Chapter 431

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Fleur, Gabi, Luna and I remained at the black lake dock, with the girls drinking hot chocolate and warming up while we waited for the other champions to appear.

And we didn't have to wait long, because after about 2 minutes Harry emerged from the water with Hermione in his arms, and not 10 seconds later Krum arrived too.

And with that the third and fourth position in this second task of the Tri-Wizard tournament had been decided.

And just like I did with Fleur, I went to help Harry and Hermione get onto the dock, and as I helped a still slightly disoriented Hermione get out of the water I realized that the black-haired boy's transformation was ending.

Harry then began to grimace in pain as he ran his hand down his neck, feeling his gills disappear, and I could also see his hands returning to normal.

And squirming, Harry let out one last painful grunt, before losing his fish features, returning to being a normal human boy.

"Urg, I will never eat Gillyweed again in my life," he said, with an uncomfortable frown.

"Never say never my friend" I told him, smiling amusedly when he looked at me dryly.

I then offered my hand to him, which he gladly accepted before I pulled him up.

And after climbing onto the dock, Harry quickly went to check on his girlfriend properly, and in the meantime I looked back at the lake, seeing Krum approaching.

I also helped his hostage out of the water, and now that there was only him left in the lake I extended my hand to him.

But instead of accepting my help, he just grunted before pushing my hand away and climbing onto the dock alone.

And seeing this I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

And I could see that there was an angry, irritated scowl on the Bulgarian champion's face, and I didn't need to be the most brilliant person to know why he had an expression like that.

Krum then started to walk towards his hostage, who was already being looked after by Madam Pomfrey, but before walking away he looked at me one last time.

And in his eyes I could feel his dislike for me, and if his look didn't make it clear what he felt, then his feelings of resentment and anger showed that the little feat I had done back there had made him angry.

And under the Durmstrang student's irritated and hostile gaze I just smiled innocently as I waved my hand at him.

However, this only seemed to upset the rude boy even more, who grunted, or better said, growled at me, before turning to go check on his hostage, not wanting to be near me any longer.

'Well, I guess that means he doesn't want to be my friend' I hummed, not at all bothered or worried about the fact that I had made the Bulgarian champion and Quidditch star an enemy of mine.

And with a shrug I returned to Luna's side, who was sitting in a chair that I conjured while drinking her hot chocolate with caramel with a satisfied and happy look.

'Cute' I smiled lightly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now that the fourth and final champion has arrived our judges can finally start giving their scores for the task" I heard Bagman say, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"But before that, Mr. Dumbledore will talk to the leader of the Merpeople, Murcus, to find out how our champions did on the task" and saying that he gestured to Headmaster Dumbledore, who had already come down from the stands prepared for the judges and was crouched on the edge of the dock near the water.

And in the water was a female Merperson, or rather a Selkie, that looked a little bigger than the others I had seen, wearing what looked like a crown of seaweed and shells.

This Selkie, who was obviously Murcus, leader of the Merpeople, then began talking to the Headmaster in Mermish.

And I wasn't at all surprised that the Headmaster could speak Mermish. In fact, I was sure he spoke many other languages, perhaps even more than Mr. Crouch, who was known to speak over 200 languages.

But shaking my head I decided to focus on the conversation the Headmaster was having with the Selkie, knowing that I was one of the few and perhaps the only one who could hear and understand them.

"...And then after that that girl was saved by that tall boy with black hair and strange eyes" Murcus said, recounting what happened inside the black lake, "And they then started to run away from the Grindylows, but they decided to stop to face them, and they were doing very well, until they got cornered."

"And it was then at that moment that that boy decided to launch that terrifying attack that destroyed a small part of the lake and killed all those Grindylows."

And when the leader of the Merpeople said this she looked at me with a frown, obviously upset about the death of her Grindylows.

'Hmph, maybe if you had controlled your pets I wouldn't have had to kill them' I thought, crossing my arms as I glared at her fiercely.

And my look seemed to remind this Selkie that all the damage I caused in the black lake was no accident, as she looked away with a feeling of fear and nervousness.

'Coward' I snorted.

The leader of the Merpeople then coughed into her hand to get rid of the embarrassment, before continuing to speak to the Headmaster.

"But well, after defeating the Grindylows, the two continued heading towards the village to rescue their hostages, and when they got there..." and she then continued to tell what happened, also mentioning the other champions a little, but in this moment I lost interest in their conversation.

'You know, everything would be a lot easier if the tournament organizers had created some spell or magical item to show the audience what was happening at the bottom of the lake' I reflected, not knowing that my mom and dad thought the same thing.

We then continued waiting, and some time later the two's conversation ended, with the Headmaster thanking Murcus before the female Selkie sank into the water to return to her village, but not before giving me a glance.

'It looks like I won't be welcome in the Merpeople village the next time I enter the lake'

"Well, it looks like Mr. Dumbledore's conversation with Merchieftainess Murcus is over," the Bagman began to say, catching everyone's attention, "So now let's hear what he has to say about the champions' task!" and he seemed very excited about it.

The Headmaster then took a step forward, and with all eyes on him, he began to repeat what Murcus said to him, highlighting mainly the most impactful and important points and events of the task.

He started by talking about how each champion overcame the challenge of breathing underwater, explaining which spell, or in Harry's case, item, we used.

He then began to tell the trajectory of each champion until we reached our hostages, mentioning first Krum and then Harry

And when he started talking about Fleur's trajectory he paused, looking slightly at me.

He then talked about how I saved the French girl, before finally talking about the moment everyone was waiting for, which was the incident with the water demons.

And when he said that the one who created that maelstrom and defeated all those chaotic and aggressive creatures was me, those in the stands looked at me in shock and surprise.

But soon after, those looks turned to understanding, with everyone remembering that I was the same person who defeated and completely tamed a dragon, so doing something like defeating a few Grindylows was nothing compared to that.

"Ahem" I cleared my throat to get the Headmaster's attention, interrupting him, "Actually it was me and Fleur who defeated the Grindylows" I said, which made the Veela next to me look at me in surprise.

"Really?" the old wizard asked with a raised eyebrow.

And I opened my mouth to say yes, but Fleur cut me off.

"No sir, it was Ethan who defeated the Grindylows and did all that alone" she said, looking seriously at the Headmaster, who just nodded.

"I see" he said, looking slightly at me with a twinkle in his eyes.

And before I could try to deny it or say anything, he looked back at the other judges and the people in the stands, continuing to narrate the events that occurred inside the black lake.

And upon seeing this I frowned, before turning to Fleur, "Fleur, what are you doing? Why did you say I did that alone?" I asked in a whisper to the French girl.

"Because that's the truth," she shrugged.

And I didn't have time to ask her what she meant by that, because the Headmaster had finished telling what happened at the lake, talking about how and when each champion saved his hostage.

And as soon as he finished saying everything Murcus told him, he went to join the other judges, to finally decide our scores.

'Sigh... I'll talk to Fleur after the task is completely finished' I thought, looking sideways at the beautiful Veela, who looked straight ahead focused on the judges.

End.

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