Harry Potter and the Obscurus

Chapter 126 Leading by a Distance

On February 24, 1995, Harry successfully returned to the surface 23 minutes after the start of the game.

Ludo Bagman, who was also a part-time commentator, was the first to shout it out, and then the audience in the stands joined in the shouting.

"Someone's appeared on the lake! Is that one of our players? Who is it? Oh Merlin above! It's Harry Potter!"

"Oh oh oh!"

Well done, Potter!

"Harry! Harry! Harry!"

......

Amidst a deafening roar, the referees rose from their chairs. They were accompanied by a mermaid honor guard, who were screaming and chanting something incoherently.

"9:53? That's incredibly fast! I bet the other two contestants haven't even found the Mermaid Village yet! Come on, Harry, get ashore! I think your classmates and the reporters want to hear your voice!"

Ludo Bagman, who was the first to reach the shore, greeted them warmly.

As a fellow referee, he seemed even happier than Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. This behavior undoubtedly infuriated Karkaroff and Madam Maxim. Their faces were bruised and battered, and they showed no interest in checking on the Hogwarts champions.

"Come on, Harry! I'll pull you up! Ouch!"

"Potter! Granger! You're both freezing! Oh my god, bring out the blankets!"

With Dumbledore's secret help, Madam Pomfrey easily squeezed past Ludo Bagman. She took out seven or eight blankets from the cart and began to examine the two men with great fascination, as if she were facing two soldiers who had just escaped death.

"Thank you, Mrs. Pomfrey, I'm alright..."

"Don't talk, drink this first, then look at my fingers, I need to check them."

Unable to refuse the school doctor's enthusiastic concern, Harry and Hermione had a cold-relieving potion poured into their mouths. The potion tasted fiery hot and had an effect similar to an energy booster; soon, hot breath was coming out of their ears.

Sizzle...

The check lasted several minutes, and by the time Madam Pomfrey confirmed that Harry and Hermione were safe, the two were bound with blankets and dressed in straitjackets as "dangerous criminals."

"Let's rest here for now."

She said:

"The scoring process can only begin after all the contestants have returned or after time has run out. You returned too early."

Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance, then nodded with different expressions.

......

At Hogwarts, some extremely "lucky" students claim to have seen enormous tentacles extending from the lake. But over the years, no one has actually seen the owner of those tentacles.

This made Harry very curious: was the existence of the giant squid at the bottom of the Black Lake just a legend?

Let's go back 5 minutes.

Harry, now transformed back into the divine deer, is carrying Hermione, whom he has magically protected, as they race across the bottom of the Black Lake.

Fuzhu's magic imbued the water with life, allowing him to become one with the Black Lake and explore the magnificent underwater world as he swam.

Several times, Harry thought he saw a big thing moving in the water, but when he got closer, he found that it was just a tangled bunch of seaweed.

The repeated disappointments made Harry slowly give up on the idea of ​​finding the giant squid. However, just as he was about to complete the Triwizard Tournament, the surrounding water suddenly became somewhat out of his control.

What was that just now?

"what?"

Unable to sense the subtle changes in the water flow, Hermione couldn't quite understand what Harry was saying. Her body was enveloped in bubbles, and underwater it appeared as if she was constantly writhing and turning, looking quite comical.

"Something is blocking my lake, and it's enormous... Oh my god."

Harry had not read Nietzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil," but at this moment, he deeply understood the meaning of the saying, "When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."

The giant squid beneath Black Lake is not a legend fabricated by the students.

The exaggerated descriptions of its existence are just the tip of the iceberg.

hum...

The "land" at the bottom of the lake flipped over, and eight short tentacles, each the size of a basilisk, along with two other 140-foot-long tentacles, terrified all the creatures in the vicinity.

Kurakan?

The same name popped into Harry's and Hermione's minds at the same time.

In the wizarding world, the "Kraken," which Muggles call the Kraken, is not a real magical creature. Even so, the sheer size difference can easily awaken a primal fear in magical beings and wizards.

“Salvio hexia!” (Peaceful town guard)

"Protego totalum!" (Protect all!)

Harry reacted quickly; before Hermione could cover her mouth, he had already transformed back into human form and cast several defensive spells in succession.

Puff... Puff...

Bubbles of varying sizes made muffled sounds underwater, and two protective shields, like transparent prisms, quickly enveloped Hermione and Harry.

Faced with the strange halo created by the "little guys," the giant squid curiously peered in with its eyes, which were as large as Quidditch goalposts. Having spent countless years in the Black Lake, this was actually the first time it had the opportunity to observe the young wizards so closely.

Slowly, time began to pass, second by second.

