Author's note: Guys, please… if you can spare some power stones, I'd really appreciate it.
—————
"Damn fish..."
Harry gritted through his teeth and forced everything he had into his fins, surging toward the surface. Ahead of him, Krum's figure had dwindled to nothing more than a small dot in his sight. He was fast, coupled with his body transfiguration, or whatever magic it was, and the head start he had gained. But Harry wasn't slow either, just... not fast enough.
There were only three minutes left before the allocated time was up. Before, it had taken him a little over a minute to dive from the surface to the seabed, but that had been when he was alone. Now he had two people to carry, nearly twice his body weight.
So despite the buoyancy helping him rise, he could no longer use his webbed hands to push himself forward and had to rely only on his flippers, kicking furiously but moving much slower.
He had to think of something else, or the time would run out before he could reach the surface.
His eyes narrowed, fixing skyward on the bastard half-fish as he surged again. Krum's figure was getting brighter, albeit slowly, meaning he was at least gaining some distance.
Think! Think! At that moment, whether by coincidence or not, he could only think of what his favorite professor, Professor Caesar, would do. Think out of the box, something unconventional, something...
Or how about... his eyes lit up as a simple idea came to him. Yes... Why make it so complicated?
He glanced at his best friend held by the back of the collar on his arm, one brow twitching. No offense, mate.
His wand moved, flicking once counterclockwise. In the next moment Ron's body began to shrink, shrinking and shrinking before twisting strangely, and finally turning into a Snitch small enough to be held in one hand.
Another flick of his wand at his swimming suit and a small pocket formed, and Ron was shoved inside directly. At last, both his hands were now free, and the speed of his ascent immediately doubled. It was time for some payback.
The holly wand in his hand then pointed upward, straight at the shark-headed son of a bitch, and without a second thought he fired two spells successively, two bolts of lightning racing one after another through the water.
Locomotor Mortis!
Impedimenta!
---
"Ladies and gentlemen, the game is not over yet! Hogwarts champion Harry Potter has once again shown his remarkable skill with magic. These may not be the most complex spells, but pulling them off under this kind of pressure is incredibly difficult. What a brilliant sequence and an even smarter choice of spells!"
Four of the five displays showed Harry and Krum in their chase from different angles, the images switching rapidly like scenes in a high-speed action sequence. For a moment it looked as though Krum's scheme had worked and he was about to pull off the unexpected, but Harry countered with a strange yet clever move that drew an explosive reaction from the crowd.
The feed showed Harry's spells hitting a bullseye. The first hex, a simple Leg-Locking Curse, struck Krum perfectly, locking his fins and greatly slowing his ascent. Then, just as quickly, the Impediment Jinx hit Krum square in the face the moment he turned to counterattack, effectively freezing his entire body.
Invisible cameras tracked the action in vivid detail and broadcast it to the roaring crowd in the stands and to viewers watching far away.
Close-ups filled the screens with Krum's horrified face as the spells landed, his legs locking and his body freezing mid-swim, while behind him Harry surged through the water like a streak, grinning fiercely as he rapidly closed the distance.
It looked like Krum was in for a thorough beating, but to everyone's surprise, Harry made no further attacks and simply swam past him at great speed. Understandable, of course, there wasn't much time left.
The crowd's eyes were glued to the feeds showing the action, filled with excitement, thrill, and tension. Despite the late winter winds biting, their enthusiasm completely overwhelmed the cold. Everyone vigorously waved their banners and flags, shouting, chanting, and of course booing, both for and against the champions they supported.
The commentator was practically bouncing on his feet, his face flushed and his voice high with excitement. The atmosphere had reached its peak. From the start of the task, precisely fifty-nine minutes had passed and less than a minute remained.
"Harry Potter has done it! The Hogwarts champion has done it! He has completed the task!"
The moment Harry burst through the surface like a fish breaking the water, the stands erupted into a deafening uproar.
"The first champion, but will he be the only one? Six champions began this task, and with one already out, four still remain in the water. Ladies and gentlemen, we will return to those thrilling moments shortly, because there are still thirty seconds left on the clock..."
Back in the water, Cedric was in the lead and had just passed Krum, who was still struggling to break free from the freezing hex. Cedric did not spare him a single glance and pushed forward as fast as he could, his priorities clear.
Multiple cameras followed the chase. Behind Cedric and Krum, the two Beauxbatons ladies were rapidly catching up. The feed captured their determination perfectly. The two witches looked both beautiful and fierce, like warriors pushing forward with everything they had, their friends tucked under their arms and their eyes locked on the surface like a gateway to victory.
Meanwhile, as soon as Harry had broken the surface, whatever magic had been cast upon Hermione was also gone and she regained consciousness, and was immediately met with a roaring chorus of cheers and shouting.
"Is it over?"
Keeping herself afloat, she paddled with her arms and legs and glanced around at the cheering audience. There was no panic on her face, only a hint of confusion. Still, it was clear she knew what had happened. She turned to Harry just in time to see him pull something out.
"Is that a Snitch? Wait… where's Ron?"
Harry resisted the urge to twitch his brows and quickly reversed the spell, tossing the Snitch upward and flicking his wand before the redhead in question fell into the water with a splash.
Cough, cough. "Bloody hell… I just had the worst nightmare..."
Ron's muscle memory also kicked in, keeping him afloat as he groggily muttered, taking a moment longer than Hermione to come back to his senses.
