Hogwarts: Harry Potter's Return from the Witcher World

Hermione's face turned slightly red as she lowered her head in shyness, like the budding willow shoots beginning to sprout by the Black Lake.

Ludo turned to her. "Miss Granger, did you tell Mr. Potter about this? We agreed that—"

Hermione shook her head. "Of course not, but I did mention to you all that Harry is very perceptive." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"If I take Hermione away now, does that mean the second task is over?" Harry asked, his tone light.

Ludo's face turned slightly pale.

Karkaroff scoffed, turning his head aside, while Maxime frowned and glanced at Gabrielle thoughtfully.

"I don't think that would work," Ludo shook his head. "Of course, of course, we must acknowledge that Mr. Potter is indeed very talented and values Miss Granger highly."

"But a task is a task. I believe you should still participate, otherwise, it would be difficult for the judges to score you—especially Mr. Karkaroff."

Karkaroff scoffed again.

Difficult to score?

If he didn't participate, then a zero was the obvious answer. What's there to hesitate about?

"Harry, don't worry," Dumbledore spoke up, teasingly reassuring him. "I will personally cast the spells to ensure that Hermione remains completely safe."

Harry looked at Hermione.

Hermione smiled at him. "Harry, I told you, I've been prepared for this for a long time."

Harry nodded, waved goodbye to them, and left the room. Inside, Ludo lowered his voice and continued giving instructions to the three champions' "treasures."

At nine o'clock, the students, under the supervision of the professors, entered the stands one after another and took their seats. The Gryffindors already knew about the task's contents and were enthusiastically, almost arrogantly, explaining it to the others.

In the champions' waiting tent, Harry sat quietly with a book in hand, while Fleur and Krum had yet to arrive.

Ron peeked inside, carrying Crookshanks in his arms. Seeing Harry, he let out a sigh of relief. "Harry, you're here!"

Harry looked up.

Ron stepped in hastily, sounding much more relaxed. "Has Hermione been with you all this time?"

Harry shook his head.

Ron froze, his brow furrowing as he clutched Crookshanks tighter. "She wasn't with you? Brown said she's been missing since early morning. I even asked Crookshanks, but he just lazed around and tried to claw me."

Harry didn't respond, only watching him calmly.

He didn't look the least bit worried about Hermione.

The tent flap lifted, and Fleur walked in, frowning. Ron glanced at her, then suddenly thought of something, pointing outside and lowering his voice to whisper a single word: "Treasure?"

Harry nodded.

Ron was completely at ease. "Alright, so that's what's going on."

"Fred was just saying he was wondering why you weren't out there fighting with the Ministry."

"Fighting? Why would he be fighting?" Fleur leaned in curiously.

Having suffered from her charms before, Ron resisted her allure this time, looking at her warily. "Nothing, just a little Gryffindor joke."

With that, he quickly turned away. "Harry, I'll be going now. Good luck with the competition."

In a flash, he was gone.

"Is he avoiding me? Does he hate me?" Fleur frowned, her mood worsening.

"He doesn't hate you, but he is avoiding you," Harry nodded.

Fleur crossed her arms and turned to Krum, who had just entered. "Why? Do all British people—"

"If you could control yourself and not overuse your Veela charm, I think he wouldn't be avoiding you," Harry interrupted.

Krum completely agreed with Harry. Before the Yule Ball, Fleur had invited him—though it was a half-hearted invitation, as she had used her Veela magic to entice him.

Fleur huffed and turned her head away.

They waited in silence for thirty minutes until, just before the competition began, Ministry officials called them outside.

By the lake, a long table in red and gold was set up for the judges.

Ludo raised his wand to his throat. "Look! Our champions are coming out, all brimming with confidence. It looks like they have all successfully solved the golden egg's riddle."

"Now, for those in the audience who still don't know the content of the second task, allow me to explain."

"The wicked merpeople have taken the champions' treasures!"

