Lynn turned around and faced the stands.
He straightened his robes, which were slightly disheveled from being soaked in water, put on a practiced smile, and bowed elegantly toward the audience.
Then—
"AAAAAAAAAHHH—!!!"
Screams swept through the entire audience like a tidal wave.
"Lynn!! Lynn!! Lynn!!"
"So handsome!!!"
"He's mine!!!"
In the stands, several girls hugged each other, jumping up and down with tears streaming from their eyes.
Bang! Bang!
Confetti drifted down from the sky.
"Cheers for our hero!" Fred shouted.
"Even though he stole the spotlight that should have belonged to Gryffindor!" George added.
"But we don't mind!"
"Because he's just too handsome!"
"We want an autograph!"
"Sign it on my collarbone!"
With the twins shouting like that, the scene quickly began to spiral out of control.
A commotion broke out at the edge of the stands.
"Don't stop me!!!"
A sharp female voice pierced through the clamor.
Lynn looked up and saw several witches in the front row desperately pushing forward. The security staff spread their arms, trying to hold them back.
"Calm down! Please calm down!"
A young male wizard's face turned red as he was pushed back step by step by two witches.
"Get out of the way! I want to go down!"
"I want an autograph!"
"I want a photo!"
The staff members were flustered and in a sorry state.
But it wasn't over yet.
Just as they were desperately blocking the witches in the front row—
A petite figure slipped past from the side.
She was as agile as a monkey, taking advantage of the staff's distraction to leap directly off the edge of the stands!
"Stop right there!!!"
a professor shouted.
But the girl had already landed.
Her feet hit the grass, and she sprinted toward Lynn with astonishing speed.
Lynn blinked.
Just as he was about to wave his wand and make a getaway, the girl had already rushed in front of him.
Lynn instinctively took half a step back.
"You—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the girl pulled a lipstick out of her pocket.
Yes, lipstick.
She twisted open the cap, then yanked down her collar, exposing half of her shoulder.
"Sign here!"
She shoved the lipstick into Lynn's hand and pointed to her bare shoulder, her eyes frighteningly bright.
Lynn: ⊙△⊙
He was completely stunned.
He looked at the lipstick in his hand, then at the girl's bare shoulder, then back at the lipstick. His brain simply crashed.
What kind of move is this?!
Lynn took a deep breath and waved his wand.
Her clothes instantly returned to their original state, tightly covering her shoulder.
The girl froze.
She looked down at her clothes, then up at Lynn, her expression shifting from expectation to grievance.
"What are you doing...?"
Before she could finish, the staff members rushed over.
"Miss! Please let go immediately!"
"Get back to the stands!"
"This is against the rules!"
But the girl ignored them completely.
She grabbed Lynn's arm and refused to let go!
"I'm not leaving!" she shouted. "I want a photo with Lynn! I want an autograph! I want—"
Lynn's robes let out a sharp ripping sound.
He looked down—
A tear had been ripped into the fabric of his sleeve.
Lynn: "..."
—
In the stands, Ludo Bagman watched the scene and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"Truly crazy." He shook his head, a hint of nostalgia on his face. "I remember when I was young, my performance at the Quidditch World Cup was almost like this..."
He paused, seemingly reminiscing about some wonderful past.
"In that match, I scored a hundred and fifty points. The whole stadium cheered, and countless witches screamed for me—"
—
In the center of the field, Madam Pomfrey finally arrived.
Her expression was incredibly grim as she grabbed Lynn's wrist and pulled him aside.
Lynn stumbled slightly as he was dragged forward.
"Madam Pomfrey? I'm fine—"
"Whether you're fine or not isn't for you to say!" Madam Pomfrey said without looking back, dragging him toward the nearby tent. "Come with me for a full check-up! Not a single test can be skipped!"
Lynn struggled to look back. "But the tournament..."
"The tournament is over!" Madam Pomfrey interrupted. "You are my patient now!"
Lynn opened his mouth to say something, but Madam Pomfrey didn't give him the chance.
As she dragged him along, she began to complain loudly.
"Seven! Seven female students have already fainted from excitement! Seven!"
Her voice echoed through the air, filled with deep dissatisfaction.
"This is only the second task! By the time the tournament is over, will that number increase to seventy?! Seven hundred?!"
Lynn was dragged along, stumbling, and could only follow her forward.
"And this Triwizard Tournament!" Madam Pomfrey continued to complain. "It's too dangerous! It's outrageous! Letting students fight dragons, duel Merfolk, and be dragged around by Kelpies—is this training wizards or soldiers?!"
Lynn tried to interject. "Actually, it wasn't that dangerous—"
"You be quiet!" Madam Pomfrey glared at him. "You single-handedly dealt with a Troll Octopus, fought four Merfolk, and rode a Kelpie—and you think that's not dangerous?!"
Lynn fell silent.
"And Dumbledore!" Madam Pomfrey's resentment shifted toward the Headmaster. "He just sits there drinking tea and eating sweets! He doesn't care about the students' safety at all! He actually agreed to hold this kind of competition! I think he's eaten so much sugar it's clouded his brain!"
Lynn silently lit a candle for Dumbledore in his heart.
"If you ask me, Hogwarts should cancel all those messy courses! Divination, Muggle Studies—what use are they?! There should be a specialized Magical Medicine class! Teach students how to treat wounds! How to handle emergencies! How to survive in the wild!"
She became more excited as she spoke, her spittle almost flying onto Lynn's face.
"If every student were like you—no, being like you isn't good either, you're too ridiculous—but if every student had basic medical knowledge, they could at least save themselves after being injured! Isn't that more important than learning those fancy spells?!"
