After Harry's halting explanation, Tver finally pieced together what had happened underwater.
Thanks to Gillyweed, plus a tiny bit of luck, and even helping Fleur deal with a Grindylow along the way, Harry had ended up becoming the second Champion to reach the merpeople village after Tver.
But when he got there, aside from Viktor's hostage, everyone else was his friend.
And on top of that, Harry had been misled by the clue in the golden egg. He had naively believed that if the hostages were not rescued, they would really die in the Black Lake.
So he decided to stay there for the time being and wait until all the hostages had been saved.
Still, he had not been delayed for too long. Viktor, Cedric, and finally Fleur all arrived not long after and took their hostages away.
Once Harry was reassured, he simply followed behind them, swimming back toward shore with the sleeping Ron.
What he had not expected was to run into the Giant Squid on the way back, aimlessly circling after finishing its mission.
And with one sharp glance, he noticed that there was someone tied to one of its tentacles.
Although he could not make out the person's face clearly in the water, he still resolutely sent Ron up to the surface first, then quickly swam toward the Giant Squid.
Of course, the Giant Squid did not resist. It had already been planning to send Draco to shore anyway.
"If we'd known it was Malfoy, we definitely wouldn't have gone over there to save him!" Ron said emphatically.
"What's it got to do with you?!" Draco snorted and flung a splash of water right into Ron's face.
"Besides, even without you lot, Professor would've saved me. I'm Professor's favorite treasure!"
"Then where was Professor at the time?" Harry asked innocently, wiping the water off his face.
Draco: ...
Tver: ...
"Ahem. I was lured into a trap by the Giant Squid and teleported into the castle. By the time I hurried back, I ran into all of you," Tver said shamelessly.
He really had been teleported away. As for forgetting all about Draco...
No, I just hadn't had time to dive back in yet. Yes, that's exactly what happened!
Under everyone's suspicious stares, Tver nodded firmly.
"Look, the judges are about to give the scores!"
"Then we're done for. We're definitely coming last," Ron said helplessly, glancing toward the judges' stand.
"Not necessarily. The merpeople must have told Dumbledore what Harry did in the lake," Hermione said, pointing at the mermaid who had just been chattering away to Dumbledore, trying to comfort Harry.
"Dumbledore can speak Mermish too?" Ron's attention immediately went off in a completely different direction.
But the next second, Dumbledore answered him himself.
"After speaking with the merpeople, the judges have learned about the Champions' performances underwater and scored them accordingly!"
"First is Cedric Diggory, who returned first. Through a masterful use of the Bubble-Head Charm, he earns an impressive forty-seven points!"
"Next is Viktor Krum, who came close behind. With an incomplete human transfiguration, he boldly and creatively rescued his hostage. Forty points!"
"As for Miss Fleur Delacour, she also used the Bubble-Head Charm, but made some clever and distinctive modifications to it. However, her performance against the Grindylows was not as strong as the other Champions', so she receives thirty-seven points!"
Fleur pressed her lips together and helplessly wrapped an arm around her sister.
She had expected some of the creatures in the water to cause trouble, so she had deliberately altered the Bubble-Head Charm to make herself more offensive.
She just had not expected the Grindylows to be so difficult. Combined with the poor visibility at the bottom of the lake, once she charged in, she had nearly failed to make it back out.
Thinking of that, she gave Harry a grateful look, and Harry's tense, gloomy mood lightened quite a bit.
"Then we have Harry Potter! Although he was the last to return to the lakeshore, according to the merpeople, he was the second Champion to reach the hostages!"
Dumbledore's voice immediately rose with excitement.
"And on the return trip, he encountered a hostage overlooked by a certain careless Champion, and rescued Mr. Malfoy from the Giant Squid's tentacles!"
"Slander! That is blatant slander! I just hadn't had time to save Draco yet!"
As the audience gasped in surprise, Tver muttered his rebuttal under his breath.
"So, we award him forty-five points!"
The cheers from the crowd instantly surged toward the Champions like a tidal wave.
From what they had seen, all they knew was that after Harry emerged from the water, Ron and Malfoy had surfaced one after another.
Now things were different. They knew Harry could have returned first, yet not only had he waited for the other Champions for a while, he had even fought the Giant Squid on the way back. At least, that was how the students imagined it.
"And finally, Tver Fawley!"
As a bad feeling rose in Tver's chest, Dumbledore's smile spread uncontrollably across his face.
"An extraordinary display of magic. He transformed the restless lake surface into solid ground, and the vortex he cast underwater was nothing short of the pinnacle of pure magical technique."
"However!"
The turn came exactly as expected, and Tver's mouth twitched.
"Even though he was the first to reach the merpeople village, and even though he showed the greatest strength, that still cannot cover up the mistake of losing track of his hostage!"
"So he receives only twenty-eight points!"
Tver shrugged indifferently.
After all, taking part in the tournament was nothing more than a task assigned by his teacher. The result did not really matter to him.
Besides, he had found the last founder and filled in the final missing piece of his own strength.
Even now, even with the badge tucked away in his pocket, the magic inside it was still nourishing Tver.
It was allowing him to improve at an unbelievably slow and slight pace, but also in a way that was exceedingly rare and precious.
He definitely was not angry just because he had made such a low-level mistake in the competition.
Barty cautiously glanced at Tver's stern face, then said to everyone with a slight lack of confidence, "Congratulations to the Champions on successfully completing the first two tasks."
"And the third, which will also be the final task, will take place on the evening of June twenty-fourth."
He turned around. By now, Tver had already come out of his irritation and was looking at him together with the other Champions.
"This time," Barty said, taking a deep breath, "the Champions will learn the contents of the task a full month in advance. You may wait peacefully for the competition to begin!"
According to the plan Tver had told him, his son would also make his move on that day.
If all went smoothly, two Dark Lords would be resurrected in the wizarding world.
At the thought of that, Barty looked at Tver, who was chatting and laughing with the students, with a complicated expression.
He truly did not know whether cooperating with someone like this was a good thing or a bad thing...
But no matter what, he could only keep walking this road to the end...