"Blimey… so we're back…"
Looking around at the roaring crowd, he realized the task must have ended. The champions' teammates had been told beforehand about the arrangements, of course, so neither of them was particularly puzzled.
"Harry?"
"I'm here, mate," Harry laughed, seeing Ron's bewildered face when he turned around looking a little hysterical, coupled with the cold water that had already started making the redhead shiver.
"Ron, are you okay?" Hermione shouted. The noise was so loud they could barely hear each other.
"I'm fine... just feel funny, like someone hexed me with some nasty magic."
"Hahaha..."
Hermione shot Harry a glare when she saw him laughing even louder.
"Come on... the platform's right over there."
The cold was biting, and Harry was barely holding himself together, his energy nearly drained. The noise around them was overwhelming too, leaving them with no focus to watch the others or the large screens.
They had only made it halfway when the commentator's voice suddenly rang out louder then ever across the lake.
"Mr. Cedric Diggory has also made it! What a thrilling race against time that was..."
The trio turned back just in time to see Cedric, Jean, and Rogers burst through the surface, grinning widely and waving at them.
"Fifteen seconds!"
"Fourteen!"
"Why's there a countdown?" Ron asked Harry while waving back at Cedric's team.
"We're the first, and Cedric's next. The others are still underwater."
As the final seconds of the game approached, all eyes in the audience were fixed on the large screens showing the last three champions racing against time toward the surface.
Krum had finally broken free from the freezing hex and quickly removed the Leg-Locking spell from his legs before surging forward in pursuit. His strange body transfiguration made him the fastest in the water, but by now the two Beauxbatons ladies were already ahead of him.
The camera zoomed in on him. His shark face, rows of sharp teeth, and focused eyes made him look especially terrifying as he pushed his body to the limit.
"Five…"
"Four…"
Everyone screamed the last remaining seconds and the tension over the stands reached its peak. Harry, despite being tired enough to faint, also mustered what remained of his stamina to pause and paddle, staring at the screen to see the outcome.
"Three…"
"Two…"
And just as the number one was screamed from the bottom of everyone's lungs, Krum, Fleur, and Elodie all broke the surface in a huge splash, turning the already electric atmosphere into a storm.
---
All five champions, physically and mentally, had reached their limits in those final moments, desperately racing against time.
Harry found it difficult to even twitch a muscle now. He lay on his back on the wet wooden platform, spreading his arms and legs, which he did not even know when they had returned to normal from the effects of the Gillyweed.
Every inch of his body ached terribly. He wanted to lift his head, but his neck seemed to have given up, allowing him only a sideways glance.
He looked at Ron, who was clearly having the time of his life, laughing and waving at everyone. Hermione, meanwhile, was much calmer. She sat beside his head, gently massaging his hair while a healer knelt nearby, casting spells on him, though he could barely feel anything.
Cedric, Krum, Fleur, and Elodie limped over to their side, not very gracefully dropping to the ground as they breathed heavily.
Cedric in particular looked quite pale, as though he had been soaking in water for three days straight, resembling a race of vampires Harry remembered reading about in the DADA textbook, whose skin would sparkle weirdly in the sun, much like the way the sunlight reflected off the water on Cedric's skin.
His eyes finally met the Durmstrang champion's, and both of them curled the corners of their lips upward. It was a competition, and Harry did not hold a grudge over what he had done. However, in the final round, the son of a bitch had better watch his back at all times.
"Don't take it personally..." Krum said with a grin, waving one hand.
"Eazy for you to zay..." Fleur retorted from nearby, though wearily, giving him a glare. Then she turned to Harry and Cedric. "Conzider it a favor I owe you two gentlemen. But only outzide the competition can you claim it."
"Don't mention it," Cedric replied awkwardly.
"You... better... watch your back in the final round, Viktor." Harry managed a grin too, barely able to speak, and lifted his hand slightly to give a thumbs-up.
Krum chuckled back before slumping onto his back on the platform as well.
At that moment, a booming splash pierced the lake's surface nearby, and everyone turned their heads to see two figures descending straight from above and landing gently on the platform with a soft thud.
Maverick and Flitwick appeared, their robes billowing behind them before slowly settling down.
"Dear, if you don't mind giving us a hand..." Madam Pomfrey said, looking at Maverick and gesturing toward the half-dead looking champions.
"Not at all..." Maverick replied with a smile.
With a wave of his hand, several healing spells flowed out and enveloped all of them at once, and color quickly returned to their pale faces at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Meanwhile, Flitwick flexed his magic as well, waving his wand coolly, and the platform beneath their feet suddenly began to tremble before separating from the long walkway leading to the shore.
The wooden stage then slowly rose upward while a translucent, glowing shield formed around them, like a large protective charm against the cold wind.
Harry groggily lifted his head as some strength returned to his body. The voices around him grew louder, merging into a constant buzz. The cheering and applause of the crowd finally reached his tired mind.
Right then, the commentator's voice rang out timely—
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Author's Note:
Up next, the author will start cooking. Kekeke.
I hope this arc wasn't boring. I know there wasn't a lot from the MC's POV, but I really had a lot of fun writing it.
This is the climax of the Harry Potter universe in this novel before things start turning global into Marvel, or whatever other universes may appear.
That's why I wanted to give as much tribute as possible to the Harry Potter universe in these final arcs.
Please give your feedback.
I appreciate your support, all of you. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
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