When they reached the shore, Kael flipped off the Kelpie's back, sparking another round of cheers from the stands. Everyone was excited and curious, staring at the Kelpie and chatting away.
"Oh, he looks so cool, doesn't he?" Ron said jealously. "Riding a horse underwater like a knight—if it were me…"
"Stop talking nonsense, Ron. Don't tell me you think that's some gentle herbivore." Hermione cut off his daydream, saying, "Kelpie, a dangerous carnivorous Fantastic Beast. Without professional knowledge, even an Adult Wizard wouldn't be able to handle it."
"What? It eats meat?" Ron grabbed the Panoramic Telescope hanging from his neck, aiming it at the Kelpie floating on the water's surface. That's when he saw its mouth packed with two rows of jagged, saw-like teeth.
"I take back what I just said." Ron frowned. "No way would I ever ride something like that.
Meanwhile, Kael had already helped Conna and Gabrielle down. He took out his Wand, waved it, and instantly, their soaking wet clothes dried up.
"Wait a second."
Just then, Conna suddenly remembered something. "You brought Gabrielle out—what about Fleur?"
"The Merpeople will tell her."
Kael said, "Actually, when the Champions reach that village, the second task is already completed. That whole rescue-the-treasure bit is just for show; the Merpeople won't attack at all.
So all she needs to do is come up from the water, and she'll have succeeded."
"But what if the judges give her a low score because of this?" Conna was still a bit worried.
"They won't." Kael shook his head. "I'm the one breaking the rules—they'll only deduct my points… Besides, Ms.Maxime won't let that happen either."
Kael and Conna both looked toward where the judges were sitting. The five judges were discussing something, and then they saw Ms.Maxime's face break into a satisfied expression.
"See, I told you so." Kael whispered. "They won't let their own school eat a loss."
As they spoke, Madam Pomfrey bustled out from the crowd, making a big fuss.
Even though their clothes were already dry, she wrapped a thick blanket around each of them and forced them to drink some fiery hot potion.
Kael felt a warm rush flooding through his body, and then steam started puffing out of his ears.
"Very good, Kael, I'm glad you weren't misled."
Professor McGonagall had also come over, quietly saying from the side, "As a wizard, our Wand is always the thing we should trust the most."
"Alright, come over here." She said. "You need to wait a bit. Everyone has to come out before the scoring begins."
"Oh, okay."
Kael followed Professor McGonagall over to the judges' area.
As soon as he climbed the steps, Kael saw Dumbledore smiling, walking toward him.
"Excellent judgement and quick action." He said, smiling. "Scoring hasn't officially started yet, but I can let you in on something early… Maybe this will help you relax while you wait for the other two Champions."
"Just as you were coming up, one hour had passed—so, no question about it, you've also received the highest score in this task."
"Congratulations, my boy." Ludo Bagman came over and said.
But Kael could tell his smile was a bit forced… and Karkaroff and Ms.Maxime looked the same way.
Kael was then placed in the first row of the teachers' seats, and Conna was also supposed to sit with him. But just as she was about to sit, Snape came over and dragged her away, glaring at Kael with a murderous look.
Kael was speechless—it's not like he made Conna go underwater. That was Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore's arrangement. If you've got a problem, take it up with them, huh? Why always pick on the soft target?
Of course, he only thought this to himself—he didn't dare say it aloud.
As for Gabrielle, Ms.Maxime came to pick her up.
"You were the first to come out."
After Kael sat down, Sirius next to him couldn't help but say, "I knew you could do it."
"What about the others?" Kael asked quietly. "How did the other two Champions do?"
"They were both slower than you." Sirius said. "The Beauxbatons girl was alright—about ten minutes behind you. As for the Durmstrang guy, he only came out of the Forbidden Forest five minutes ago."
Kael nodded.
Looks like this second task will be wrapping up soon.
Kael then sat in the stands for another twenty minutes, just waiting.
No choice. You can't see anything from here, just sit and wait… Whoever designed this task is a real genius, honestly.
Thankfully, Sirius was right beside him, so at least they could chat when bored—time didn't feel too slow.
Finally, after half an hour, movement stirred again on the calm lake surface.
Everyone's eyes turned to look.
This time, Fleur appeared… but unlike Kael, she was escorted to the shore by a group of Merpeople, and she came up completely unconscious.
The judges rushed over. Ms.Maxime pulled out a Wand—at least twenty inches long—and tapped Fleur on the body.
Fleur immediately vomited some lake water, then slowly opened her eyes.
"Ms.Maxime… Gabrielle…" Seeing Ms.Maxime and everyone nearby, she immediately said anxiously, "My Bubble-Head Charm was torn apart by Grindylow, quick, Gabrielle… she's still…"
"Sister, I'm fine." The little girl hurried out.
Fleur froze for a second, then hugged her tight, "Gabrielle… thank goodness, I thought… I thought…"
A few minutes later, Krum came out too.
He'd used Transfiguration Technique on himself—transforming his upper body into a shark head—brutally biting the Durmstrang boy's clothes underwater and flinging him onto the shore.
From his actions, he didn't treat the treasure delicately at all—more like tossing a Quaffle.
The audience still gave him an enthusiastic round of applause.
Dumbledore came down to the water's edge, talking with the Merpeople. He was making sharp sounds—it was obvious he could speak Mermish too.
Finally, he stood up and turned to the other judges. "Let's have a quick meeting first."
The judges gathered together to discuss.
While Madam Pomfrey was patching up Krum's injuries, Fleur ran straight over to Kael in the stands.
"Gabrielle told me everything…" She was so excited she could barely breathe, "You saved her again—this is the second time!"
"Wasn't much, really." Kael smiled. "Professor Dumbledore wouldn't let her be in danger. Even if I hadn't gone, the Merpeople would've brought her up."
"Thank you—she must've been so scared then…"
Maybe she was too worked up, because Fleur seemed not to have heard what Kael said. She instinctively leaned in close.
For a moment, Kael felt his head buzzing, like some kind of alarm was going off, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
He reflexively shuffled back and blurted out, "It's nothing, I just figured you might not make it there, so I brought her along."
Fleur's movement froze.
She looked at Kael and asked, clearly, "What do you mean… I might not make it…?"
"Well, like what just happened." Kael answered calmly. "You were brought up by the Merpeople, right? That proves my guess was right, doesn't it?"
Fleur's eye twitched.
"So you thought from the start that I wouldn't be able to complete the second task, didn't you?"
"Uh… not exactly." Kael hesitated. "Just a precaution, really."
Fleur took a deep breath, didn't say anything more, turned around and walked away. Her long silvery hair brushed across Kael's nose as she left.
"Hey, you should be more gentlemanly, you know." Sirius frowned, clearly disappointed.
Is that how you talk to girls? Especially such a beautiful girl… This kid looks smart, but he's totally clueless.
"You don't get it." Kael shook his head.
He didn't know if Fleur was about to thank him with a cheek kiss—a French-style greeting—but he really didn't want to risk it.
Kael glanced behind him, only relaxing after seeing Conna talking to Snape.
But Sirius wasn't happy about that.
"I don't get it?" He looked offended, raising an eyebrow. "You just don't know—back when I was at Hogwarts, I was so popular…"