Driven by varying degrees of curiosity, neither Harry nor the giant squid wanted to easily end this hard-won "wonderful" encounter. It wasn't until Hermione could no longer withstand the overwhelming sense of pressure that the two, who had been staring at each other for so long, finally stopped staring at each other.

“Harry… let’s… finish the project first. I heard from Professor Dumbledore that the judges will score the contestants based on their time… shall we go back now?”

Hermione, wrapped in the Bubble Head Curse, said timidly.

She gripped Harry's arm tightly, as if afraid that her suggestion might be inappropriate for him.

Harry was engrossed in recording the giant octopus's appearance when he heard the little witch's almost pleading voice and realized that he had forgotten to consider Hermione's feelings.

"Oh my god, sorry Hermione, I was just spacing out. Hurry up, we're going back to the surface."

Harry comforted her. But just as he was about to transform back into Fuzhu and take Hermione back the way they came, a low-pitched sound, generated by the vibration of the suction cups, came from the squid's tentacles.

"Plop... plop..."

"what?"

Hermione stared at Harry in disbelief.

Her eyes widened, as if she had never expected that she, who knew nothing about giant squid, would actually hear the word "sorry" in the voice just now!

Wow...

Splash splash splash splash...

The water flow changes from still to moving, from slow to fast, becoming rapid and turbulent.

Before the two could react, a giant wave gushing from the giant squid funnel had already sent them back to the surface of the water.

Harry and Hermione are not ordinary Muggles; they control water pressure with the Bubble Head Charm, so they won't suffer from decompression sickness from rising too quickly. However, after personally experiencing the power of the giant squid, even as wizards, they still need some time to adjust to their newly refreshed understanding.

And so, for the next 40 minutes, Hogwarts hero Harry and his beloved Hermione Granger, who had been lost and found again, temporarily experienced what it was like to be a spectator at the Triwizard Tournament.

At 10:00, there was no movement on the Black Lake.

At 10:10, there was no movement on the Black Lake.

At 10:20, something that looked like a human head floated to the surface of the water, but after careful inspection, it turned out to be just the belly of a toad.

Finally, at 10:23, Fleur de la Cour emerged from the water with her sister Gabrielle de la Cour. Her hair was completely disheveled, and she looked somewhat hysterical.

“Gabrielle! Help her! She can’t swim! We’ve run into Greendylow.”

Seeing that her student had completed the task before Viktor Krum, Ms. Maxim quickly stepped forward with a happy expression and hugged Fleur.

"Among the seaweed... those seaweeds of Grindylo... they've all gone mad for some reason... they grabbed Gabrielle, and I thought I was going to lose her..."

"It's okay, it's all over."

Maxim comforted her, saying:

"You chased them away, didn't you?"

"It wasn't me, it was Krum..."

Without hesitation, Fleur said, "I can't believe it!" Suddenly, a loud "poof" came from behind her, and a strange creature, half-human and half-shark, leaped high into the air from the lake, carrying a Ravenclaw girl.

"Oh! Krum!"

Karkaroff raised his fist and shouted, and under his leadership, the Durmstrang students immediately began to cheer for their school's warrior.

"Krum! Krum! Krum!"

Amidst the clamor of voices, Dumbledore quietly crouched down by the water.

He was talking to a merman leader who looked fierce but wore an exquisite necklace. Suddenly, a sharp, piercing sound, just like the one that had come out of the golden egg, escaped his throat.

"Sizzle sizzle, ya wah wah."

"Zzzzzy ya wa yi".

......

Before long, Madam Pomfrey had settled the warriors and their treasures. Dumbledore, who had already received the information from the merman leader, straightened up and gathered the other referees together.

Unlike Mo Ran, Harry hadn't seen the "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" movies, so he wasn't surprised that Fleur was able to complete the second task. However, based on her description after coming ashore, he felt that something interesting must have happened underwater.

About three minutes later, Ludo Bagman's magically amplified voice finally rang out again.

"Alright! Ladies and gentlemen, the judges have given their scores. Based on the time it took for the three warriors to complete the mission, and the description given by Mermaid Leader Merkus, we have decided to award each warrior the following scores out of a maximum of 50 points!"

"Cough cough!"

He coughed twice and said:

"Beauxbatons Warrior, Fleur Delacour. She demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble Head Curse, completing the task in second place at 9:53 and successfully rescuing the hostage. We're giving her 46 points!"

"Good! Long live!"

"Pah! She got 46 points? She was half an hour slower than Harry! What a load of rubbish! What a load of rubbish!"

Applause and boos erupted simultaneously from the stands; clearly, many young Hogwarts wizards felt that such a high score was unfair.

"Next up is Durmstrang Warrior, Viktor Krum."

