After Fleur, it was Ginny's turn.
Compared with Fleur, Ginny was much more reserved. While they danced, she only stared at Harry with her pretty face bright red, without so much as blinking. By the time the dance ended, the girl nearly fainted.
Before anyone realized it, the Yule Ball had come to an end.
Aside from Hermione, Ginny, and Fleur, other witches had also invited Harry to dance. Harry refused most of them, but he did not turn down a few girls he was actually friendly with, such as Angelina from the Quidditch team.
After the ball ended, Hermione pulled Harry outside, and in the end, the two of them found their way to a hidden patch of grass.
They lay down together in the grass. Hermione's face was still flushed as she complained, "Fleur and Ginny are so annoying. But at least we managed to shake them off."
Harry only smiled without answering.
As the night deepened, countless stars shimmered across the sky. Moonlight fell like a veil of silver gauze, making the grass, already scattered with faint magical glimmers, seem even more ethereal.
Suddenly, Hermione stopped her endless grumbling. Harry noticed that she was staring fixedly at him, her eyes already filled with tender emotion.
Her breath brushed over the black hair the night breeze had tousled across Harry's forehead, and her trembling fingertips traced the line of his jaw. In the end, the young witch gathered her courage and slowly leaned closer, until she could feel the heat of Harry's breath.
The instant their noses touched, the Whomping Willow in the distance shook the snow from its branches, startling a flock of sleeping owls into the air.
Her lips brushed the corner of his slightly parted mouth, catching the faint aftertaste of a peppermint candy.
Harry did not hesitate. He turned the tables at once, cupping the back of her neck and pulling her closer.
Moonlight flowed over their overlapping shadows. The grass rustled softly beneath them, and magical dandelions suddenly bloomed, their seeds wrapped in starlight as they drifted through the mingling of their breaths.
Hermione's fingers slipped into Harry's black hair. She could feel his racing heartbeat through the chest pressed close to hers, gradually falling into rhythm with her own pulse.
In that moment, even the lights of the castle in the distance blurred into indistinct halos. The only thing that remained clear was the warmth where they touched, hotter than any magical flame.
...
For a while after that, things were no different from usual.
However, there was one thing worth mentioning. Harry had originally not intended to solve the golden egg's secret.
But thanks to an accident, he successfully figured it out.
That day, while taking a bath, he suddenly thought the egg's sound resembled the voices of merpeople from certain worlds across the multiverse. So he placed the golden egg into the water, and sure enough, he received the correct answer.
He pushed the egg beneath the foam-covered water and opened it. This time, it did not scream.
Instead, a bubbling song came from the golden egg, drifting up from beneath the water:
Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground.
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss.
After one hour, all hope is lost. It will be gone forever, never to return.
Judging from the song's contents, Harry concluded that the second task required them to dive into the Black Lake and find the merpeople.
Wasn't that convenient?
Harry had recently been studying heteromorphic Transfiguration. Ordinary Transfiguration could not turn someone into a magical creature. At most, it could turn them into an ordinary animal like a shark, a cat, or a dog. The heteromorphic Transfiguration Harry was researching, however, was somewhat similar to the druids of certain universes in the multiverse. It could transform the caster into certain magical animals.
However, unlike druids, who could only transform into several fixed magical animals, heteromorphic Transfiguration could transform the caster into many different magical animals as long as they understood the magical animal they were about to become extremely well. Because its effects were so powerful, this magic was exceedingly complex and difficult to learn. Harry had already studied it for several months, and only recently had he finally made a breakthrough. He expected to complete it within the next few days.
Once it was complete, Harry would be able to transform into a certain magical animal and dive into the Black Lake to search for the merpeople.
When Harry told Hermione that he had already solved the golden egg's secret, Miss Otter was very surprised. After all, she knew Harry had been busy researching a new spell lately and had spent all his time in the library. He had not been studying the golden egg at all. Even so, Harry had still managed to solve its secret.
Curious, Hermione asked, "How did you figure out the golden egg's secret? And what is the secret?"
Harry turned to a new page in his book and explained, "You only need to put the golden egg underwater. The piercing noise turns into the merpeople's beautiful song. From the contents of the song, we can determine that the second task requires us to dive into the Black Lake and find the merpeople."
