"Take the golden egg, let's go."
Wade took the lead, but after walking some distance, he realized there were no footsteps following behind.
He turned and saw Harry still standing where he was, staring down at the heavy golden egg in his hands. The faint firelight flickered across his messy black hair, casting uneven shadows.
"Harry?"
Wade raised an eyebrow, then suddenly understood and smiled. "Don't think of it as charity—or get caught up in some foolish idea like 'only if I win the egg with my own strength does it count.'"
Harry lifted his head, and his green eyes flickered with complicated emotions.
"Let me ask you," Wade said casually, twirling his wand in his fingers, "if the champions from other schools cooperated so that one of them could get the golden egg, would that be considered cheating?"
"Of course not." Harry thought of Cedric and answered without hesitation.
He was always more lenient with others, yet held himself to very strict moral standards.
"Then why feel ashamed about getting the egg from me? This time I helped you, but next time it might be you helping me."
A faint smile tugged at Wade's lips. "Besides, once the second task comes, I'll definitely become everyone's target. Do you really think if you saw the others all attacking me, you could just stand by and watch?"
Harry shook his head. "No way. I'd definitely help you."
"Then there's your answer." Wade chuckled. "There may only be one champion, but until we've beaten the others, we're still comrades, aren't we?"
Looking at Wade's open, confident expression, the haze and hesitation in Harry's heart seemed to disperse like morning fog. The weight of the golden egg in his hands also felt steadier.
"Yeah… you're right."
He smiled and quickly caught up to Wade's stride.
A small blue bird perched on a candlestick not far away watched them intently and occasionally fluttered its wings.
Harry glanced at his friend and couldn't help muttering, "Since you know this will make everyone your enemy, why not keep a lower profile?"
Wade sighed and lowered his voice too. "Can't help it. The opponents are just too weak… this way is more fun."
Harry: "…"
He gave Wade a sideways look and rolled his eyes. Even as comrades, he had the sudden urge to punch him.
The two walked side by side. When they had first entered, the passageway had felt endlessly long; but walking back out, it seemed only a short while before the light of the exit was already close at hand.
Just as Harry was relaxing, the corner of his eye caught a shadow at the side of the passage's exit—its outline shifted unnaturally… like someone raising a wand at them!
In that instant, his mind went blank. His wrist snapped up, and his wand swung down in a flash!
A dazzling red light burst forth, striking the shadow dead-on. A muffled grunt echoed in the darkness, and the figure was flung back hard, crashing to the ground.
The enemy's spell veered off course, smashing into the ceiling of the passageway and sending fragments of stone raining down.
Without thinking at all, Harry lunged forward like a hunting leopard. The moment he burst out of the tunnel, he saw the attacker scrambling up from the ground, reaching for the wand that had rolled a short distance away.
He lunged forward, giving his opponent no chance to stand up. Just as the boy's fingertips were about to touch his wand, Harry swiftly flicked his own again.
Twice in a row he cast the Disarming Charm—without realizing that both times, he had used it silently.
"Bang!"
The spell struck the boy squarely in the chest, hurling him backwards once more, crashing down hard!
As he hit the ground, his arm gave a sickening crack. The boy let out a scream and clutched his broken arm with his pale face drenched in cold sweat. His eyes, however, still burned with bitter defiance as he glared up at Harry.
Harry took another step forward and said firmly:
"Stupefy!"
The boy's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious.
Only then did Harry seem to realize what he had done. Panting heavily, he looked around the chamber in alarm, and glanced toward the other passage as well.
Wade strolled over unhurriedly, lowering his gaze to the unconscious boy.
"Kasper from Durmstrang… what rotten luck," Wade sneered. "We were already leaving. If he hadn't attacked, he'd have secured his place in the tournament easily."
Most of the traps inside the passage had already been destroyed by those ahead, and the mechanisms disabled. A dozen or so golden eggs still lay in the belly of the scorpion dolls; though they hung from the ceiling, with careful searching they could easily be found.
After all, the first task had no set time limit for its conclusion.
"Yeah… he might not have even seen who was coming out. Why ambush us?" Harry asked in puzzlement. "What if it had been one of his own schoolmates?"
"Maybe he was afraid that if he missed this chance, he'd never get an egg at all," Wade guessed. "We know there are still plenty left. But to Kasper, coming in so late, he probably thought most of them had already been taken. If there were any left, they'd be few."
"So… even if it meant robbing one of his own schoolmates, he still had to try?" Harry shook his head, unsure how to judge such behavior.
"Okay. Let's go."
Wade stepped past Kasper and walked toward the golden compass at the center of the chamber. Just as he turned, something caught his eye.
He froze, then looked again—he saw Kasper lying unconscious on the floor and his brows tightly furrowed. A silver necklace had slipped halfway out from the collar of his robe .
The pendant resembled a triangular eye.
Wade's brow furrowed. He knew what it was: the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, once the emblem of Grindelwald himself.
This guy… could he be connected to the Alliance?
But perhaps not. Back when Grindelwald attended Durmstrang, he had carved the symbol into a wall. For reasons unknown, Durmstrang had never erased that graffiti.
In the original timeline, Krum had said some Durmstrang students even copied the mark into their textbooks or stitched it onto their clothes to frighten others. Perhaps Kasper was just another foolish boy doing the same.
Suppressing the unease that rippled through him, Wade ignored the unconscious Kasper and joined Harry by the compass.
The two exchanged a look, and without speaking, simultaneously extended their hands.
The instant their fingertips touched the compass, a powerful force seized them, wrenching them forward. The world spun and twisted, colors dissolving into a blur of light…
"Bang!"
They appeared atop the high platform, staggering slightly before regaining their balance.
Harry propped himself up, gasping for breath as he scanned the surroundings. Wade's calm gaze swept over the distant stands.
Hundreds upon hundreds of eyes were fixed on them. Faces seemed frozen in astonishment, their expressions blurred.
But in Wade's sight, one figure stood out vividly—Dumbledore, with his long white beard and hair. The Headmaster's familiar, reassuring smile lingered on his face as he slowly raised a hand—
Clap, clap, clap.
The next moment, the stands erupted in thunderous cheers and applause. Countless students waved frantically with their eyes shining with fervent admiration.
Harry spotted Hermione, Ron, and many Gryffindor students bouncing and shouting excitedly. He couldn't help but break into a brilliant grin.
—If only the other schools' Headmasters didn't look quite so grim, the moment would have been perfect.
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⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- 200+ Chapters
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