Time flew by quickly, and in the blink of an eye, a month had passed. The champions were now fully prepared.
After handing over the dragon eggs—yes, the dragon eggs were confiscated by Regulus Black—the champions were only allowed to keep the keys.
With their respective keys in hand, everyone gathered at the lakeside. The next round of the tournament would be held at the Hogwarts Great Lake.
"The second task of the Triwizard Tournament—Underwater Treasure Hunt—begins now!"
Standing by the lake, Barty Crouch used a Sonorus charm to announce the start of the event.
The headmasters of the three schools each gave their final words of advice to their two champions.
Due to changes in the event's format, Dumbledore no longer had to play the villain by kidnapping the champions' loved ones. The competition had now become a pure treasure hunt.
"Headmaster, isn't this much better? If we had gone with the Ministry's original setup, you'd have surely earned the scorn of several students."
Regulus Black leaned against the railing of the lakeside stands as a cool breeze swept across the lake, carrying a moist scent.
The creatures originally living in the lake had already been cleared out. Those brainless and dangerous ones had been sent to the Hogwarts kitchens, while only the communicative and cooperative ones were allowed to remain.
Of course, creatures who wished to temporarily leave and return after the event could also do so.
Most of this work was handled by Dumbledore through negotiations with the merpeople, although Regulus Black had also stepped in on a few occasions.
When Regulus Black got involved, it wasn't negotiation—it was more like suppression in name, but actually amounted to a hunting operation. He rounded up the brainless, dangerous, and uncooperative creatures.
He had two options. One was to unleash the Black Lotus Sacred Flame Three-Legged Golden Toad, which would devour those nuisances entirely. As his personal talisman, it would carry out his orders without question.
However, since this was Hogwarts' Great Lake—right under Dumbledore's nose—carrying out a policy of extermination against the lake's inhabitants would probably make the old man furious. Even if Regulus gave him the toad's eggs to extend his life, it wouldn't win him any approval.
That said, the Black Lotus Sacred Flame Three-Legged Golden Toad possessed remarkable alchemical properties. To create any magical artifact, it only needed to consume enough suitable materials. The six Dragon Pearls, those six dragon eggs—they were all magical items crafted by the toad through alchemy. They just looked rather unsightly when they first grew out of its warty back.
Even the treasure chests the champions were to retrieve in today's task were created by the same method.
The second option was to fish out all the uncooperative, brainless, and dangerous creatures and hand them over to the Hogwarts kitchen. If they were edible, they'd be cooked. If not, the toad would eat them.
The only artifact in Regulus Black's possession that could handle this task was the Spirit Lamp of Cornwall.
This talisman, shaped like a lantern, was summoned. At once, a white-haired young woman with long legs, a large chest, and two ghostly horns emerged from the lamp. She wore a flowing, flamboyant teal kimono, floated in midair, and held a smaller teal lamp in her hand.
This was the spirit of the lamp—created at the cost of over a dozen Cornish pixies.
She could command a total of 777 Green Pixie Spirits, which had originally been the slugs Ron vomited up that one time.
These Green Pixie Spirits resembled bluish-green slug-like creatures. In the air, they fluttered like butterflies; underwater, they swam like fish. The only thing they couldn't do was use any earth-based abilities.
Nevertheless, the attributes Regulus Black had bestowed on this talisman made it perfect for this kind of capture operation:
+7 Defensive Spiritual Aura, +7 Offensive Spiritual Aura, +7 Shouting Skills, +7 Curse Skills, +7 Trap Skills.
With these buffs, there wasn't a creature the Green Pixie Spirits couldn't catch. To exaggerate a little, even fire dragons could be captured—it was just a matter of how many pixies were sent.
Regulus's earlier comment to Dumbledore had just been a metaphor. He didn't actually expect the old man to understand a transmigrator's mindset.
The lake was quite large, but the competition didn't give the champions an unlimited search area. To improve spectator engagement, the Ministry had made major improvements to how the champions' actions were displayed.
As soon as the six champions entered the water, their images appeared on the lake's surface—like reflections, but these were not inverted so the audience could see clearly.
The keys carried by the champions didn't just float randomly underwater. They pointed toward a specific location. This wasn't explained beforehand, but the champions would quickly discover the fact—because if they moved in the wrong direction, the chain holding the key would tighten around their necks.
"Regulus! These designs are absolutely brilliant. Without the live footage of the tournament, we spectators would just be waiting around on the shore cluelessly. And in terms of the champions' safety, this kind of broadcast also provides excellent monitoring."
Barty Crouch came over, visibly excited, and embraced Regulus. According to the tournament procedures established by the Ministry of Magic, the event would have been far more boring. Only the chosen champions would truly participate, and the audience's engagement would be virtually nonexistent.
However, with the current carefully revised setup, the tournament had become much more entertaining. The audience could participate throughout the event, observing the champions' every move. Ever since the six champions entered the water, the discussion onshore had not stopped for a second.
First, all the onlookers wholeheartedly approved of the underwater strategies employed by the six champions.
The Delacour sisters had chosen to transform into mermaids. By placing a mermaid pearl in their mouths, they turned into beautiful mermaids.
Their bodies from the navel down became fish-like, with delicate fins as soft as silk along their sides. Their fingers were webbed, their ears transformed into fins, and gill-like structures grew behind them.
The key detail was their chests! In mythology, mermaids are usually topless—either wearing shells or starfish as bras.
But the audience saw nothing there. Instead, their two locks of hair clung tightly to their chests, without appearing stiff or awkward.
This was the true meaning of "infinite coverage"!
"Wow…! So beautiful! How can they be this beautiful? Are all merfolk this gorgeous?"
Many girls gasped in surprise and awe. It was simply breathtaking!
"Fleur! I love you! Gabrielle! I love you!"
The girls from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic had formed a support squad on the shore, becoming a sight to behold in the competition.
"Fleur! I love you! Gabrielle! I love you!"
One excited boy climbed over the railing, shouting the same slogans as he dove into the water, trying to follow the goddesses.
"Looks like… he's not from Hogwarts."
Regulus Black gave him a glance and immediately lost interest.
"Idiot! You lot, get him out of there immediately!"
Headmaster Igor Karkaroff erupted in anger again. Had this student never seen a woman before?
"Girls must be rare at Durmstrang. When they see girls at the goddess level, they just can't control themselves."
A voice sounded behind Headmaster Igor Karkaroff, making him whip around in rage. Rita Skeeter was standing there.
"Headmaster Igor Karkaroff, will this student who jumped into the water for love be punished?"
Rita Skeeter, fearless as ever, conducted a live interview. Her accompanying cameraman promptly clicked the shutter, capturing an image of Headmaster Karkaroff's twisted expression—sure to become a new meme.
Meanwhile, Fleur and Gabrielle saw the keys hanging around their necks pointing forward and immediately swam in that direction, flicking their tails gracefully.
The mermaid pearls had been given to them by Regulus Black. These were single-use items that melted instantly in the mouth and would lose their effect as soon as one left the water.
He had also explained the side effects of the transformation, including the semi-exposed body issue. The only problem was that, while the pearls didn't impair hearing, they rendered the user unable to speak. So the two had to agree on a communication method in advance to avoid mistakes.
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