The next day, Cedric, remembering how Harry had shared information before, decided to repay the favor by revealing his own discovery. He knew the golden egg's secret: the second task would involve mermaids underwater.
As Cedric approached Harry, he found him trailing behind Malfoy, looking rather conflicted. Malfoy, meanwhile, was handing out peculiar badges to other students.
"Oh! Cedric!" Spotting him, Malfoy enthusiastically shoved a badge into Cedric's hand. "We're all Death Eaters here, cheering for Scarface!"
"..."
Cedric stared at the badge. Its surface flickered between the words "Potter" and "Victory." He was speechless. First, he wasn't a Death Eater. Second, Harry was his rival; he was supposed to be competing with him.
Harry nudged Malfoy twice on the shoulder before Malfoy seemed to realize his blunder. "Ah, sorry! I forgot you're a contestant, too." He snatched the badge back from Cedric.
"…"
Cedric's bewilderment deepened. He wanted to complain, but instead, he shook his head, ignoring Malfoy's antics, and stated that he needed to talk to Harry. He pulled Harry aside, offering to help solve the riddle of the golden egg in the fifth-floor bathroom.
Harry hadn't yet cracked the egg's secret. Tom, knowing "Moody" would eventually assist, hadn't intervened. Harry was therefore delighted by Cedric's offer, thanked him profusely, and then invited him to join the Death Eaters. Again.
"..."
Predictably, Cedric, still unsure how to win over his father, declined.
But Harry wasn't discouraged, sensing that Cedric was close to convincing his father.
Perhaps that day wasn't too far off?
...
That evening, Harry returned from the fifth-floor bathroom and headed to the library.
Like Cedric, Harry had opened the golden egg underwater while taking a bath. Like Cedric, he understood the mermaid's song and guessed the second task would be held underwater and involve mermaids.
In fact, every contestant who'd opened the egg underwater had reached the same conclusion.
It was far too obvious.
However, while they knew mermaids were involved, Harry didn't know how to deal with them.
After all, his only experience with mermaids involved Ariel and her companions. But they were different from the mermaids of the wizarding world, practically different species. Ariel was a descendant of the sea god Triton; these mermaids were just a type of magical creature.
So Harry sought out the library.
He could simply wield "Mjolnir" and brute-force his way through, just like he had in Atlantis. But those Atlantean mermaid soldiers were only physically strong; they didn't know Ariel's magic. These mermaids, as magical creatures, had to possess special abilities.
Harry decided to research them seriously. If they didn't have any noteworthy methods, that would be ideal. But if they had something troublesome up their sleeves, Harry hoped the library held the answers to counter them.
The library was dimly lit, illuminated by a weak yellow light.
Harry found books that looked promising and carried them to a reading area.
He overestimated himself. He wasn't Hermione Granger. Reading so many books would drive him crazy.
Sure enough, after a short while, Harry collapsed, slumping onto the desk.
"Help… how is there still so much left?"
Harry looked utterly miserable. Suddenly, an idea sparked. If Malfoy were here, I could just give him half the books.
He shook his head helplessly. Too bad he's being targeted by Snape. Twenty times the homework. I hope Malfoy's still alive tomorrow.
While he felt a little sorry for Malfoy being targeted by Snape, somehow – perhaps because Snape was targeting someone else for once – Harry felt a little happy.
Finally, it's not me who's unlucky… I can't think like that. I need to focus on my reading.
Worried he'd grow too gleeful and lose focus, Harry quickly patted his cheeks. "Okay! So, where was I?"
He grabbed the closest book and began to read.
About an hour later, Harry finally finished and stood up, rubbing his numb arms.
The good news: these merfolk lacked any particularly powerful abilities; at most, they were just stronger. Additionally, according to the books, merfolk weapons were crudely made, inferior to the Atlantean soldiers he'd fought before.
Perhaps the only thing worth noting was their grating, scream-like songs.
For Harry, the merfolk's lack of danger was undoubtedly great news.
The bad news: he had wasted an entire evening.
He already knew their only threat, so it was as if he'd labored all night just to ease his own mind.
"And I still have to carry all this back..."
Annoyed, Harry neatly stacked the books, picked them up, and headed towards their shelf.
Rumble...
Suddenly, the ground shook.
The tremor nearly made Harry lose his balance, and the books almost fell.
Fortunately, the shaking was brief.
"Phew~"
Harry sighed in relief, steadying himself. What was that? An earthquake?
Still unsure, Harry dismissed the matter and continued returning the books.
...
Meanwhile, beneath Hogwarts Castle…
Lay a vast underground space, with a massive blue crystal dominating its center.
The crystal was covered in silvery goblin mithril, effective at containing magic.
Deep within the blue crystal dwelled a ferocious black and red dragon, radiating hostility. Occasionally, black and red mist emanated from its body, but it was contained within the crystal.
No one noticed the blue crystal's luster growing increasingly dim, or a dazzling red light flashing in the dragon's once-dark eyes...
---
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