Amidst the cheers, Jane Yu was the only one who belatedly realized something was off.
How had she inexplicably become the first-place winner again?
All she did was row a little boat because she didn't want to swim in the freezing water too early.
All she did was use a bit of "instant heater" magic to warm up the lake water.
How had this turned into her conquering the mermaids?
How had this turned into her communicating with them?
How had this turned into the mermaids obeying her commands?
Her confused gaze turned to the other champions. Krum and Cedric looked visibly disappointed, while Fleur was hugging her sister tightly…
As for Harry Potter, he was busy adjusting to his human legs, hands, and nose, showing no signs of frustration over his loss.
In fact, he was utterly enchanted, breathing in the fresh, sweet air of the land as if Hogwarts' air was some kind of luxury.
Jane Yu closed her eyes in silent despair, not wanting to spare another glance at this unmotivated protagonist.
But Fleur wasn't about to let her close her eyes.
Perhaps due to her part-Veela heritage, Fleur's emotions were particularly intense and sensitive. Even after a while, she couldn't suppress her excitement.
She dragged Gabrielle over to Jane and immediately began kissing her cheeks wildly:
"Those mermaids and Grindylows attacked me—they were especially vicious—I tried to break through to save Gabrielle—but—"
She blurted out her entire thought process in one breath, completely ignoring the other champions around them:
"I'm sorry! I used to think… but you deserve to be in this competition more than anyone! You saved Gabrielle, even though none of them were your treasures—"
"No wonder I kept hearing Hogwarts students cheering for you—no wonder they fought over you and pretended to be your dance partner—I'm sorry! I was wrong!"
Overwhelmed with excitement, Fleur quickly covered her mouth, realizing she had spoken too much.
"I just heard—I mean, what am I saying—"
But Jane Yu, the unwitting victim, already wore an indescribable expression, while Harry, one of the involved parties, began nervously fidgeting with his human toes.
Fleur's direct words had inadvertently hit two champions… and, of course, the embarrassed treasures Ron and Hermione, who had closed their eyes in mortification.
"I just have a good intuition about boys—I wasn't prying—I'm sorry, I got carried away—"
Fleur, panicking and realizing the more she explained, the worse it sounded, ultimately decided to shut her mouth.
Thankfully, Ludo Bagman, who had just announced the results, returned to rescue Fleur, who looked ready to bury her head in the Black Lake.
"Alright!" he announced, "Cheer up, everyone! There's still the third task!"
He flipped through a calendar, frowning in concern:
"The final task has been moved up to next month—"
"Why?" The other champions, except for Harry and Jane Yu, voiced their concerns. "Isn't that a bit too soon?"
"Uh…" Bagman hesitated awkwardly. "The three headmasters suggested we speed up the process."
He forced a nervous smile and then led the champions to the Quidditch pitch.
"In a month, this will be turned into a maze," Bagman explained. "It will contain various obstacles, and the first to overcome them and reach the trophy will win. Of course, Miss Yu, as the current first-place champion, will have the advantage of entering the maze first."
"Of course, these obstacles may pose certain dangers. If you encounter trouble, you can send up red sparks to request help."
Jane Yu immediately understood.
All she needed to do was enter the maze, stay put for a while, and send up some red sparks. Someone would come and escort her out.
Hopefully, Harry would step up, as he was supposed to, and claim the trophy.
As she was mulling this over, Harry's voice suddenly broke her thoughts.
"Yu, can I talk to you for a moment?"
Jane followed him away from the pitch, toward the less populated Forbidden Forest, where she spotted Sirius Black in his dog form. He was soaking wet, as if he'd just been in the water, with his paws resting on a fence.
Seeing them approach, he wagged his tail happily and trotted ahead to lead them deeper into the forest before transforming back.
"That was incredible! Absolutely brilliant! I saw you taming the mermaids!" he congratulated Jane enthusiastically. "I was keeping watch by the lake and even swam a bit to ensure your safety, but then the mermaids all jumped out of the water! And they even brought everyone up! It was spectacular!"
He grinned broadly, showing his perfect teeth.
"Harry! You did great too! Thinking of using Gillyweed—that was clever—"
"Uh—" Harry awkwardly interrupted, "It was Yu's idea. She gave me the Gillyweed. Otherwise, I would've drowned in the Black Lake."
"Oh—I see." Sirius didn't seem embarrassed at all. He sighed as he looked at Harry's exhausted state. "Harry, I think I need to find time to teach you how to swim! If you can't even handle a little Black Lake, then—"
Jane could almost see the words "this kid is so frail" written in bold letters in his eyes.
Harry noticed it too, and his toes began fidgeting again as his face turned red.
"Back in my day, I swam across half the North Sea to return to England from Azkaban!" Sirius boasted. "But of course, I must commend your friendship and teamwork—"
"Yes, friendship and teamwork," a cold, low voice interrupted. Jane didn't need to turn around to know it was her Head of House. "So strong that my storage cabinet is now empty. First, African tree snake skins, and now Gillyweed. I can't help but applaud your camaraderie."
Jane Yu put on an innocent expression.
She had noticed an odd pattern—
Whenever Sirius Black snuck around to meet her, her Head of House seemed to track them down like a bloodhound.
But wasn't the Gillyweed leftover potion material that Snape had asked her to take away?
Apparently, the real issue was Harry growing gills and webbed fingers.
Snape glared at her venomously, confirming her suspicion with his expression:
"Regrettably, Black, I must inform you that due to your godson's actions, you owe compensation yet again."
He pulled out an invoice and slapped it onto Sirius' face. Predictably, Sirius tore it into shreds.
So Snape pulled out a second one.
And a third, a fourth…
"Enough! Is Galleons all you think about?" Sirius roared angrily. "Why don't you focus on the task Dumbledore assigned you? That Durmstrang headmaster—"
"My task is going smoothly," Snape said with a sarcastic smile. "As for you—"
He looked Sirius up and down, noting his wet clothes, which clearly indicated he had been in the Black Lake.
"It seems your brain has been waterlogged by dog paddling. Even a first-year student knows the principle of repaying debts."
Sirius' face twisted in frustration. Saddled with yet another debt, he transformed back into a dog, shook off the water, and ran off.
Snape seemed to find the forest air much fresher without Sirius around.
This relaxed his frown slightly, but he quickly turned his dark gaze on Harry:
"Leading a classmate into the Forbidden Forest, Potter. Are you unaware of your current situation? For your recklessness, Gryffindor loses 50 points."
Harry felt as if gills were growing on his face again, unsure which part of his body to breathe with.
Soon, Snape's venomous attention turned to Jane Yu, but his focus was peculiarly different:
"I wonder if our mermaid-taming Miss Yu could explain—"
"Why the windows outside the Slytherin common room—are filled with constant, blood-curdling screams?"
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