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Chapter 546: Kyle, Be a Gentleman
Chapter 546: Kyle, Be a Gentleman
Upon reaching the shore, Kyle leapt gracefully off the horse-like water monster, eliciting another round of cheers from the spectators. They gazed with excitement and curiosity at the creature, discussing it animatedly.
"Wow, he's so cool," Ron said enviously. "To be able to ride a horse through the water like a knight. I wish I could do that..."
"Don't be silly, Ron," Hermione interrupted his fantasy. "That's a dangerous carnivorous creature—a Kelpie. Without professional knowledge, even adult wizards would struggle to handle it."
"What? It eats meat?" Ron lifted the Omnioculars hanging around his neck to get a better view of the Kelpie floating in the water, only then noticing the rows of sharp teeth resembling saw blades in its mouth.
"I take back what I said," Ron frowned. "There's no way I'd ride something like that."
Meanwhile, Kyle had helped both Connor and Gabrielle dismount. He waved his wand, and their wet clothes dried instantly.
"Wait a moment," Connor suddenly realized something. "You brought Gabrielle out, but what about Fleur?"
"The merpeople will inform her," Kyle replied. "In fact, when the champion arrives at their village, the second task is essentially complete. The so-called retrieval of the hostage is just a formality; the merpeople won't launch an attack. So, as long as she comes out of the water, she'll have succeeded."
"But what if the judges give her a low score because of this?" Connor persisted, still worried.
"They won't," Kyle shook his head. "After all, I'm the one who broke the rules. If anyone's score is affected, it would be mine... Besides, Professor Maxime won't let that happen."
Kyle and Connor glanced over at the judges, where the five of them were deep in discussion. Then, they saw Professor Maxime's face light up with satisfaction.
"See, I told you," Kyle whispered. "They won't let their own students be at a disadvantage."
As they spoke, Madam Pomfrey rushed over from the crowd, making a fuss.
Even though their clothes were already dry, she wrapped each of them in a thick blanket and made them take a spicy-hot potion.
Kyle felt a warm current spreading throughout his body, and soon steam was escaping from his ears.
"Well done, Kyle. I'm glad you weren't misled," Professor McGonagall said as she approached, adding quietly, "As a wizard, your wand is the tool you should trust the most."
"Now, come over here," she said. "You'll need to wait until all the champions have emerged before the scoring begins."
"Oh, okay," Kyle replied.
He followed Professor McGonagall to where the judges were seated.
As he climbed the steps, Kyle saw Dumbledore approaching with a smile on his face.
"Excellent judgment and decisive action," he said, beaming. "Even though we haven't reached the scoring stage yet, I can give you an early piece of news... Perhaps this will ease your mind as you wait for the other two champions.
"The moment you emerged, an hour had just passed, so there's no doubt that you also achieved the highest score in this task."
"Congratulations, lad," Ludo Bagman said, walking over.
However, Kyle could tell that his smile was somewhat forced, and the same was true for Karkaroff and Maxime.
Subsequently, Kyle was directed to sit in the front row of the teachers' section. Connor followed, but before she could sit down, Snape appeared and pulled her away, shooting Kyle a murderous glare.
Kyle was speechless. It wasn't as if he had asked Connor to dive into the water; that had been Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore's arrangement. If anyone had an issue with it, they should take it up with them. Why pick on the easy target?
Of course, he only thought these things and didn't dare say them out loud.
As for Gabrielle, she was escorted away by Professor Maxime.
"You're the first one out," Sirius said as Kyle sat down beside him. "I knew you could do it."
"What about them?" Kyle asked quietly. "How are the other two champions doing?"
"They're both behind you," Sirius replied. "The girl from Beauxbatons is doing fine; she's only about ten minutes behind you. As for the Durmstrang champion, he only emerged from the Forbidden Forest five minutes ago."
Kyle then sat idly in the stands for twenty minutes. With nothing to see from his vantage point, he could only wait... One had to admit, the designer of this task was truly a genius.
Fortunately, Sirius was by his side, and they could chat to pass the time, making the wait somewhat bearable.
Finally, after half an hour, there was movement on the tranquil lake once more.
All eyes turned to the water.
This time, it was Fleur who emerged... But unlike Kyle, she was carried to shore by a group of merpeople, and she had already fainted by the time she reached the bank.
The judges hurried over, and Professor Maxime took out a wand that was at least twenty inches long and tapped it on Fleur's body.
Fleur immediately spat out some lake water and slowly opened her eyes.
"Professor Maxime... Gabrielle..." Upon seeing Professor Maxime and the others, she anxiously said, "My Bubble-Head Charm was torn by a Grindylow. Quickly, Gabrielle... she's still..."
"Sister, I'm fine," the little girl quickly stepped forward.
Fleur paused for a moment, then hugged her tightly. "Gabrielle... Thank goodness, I thought... I thought..."
A few minutes later, Krum emerged as well.
He performed a Transfiguration spell on himself, turning the upper half of his body into a shark's head. In a rather rough manner, he bit onto the Durmstrang boy's clothes and flung him onto the shore.
From his actions, he seemed to view the boy more like a Snitch than a treasure.
Nonetheless, the audience gave him a round of enthusiastic applause.
Dumbledore walked to the water's edge and conversed with the merpeople, emitting a shrill sound from his mouth. Evidently, he could speak their language.
Finally, he stood up and turned to the other judges. "Let's have a quick meeting."
The judges huddled together in discussion.
Fleur took the opportunity, while Madam Pomfrey was tending to Krum's wounds, to rush over to the stand where Kyle was seated.
"I heard everything from Gabrielle..." she said excitedly, almost breathlessly, "You saved her again, for the second time."
"It's nothing much," Kyle smiled. "Professor Dumbledore wouldn't have let her be in any real danger. Even without me, the merpeople would have brought her up."
"Thank you," she said. "She must have been so scared..."
Perhaps due to her excitement, Fleur didn't seem to register what Kyle had said. Instinctively, she leaned forward, as if to give him a kiss on the cheek.
In that moment, Kyle's head buzzed as if an alarm had gone off, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
He subconsciously leaned back and blurted out, "It's really nothing. I was just worried that you might not make it there, so I brought Gabrielle up along with me."
Fleur froze.
She looked at Kyle and asked slowly, word by word, "What do you mean... I might not make it...?"
"Well, like what just happened," Kyle said calmly. "You were brought up by the merpeople, weren't you? This just proves that my guess was right, doesn't it?"
Fleur's eyes twitched.
"So, from the very beginning, you thought I definitely wouldn't be able to complete the second task, didn't you?"
"Um... Not exactly," Kyle hesitated. "It was just a precaution."
Fleur took a sharp breath and, without another word, turned and walked away, her long silver hair brushing past Kyle's nose.
"Hey, you should've been more gentlemanly," Sirius frowned, clearly disappointed in his godson.
Who talks to a girl like that, especially one as beautiful as her... This kid might seem smart, but he's clueless when it comes to girls.
"You wouldn't understand," Kyle shook his head.
Though he didn't know if Fleur had intended to give him a cheek kiss as a form of gratitude, he couldn't take that risk.
Kyle looked back and saw Connor talking to Snape, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
However, Sirius was not pleased.
"I wouldn't understand?" he raised an eyebrow, feeling a little insulted. "You don't know how popular I was back in my Hogwarts days..."
(End of Chapter)
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