The potion bottles clinked as Madam Pomfrey bustled around Adam and Tachibana. After making sure they had taken the medicine, she personally escorted them into the medical tent.
Some students from both schools also abandoned watching the match to follow inside.
Wade glanced at the white tent and asked, "Aren't you going to check on your two companions?"
"Companions?" Clémentine gave a short laugh, twirling a strand of her honey-colored curls around her finger. "They're not my companions—we were just using each other."
"Using each other to ambush me?" Wade frowned slightly. "If you had succeeded, I only had one combined compass. How would the three of you have divided it?"
Clémentine wound the curl tighter around her finger and said lazily, "First of all… we all assumed you'd be the same as last time, that you wouldn't settle for just your own share."
"The rules have changed," Wade said casually.
"That doesn't matter." Clémentine smiled. "I had an agreement with them—I'd hand over everything we got from you, not keeping a single piece for myself."
On the streaming mirror, Krum in his half-man, half-shark form had already snatched a disc from the merfolk settlement. Without hesitation, he turned and shot toward the surface, his movements were swift and decisive.
A ripple of exclamations spread through the stands. Karkaroff leaned back in his chair with a satisfied grin on his face.
Wade turned back to Clémentine with a calm gaze, though his brow creased almost imperceptibly.
"Because I eliminated Fleur Delacour, does Madame Maxime no longer care about the school's honor?" he asked.
"Hm? Of course not. The Headmistress still hopes I'll be the one to lift the trophy—though Fleur will always be her favorite."
Clémentine's voice was airy. She leaned closer to Wade as her eyes locked with his and said:
"This was my own choice—you know? As long as I can defeat you, I don't care about winning or losing the tournament."
Wade frowned slightly. "So that's why you joined forces with Kitajima Tachibana and Adam Cagney?"
He thought back. Though he had made enemies of several competitors, Clémentine had no real reason to target him. In fact, she could have argued that his actions had indirectly given her the chance to compete at all… So why go out of her way against him?
And judging from her attitude, she didn't seem to harbor any real grudge.
As Wade pondered, Clémentine cheerfully recounted how the three of them had teamed up:
"Madam Fujiwara from Mahoutokoro thought you were the biggest obstacle to anyone else winning. And if someone could defeat you in the tournament—no matter how underhanded the methods—it would still count as a huge victory."
"The Ilvermorny guy was also largely persuaded by Mahoutokoro."
"So while it might look like I organized a three-school alliance, really, you could just say that people like us are drawn together."
She tilted her head up to the streaming mirror, and the light from the screen reflected across her face.
Clémentine continued: "That statue gave you a good scare, didn't it? I only found out by chance that Kitajima's excellent at controlling those things. If it hadn't been underwater, you'd have seen her paper figures moving like they were alive."
"And that's thanks to you, apparently—she said she got the inspiration from your dolls. Adam, though, really let me down."
She turned her head, and flashed Wade a sweet smile. "Better watch yourself, Wade. There are people who really, really can't stand you."
"Who?" Wade asked.
Clémentine laughed. "That, I can't tell you. Why don't you try and guess?"
The two locked eyes at very close range, and Wade saw an intricate mix of emotions flickering in the girl's pupils—
Defiance, cunning, provocation… and a faint trace of intimacy.
He turned his gaze away with an unchanged expression.
The brighter someone's presence, the higher the position they stood in, the more hatred and hostility would gather from the shadows. Arrows would come from every direction, often from people he didn't even know, with whom he might never have had any dealings.
So Wade had no interest in guessing or speculating. He could simply wait for the enemy to reveal themselves—and then crush them in one move.
The wizarding world did not follow the same rules as ordinary society. Here, strength was the only law. A powerful wizard could rival an entire trained army.
If not for men like Dumbledore, who constantly restrained and bound their own strength, the wizarding world's law of the jungle would be even more obvious—and far more brutal.
But no matter how civilized the surface appeared, the essence of the wizarding world never truly changed—its rules were always built on the scales of power.
Without strength, even the Minister for Magic could only bow and scrape. Unable to fight back, the entire wizarding world turned a blind eye to Grindelwald's rise and they are even laboring to paint a false peace for the public.
