LRAB Page 350
Page 350
Even the referees frowned.
"I think Krum's transformation skills are superb, far beyond the level of his peers! Although he encountered a lot of resistance from Grindelwald during the match, which prevented him from finishing the match on time, it does not mean that we should deny his efforts!"
Karkaroff brazenly defended Krum, ignoring the doubts raised by the crowd.
Unfortunately, this time, his score, which was the highest score, was removed again.
Krum's final score was 5.75.
Polyakov performed similarly to Krum, and therefore received the same score.
In the end, it was Estella who came in last.
"Miss Estella Dumont demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble Head Charm. In fact, she could have finished the competition on time, but unfortunately, she was attacked by a giant squid, lost her hostage, and had to spend a lot of time searching for her. Considering all of the above, I personally give her a score of 5 points!"
.... . . .
Both scores are 5 points, but it's low for Krum, while it seems high for Estella.
After all, the girl ultimately relied on the mermaid to retrieve the hostage, so she couldn't really say she completed her mission.
Scattered applause came from the stands, all from her admirers at Hogwarts—though not as much as Fleur's, she still had a few admirers.
The students of Beauxbatons felt incredibly ashamed, and they all almost buried their heads in their chests.
As for Estella herself, she was quite calm.
At this moment, she was holding her hostage, who was also her best friend. The hostage had already been examined by Mrs. Pomfrey and confirmed to be safe and sound.
Estella was already quite satisfied with this, and she shook her head, saying, "I should get zero points."
But the judges completely ignored her opinions and continued to score her:
All the other judges gave an encouraging 5 points, except for Karkarov who gave 1 point.
She ultimately scored 5 points.
Standing by the lake, Krum's face looked even darker than the lake's water. He angrily punched a tree trunk beside him, and icy shards fell onto him. He jumped away in a disheveled state, his anger intensifying.
Even though Estella didn't find the hostage herself, she scored only slightly lower than him because of some kind of luck, and he was not convinced.
However, most people agreed with the final score, and encouraging applause rang out in the arena.
"This Triwizard Tournament is an unprecedented event, featuring six wizards competing. Coincidentally, this tournament also has an unprecedented four matches. The third match is not a traditional final; it will be held on February 24th."
Bagman continued, "The Warriors will learn the details of the project two weeks in advance. Thank you all for your support of the Warriors."
Chapter 383 Ginny Has a Breakthrough
The second match of the three-way battle has ended.
But that doesn't mean the Warriors can relax; they still have things to accomplish.
Lady Pomfrey escorted the warriors and hostages back to the castle. They needed to go to the school infirmary for further examination before changing into dry clothes.
The hostages, in particular, were required to stay in the school clinic until 6 p.m. for a full six hours of observation.
After all, they had been drugged the night before and sent into the Black Lake early in the morning.
The winter winds of January were far more terrifying than those of February, and the dutiful Mrs. Pomfrey was afraid that something might happen to one of them.
As for the warriors, they can attend the celebration organized by the young wizards first, but they must gather together in the evening to be interviewed by various media outlets.
Harry left surrounded by the young wizards of Gryffindor, Hermione was going to celebrate with the wizards of the Society of the Learned, and Fleur was taken away by the wizards of Zebsbottom. Before leaving, she asked Levin, "Could you please visit Gabrielle for me? Madam Pomfrey has been refusing to let us into the infirmary."
Levin hesitated for a moment, then nodded, letting Hermione and Cho Zhang go ahead while he went upstairs to the school infirmary.
Lady Pomfrey refused Fleur and the other warriors, but she gave Levin a lot of face.
Perhaps this is because Levin often provided her with experimental drug samples?
Some time ago, Levin attempted to highly dilute the Rejuvenating Elixir "713" and add other materials in an attempt to create a cost-effective recovery potion for Tonks and her core subordinates—the special faucet in the tower's bathtub was also a byproduct of this experiment.
Levin's method of testing the drug's efficacy was to give it to Mrs. Pomfrey.
This highly effective recovery potion was very popular with Mrs. Pomfrey, and Levin won her favor as well.
She'd love to chat with Levin whenever they bumped into each other, and she was always willing to make things easy for him in this situation.
In the school clinic, the hostages lay listlessly on the beds, some reading, some chatting, trying to pass the time.
No one wanted to sleep; after all, they had slept enough since they had been unconscious since last night.
Upon seeing someone enter, the group immediately perked up and looked toward the door of the school clinic.
When Ronnie realized that the person who came was Levin, she was so frightened that she covered her head with the blanket and dared not look at him.
Ginny and Gabrielle immediately cheered and shouted:
"Levin, you're here!"
Then Mrs. Pomfrey stopped her with an even louder voice: "No loud noises allowed in the infirmary."
"Yes--"
The two little ones answered listlessly.
They are all lively people, and they feel really stifled here.
Ginny and Gabrielle's beds were next to each other, and unlike the others, they didn't draw the curtains to turn their beds into separate cubicles.