From the Black Lake, a merperson let out a sharp, displeased screech, though it was drowned out by the deafening cheers of the students.

Sirius was seated among the Gryffindors, waving his wand to control a lifelike hippogriff.

Ludo gave his wand a flick.

The three massive screens in front of the stands shimmered with light and displayed three images.

Three people submerged in the water, unconscious.

The Gryffindors gasped in shock.

They recognized one of them—Hermione.

"This competition will take place underwater," Ludo continued excitedly, waving his wand to set off a burst of fireworks. "Our champions will face an unprecedented challenge."

"Their first difficulty will be figuring out how to dive underwater."

"Then, they must deal with the magical creatures of the Black Lake—some of which are rather dangerous dark creatures—as well as the interference of the wicked merpeople!"

"And they have only one hour! If they fail to overcome these challenges and complete their mission within the time limit, they will lose their—"

At this point, Ludo hesitated, noticing Harry's unwavering gaze and expressionless face. He swallowed and continued, "They will lose their chance at glory in the second task!"

"Of course... to prevent us from sitting here like fools for an hour staring at a dark lake, the Ministry has stationed wizards underwater to provide a live broadcast."

"Now, let's have the champions take their positions at the lake's edge."

Harry and the others stepped forward.

Ludo pulled a Weasley firework from his pocket and set it off, forming a brilliant Triwizard Tournament cup in the sky. "Three, two, one!"

"Champions, go forth and fight for your glory—and for your treasures!"

On the screens, the view immediately switched from the lakebed to the three champions.

Ludo resumed his commentary. "Oh, we see Mr. Krum casting an advanced Transfiguration spell to turn his head into a shark's! Very clever—it allows him to move through the water and provides offensive capabilities."

"Miss Delacour has used a Bubble-Head Charm. I imagine most wizards in this situation would think of using that spell."

"Now, let's see Mr. Potter—oh, he's taken out another potion!"

"We learned during the first task that Mr. Potter is exceptionally skilled in potions. This time, he's using another potion I've never seen before. Professor Dumbledore?"

He smoothly handed over the commentary to the white-bearded elder beside him.

Dumbledore nodded and spoke, his voice as amplified as Ludo's. "Yes, this is another new potion developed by Mr. Potter."

"I've heard Professor Snape mention it. This potion not only allows him to breathe underwater but also grants him unrestricted movement as if he were on land—and it even enhances his magic."

As he explained, Harry leaped into the water. Unlike Fleur and Krum, who had to paddle with their arms, Harry shot forward like an arrow.

The wizards providing the underwater broadcast could barely keep up.

Luckily, they had wizards positioned at different depths, so they managed to capture glimpses of Harry through quick camera cuts.

Ludo was stunned silent for a moment before exclaiming, "We see Mr. Potter soaring through the water—yes, he's flying!"

"This potion is truly incredible."

"He's already far ahead of the other two champions, and he's heading straight in the right direction—oh, he's flying!"

Meanwhile, deep in the Black Lake, a merperson suddenly pointed at Harry and shouted, "It's him! Get him!"

Harry barely dodged as a spear shot toward him.

"I was playing near the surface before, and he was the one pranking me!"

Harry tried to explain, but all that came out were a string of bubbles.

He waved his wand, forming words in the water: "That was an accident. I'm here to retrieve my treasure."

The merperson clapped its hands. "Oh, so you're a champion? That's great!"

"I just overheard that fat, old wizard up there call us evil?"

"Well then, let's show them how evil merpeople can be!"

More than a dozen merpeople charged toward Harry, wielding spears.

From above, Ludo's face turned pale. "This... this wasn't in the plan! Professor Dumbledore, shouldn't we stop them?"

"They promised us they'd only send one merperson to test the champions!"

Dumbledore chuckled. "They're just playing with Harry."

"Playing?!" Ludo gaped in disbelief.

Ten merpeople ganging up on a single young wizard—this was a joke?!

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Powerstones?

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