And so, five minutes later—
"...Everyone, please stay calm. There's no need to panic."
Looking at the three mist screens, still completely empty, and at the countless students below who were craning their necks in expectation and had already begun to grow visibly restless, Barty restrained the urge to burst into laughter. He forced out an expression of confusion and suppressed unease, then explained things to those pitiful students who still had no idea what was about to happen:
"What I said earlier was only the theoretical time. In practice, there can still be some margin of error..."
"This is also Durmstrang's first attempt at reproducing the Aquatic Teleportation magic used on the ghost ships and applying it to the construction of new vessels, so the uncertainty is naturally a little greater as well... But please rest assured, both the technique and those ghost ships have already been verified countless times by the panel of judges. There will be no safety issues. At most, it is only like what we are seeing now—the teleportation process is taking a bit longer than expected. The champions will not encounter danger at this stage..."
Seeing Ludo Bagman make such a confident guarantee, the students—who had originally been growing agitated—gradually calmed down again.
After all, magical errors were hardly uncommon, and only about five minutes had passed so far. That was not really far enough off to be truly alarming.
Even so, hidden among the crowd were still a few uneasy faces—
And not just Baron's.
So another five minutes passed.
"What... exactly is going on here?"
In truth, from the third minute onward, the students' doubts and noisy complaints had already begun to become difficult to suppress. By now, things had become positively uproarious, to the point that they were nearly about to charge the judges' platform. And those judges who had originally remained composed finally began showing signs of anxiety themselves, gathering together to discuss something in hushed voices...
"I'll go check the operation of the magic!"
Karkaroff was the first to stand up. Leaving that brief sentence behind—whether for the students or the other judges was unclear—he vanished on the spot with a loud crack. As Durmstrang's headmaster, Karkaroff naturally had the authority to Apparate within the school grounds.
At the same time, the three mist screens, which had been pitch-black until now, suddenly merged back into a single image. Displayed upon it was none other than Karkaroff himself, already wearing a Bubble-Head Charm. He held his wand aloft while carefully probing the pitch-black deep water around him, as though searching for signs of something.
After seeing the headmaster take action personally, the noisy students did quiet down somewhat. At the very least, they no longer seemed ready to storm the judges' platform and yank out their beards and hair.
As for the remaining four judges—especially Ludo Bagman—they all sat in visible unease, waiting for Karkaroff's findings.
Perhaps three minutes passed.
Or perhaps three centuries.
At last, Karkaroff vanished from the screen once more, and a familiar crack sounded again from the direction of the judges' platform.
Karkaroff reappeared directly in front of it, drenched from head to toe. His hair clung to his forehead and cheeks, water still dripping steadily from it. Yet he did not spare even a single second to dry himself off. Instead, he hurried straight toward the other four judges.
"Professor Dumbledore, I'm afraid I need your help here!"
Dumbledore seemed not to notice in the slightest that Karkaroff had just splashed him all over with water. He rose immediately, his expression grave.
"What happened?"
"There's been a problem during the Aquatic Teleportation process."
Karkaroff's face was pale, and his lips trembled slightly. Whether that was because the water was too cold or because he was simply too nervous was impossible to tell.
"All three ghost ships have become stuck in the middle of the teleportation process—inside the water-space itself—hundreds of meters down!"
"...How could this happen?"
The faces of the other judges turned pale as well. Dumbledore, meanwhile, instantly rose from his seat completely. At some point, that strange and ancient wand had already appeared in his hand. Frowning, he asked Karkaroff,
"Haven't we inspected everything several times already? What exactly went wrong this time?"
"We don't know yet."
Karkaroff shook his head.
"But we can't let them remain trapped there any longer. We don't know how long the magic on the ghost ships can withstand the healing force of space itself—that's far more terrifying than the pressure of several hundred feet of water. They're hidden too deeply within the space. Among us, I'm afraid only you can get them out, Professor Dumbledore!"
Crouch and Madame Maxime said nothing to that.
They both had a very clear understanding of Dumbledore's strength, and they had also heard rumors about the mysterious wand in his hand...
"I understand."
Dumbledore gave a grave nod, without the slightest trace of ease on his face.
"Then I'll need you to take me down there, Professor Karkaroff. And you should be more familiar than I am with the magic behind Aquatic Teleportation, so I may need your assistance as well."
"That is my responsibility."
Karkaroff nodded decisively, then glanced toward "Ludo Bagman" beside him.
"Mr. Bagman, come with us as well. In an accident like this, the champions may be badly shaken, and you're the most experienced when it comes to handling matters like that..."
"No problem."
"Ludo Bagman" nodded calmly in agreement.
"Then Mr. Crouch, Madame Maxime, please remain here and help maintain order among the students. Durmstrang's professors will cooperate with you as well. Please, absolutely do not let any further chaos break out."
Crouch and Maxime both nodded in agreement. They rose immediately and stepped down from the judges' platform, beginning to confer with the Durmstrang professors. Karkaroff then firmly grabbed the sleeves of both "Bagman" and Dumbledore's robes, and with another crack, all three vanished together, only to reappear the next moment on the mist screen.
This time, however, the scene displayed on the screen was no longer the pitch-black underwater darkness.
Instead, it was a vast open space illuminated by countless bonfires floating in the air.
Masses of lake water surged all around the perimeter of that space, yet seemed to be blocked by some invisible wall. No matter how violently the water churned, it could not advance even an inch inward. In the end, it could only form one raging whirlpool after another around the edges.
This was the originally designated final site where the Triwizard Cup was meant to be contested.
Suddenly, three figures appeared inside that once-empty space without warning.
They were Dumbledore, Karkaroff, and "Bagman."
"Let's begin, Professor Karkaroff."
It seemed that Dumbledore had sensed something the instant his feet touched the ground. He immediately drew the Elder Wand and pointed it precisely at some point in the empty air, then turned to Karkaroff with a questioning look.
"...All right."
Karkaroff gave Dumbledore a surprised glance, then also drew his wand and pointed it at exactly the same location as Dumbledore...
(End of Chapter)