive.
"You need to tell Ron the truth, Harry."
Hermione said seriously, spreading jam on her bread—she had long known Ginny had accepted Harry's invitation to be his dance partner, as did Neville and Cedric, and even Cho Chang, who had nothing to do with the matter—
Only Ron didn't know.
"I…I'm afraid Ron will kill me." Harry sighed honestly.
"But if you keep it a secret, he'll really kill you." Hermione shook her head, only mentioning this once more before refraining from further persuasion.
…
Harry ultimately didn't find the opportunity to come clean with Ron, and now stood on a low platform set up by the Black Lake.
He also saw the "broadcast" Hermione mentioned: four screens forming a square, floating in the air in the center of the grounds, displaying pale green scenes—seeing the swaying aquatic plants, Harry roughly guessed it was the bottom of the Black Lake.
The scene then changed, and the figures of the champions appeared at the center of the screens—
"Great, looks like everyone is ready—"
Still wearing his Wimbourne Wasps uniform, Ludo Bagman flew up into the air on a broom, holding a microphone, his voice coming from all directions, holding a rigid card, clearing his throat twice, "But before we begin, please allow me to say—"
Everyone pricked up their ears.
"Thanks to Olivander's Wand Shop for exclusively sponsoring this tournament. Choose a wand, choose Olivander's Wand Shop; Honeydukes, the magical candy haven, to give you a sweet dream; Madam Rosmerta of the Three Broomsticks wishes all champions a safe return…"
Hmm, this guy really has the hang of announcing.
Seated at the guest of honor seats, William couldn't help but nod. Although these endorsements and advertising fees would partly go to the Ministry of Magic, well—what belonged to Fudge also belonged to him, so no matter.
Finally, amid everyone's exasperated looks, Ludo Bagman finished reading all the advertisements, took another deep breath—
"Everyone listen closely, now, our champions are in position. When I blow the whistle, the second task will begin—they have a full hour to find the treasure we've placed in the Black Lake. I'll count to three, one…two…three!"
The sharp whistle echoed in the air, cold to the point of stillness—then, the stands erupted in cheers and applause.
Harry glanced at the other champions; everyone appeared hesitant, understandably so—this was December's Black Lake, with its dark surface even dotted with ice floes, no one dared to be the first champion—but eventually, someone had to go first.
So, Krum snorted, brandished his magic wand, and his form began to shrink, while his arms turned into fins—except for the still remaining two legs, the man had become indistinguishable from a shark. He leaped into the lake and vanished beneath the water.
Once the first champion had entered, the others found courage.
Abeba Hailu's method was much like Krum's, only her transfiguration spell was clearly more proficient, turning her entirely into a swordfish; Yamamoto Senren stuffed a wad of green grass into his mouth, gills began to grow on the sides of his cheeks, as his hands turned to fins; Alexander simply took off his shirt, showing neither a physical change nor consumption of anything, just took a deep breath and dived in—
The remaining champions used the same method, their heads encased in a translucent "water ball," exchanged a glance, then walked into the Black Lake together.