No one knew what Harry had been through these past few years to develop such peculiar habits.
But there was no doubt he'd won this round.
Jerry excitedly stuffed all the Galleons into his belly pouch and happily handed the Phoenix tears to Harry.
A fair exchange – the Niffler and his master were equally honest with young and old alike.
Fleur smiled wryly and didn't take back her hairpin, instead giving it to Jerry as an extra Christmas gift.
Cassandra's eyes flickered, and she motioned for the Niffler to keep her jewellery too.
Delighted by these unexpected gains, Jerry became even more cheerful. He hopped onto the bronze golem and hurried off towards Wayne's location.
After this episode, the others lost their enthusiasm for further looting and followed behind.
Having been chased all over the map earlier, they'd wasted considerable time and now walked with hurried steps.
"I don't see Sakura or Krum – they must have gone out already?" Fleur asked curiously.
"I ran into Krum earlier," Harry replied. "He was moving pretty fast – probably trying to rack up more points."
"I met Sakura," Cassandra said coolly. "But that was over an hour ago."
Fleur nodded and said no more.
Krum had only scored thirty points in the first round. Even if he got full marks this time, he wouldn't be much competition.
Her only concern was Sakura. If Sakura used the Fly card to speed through the challenge, that point gap could become enormous.
Ten minutes later, with the bronze golem leading the way, the group soon reached Wayne.
"All of you together?" Wayne looked surprised to see all six champions appear at once, but didn't comment further.
"Just waiting on Sakura now."
He checked the map and saw that Sakura was still quite far away, baffled by what the girl could be doing.
"Sakura still isn't back?" Fleur exclaimed in surprise.
"Probably... got carried away playing?" Wayne ventured uncertainly.
Judging by Sakura's movement patterns, she'd been circling that area for some time. She'd entered from the south and was now up north.
"Alright, you lot, head up now. There's only fifteen minutes left before the two-and-a-half-hour mark."
"No." Upon hearing there was still time, Fleur didn't leave immediately but clung to the boy's arm, pouting. "Look at my hair, the clip was stolen by Jerry."
Wayne raised an eyebrow. "So the Phoenix tears are with you?"
"No, Potter threw out over a hundred Galleons at once, which scared us all."
Wayne couldn't help but glance over, making Harry smile sheepishly.
Cassandra shook her slender white wrist. "My earrings and bracelet were taken by it, too."
Fleur frowned. "Cassandra, you were the one who didn't retrieve them earlier. Now you're blaming Jerry?"
"Who said I'm blaming it? Since they're off, I might as well get a new pair." Cassandra said, her eyes fixed meaningfully on Wayne.
"It's just jewellery. I'll pick something prettier for you."
Having achieved her goal, Cassandra's lips curled slightly.
Meanwhile, Cedric and the others felt rather overwhelmed. After exchanging a few words with Wayne, they exited the passage.
In the blink of an eye, Wayne was alone again as Jerry contentedly burrowed into his pocket.
The bronze statue also returned to its original position.
After some thought, Wayne took out his suitcase and collected another statue.
After working so hard as a judge today, earning some extra income seemed perfectly reasonable.
Even Jerry had profited. Wouldn't it be embarrassing if the master returned empty-handed?
Having done all this, Wayne acted as if nothing had happened and continued watching Sakura's movement on the map, his lips twitching slightly.
Did this girl even realise she was in a competition?
Sakura showed no urgency whatsoever, stopping to examine every fork in the path.
After meandering around for nearly another hour, she finally reached Wayne.
"S-sorry." Sakura blushed. "I was having too much fun and lost track of time."
Wayne stared speechlessly at the adorable girl. "What's so fun here?"
At this, Sakura became animated again. "Don't you think fighting monsters and opening treasure chests is exciting?"
Who would have guessed she had such unique hobbies?
Wayne urged her to hurry up lest she enter the next time segment and lose another ten points unnecessarily.
He then packed all his creatures into the suitcase before Apparating outside.
By now, Dumbledore and the others had tallied the scores.
