When Harry walked out of the tent, he thought there would be some kind of grand ceremony. His heart was uneasy—he quickly ruffled his messy hair into place and fretted over his robe, which he couldn't get to look neat again.
But reality turned out to be surprisingly simple. They didn't return to the grandstand to bask in the cheers and applause of the crowd.
Instead, Bagman merely led everyone to a new tent. As soon as they stepped inside, those at the front were dazzled by flashing lights and squinted against them.
"Ah-ha, our champions are here!" Rita Skeeter exclaimed in an exaggeratedly high-pitched voice, a flamboyant blue hat perched on her head. Beside her, a quill was already scribbling furiously.
Inside the tent stood a young man with a freckled face, who practically bounced up as if he had springs on his feet. His camera went off nonstop—click, click, click!—in everyone's faces.
Harry felt a surge of dread and instinctively froze in his tracks, only to be accidentally shoved forward into the tent by someone behind him.
Bagman ignored all of this, just as he ignored the little blue bird that had fluttered in along with them. Beaming warmly, he said:
"Oh, let's officially confirm the list of champions who passed the first task—"
"From Durmstrang, Viktor Krum;"
"From Salem, Hope Cruz;"
"From Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory, Harry Potter, Wade Grey;"
At the mention of three consecutive names, even though everyone already knew, they couldn't help glancing at the Hogwarts group once more.
"From Ilvermorny, Adam Cagney;"
"From Koldovstoretz , Natalia Petrov;"
"From Mahoutokoro, Tachibana Kitajima;"
"From Beauxbatons, Clémentine Durand."
"From Uagadou, Jabari Viven."
"That's ten in total, right?" Bagman counted them off with mock gravity before continuing: "Now, please display your golden eggs."
"Raise them high, champions! Yes, just like that!"
The freckled reporter cried out excitedly, snapping photos like a machine gun.
Bagman still ignored the commotion. Clapping his hands together, he said: "Alright, I have just a few words—"
"The second task will begin at 9:30 on the morning of February 24th. I still cannot tell you what the task is…"
Here, he paused deliberately and his round face creased into a sly grin.
"But if you're clever enough to solve the clue hidden inside your golden egg, you'll be able to prepare before the day arrives."
"Understood? Any questions? Good. You may go and rest now."
…
As Harry walked out of the tent, he glanced nervously over his shoulder.
Rita Skeeter, clad in vivid green robes, had cornered Jabari Viven from Uagadou. Smiling broadly, she asked:
"Congratulations, Mr. Viven! I'd say you had the easiest time getting past the dragon! Now that you've made it to the second round, how do you feel? And would you care to tell us why your Animagus form happens to be a gerbil (sand rat)?"
Behind her, the Quick-Quotes Quill hovered eagerly in the air, as excited as a shark scenting blood.
Seeing that this dreadful reporter seemed to have lost interest in him, Harry breathed a small sigh of relief.
"I still don't know what the clue inside the golden egg is." Harry lowered his head, examining the egg, and asked Wade: "Do you think the clues in ours will be the same? Should we open it and take a look?"
Wade glanced around and shook his head slightly. "Wait until we're back."
"You're right." Harry stuffed the golden egg into his pocket. "There's sure to be a celebration party in the common room tonight. I wonder if Cedric's bones will have grown back by then."
Wade doubted it.
Back then, when only the bones in Harry's one arm had vanished, it had taken the entire night to grow them back. The bones in a thigh are far longer than those in an arm—the regrowth process would definitely be more drawn out and painful.
Still, come to think of it, even if Cedric couldn't get up tonight, Hufflepuff would surely throw him another celebration later. They were never short on food for parties anyway.
After parting from Harry, Wade first reassured his parents—though they must have already watched the match through the live broadcast.
Then some friends rang him on the communication bean to congratulate him. After chatting with them, he asked Marchionne for a complete recording of the match.
Afterward, Wade went to the Room of Requirement on the seventh floor of the castle. When he grasped the brass doorknob and opened it, the room had already transformed into a spacious and magnificent chamber, bright as day and as grand as a Roman bathhouse.
At the center stretched a pool at least twenty to thirty meters long. Curls of steam gently rose up from the surface, and the white marble gleamed with a pearly sheen.
And around the pool stood twelve graceful mermaid statues, each holding either an instrument or a water jug, from which clear streams poured endlessly.
Wade swiftly shed his clothes and shoes, took a deep breath, and leapt into the pool, swimming back and forth with relish as crystalline splashes scattered across the water.
In the pool, the boy moved as fluidly as a mermaid. The warm water washed away his fatigue from the tournament. With a turn, he dove beneath the surface, and when he rose again, he had already reached the edge.
Wade shook the dripping black hair from his face, then fished the golden egg out of his clothes pocket at the poolside before diving back under.
Although there were now more schools competing and the tasks weren't exactly the same, since the event was still being designed by officials from the British Ministry of Magic, their puzzle-setting mindset likely hadn't changed much.
Only the difficulty of the tasks had increased.
Underwater, Wade opened his eyes, pressed his fingers into the seams of the golden egg, and forced it open.
At once, a strange, ethereal singing voice poured forth—
[Come, come and seek us out,
Where our voices ring free.
On land we may not sing,
So heed well as you search:
A heart of steel lies sleeping in shadow,
The crimson sunset drifts among the tentacles,
The star-etched full moon lies sealed behind an ancient stone door,
When these three unite, the path shall be revealed.
Beware, oh, beware…
To escape this frozen lair,
Only the wise and brave may fare.]
Wade surfaced, cast a Bubble-Head Charm on himself, and dove back down. He listened to the song from beginning to end twice more, committing every word to memory.
"Just as I thought…"
He burst out of the water, wiped the droplets from his face, and pushed back his soaked hair.
"The task has changed, but it's still about searching in the Black Lake… only this time, it's not people as 'treasures' we're meant to find, but three objects instead…"
He conjured a piece of parchment and wrote down the lyrics, frowning slightly as he studied the words.
"Heart of steel, crimson sunset, full moon?"
"It feels… so much harder to find than a living person…"
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