Splash!
Cedric surfaced from the Black Lake, dragging himself to the shore, coughing.
Before Madam Pomfrey could even check on him, Cho Chang had already dashed down from the stands. But once she reached the water's edge, she grew shy and didn't dare get too close—she only stood there with her hands clasped, watching.
Cedric smiled at her, though there was a touch of bitterness in it.
He had been injured underwater and his blood awakened the slumbering giant squid.
Though that massive creature was usually friendly toward students, once it began to stir, no one dared approach.
In the end, Cedric had failed to retrieve the compass's axle, returning only with two other items.
One by one, the other champions also emerged—
Krum shot out of the water like a seal with the completed compass clenched in his jaws. The Durmstrang students couldn't help but erupt in cheers.
But Krum's eyes scanned past the crowd, searching among the applauding Gryffindors. At last, his gaze fell on Hermione, and the perpetually grim expression on his face softened a little.
Jabari surfaced a dozen minutes later with his one arm hanging at an odd angle. He waved at his schoolmates, then paused briefly when his eyes found Wade. He smiled, but before he could approach, Madam Pomfrey intercepted him with a stern look.
"Come with me. That arm needs immediate treatment!" she said sharply.
Then came Natalia. When she leapt from the lake, she looked almost like a graceful mermaid.
"That giant squid was terrifying!" Wade heard her laughing as she gestured to her friends. "I almost became its lunch!"
Next was Hope Cruz from Salem. The dark-haired girl surfaced silently, so quietly that even her own schoolmates didn't notice her for at least half a minute.
Now, only Harry remained in the depths of the Black Lake.
His Bubble-Head Charm had long since worn off. At this point, he had swallowed gillyweed and was darting through the water with incredible agility.
Not far ahead of him, the giant squid was gliding slowly through the water. One of its tentacles, lined with suckers, moved with surprising gentleness as it wrapped around a salmon the size of a hunting dog.
Harry kept his eyes locked on the gem-like cylinder that glimmered red now and then. He hovered near the squid, unwilling to give up the chance at this last piece, but too cautious to approach recklessly.
He was only one item away—just one more, and the items in his hands would form a complete compass.
Of course, Harry didn't yet know what the three parts were actually for. He just clenched his teeth and trailed the squid doggedly. Several times he raised his wand, but each time, movement on both sides shifted the item's position, forcing him to abandon the spell.
In Harry's mind, he considered himself perhaps the weakest of all the champions. He wasn't like Wade, who had mastered so many spells, nor like the other competitors, most of whom were already of age or nearly so.
But this "self-awareness" didn't lead him to despair. On the contrary, it made him even more stubborn. Even as cramps gnawed at his legs and his ribs ached sharply, he gritted his teeth, endured the pain, and kept his eyes fixed on the giant squid.
Cries of alarm rose from the stands now and then.
Even if such a massive creature didn't mean harm, just one casual swipe could leave someone broken.
On the streaming mirrors, every screen showed Harry—sometimes edging closer, sometimes retreating—always circling near the giant squid.
Wade was watching the display when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps approaching.
An Ilvermorny student, panting heavily, stopped a few steps away and said nervously:
"Mr. Grey… may I have Adam's wand back?"
"Ah, I came for the same reason." The doll-faced Chinatsu Asada walked over. "Kitajima-senpai's wand is missing too…"
She cast a glance at the two wands Wade had casually placed on the grass beside him.
Wade handed them back and asked offhandedly: "How are Adam and Miss Kitajima's injuries?"
"They're alright," the Ilvermorny student replied. "They've woken up, though their chests still hurt a lot."
"Kitajima-senpai is very grateful to you, Mr. Grey," Chinatsu Asada added, bowing slightly. "If you hadn't explained the cause of their injuries in time, she would have suffered even more."
"Uh…" Wade gave a short cough. "Think nothing of it."
Straightening up, Asada continued: "Of course, I haven't forgotten how I was eliminated by you earlier. If there's ever a chance, I hope I can learn from you again."
With that, she shot Clémentine a cold glance, then turned and left.