Lynn nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, yes. Madam is right."
Even though he hadn't really processed a single word, nodding was the right thing to do.
Seeing his cooperative attitude, Madam Pomfrey finally calmed down a little.
She lifted the curtain of the tent and pushed Lynn inside.
"Sit down."
Lynn sat down obediently.
Madam Pomfrey took a pile of bottles and jars from the medicine cabinet and began examining him.
"Take off your clothes."
Lynn: "...Huh?"
"Take them off!" Madam Pomfrey glared at him. "I need to check if you're injured! If your ribs are broken! If your internal organs are damaged!"
Lynn opened his mouth, wanting to say he was really fine.
But seeing Madam Pomfrey's gaze, he silently closed it.
...
Lynn was thoroughly examined by Madam Pomfrey from head to toe.
Heart rate, blood pressure, magic fluctuations, mental state—every possible test was performed. Madam Pomfrey even pried open his eyelids and shone her wand into his pupils for a long time before finally letting him go after confirming there were no abnormalities.
"Alright." She put away her wand, her tone still less than pleased. "No problems for now. But if you feel any discomfort, come see me immediately. No toughing it out on your own."
Lynn nodded repeatedly and jumped down from the examination bed.
"Thank you, Madam. I'll be going then."
"Go on, go on." Madam Pomfrey waved her hand, already beginning to pack away the bottles and jars.
Lynn dashed out of the tent.
When he returned to the stands, the competition was nearing its end.
The audience was still buzzing, but the atmosphere was clearly much more tense than before. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the giant screen, watching the champions still struggling in the water.
Ludo Bagman's voice echoed across the stands.
"The champions of Castelobruxo and Ilvermorny have completed their tasks and reached the shore!"
On the screen, Daniel, Louis, and Nicolas were climbing out of the water, soaked through and gasping for air. Not far away, Ryan, Thomas, and Jordan had also just come ashore, collapsing onto the grass, too exhausted to say a word.
A round of applause broke out from the stands.
"The Ilvermorny champions performed excellently! The Castelobruxo champions were not far behind!" Ludo continued. "Now let's look at the champions still in the water—"
The screen switched.
In the dark lake water, several figures were swimming hard.
"The champions from Uagadou, along with the remaining two Hogwarts champions, are swimming toward the shore with their respective treasures!" Ludo's voice rose. "Their positions are very close! None of them has managed to pull ahead yet! This will be an intense sprint!"
"The Durmstrang champions are chasing them!"
The screen switched again.
Krum, Louis, and Katya were desperately pursuing them from behind. Their speed was not slow, but there was still a significant gap between them and the leading group.
"It seems that, because they cannot complete the task," Ludo said, his tone becoming subtle, "they might be preparing to ensure the other champions can't complete it either!"
A round of boos erupted from the stands.
Lynn raised an eyebrow.
Are they just giving up and lashing out?
But Ludo's next sentence instantly diverted his attention.
"Besides that—the Hogwarts champion, Harry Potter, has not yet successfully rescued his treasure!"
The screen switched.
Harry's figure appeared on the screen.
He was suspended in a dark area of the lake. His wand was clenched tightly in his hand, and the light from his Bubble-Head Charm flickered.
His current situation...
How should he put it?
Miserable.
Very miserable.
"He is trapped in a trial set by the Merfolk!" Ludo's voice rang out. "Even with a wand, fighting the Merfolk seems to be quite difficult for him..."
More than just a bit difficult.
Harry felt like he was about to die.
Really about to die.
He gripped his wand and waved it desperately. A Stupefy shot from its tip—
The Merfolk warrior flickered aside, easily dodging it, then swung the back of its blade into Harry's shoulder.
Bang!
Harry was struck so hard that he sank downward, and his head almost flew out of the Bubble-Head Charm.
He steadied himself, gasping for air, and looked at the Merfolk warrior.
The warrior hovered in the water, gripping a large blade, its expression full of murderous intent.
Harry couldn't figure it out.
He really couldn't figure it out.
Clearly, the Merfolk who had fought the Beauxbatons champions just now didn't seem to be trying this hard!
Cedric had told him that although the Merfolk warrior's test was dangerous, as long as one showed enough strength and determination, they would let you pass.
But why, when it came to him—
The Merfolk warrior slashed again!
Harry dodged frantically, narrowly avoiding the blade, but the current created by its edge still knocked him over, making him tumble twice through the water.
He steadied himself and looked at the Merfolk warrior, his eyes filled with confusion and despair.
Why?!
Why was it being so ruthless to him?!
What he didn't know was—
The Merfolk warrior fighting him was the very same one who had faced Lynn at the beginning.
Yes—the one who had been blown away by a single strike, then watched Lynn breeze through three more matches, only to realize afterward that it had been played from start to finish.
Its mood was currently very bad.
Very, very bad.
It hovered in the water, gripping its sword hilt as it glared at the bespectacled kid in front of it, the flames of revenge burning in its eyes.
This human was also a Hogwarts champion.
This human had also come to take the trial.
This human looked... like he wasn't very strong either.
Could he be another one pretending to be weak before revealing his true strength?
Could he be acting again?
It wasn't sure.
But it had already made up its mind—
Regardless of whether he was acting or not, it was going to beat him to within an inch of his life.
Even if it couldn't win, it refused to be toyed with like a monkey again.
If he was acting, this brutal beating would at least force out his true strength.
And if he wasn't acting...
Then it would be the perfect way to vent its anger.
The Merfolk warrior tightened its grip on the sword hilt, kicked its tail, and charged at Harry once more!
Harry: ⊙﹏⊙
---
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