The Aurors had successfully captured the champions' treasures.
At this moment, in the Gryffindor common room, the slow-witted Harry still hadn't noticed that his best friends hadn't appeared today.
Harry was only puzzled for a moment, then continued heading to the library to search for underwater breathing methods.
Just as he entered the Restricted Section with only one hour left before the competition began, a spatial flicker occurred, and a small figure appeared.
"Dobby? What are you doing here?" Harry called out the visitor's name with surprise.
"Dobby heard wizards talking while cleaning the castle. They said the champions' treasures have been hidden away," Dobby said carefully.
"Treasures?" Harry still hadn't fully understood the situation.
"Yes, Dobby brought gillyweed for Harry Potter. It can let Harry Potter breathe underwater," Dobby explained.
Dobby pulled out a clump of wet seaweed from his pocket and handed it to Harry.
"Dobby." Harry was somewhat pleased, but remembering his last experience with help, he asked one more question.
"Are you really sure this will work?"
"Of course, Dobby won't let Harry Potter lose his Weasley!" Dobby firmly expressed his shipping stance.
Finally, the second task was about to begin.
Dumbledore stood on the high platform reading the official rules, and several champions had already taken boats to the competition venue.
"Uh, aren't you going to change into swimwear?" Looking at Aiden still in his robes, Fleur asked with obvious curiosity.
"Don't make excuses about being affected by robes when you lose later," Krum said, walking over with confidence.
"I'll give you a one-minute head start," Aiden said, raising his eyebrows at the two, earning two eye rolls.
Harry beside them wanted to speak up to advise Aiden, but thinking of Aiden's supernatural abilities, he remained silent.
"Then, when the cannon sounds, the competition officially begins," Dumbledore announced with authority.
As Dumbledore's words fell, Filch lit the cannon with dramatic flair.
Fleur and Krum jumped into the water together, while Harry swallowed the gillyweed and was pushed into the water by Moody.
"Aiden, hurry up and start!" Professor Flitwick urged with concern.
"No rush, Professor," Aiden said, untying his robes and revealing the T-shirt underneath.
He jumped high up, and his body changed inch by inch in the air. A magnificent silver dragon appeared before all the spectators.
The silver dragon dived downward and plunged into the water with graceful power.
"Merlin's beard." "It's really true." "Worth the trip..."
The spectators who saw the silver dragon all exclaimed in amazement, while Moody narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Underwater, Harry encountered Myrtle floating peacefully.
"Oh, Harry Potter, I didn't expect to meet you here," Myrtle said with obvious delight.
Seeing Myrtle here, Harry seemed to understand something and widened his eyes.
"Haha, yes, it's exactly what you're thinking. Go on, the mermaid village is to the north," Myrtle said, pointing the way for Harry.
Then, a huge shadow passed overhead.
Harry looked up and saw a silver figure gliding through the water.
Aiden turned back and winked at Harry in the water weeds.
At the mermaid village, ancient buildings surrounded the area everywhere, with a broad square in the centre.
The champions' treasures were tied up in the square.
"Dragon!" The merpeople standing guard around saw Aiden and roared with terror.
Aiden just swaggered in like this, and not a single merperson dared approach him.
Coming to the central square, seeing Ron, Ginny, and Hermione tied up, Aiden extended his claws, preparing to take them all at once.
But, whether from courage or trust in Dumbledore, an aged merperson stood out.
"Mighty dragon, please hear me out."
The claw stopped before the merperson. Under Aiden's mental perception, he instantly understood the merperson's meaning.
"Thank you for your mercy, dragon. You should also be a Hogwarts competitor. As competition staff, we still need to maintain the rules of the competition, so you can only take one."
The aged merperson tremblingly finished speaking.
"But these are my family and friends," Aiden said, raising his eyebrows.
"We swear to you that we'll ensure their safety. If anything goes wrong, you can come back anytime to destroy our village," the old merperson swore desperately.
"Fine then, really," Aiden said, picking up Ginny and beginning to swim back.
Seeing Aiden's departure, all the merpeople breathed a collective sigh of relief.
The moment Aiden emerged from the water with Ginny, the spell on her was broken.
"Ah!" Discovering she was being carried by something, Ginny immediately struggled.
"Ginny, it's me," Aiden's voice entered her mind directly.
"Aiden?" Hearing the familiar voice and seeing the dragon's heterochromatic eyes, Ginny calmed down.
Aiden placed her gently on the platform, and Professor McGonagall immediately came over to wrap her in a dry towel.
The mischievous dragon shook water on the platform, soaking all the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang people.
Then he moved forward twice and transformed from dragon to human.
"Haha, Aiden, well done," Professor Flitwick said, coming over with congratulations.
He also used a spell to remove the water from his body.
Meanwhile, Dumbledore on the high platform also announced that Fleur had abandoned the competition due to Grindylows.
On the other side, Harry, guided by Myrtle, came to the mermaid village.
He saw his friends tied up in the centre of the square and immediately swam over to rescue them.
However, the water weeds were too tough for Harry to break by hand.
Helpless, Harry went to borrow weapons from the merpeople but was laughed at mockingly.
So he turned to find a sharp stone and smashed the seaweed binding Ron.
Next, he wanted to rescue Hermione but was blocked by merpeople with tridents.
"Only save one!" the merpeople glared at him fiercely.
Suddenly, the fierceness in the merpeople's eyes turned to horror. Harry looked back and saw a shark had swum over.
The shark bit through the rope binding Hermione and carried her toward the surface.
Harry, left behind, looked at Ron and the remaining Gabrielle and made his decision.
He also used the stone to free Gabrielle from the water weeds and tried to surface with both of them.
"Stop!" The merpeople charged over with tridents raised.
Harry pushed the two upward while drawing his wand and firing several Stunning Spells, knocking down several merpeople.
This seriously slowed Harry's time but also earned him unexpected benefits.
The merpeople immediately backed down, obediently putting away their tridents and watching Harry leave with newfound respect.
On the surface, Aiden sat at the edge of the platform, kicking his feet casually in the water.
Krum emerged first with Hermione, followed by Ron and Gabrielle surfacing.
Aiden flicked his wand and brought several people ashore. The professors nearby immediately wrapped them in warm towels.
Everyone was watching the water surface, because they knew there was still one last person who hadn't appeared.
Finally, Harry burst through the water. Both Aiden and Dumbledore noticed a flash of disappointment in Moody's eyes.
Dumbledore spoke with the mermaid chief, the same merperson who had blocked Aiden, in sharp mermaid language.
After learning what had happened underwater, Dumbledore gathered the judges together.
Krum kept fussing over Hermione with obvious care, while Hermione circled around her two boys with concern.
"Harry," Hermione said, taking off her towel and wrapping it around Harry.
"Sorry, Hermione, I was late. I'm in last place," Harry said with obvious sadness.
"Second to last. Fleur didn't even get past the Grindylows," Hermione said, patting her friend's head comfortingly.
Fleur also gave Harry and Ron grateful kisses for Harry rescuing her sister.
Hermione's displeasure was visible as she was pushed aside.
Aiden watched this scene with amazement, marvelling at the complex relationships between several people.