Having already witnessed far more savage fans in professional Quidditch matches, Ludo Bagman ignored the students' commotion. He straightened his suit and continued reading from the parchment:

"Mr. Krum used an incomplete shapeshifting spell. Although the transformation was incomplete, it was very effective. He also returned at 9:53, slightly later than Miss Delacour who brought back her hostages. However, according to the mermaid leader, the Grindylo tribe at the bottom of the Black Lake suddenly became frightened for some reason. Mr. Krum, having already returned ahead of Miss Delacour, took the initiative to turn back and drive away the water monsters that were attacking indiscriminately in the chaos..."

Upon hearing this, the students from the three schools cast all sorts of glances at Krum. Some glances contained regret, some sympathy, and even a very few expressions of disappointment and disdain.

Harry had assumed Karkaroff would be the one with the most exaggerated expression, but to his surprise, the guy was stroking his goatee with a smug look on his face, which made Harry realize something was amiss.

"All the judges felt that Mr. Krum's behavior fully demonstrated his noble moral character, so despite being behind in terms of time, Mr. Krum's final score was also 46 points."

"Great! A moral exemplar!"

"Krum! Krum! Krum!"

"Bullshit decision! Bullshit decision! Bullshit decision!"

Amidst the deafening roar, Fleur was the first to clap her hands at Viktor Krum, her worthy opponent. Immediately afterwards, everyone in the referee's box, including Harry and Hermione, also offered their respects to Viktor.

The Ravenclaw girl who had played Krum's date at the ball held his head and gave him a big kiss, but this gesture did not make Krum any happier.

His eyes kept glancing at Hermione next to Harry...

The applause lasted for about a minute, until Ludo Bagman called out the warrior's name, at which point the audience fell silent again.

"Finally, the very last! Hogwarts Hero—Harry Potter! Mr. Potter's return time is 9:53. Since the Mermaid Queen has never witnessed his magic, we do not yet know how Mr. Potter managed to complete his mission so quickly. Furthermore, when Mr. Potter was the first to arrive at Mermaid Village, she wasted some extra time there to ensure the safety of all the hostages. Therefore, in recognition of his outstanding abilities and equally excellent moral character, most of the judges..."

At this point, Ludo Bagman secretly gave Karkarov a disgusted look.

"Everyone is willing to award Mr. Potter an extra 5 points, bringing his final score to 50 plus 20—70 points!"

"Ow!"

The loudest cheers since the start of the second event rang out as students from all grades across the four colleges celebrated with abandon.

They shouted and yelled:

"Merlin's trousers! Merlin's underwear!"

"Well done, referee! Great call!"

"Champion! Champion! Champion!"

"Wait a minute, why is it 70 points? Shouldn't it be 75 points with an extra 25? Didn't anyone give Harry extra points?"

......

The Hogwarts students' celebration lasted a long time, and Ludo Bagman, who was unhappy with Karkaroff, deliberately let the young wizards shout until they had had enough before announcing the details of the last project.

"Now that the second event has concluded, the final test remains for the three-way competition. The third event will take place on the evening of June 24th. The judges will inform you of the specific details of the Warrior event a month in advance. Thank you all for your support of the competition, and please continue to support your favorite champion! See you in four months!"

......

In the distance, at the edge of the Forbidden Forest connecting to the Black Lake embankment, beech branches swayed gently in the breeze. It was here that Moran, who had separated from Harry's body a few hours earlier, witnessed the entire second event of the Triwizard Tournament.

In fact, he had already noticed the changes in the other two warriors when the first project ended and the beginning of the next one.

Because Harry repeatedly resolved various crises at Hogwarts with his own strength, Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour, with their great reputation, made more thorough preparations than in the original story.

This change allowed them to get past the dragon and obtain the golden egg in a better and faster way. Later, witnessing Harry's power firsthand further pushed their potential to the limit.

Without exaggeration, Mo Ran would love to see Fleur and Krum go all out and complete the task within the allotted time. If the competition were truly one-sided, Harry might lose motivation and become lazy in the following tasks.

Wouldn't that play right into Voldemort's hands?

Now that Rita Skeeter's press release has been issued, Ludo Bagman, who was mentioned for illegal gambling, is still active on Hogwarts campus. The feeling that he has no idea what the Death Eaters are up to is making Mo Ran feel increasingly pressured.

As he watched Lady Pomfrey begin escorting the warriors and the Ninja Gate back to the castle in the distance, his eyes carefully swept over everyone in the referee's and teachers' seats, and he thought to himself:

"June 24th... June 24th... No matter what, if Voldemort wants to be resurrected, he will choose to make his move on the Triwizard Tournament trophy before this day. In that case, I just need to keep a close eye on those who can get close to the trophy, and I'll have a chance to find a weakness!"