Normally at this time of the year, the Quidditch teams of each House would be practicing like crazy.
But this year, because of the Triwizard Tournament, the Quidditch pitch looked very deserted.
On the other hand, by the Black Lake, many young wizards have come to watch these days.
The appearance of stands on the lake means that the second task of the Triwizard Tournament is coming.
…
Hogwarts headmaster's office.
Several students looked at their surroundings uneasily. Being called here suddenly made even Hermione feel a little nervous.
She looked to the left and right, and sitting on her left were Cho and Ginny.
On the right there was a Hufflepuff girl, while further to the right were Ronald Weasley and students from the two other schools.
Hermione looked at everyone thoughtfully, already guessing the reason for being called here, but she still needed to verify it later.
The sound of chaotic footsteps came from upstairs, then Dumbledore appeared.
Behind him were several other judges.
One of them was very familiar to them, it was Percy Weasley who had just graduated. He seemed to really enjoy the gazes of several people.
He raised his head proudly and introduced himself first.
"My name is Percy Weasley, a staff member of the Department of International Magical Cooperation of the Ministry of Magic, and since Mr. Crouch is unfortunately recuperating at home, I was sent to replace him as the judge for the second task."
The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's students nodded like they half-understood.
While Hermione frowned because she really disliked Percy's superior attitude.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, may I ask, is there any important matter for you to call us here?"
Dumbledore didn't manage to answer Hermione's question because Ludo Bagman stood up first and said: "Surely you also know the secret of the golden egg?"
Everyone nodded, and Ron even said loudly: "I have known since Christmas."
After he finished speaking, he looked proudly at the people on his left and right as if he was showing off.
The others frowned at this but chose to say nothing.
Bagman not only nodded affirmatively, but also showed him a smile.
"Very well, then congratulations, you are the ones the champions will sorely miss."
Everyone was taken aback, and the Hufflepuff girl's face was flushed.
Bagman first motioned for everyone to be quiet, and then continued.
"The task is about to start. As the 'hostage' of the champions, you need to cooperate with them to complete this task. Is there any problem?"
"No problem!" Ronald shouted, hearing that he also had the opportunity to participate in the competition, his face was full of excitement.
But the others were not as reckless as him. Hermione frowned and asked, "I don't know, how are we supposed to participate?"
When seeing her like this, calmly asking key questions ,Dumbledore looked at her appreciatively.
At the same time, there was a trace of regret flashing in his eyes.
If Hermione could have been assigned to Gryffindor back then, he wouldn't be so worried about Harry now.
Sighing inwardly, Dumbledore stepped forward and said.
"It's up to me to answer this question. This competition will take place underwater, which should already be known by everyone."
"Three hours before the start of the task, I will cast a spell on everyone, and then the merpeople will secretly hide you at the bottom of the black lake."
"Don't worry, when you are rescued from the water by the champions, you will wake up immediately, and there will be no danger to your life."
"Even if the champions don't find you, the merpeople will send you ashore once the hour is up."
Dumbledore finished and the office became quiet.
Ron, who originally wanted to participate in the competition, was full of worry.
"How should we breathe when we enter the Black Lake?"
"A spell will take care of that," Dumbledore replied with a smile.
With Dumbledore reassuring them, several "hostages" nodded and agreed to participate.
Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief, and looked back at the three girlfriends of Lucas on the edge of the sofa.
"To Mr. Lucas Grindelwald, you are all people he would sorely miss."
"It's difficult for us to choose which of you should participate in this task, so we have brought you all here just to ask for your opinions."
The three girls glanced at each other and Hermione immediately said that she quit.
She was content with the Yule Ball, and had enough of the limelight.
The remaining two looked at each other, and Ginny expressed that she was afraid of water.
She ignored the stunned and surprised Ron beside her, and insisted on making Cho Chang take the limelight this time.
Dumbledore didn't urge, and watched the three of them make room for each other with interest until the final candidate was determined.
He was just about to say some precautions for becoming a "hostage".
But he hadn't spoken yet when he saw Karkaroff walking closer.
Karkaroff bared his big yellow teeth, looked at the three girls and said.
