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Once Christmas was over, the start of the second task seemed to be just around the corner.
The numbers on the calendar drew closer day by day, which was a cause of great anxiety for the champions.
Lynn often saw the champions from various schools holding a golden egg during breaks, their brows furrowed as they studied it over and over again.
Especially the three Hogwarts champions.
Cedric, Harry, and Roger—the three of them could almost be described as "never letting the egg leave their hands."
They held it while eating, walking, and even surreptitiously during class. Professor McGonagall had already confiscated them twice, returning them each time only because of their status as champions.
This scene was an eyesore to the three Durmstrang champions.
Krum watched the golden egg in Cedric's hand every day with an expression as complex as if he were looking at his father's killer. Louis, on the other hand, wore a face full of envy, glancing in Lynn's direction from time to time.
Katya, however, didn't look at the golden egg at all; he took a detour whenever he saw Lynn.
But the problem of the golden egg had to be solved eventually.
Lynn learned from the Weasley Twins that the Durmstrang champions were secretly inquiring whether they could buy a golden egg from other schools.
"You should have seen it," Fred said, gesturing dramatically. "Krum's face practically had 'I want to buy an egg' written all over it."
George added from the side, "Louis secretly asked us if anyone at Hogwarts was willing to sell one. He said the price is negotiable."
After hearing this, Lynn's eyes instantly lit up.
He was silent for two seconds, then slowly revealed a smile.
That smile—how should I put it—made Edgar, who was watching from the side, feel his skin crawl.
"What are you planning now?" he asked warily.
Lynn patted his shoulder, his tone full of emotion.
"Nothing. I just feel like... another sucker has come to give me money."
Edgar: "..."
Lynn moved quickly.
That afternoon, through the Weasley Twins' channels, he sent word to the Durmstrang side: Want to buy a golden egg? Sure. The price—one hundred Galleons each.
Less than an hour after the message was sent, Louis came to find him in person.
"One hundred Galleons?" Louis's eyes widened, and the expression on his face was extremely complex—there was surprise, suspicion, and most of all, wariness.
Lynn nodded, his expression as sincere as could be.
"Yes, one hundred Galleons. Fair prices for all."
Louis fell silent.
"If I buy three... is there a discount?"
Lynn thought for a moment and shook his head.
"No. One hundred Galleons each; three is three hundred Galleons. Fixed price."
Louis gritted his teeth, looked at Lynn's sincere face again, and finally nodded firmly.
"Deal!"
Lynn's smile deepened.
He pulled three golden eggs from his pocket and placed them on the table.
"Inspect the goods."
Louis picked them up and inspected them carefully. They were indeed golden eggs, exactly the same as the ones used in the first task. The surface was smooth, the weight was moderate, and that thin seam could be faintly seen.
He nodded with satisfaction, took a money pouch from his pocket, counted out three hundred Galleons, and pushed them toward Lynn.
"Payment received, goods delivered."
Lynn took the Galleons, weighed them in his hand, and smiled even more happily.
Louis held the three golden eggs, his hands trembling with excitement.
"Lynn," he said sincerely, "thank you."
Lynn waved his hand.
"No need for thanks. It's only right."
Louis left.
After the door closed, Lynn looked at the three hundred Galleons in his hand, his grin stretching from ear to ear.
...
A few days after Lynn sold those three golden eggs, on another Tuesday morning, the students taking Care of Magical Creatures received a notice.
Hagrid had specifically asked the Heads of House to relay that this week's Care of Magical Creatures class would be held for all four houses together. They were to meet at the Castle gates before moving to a different teaching location.
The students crowded together in the entrance hall, wrapped in thick cloaks and stamping their feet for warmth. They waited until Hagrid's massive figure appeared and led them trudging through the snow.
The snow was thick, crunching underfoot. The cold wind whipped against their faces like knives.
After walking for about ten minutes, the group stopped.
Lynn looked up and found himself standing by the Black Lake.
At this time, more than half of the Black Lake was frozen. The icy surface reflected the grayish-white sky, looking cold and hard. In the center of the lake, the large Durmstrang ship was still anchored there, a ring of ice having formed around the hull as though it were frozen in place.