Suddenly, a sweet, alluring voice sounded from beside them. "So that's how it is. I was still worrying over how to solve the golden egg's secret. As expected of you, Harry. You're amazing."
That was not Hermione's voice. Both of them were very familiar with it. It was Fleur, who had somehow arrived beside them without either of them noticing.
Hermione was a little angry. She puffed out her cheeks and scolded in a sweet voice, "You are far too rude. How dare you eavesdrop on our conversation? Harry was the one who solved the golden egg's secret. You cannot rely on such despicable methods to obtain the information. You must compensate Harry!"
Fleur did not get angry at Hermione's scolding at all. Instead, she smiled seductively and said, "Of course. I will be sure to thank Harry properly."
Taken by itself, there was nothing wrong with that sentence. But paired with the ambiguous smile on Fleur's face, it was very easy to misunderstand.
Hermione became even angrier. "You really are a bad woman!"
"Thank you."
Soon, the day of the second task arrived.
Near noon, everyone came together to the edge of the Black Lake. Winter at Hogwarts was very cold. A thin layer of frost covered every corner of the castle, and icicles hung low from the curtains as though they might fall at any moment.
In such cold weather, the lake surface should normally have been frozen. But for today's task, a large number of Ministry of Magic wizards had cast spells on the Black Lake the previous day, melting the hard ice. Even so, the Black Lake was still freezing. Under these conditions, the four champions still had to enter the water wearing thin clothes. Even knowing the task's contents and making preparations in advance, this remained a difficult trial.
By the time Harry arrived at the second task's arena with Hermione and Ron, most of the wizards had already arrived. As Harry ran down the lawn, he saw the seats that had surrounded the dragon enclosure last November. Now they were arranged in tiers along the opposite shore of the lake, already packed with spectators, their reflections mirrored in the water below.
After Harry took his place, Fleur was the last to arrive.
Miss Veela was wearing a thin swimsuit, exposing large swaths of flawless pale skin. She looked exceptionally dazzling. Fleur winked at Harry and whispered, "Do you like my outfit today?"
Miss Veela was far too enthusiastic, but it had no effect on Harry. His expression remained calm. He glanced at her once and did not answer.
However, he did praise her inwardly. How did this little witch develop like that? Her figure is better than most succubi. Could Veela also have some succubus blood?
Once all four champions had arrived, the match was about to begin.
Ludo Bagman was still acting as the judge. He stood on the highest platform and used a Sonorous Charm to amplify his voice, shouting loudly, "Welcome to the site of the second task! Last night, one thing was stolen from each of the four champions, their treasures. Each champion has one treasure, and all four are now lying at the bottom of the Black Lake. To win, each champion only needs to find their treasure and return to the surface. However, remember that there is a time limit. They have only one hour. Only by bringing their treasure back above the surface within one hour can they win and earn points!"
As soon as Bagman's voice fell, the four champions jumped into the Black Lake at the same time.
The moment they entered the water, Harry calmly observed the other three champions.
It was obvious that all of them had been chilled by the Black Lake's water. The two male wizards were slightly better off. Their bodies only trembled faintly before returning to normal. But Fleur, the only witch among them, was in much worse condition. She was shivering violently from the cold, and Harry was worried she might completely lose the ability to move underwater and be forced out of the competition.
However, Harry had no intention of helping Fleur. After all, that would be unfair to the other two champions. Moreover, Fleur was a very proud witch and would not allow him to do so. Still, Harry placed part of his attention on Fleur. If she fell into danger, he could rescue her quickly.
Harry observed that all three of them had mastered ways to breathe underwater. Cedric and Fleur both used the standard Bubble-Head Charm to breathe underwater. This was the easiest method, but it tested the caster's level of skill. If the bubble around their head ruptured underwater, they would definitely be eliminated immediately.
Krum's method surprised Harry somewhat. He had actually transformed his upper body into a shark, giving himself the ability to breathe underwater for a long time. In several ways, it was somewhat similar to the method Harry had chosen, but the difference in power was like heaven and earth. Krum had only transformed into an ordinary shark, and not even his entire body had changed.
What Harry had transformed into was a hundred-meter-long magical dragon.