When Levin entered, they were whispering among themselves.
After Levin sat down between them, Gabrielle immediately began to complain to him in a low voice:
"Brother-in-law Levin, please take me away. It's so boring staying here."
Levin did not refute the title "brother-in-law," but simply shook his head and said, "I would like to do that, but I can't, and I can't do it, because Mrs. Pomfrey is still in charge here."
“Why is Hogwarts like this too?” The silver-haired girl frowned, her face contorted in distress. “Mrs. Peltier in Beauxbatons is the same way. She always tries to lock us in our rooms to smell disinfectant… Why do I have to endure this kind of treatment at Hogwarts? It’s so unlucky.”
“And there’s more bad luck,” Levin coughed lightly, feigning seriousness. “Your sister Fleur is probably at Beauxbatons’ victory luncheon right now, enjoying crème brûlée, croissants, and macarons, and drinking delicious butterbeer. It’s a shame someone can’t make it.”
Levin knew all about the desserts that might appear at the banquet, and Gabrielle swallowed hard every time he mentioned one.
"Eek! Why are you saying this in front of me!" The little girl immediately realized the other person's sinister intentions and covered her ears with the blanket: "I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear it, you bad person!"
"whee."
Seeing Levin seriously bullying her best friend, Ginny covered her mouth and chuckled.
"Haha, you little glutton." Levin laughed too, then reached into his pocket.
"Dang Dang!"
He pulled out a plate, which was covered with desserts.
Ginny knows chocolate mousse, French fruit tarts, Napoleon pastries, French crepes, and a large cup of steaming hot milk tea.
"Wow, is this for me?" Gabrielle's eyes lit up, and she almost drooled. The blanket covering her ears involuntarily fell down.
"Of course, your sister asked me to take care of you, so of course I can't let you miss the banquet."
As he spoke, Levin placed the plate in front of Gabrielle.
"Thank you, brother-in-law, you're such a good person!"
The little girl planted a loud kiss on Levin's cheek, then immediately began to eat and drink heartily.
This tastes much better than the boring health meals at the school clinic.
Levin turned his head and met Ginny's longing gaze.
He smiled slightly: "How could I forget our Ginny about something like this?"
As he spoke, he pulled out an almost identical plate and handed it to Ginny:
"Consider this a gift from Hermione to you."
Ginny took the plate. "Thank you, Levin...and please thank Hermione for me too."
She knew very well who was actually providing her with the food.
She hesitated for a moment, then followed Gabrielle's example and left a loud kiss on Levin's other cheek.
Then she saw Levin looking at her with a half-smile.
Ginny was a little embarrassed; her face turned bright red, almost as red as her hair.
Although Gabrielle is her best friend, she is only 11 years old and still falls into the category of "loli".
She's already 14 years old, which means she's a teenager.
However, Levin didn't bring it up again, only saying, "Eat it while it's hot. After spending so long underwater in January, eating more high-calorie food will do you good."
After that, only the sounds of the two chewing and muffled praises mixed with swallowing could be heard in the ward.
Suddenly, Levin heard a loud swallowing sound.
The sound seemed to be coming from the other side of Ginny's bed.
Levin looked up and saw that Ronnie, who was sleeping there, had buried herself in the blankets again.
"What's wrong with her?" Levin asked Ginny quietly. "I feel like she's acting strange today."
“Ron… no, it’s Ronnie whose true identity I exposed to her today, so she’s been too afraid to see me.” Ginny swallowed the almond cookie in her mouth and said casually.
"You recognized her... wait, how did you know she was actually Ron?" Levin looked at the girl with some surprise.
This girl knew more than he imagined.
“Actually, I knew it from Christmas Day,” Ginny said, looking at Levin with a hint of pride. “Ron could easily tell. Your potion should only have the function of changing gender—even the shape of the freckles is exactly the same.”
"...So you knew it was me who provided the potion." This time it was Levin's turn to be embarrassed.
He provided someone with gender reassignment drugs, only to be exposed by the person's sister on the spot. Levin didn't know how to explain himself.
But Ginny considerately didn't give him that chance.
“Don’t worry, Levin, I don’t blame you…” the girl said softly, as if talking to herself, or perhaps confiding in someone. “I… actually think it’s fine that they’ve always been like this. Really, I’ve thought so ever since the end of second year. After all, who would cast [Love Protection] on a friend of the same sex?”
Harry used Love's Protection on Ron, and this didn't get out, but Ginny overheard it, which dealt her a huge blow.
Generally speaking, this kind of magic is similar to a blood oath, and the object of the spell is either a lover or a biological child.
Ginny could understand that Ron was someone Harry was protecting, but she couldn't accept it.
Ginny continued, "During those Christmas days, I realized that with their personalities, they probably won't find girlfriends in the future. Even if they do, their strange relationship will drive them away, so it's better for them to be a couple... They not only have common topics, but they can also be a couple. I can't think of a better pair."