"Since it has been confirmed, shouldn't the memories of the other two be cleared?"
"Igor, I don't think it's necessary, and I'm sure Miss Granger and Miss Weasley will keep it a secret, won't they?"
Hermione and Ginny nodded quickly, but Karkaroff didn't trust what Dumbledore said.
"This Triwizard Tournament is unfair to begin with, and it's suspicious that you suddenly have two more champions at Hogwarts."
"Just in case, I think it's safer to use the memory charm on the two, what do you think? Madame Maxime."
Of course she was not opposed, she even blocked Dumbledore with her huge size.
Both Bagman and Percy chose to be invisible at the moment. (The phone's corrector wants me to replace Bagman with Batman lol)
One even looked at the sky through the window, completely ignoring the conflicts in the office.
As for the other young wizards, they didn't even dare to speak.
Ginny turned her head to look at Ron, hoping that he could say something for her as an older brother.
But to her disappointment, he lowered his head and clasped his fingers, completely ignoring his younger sister's eyes asking for help.
Hermione saw what was going on in the office and stood up abruptly from the sofa, then pulled out the guardian heart around her neck.
"This is a gift from Lucas. As long as we are hurt even a little, he will know immediately."
"Headmaster Karkaroff, you don't want to see our boyfriend come, do you?"
"I heard that he had spoken to you a few months ago about the Durmstrang School..."
Ginny and Cho also took out the necklaces around their necks.
Seeing the actions of the three girls, Karkaroff clenched his wand tightly, but he dared not say the incantation.
Extreme anger made his cheeks flush.
The last time was threatened by Lucas, and now is being threatened by Lucas' girlfriends.
Karkaroff felt that he was really being underestimated.
Looking at the fearless eyes of the three girls, his heart became ruthless, and he raised his wand preparing to do nothing.
But before he could make a move, there was a terrifying pressure from behind him that was like an abyss.
Seeing Dumbledore's cold eyes, Karkaroff sobered up a lot. He almost forgot that Dumbledore was an incredibly powerful wizard.
Although his strength has declined now, it is still not something he can compete with, so he slowly lowered his wand and the terrifying pressure also dissipated.
The genial smile returned to Dumbledore's face, as if nothing had happened.
"Then let's go. We have prepared a place for you to rest on the second floor. Please don't leave the office until the task starts tomorrow."
"As for Miss Granger and Miss Weasley, you can leave now, but remember to keep today's matter a secret."
They nodded and prepared to leave, but suddenly, a cat emitting silver-white light appeared at the door.
"Dumbledore, come to the Great Hall, Lucas and Moody are at odds again."
Hearing the voice coming from the cat patronus, Dumbledore had a serious expression on his face as he walked out with a few judges.
Hermione and Ginny comforted Cho before leaving, and immediately followed the professors.
When they arrived at the great hall, they immediately noticed Lucas and Moody holding wands at arms length.
Lucas had a lot of water stains on his usually neat wizard robes.
Judging from the expressions on both sides, it should be Moody who somehow stained Lucas' robes with something.
"Alastor, what's going on?"
"Albus, it has nothing to do with me this time, it's this kid, I've already apologized."
Dumbledore looked back at the blond boy, pondered for a moment and decided to let the fake Moody go first.
Lucas was using his wand to clean the water stains from his robes. As the moisture was removed, his robes became impeccable once again.
Looking at the water ball in the tip of his wand, he snorted coldly and threw it to the ground.
Unnoticed, four very small drops of water flew towards the other four champions in the raised splash.
Although he didn't know the purpose of fake Moody doing this, it should be somehow related to the second task tomorrow.
Although the water stains sprinkled on him were colorless and odorless, and seemed to be no different from ordinary boiled water.
But to be on the safe side, it's better for everyone to get a little bit of it.
As one of the parties involved left the great hall, the excitement naturally also ended.
…
Late at night, a limping figure came to the shore of the Black Lake.
The figure took out a cloth bag, and as the bag was opened, a group of shadows rushed into the black lake.
"Harry Potter, you must take first place tomorrow, otherwise it will affect our future plans."
The figure murmured, looking at the little things that fell into the lake in a daze.
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