Krum scored sixty points, Harry's team forty, while Sakura only managed twenty.
Suddenly, what had seemed like a considerable gap after the first round narrowed significantly.
Cedric became the temporary leader, with Vladimir and Fleur close behind, separated by mere points.
Sakura had dropped to mid-table.
Headmaster Koga's expression rivalled Karkaroff's from the first round.
However, when registering each contestant's loot, he beamed like a chrysanthemum in full bloom.
The sheer quantity of magical ingredients Sakura had collected surpassed everyone else's combined haul.
The other competitors finally understood why Sakura had taken so long - how many creatures had she fought?
"You obtained the gillyweed?" Madame Maxime exclaimed in surprise when Harry produced the 'seaweed ball', her tone tinged with regret.
"This thing is called gillyweed?" Harry mentally noted the name, planning to research it later.
Dumbledore, however, was more focused on the small vial in Harry's hand.
He had just heard that Harry had acquired Phoenix tears for a little over a hundred Galleons, which caused a slight ripple in his mood.
At first, he thought it was Ho-Oh's, marvelling at Wayne's extravagance.
Ever since the first year, obtaining anything from Wayne always came at a steep price.
But upon closer inspection, it wasn't Ho-Oh's at all.
It was from his own Fawkes!
This made the old Headmaster's mood even more complicated.
No wonder it had been so difficult to gather materials from Fawkes recently – they'd all ended up in Wayne's hands.
For a moment, Dumbledore felt thoroughly exhausted.
To think that even in his old age, he'd be tormented by the younger generation like this. Utterly unsportsmanlike!
The other headmasters didn't notice Dumbledore's odd demeanour, their minds preoccupied with calculating what useful potions their champions could brew with their current materials.
While no outside help could be given during the actual brewing process, they could still offer advice beforehand and prepare materials for practice runs.
...
After a brief respite, the Thestral-drawn carriages returned the group to the school.
No sooner had they entered the castle than the champions were surrounded by curious young wizards who'd been waiting eagerly to hear where they'd gone.
When they learned the competition had taken place in a tomb... ahem, ancient ruins, many couldn't hide their envy.
With entertainment options scarce in the wizarding world, books about adventures and tomb raiding were immensely popular, filling people with fascination for such places.
Lockhart's success stood as prime evidence of this.
The Weasley twins, upon hearing how Harry had been chased around by a Niffler-piloted mech – no, guardian – showed no fear, but rather excitement, wishing they could have been in his place.
"No good! Just hearing about it is boring – why can't we watch?" Lee Jordan complained, voicing what many were thinking.
This competition was even more thrilling than the first task, yet they could only listen to the champions' accounts. What a raw deal.
...
Soon, the students' opinions reached the ears of the professors and judges.
Crouch happened to be in Dumbledore's office when the news arrived and pondered briefly.
"If there's public demand, I'll arrange for the Ministry to provide broadcasting equipment."
It was true that students wouldn't be able to witness the next event either, which wasn't ideal.
Dumbledore nodded with a smile. "Much obliged, Barty."
"My duty," Crouch replied solemnly before changing the subject. "Any news from... over there?"
Dumbledore's expression grew more serious.
"Nothing yet, but I've relayed information using young Barty's method. The message should have been received."
Crouch sneered. "He grows more cautious by the day. How can such a cowardly creature call himself the Dark Lord?"
Dumbledore disagreed. "It's precisely because he's become more cautious that he's harder to deal with. If Voldemort were still as brazen as before, it would actually be preferable. Previously, we operated in the shadows while he was exposed. Now the tables have turned."
"Barty, never underestimate Voldemort because he appears weak now. In many ways, he's more dangerous than ever."
Crouch fell silent, forced to admit Dumbledore spoke the truth.
A Voldemort with a sense of reverence and fear was indeed more difficult to deal with.
...
The next day, the second day of the holidays.
After breakfast, Wayne left the school with Hermione, Cho, Astoria, Sakura and Tomoyo.
They were going to collect their dresses today.