In fact, it really was frozen.
Hagrid stood on the shore, turned around, and faced the group of shivering students.
"Alright!" His voice boomed, drowning out the wind. "In this class, I'm going to teach you about merpeople!"
Merpeople?
The students instantly perked up.
Whether they were from wizarding families or Muggle families, the students had all heard stories about mermaids in their childhood.
The illustrations in those fairy tales showed them with blonde hair, blue eyes, long flowing locks, and beautiful faces, singing on the sea and enchanting sailors.
Many of the boys' eyes lit up.
"Merpeople!" a Hufflepuff girl whispered. "I've always wanted to see them with my own eyes!"
A Gryffindor boy next to her nodded in agreement.
"I heard they sing beautifully."
Lynn stood in the crowd, expressionless.
He had seen merpeople before, though only in illustrations in the library.
The merpeople in those illustrations... well, they were quite different from those in fairy tales.
Seeing the students' enthusiasm, Hagrid perked up as well. He turned around and blew a loud whistle toward the Black Lake.
The whistle echoed across the lake, stirring up ripples.
They waited for a few seconds.
The ice on the lake's surface suddenly cracked in several places.
Then several heads emerged from the water.
The students held their breath.
A second later, those heads fully broke the surface.
The entire area went silent.
The silence lasted for a full three seconds.
Then—
"These are merpeople?!"
No one knew who shouted first, but it was immediately followed by a chorus of sharp intakes of breath.
True enough, the things that had emerged from the water were indeed fish-like.
But they were a world away from the mermaids the students had imagined.
Their skin was iron-gray and as rough as sandpaper. Their hair wasn't long and blonde, but messy dark-green seaweed sticking to their scalps in clumps. Their eyes were cloudy and ridiculously far apart, and their teeth were uneven, with several missing and the rest tinged with a yellowish-green color.
The worst part was their faces—their features were squashed together with vacant expressions, which, combined with the iron-gray skin, made them look like monsters from a horror movie.
Forget about being beautiful; they weren't even close to being "ordinary."
Lynn silently gave them a nickname in his heart: Fukushima Specialty Mutant Fish.
The students fell into collective silence.
Hermione opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out.
Ron's expression was quite a sight, shifting from anticipation to shock to disillusionment in less than three seconds.
Malfoy's reaction was the most direct.
He pointed at the group of merpeople and turned to shout at Hagrid.
"Are you sure these are merpeople? They're hideous!"
The merpeople looked confused at being pointed at.
They glanced at one another and chattered in a series of gurgles. Lynn was a bit too far away to hear the specifics, but he caught a few syllables—roughly along the lines of "What is that white-haired boy saying?" "Is he looking down on our appearance?" and "Does he have a death wish?"
The leader of the merpeople turned around and chattered a string of words to the others.
This time, Lynn heard clearly.
"He says we're ugly. You decide what to do."
The expressions of the merpeople changed instantly.
They reached into the water—
Several Water Orbs coalesced out of thin air and were hurled straight at Malfoy's head!
Malfoy was startled and scrambled to dodge.
But there was a problem with the direction he chose—he didn't dodge toward the open space or run out of the crowd. Instead, he desperately tried to huddle next to Harry.
While dodging, he shouted, "Potter! Protect me!"
Harry was pulled off balance by him, looking completely bewildered.
"Malfoy! If you're going to dodge, then dodge, but why are you pulling me?!"
The Water Orbs pelted down, and the two of them scurried about with their heads covered.
Hagrid was pacing anxiously nearby, spreading his arms to block the Water Orbs, but his massive frame only made him a larger target. The merpeople simply started hitting him as well.
"Stop! Stop!" Hagrid shouted. "It's a misunderstanding!"
During the scuffle, Harry's hand suddenly slipped.
He instinctively tried to grab something, but missed.
The golden egg he had been clutching in his hand flew out.
"No—!"
Harry let out a loud shout.
But the golden egg had already traced an arc through the air—and was then accurately struck by an incoming Water Orb.
Splosh!
The Water Orb burst against the surface of the golden egg, splashing water everywhere.
The next second—
The golden egg burst into a dazzling light.