The underwater world of the Black Lake was very different from that of an ordinary lake. Perhaps because of magic, the depths of the Black Lake were not completely dark. Some magical aquatic plants emitted light.
As they gradually advanced toward the deeper part of the lake, the surrounding environment underwent a drastic transformation within a hundred meters. The originally sparse waterweed suddenly became dense, and a huge amount of giant kelp grew ahead.
The dark green kelp was like long hair enchanted with an Engorgement Charm, stretching and twining with the current. Glowing silver shrimp and crabs clung to the leaves, leaving phosphorescent trails behind as they crawled, like a moving star map.
After crossing a cliff, Harry followed a school of fish deeper into the lake. Faint merpeople song echoed all around him. Suddenly, Harry sensed a large number of creatures approaching him.
They were a kind of horned water demon, poking their bodies out from among the waterweed. Their long nails were incredibly sharp, and fangs showed inside their mouths. They were grindylows, aquatic demons classified as "XXXXX" creatures. They usually inhabited freshwater areas such as lakes and rivers. Naturally, the Black Lake had them too, but there should not have been so many of them. This was probably the Ministry of Magic's handiwork, increasing the difficulty of the second task.
Normally, to deal with grindylows, one only needed to use Incendio. They feared fire. But underwater, Incendio clearly could not be used unless it was paired with a Water-Repelling Charm, or the caster used a Knockback Jinx, which would have a less obvious effect.
Of course Harry had a way to deal with them. It was the heteromorphic Transfiguration he had recently developed successfully. But just as he was about to cast the spell, he suddenly heard a cry for help from nearby.
It was Fleur. Sure enough, she had run into danger.
Harry shook his head, somewhat helpless, and immediately began casting.
As green light burst from the tip of his wand, his bones rapidly reassembled. The fabric of his swimsuit tore apart with a sharp rip, scattering like countless black butterflies, while jagged bone protrusions arched from his back. Scales grew layer by layer like cooling lava.
His dark green dragon scales gleamed with metallic luster, and every scale flowed with Runic matrix, seeping crimson ghostlight into the water. His neck stretched wildly, and the heat churning in his throat twisted the surrounding current into a vortex. When his front claws emerged, several grindylows were easily torn apart.
By the time the transformation ended, Harry had completely become a hundred-meter-long magical dragon.
At that moment, he felt his limbs and bones brimming with power. This strength was even greater than when he activated the strengthening runes derived from the Hulk's body. It came from the physique of a dragon, the bodily function of a terrifying creature that could reach Skyfather-level through sheer physical ability alone.
Because he was underwater, Harry had inscribed water-element runes onto the dragon's scales, allowing his speed in the water to remain completely unaffected.
Harry only shifted slightly, and his body instantly shot several hundred meters away. He immediately found Fleur, who was tangled up by numerous grindylows.
However, although Harry's goal was to save Fleur, Fleur, who did not know the truth, clearly did not appreciate his arrival.
When she saw a hundred-meter-long colossus coming to attack her, even though Fleur was very mature, this little witch was still frightened silly and even burst into tears.
It's over. I'm definitely dead!
What kind of monster is this? Even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to save me, would he?
Fleur sank into despair. But suddenly, she discovered that the giant dragon in front of her did not attack her. Instead, it carefully held her in its palm.
What shocked her even more was that a familiar voice suddenly rang out in her mind.
"Fleur, don't be afraid. It's me, Harry. I'm here to save you. But it looks like your score is gone."
Having survived a hopeless situation, Fleur wept with joy and hugged Harry's finger tightly. "Then it's gone. I don't care. Harry, save me quickly. No, wait, don't forget my sister. She's still in the Black Lake."
Harry nodded and slowly advanced toward the deepest part of the Black Lake.
He needed to control his speed. After all, he was still holding Fleur in his hand. If he accelerated too quickly, Fleur would be turned into a puddle of flesh by the terrifying acceleration and the immense pressure of the water current.
Harry did not want the Triwizard Tournament, which was supposed to symbolize courage and wisdom, to suddenly become a murder scene.
When the two of them reached the deepest part, they found a small merpeople village. At the very center of the village stood a rough statue, a great merperson carved from stone. Tied firmly to it were two people. One was Hermione, and the other was a little girl.
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