Harry expected a grand ceremony when he walked out of the tent. He anxiously raked his messy hair several times and then fretted over his robes, which couldn't be fully restored.
However, reality was unexpectedly simple. They didn't return to the high platform in the arena to receive the cheers and applause of the audience.
Bagman simply led them to a new tent. As soon as they entered, the people in front had to squint their eyes from the flashing lights.
"Aha, here come our Champions!" Rita Skeeter exclaimed, her voice rising, wearing an exaggerated blue hat. The Quill beside her began to scribble furiously.
Inside the tent, there was also a young man with a face full of freckles. He bounced up as if he had springs on his feet, his camera continuously flashing "click-click" at everyone.
Harry immediately felt a sense of dread, instinctively stopping in his tracks, only to be accidentally bumped into the tent by the person walking behind him.
Bagman ignored all of this, just as he ignored a small blue bird that flew into the tent with everyone. He simply said enthusiastically:
"Oh, now for the official confirmation. The list of Champions who passed the first task are—"
"Viktor Krum of Durmstrang;"
"Hope Kruse of Salem;"
"Cedric Diggory, Harry Potter, and Wade Grey of Hogwarts;"
Hearing three names in a row, even though everyone already knew, they still looked over at them again.
"Adam Cagney of Ilvermorny;"
"Natalia Petrova of Koldovstoretz;"
"Kitajima Rikka of Mahoutokoro;"
"Clementine Durand of Beauxbatons."
"Jabari Weaving of Uagadou."
"That's ten people, correct?" Bagman counted them meticulously, then said, "Please show me your Golden Eggs."
"Champions, please hold your Golden Eggs higher! Yes, just like that!"
The freckled reporter shouted excitedly, the camera's shutter clicking like a machine gun.
Bagman continued to ignore the commotion beside him. He clapped his hands and said, "Alright, I only have a few words to say—"
"The second task will begin at 9:30 AM on February 24th next year. I still cannot tell you what the second task will be…"
He paused intentionally here, a sly smile appearing on his round face:
"But if you're clever enough to decipher the clues provided by the Golden Egg, you'll be able to prepare before the competition."
"Is that clear to everyone? Any questions? Excellent, you may go back and rest."
...
As Harry walked out of the tent, he glanced back with lingering trepidation.
Rita Skeeter, dressed in bright green robes, was grabbing Jabari Weaving of Uagadou, asking with a smile:
"Congratulations, Mr. Weaving. I imagine you were the contestant who traversed the Dragon with the most ease! Having successfully advanced to the second round, do you have anything you'd like to say? Would you be willing to tell us why your Animagus form is a gerbil?"
Behind Rita, the Quick-Notes Quill hovered excitedly in the air, like a shark that had smelled blood.
Harry felt a subtle sense of relief when the terrifying reporter seemed to lose interest in him.
"I wonder what the clue in the Golden Egg is," Harry murmured, examining his Golden Egg. He asked Wade, "Do you think our clues will be the same? Should we open it and see?"
Wade's gaze swept around, and he shook his head slightly. "Let's wait until we get back."
"You're right," Harry said, tucking the Golden Egg into his pocket. "There's definitely going to be a celebration party at the school tonight. I wonder if Cedric's bones will grow back in time."
Wade thought it would be a stretch.
When Harry's arm bone was extracted, it took a whole night to regrow. The bones in a thigh are much longer than those in an arm, so the regeneration process would undoubtedly be longer and more painful.
But then again, even if Cedric couldn't get up tonight, Hufflepuff would surely hold another celebration for him. After all, they never lacked food for banquets.
After parting ways with Harry, Wade first reported his safety to his parents—even though they had surely watched the entire match live—then made some magical phone calls to friends to celebrate. After talking, he also asked Marchioni for a complete recording of the match.
Afterward, Wade went to the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor of the castle. When he grasped the brass doorknob and opened it, the room had transformed into a spacious, bright, and magnificent space comparable to a Roman bathhouse.
The central pool in the room was twenty to thirty meters long, with steam rising from the water. The white marble gleamed with a pearly luster, and twelve graceful Mermaid statues stood around it. They held musical instruments or vases, from which clear water continuously flowed.
Wade swiftly shed his clothes and shoes, took a deep breath, and dove into the water, swimming a few laps with pleasure, crystal clear splashes rising from the surface.
The young man was as agile as a Mermaid in the water. The warm water of the pool washed away the fatigue of the match. He flipped over and dove underwater, surfacing again at the edge of the pool.
Wade shook his wet black hair, then pulled out the Golden Egg from the pocket of his clothes by the pool, and plunged into the water again.
Even though there were more participating schools and the content of the competition was not entirely the same, since the officials of the British Ministry of Magic were still designing the competition tasks, their puzzle-setting mindset shouldn't change much.
It was just that the difficulty of the competition content had increased significantly.
Wade opened his eyes underwater, hooked his finger into the seam of the Golden Egg, and with a forceful pull, opened it.
Instantly, a strange and ethereal song flowed out—
[Come, and seek,
Where our voices sound.
We cannot sing on the ground,
As you search, consider carefully:
The Heart of Steel sleeps in shadow,
Sunset Red lingers among tentacles,
The Full Moon, carved with stars, sealed within ancient stone gates,
When the three unite, you will know where to go,
Beware, beware…
To emerge from the icy nest,
Only wisdom and courage can pass through…]
Wade surfaced, cast a Bubble-Head Charm on himself with his Wand, then dove back down and listened to the song twice more from beginning to end, committing its entire content to memory.
"So that's it…"
Wade broke the surface, wiped the water from his face, and pushed his soaked hair back with a hand.
"The competition has changed, but it's still about searching in the Black Lake… But this time, it's not about finding a person as the 'treasure,' but three specific items…"
He conjured a piece of parchment and wrote down the lyrics, frowning slightly as he stared at the words.
"Heart of Steel, Sunset Red, Full Moon?"
"I have a feeling… this is much harder to find than a living person…"
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