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"Mr. Weasley?"
"Yes?"
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Y-yes, Headmaster," Ron nodded, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Snape covering his eyes, either out of shame or something else.
"Then what are you waiting for?"
Ron closed his eyes, and after a dozen seconds, he nodded and shivered. At that moment, Dumbledore ran his wand along him, and the boy crumpled in his chair.
"Who's next? Miss Delacour? Miss Dubois?"
"Me!" the little veela stepped forward bravely, immediately embarrassed under the smile of several people.
"Come here, Gabrielle," Madame Maxime seated the girl on her lap, and Gabrielle made herself comfortable, closing her eyes quickly.
Just as Dumbledore approached, the girl nodded, and her gesture was repeated by Madame Maxime. Dumbledore bewitched her as well, and the girl was gently held by the headmistress of Beauxbatons.
"May I suggest you sit down, Mademoiselle," Dumbledore smiled at the older French girl, gesturing for a cozy chair beside her.
"Merci," she nodded and sat down with her eyes closed. After a dozen seconds, she was also in stasis.
"So gentlemen and ladies. Are you ready to check?"
It didn't take a couple of minutes to check the charms, though the wizards were making a little noise and talking over each other as they ran the diagnostics. Only Moody kept sitting in his seat, keeping a close eye on the situation.
When everyone was convinced of everything, Ludo Bagman voiced security measures, checked the presence of emergency portkeys, and everyone else checked their configuration and functionality.
"In that case, it's time to go to the tent on the lake shore prepared for further preparations."
The whole company went to the exit from the office, levitating "kidnapped" with magic. They cast a spell of invisibility on their way out of the room and went down the corridors like that. For another minute, I heard some talk about the ministry staff and others involved in the final negotiations with the mermaids, about various measures, and so on. It really wasn't that bad, and it was pretty safe. Even safer than in years past, and my various knowledge of magic made me sure of that. And in any case, Dumbledore had no advantage whatsoever in putting students, not even champions, in danger at this tournament. Not only his, but the school's reputation was at stake.
A white cat ran by but decided that it was not worth leaving me unattended. She looked with blue eyes straight into my eyes.
"What kind of charms is that all and sundry can see."
The cat immediately turned into Lady Greengrass, dressed in her already familiar leathery-incomprehensible hiking suit. An almost white, thick braid of hair was thrown over her left shoulder this time.
"Don't worry," she smiled. "Everything with Hermione will be fine. You have no idea how hard they worked to keep the students safe. The children have never been safer, even if it doesn't look that way from the outside."
At this, Lady Greengrass looked at me, but I was still invisible. It would be foolish to maintain the spell any longer, so I simply canceled it.
"What if one of the champions decides to apply transfiguration on them for ease of transportation?"
"The likelihood of that is almost zero. For starters, transfiguration through a wand in water is nearly impossible - the water is too dense, and the charms will rest against it. Secondly, Stasis Charms are taught in the sixth year here and at Beauxbatons and in the fifth year in Durmstrang. They're one of the few charms that allow a living person to be under water, even if it's in such a state. Plus, their effect is obvious - the body looks almost dead, but it's alive. They'll figure it out right away."
"And Potter?"
"Do you think young Mr. Potter is capable of human transfiguration? Not only is this subject studied in sixth and seventh years, but it requires a very strong basis in the subject."
"Yeah. Harry can't boast of any basis at all. He even ignored my advice on the golden egg."
"That's his problem. Better go get some sleep."
"You're right. By the way. Are the 'kidnapped' going to have their wands taken away?"
"No, of course not."
"I see. Good night."
To my surprise, I fell asleep quickly and slept soundly. Waking up, as always, at six in the morning, I did exercises and a standard set of physical exercises, driving away fatigue with a hearty breakfast in the Hogwarts kitchen. I already had a plan for the tournament, so I took a shower and then got dressed in my Graves-style suit. I even brought a scarf.
It's early morning, overcast and cold, but no snow. How many years I have been living in England, but I can't get used to the fact that snow in winter is a luxury and a holiday. Of course, it's not everywhere, but still.
I went out just ten minutes before the start, and on the way to the lake, I did not see anyone - everyone, apparently, had already been there.
As soon as I could see the smooth water surface, dark and gloomy because of the leaden sky overhead, my eyes immediately caught sight of the large bleachers near the pier. Really big bleachers, and now there, if not all of Hogwarts, then most of it. But there were also quite a few different guests. The tribune of judges stood out separately. It was sort of in the middle of the whole big tribune and had a gilded canopy, and a burgundy canopy over the rest.
Fleur was already standing at the pier, wearing a blue resemblance of a diver's suit. It almost did not hide her figure, so most male viewers looked at the girl with great interest. Well, yes, not a common sight in conservative wizarding England. Nearby, Krum warmed up in his tight red shorts and T-shirt. Potter was nowhere to be seen. I nodded in greeting to the judges and walked over to the other champions.
"Good morning, everybody."
Krum nodded silently, and Fleur looked at me tensely and reproachfully.
"How can you smile when there are people dear to us..."
"We solved the clue on the first day and calculated the entire second task, right down to the spells used. By the way, the hostages are under Stasis, so don't use transfiguration."
Krum nodded, "Got it," and Fleur just pursed her lips in annoyance.