The Ilvermorny student lingered awkwardly, uncertain whether to thank Wade or challenge him. In the end, he muttered a vague farewell and, without so much as looking at Clémentine, hurried off.
"Hmph, how petty!" Clémentine huffed. "So what if I ran faster than they did? The ambush failed, of course we had to retreat quickly. If those two were slow, that's their problem! Why act like I betrayed the alliance?"
She turned to Wade and asked: "Don't you think I'm right?"
Wade was speechless. "You're asking me—the one you ambushed?"
Clémentine: "…"
She mumbled something under her breath, sounding suspiciously like "stingy."
Just then, Natalia flung open the flap of the medical tent and strode toward them. Her hair, now dried, bounced against her shoulders, while the wool blanket draped over her rustled loudly behind her like a cloak.
"Hey, Wade, Clémentine—how many did you two collect?"
She shouted the question even before she reached them.
"Natalia—!"
Before Wade could say anything, Clémentine dashed forward like a gust of wind and hooked her arm through Natalia's.
"I'm so glad you're alright! When I came out and didn't see you, I was worried sick… I only managed to get the Heart of Steel. What about you?"
She generously pulled out her short sword to show it off—the one she had found earlier beneath a bed of kelp.
Natalia displayed her own prize as well, smiling brightly. "Aha, perfect—I was only missing this one! Where did you find it?"
Like Wade, she had rushed ahead too quickly before and never had the chance to search the weed-filled area.
"Right under that patch of kelp!"
Clémentine leaned closer, muttering, "But it was pure luck—I happened to run into Kitajima Tachibana from Mahoutokoro…"
The two chatted for a while, until Natalia suddenly turned her gaze toward the streaming mirrors.
"Is that Harry Potter? What's he doing?"
By now, the champions who had been treated in the medical tent had begun to file back out. Some sat, some stood on the grass, but all had their eyes fixed on the mirrors.
On the screen, Harry suddenly darted toward the giant squid. Seizing the moment when the ruby-like cylinder between its tentacles was briefly exposed, he cast a spell in a flash!
The cylinder tore free from the squid's suckers and began to plummet, but the churn of the lake pushed it off course. Harry kicked harder, stretching his arm desperately toward it.
The squid blasted a jet of ink, shrouding the entire view in darkness. All that could be heard was the violent rush of water and the bubbling noise of air forcing through liquid.
After what felt like a long moment, the scene cleared. Harry was thrashing his legs furiously, swimming hard for the surface—but he was much slower now.
The magic of the gillyweed was fading fast. The webbing on his hands and feet was gone, the gills along his neck had sealed into smooth skin.
The muscles around his cheekbones spasmed uncontrollably and veins bulged across his face, twisting it into something caught between pain and ferocity.
The entire audience held its breath, hearts pulled taut by the sight of the young savior.
Suddenly, Harry's head broke the surface. He choked violently, gulping huge breaths of fresh air and his chest convulsed with every desperate inhale.
From the stands, an explosion of applause and cheers erupted. As Harry stumbled forward through the shallows, the Weasley twins and Ron couldn't contain themselves—they splashed into the lake and hauled him onto the shore in a frenzy of arms and legs.
"Come here, child."
Madam Pomfrey caught hold of Harry at once, dosing him with potions, wrapping him in blankets, and tending to his wounds.
Harry had suffered plenty underwater as well. Grindylows had attacked him, and afterward he'd tangled with the giant squid for ages. His skin was bruised all over, and the cuts on his legs had turned pale and raw from soaking.
"That was amazing, Harry—you were absolutely brilliant!" Fred said proudly, thumping him on the back. "Do you realize? Only four people collected every item, and you're one of them!"
Harry slumped against Ron, his ears were still ringing. His glasses had been lost underwater, and the blurred figures before him swam in and out of focus. Slurring, he asked: "Who… who are the other three?"
But no one heard him clearly. His friends were too busy bouncing and shouting with excitement.
Only Bagman's magically amplified voice cut cleanly through the chaos—
"Congratulations to Harry Potter for completing the task! The second challenge is now officially over!
The third—and final—task will take place on June 24th. The champions will learn the details one month in advance! Thank you all for supporting our brave competitors…"
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⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- 200+ Chapters
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