The Admiral of Hogwarts

An hour passed quickly. Except for Venetto, who finished the race in five minutes, everyone else exceeded the time limit. Krum exceeded the limit by the least amount, only five minutes.

Harry and Fleur both returned together after exceeding the time limit by ten minutes. Although Harry arrived at the Merpeople village earlier than the other two, he didn't leave until he was sure that everyone had reunited with their hostages.

Unlike in the original novel, Fleur was indeed attacked in the weeds. But this time, she successfully got rid of the Grindylows that attacked her, only wasting some time.

Obviously, she and Harry both took the Merpeople's song seriously. So after landing, she hugged her sister and cried desperately, as if she had recovered some kind of lost treasure.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Harry said to Hugo, who had been waiting here for a long time, after drinking the potion that Madam Pomfrey gave him and wrapping himself in a blanket with Ginny.

"This is just a game. I think Venetto and Krum should know this. Only I was stupid enough to take this threat seriously, and as a result, I was the last one to come back."

"No, I think the choice you made before was very admirable," Hugo shook his head. "At least it shows that you have a strong sense of responsibility."

"But from another perspective, your habit of getting hot-headed isn't a good idea," Hermione interjected at this time.

"If I wanted to deal with you, I could easily trap you by attacking people related to you, or even just making you believe that I attacked people related to you."

"Because when you encounter this kind of problem, you often get hot-headed in the first place, and then ignore all the doubts and rush into the trap yourself."

"Okay, it seems I do have some problems in this regard," Harry shook his head helplessly. In his eyes, he always felt that Hermione was like his sister, so he naturally didn't feel so good after being criticized by someone close to him.

Fortunately, the goddess of luck didn't completely abandon him. Seeing that he was a little frustrated, Ginny, with her wet hair, reached out and grabbed Harry's head, turning it towards her, and then kissed him directly.

At this time, Ron had just squeezed through the crowd and wanted to say something to Harry. When he saw his sister kissing Harry, he was stunned, as if struck by lightning.

However, the other spectators in the stands who saw this scene all applauded, and some even whistled. Even the judges who were preparing to score were attracted by the sudden cheers.

"This can be said to be a fool's luck," Venetto said, looking at the kissing couple. "Obviously, girls like Ginny, who put Harry first in everything, are the most suitable partners for him."

"You're right," Hermione nodded and said, "After all, Harry can be a bit strong at times, and a strong Harry needs a slightly weaker partner in front of him, otherwise they'll definitely argue every day if they're together."

Just then, a trace appeared on the surface of the water, and then a Merperson floated to the surface. Dumbledore walked to the water's edge and communicated with her using the sharp, piercing sound that Merpeople make on the surface of the water.

A few minutes later, the two sides ended their exchange, and Dumbledore returned to the judges' table and chatted softly with all the judges. It seemed that they were going to make some adjustments to the scoring.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have finally made a decision. The Merperson leader, Murcus, told us everything that happened at the bottom of the lake. We have decided to score the champions as follows, based on a full score of fifty points…"

"Fleur Delacour demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, but was attacked by Grindylows when approaching the target, causing her to be the last to reach the destination. So we decided to give her 30 points."

There was a burst of applause from the stands, and Fleur nodded in satisfaction. Although she was currently at the bottom of the score, considering her performance just now, Fleur felt that getting such a score could be said to be blessed by Merlin.

"Viktor Krum used Transfiguration, although incomplete, it was still very effective. He was the second to return with the hostage, but he exceeded the competition time limit, so we decided to give him 40 points."

The applause for Krum was much warmer than for Fleur, mainly because Krum's performance was better. Of course, the fact that he was an internationally renowned Quidditch star also earned him a lot of praise.

However, Krum didn't look very good now. After all, he had come to participate in the competition full of confidence, but not only did he not get first place in two consecutive competitions, he couldn't even get second place, which obviously made him feel uncomfortable.

At least in the speculation of various media about the results of this competition before the start of the competition, most people felt that Krum should be able to obtain an overwhelming advantage, but now it seems that this mainly brought psychological pressure to Krum.

"Harry Potter correctly chose and took Gillyweed, achieving amazing results. Like Miss Fleur, he was also the last to return.

However, the Merperson leader told us that Mr. Potter was the first to find the hostage. He failed to return in time because he wanted to ensure that all the hostages could return safely, instead of only caring about his own hostage."

"Most of the judges…" Bagman said, glancing at Karkaroff with great dissatisfaction: "Think this fully reflects a noble moral character, so… Mr. Potter's score is 42 points!"

There was another burst of warm cheers from the stands. Amidst the applause and cheers, Bagman's voice sounded again.

"Finally, Miss Vittorio Venetto showed us a super strong level of Transfiguration and flexible use of magic, rescuing the hostage in just five minutes, so we decided that Miss Venetto's score is—48 points!"

"I guess it's likely that Karkaroff gave you a low score," Hugo said to Venetto while applauding. "Only that guy would close his eyes and give a blind score."

Waves of cheers rang out in the stands. After all, Hogwarts was the home team for this competition, so everyone naturally became excited after seeing their school's classmate win first place.

"The third, and final, task will take place on the evening of June 24th," Bagman continued, "The champions will be informed of the specific content of the task one month in advance. Thank you all for your support of the champions."

"It seems that we can rest for a long time next," Venetto said softly, looking at the tranquil Black Lake and the cheering crowd in the stands. "After all, we have a lot of work to do next, so it's good to have some free time."

"Indeed, especially since we happen to have a big project to work on during this time," Hugo nodded. "It's a good thing to be able to take enough time to do your own things."

Just as everyone was returning to the castle, Hugo saw that the Weasley twins' faces were full of satisfied smiles. Obviously, they had sold things well this time while everyone was bored.

I have to say, compared to most of the audience on the field, the Weasley twins gained enough benefits in this competition, earning a lot of money by taking advantage of the extremely boring competition for the audience.