A month ago, Wayne had sent the girls' measurements and clothing designs to his family's company, where several master tailors had personally crafted them, completing the garments just in time a few days prior.
Although it was the holidays, ordinary students couldn't easily come and go from the school grounds, but this restriction didn't apply to Wayne.
He had even borrowed the fireplace in Dumbledore's office for transportation.
Using the Floo Network, they arrived at Diagon Alley. Rather than rushing to collect the dresses, they decided to browse the shops first.
Nagini happened to be in the shop. When she saw Wayne appear, her face lit up with a smile, and she waved at him.
The girls also greeted her before moving off to look at the newly arrived merchandise, leaving the two of them some space alone.
"How's business been recently?" Wayne asked with a smile.
Nagini replied, "We've entered a stable period now. Excluding those protective items you made, daily sales average around a hundred Galleons."
"Not bad at all," Wayne encouraged.
Nagini now carried an even more dignified air about her, no longer appearing as timid as she had when first regaining her human form.
She wanted to report on the status of shops in other countries, but Wayne showed little interest in such matters. Instead, he chatted with her about the trivialities of daily life.
When the time came, Wayne finally led the girls away.
They arrived outside Diagon Alley, where their chauffeur had long been waiting.
"By the way," Fleur suddenly asked on the way, "whose tomb was that ruin we visited yesterday? It felt enormous—surely no ordinary wizard, right?"
She had been pondering this question since their exploration.
That place was practically an underground palace—hardly the resting place of some obscure figure.
Sakura, who had been talking to Astoria, also turned her head, clearly just as curious.
Wayne softly uttered a name: "Ekrizdis von Dorn."
At this, the girls' faces flickered with confusion.
Even Hermione, their resident know-it-all, had never heard of him.
"Was he powerful?" Hermione asked.
Wayne had no choice but to provide a brief lesson. "Ekrizdis von Dorn, a formidable Dark Wizard from the fourteenth to the fifteenth centuries. Exactly how strong, I can't say. But you should all recognise his other identity—the founder of Azkaban."
Gasps filled the car, though thankfully, the soundproofing charms prevented the driver from hearing.
Azkaban's infamy wasn't confined to Britain—wizards worldwide with any awareness knew of that place and the horrors of the Dementors.
Cho thought of something else. "But wasn't Azkaban built by the Ministry of Magic?"
"No," Wayne shook his head. "Originally, Azkaban was Ekrizdis' fortress. He lured Muggle sailors to the island with magic and tortured them for amusement."
"Only after his death did the Ministry discover the place—along with a considerable number of Dementors. After extensive modifications, Azkaban became a prison."
"The ruin we visited yesterday was Ekrizdis' tomb, enchanted with an Extension Charm."
"Who discovered it?" Fleur asked.
Wayne's expression turned peculiar.
"Nicolas..."
This tomb had been provided to him by Nicolas Flamel. Centuries ago, shortly after Ekrizdis' death, Nicolas had already looted the place.
Not for lack of gold—but out of curiosity about how creatures like Dementors came to be.
Even now, academic circles whispered that Dementors were born from the tortured Muggles Ekrizdis had tormented, though no concrete evidence existed.
And beyond a few original Dark spells and some treasure, Nicolas had found no records in the tomb to support the theory.
Most likely, there was no connection between the two.
The girls' expressions turned utterly fascinating.
In their minds, Nicolas Flamel should have been the epitome of scholarly dignity—not someone who dabbled in grave-robbing.
...
Meanwhile, at Hogwarts.
Having just finished a round of the tournament, Harry decided to take a proper break for a few days, leaving the golden egg and next task for after the New Year.
He had rechallenged Malfoy—this time using the dragon menagerie he'd recently been researching.
The moment the two of them reached the projector, Snape suddenly appeared.
"Potter, come with me."
Harry pulled a face but followed Snape nonetheless.
Before leaving, he gave Ron a meaningful look, urging him to fetch Sirius for backup.
Ron understood and nodded solemnly, taking Harry's place in front of the projector.
"Malfoy, I'll duel you!"
Harry: "..."
If he died today, Ron would bear half the blame!