"Then I'm going to kick your butt with a Patronus Charm," Harry said, a rare laugh escaping him after two months of tension. "That seems to be the spell I've practiced most smoothly lately..."
Ever since he conjured a stag Patronus while dealing with "fake Krum" at the hotel, Harry's progress with the Patronus Charm had been incredibly fast, especially after moving in with Sirius.
For Harry, leaving the Dursleys was already the happiest thing in the world.
"Then I'm going to smash your deer butt with my Dementor Patronus," Krum said fiercely. "Let's have an honorable Patronus duel in the third task arena."
"You don't think Krum is so great now?" Ron asked Hermione, trying to sound casual. "I mean, that he 'needs to be careful' about something..."
"Because Durmstrang really does teach them Dark Arts," Hermione said, frowning, her eyes scanning the spell sheet. "Even though he seems normal, I can't guarantee, nor dare I hope, that he won't use Dark Arts on other champions, especially now that he's clearly gotten quite irritable due to his low ranking..."
Ron raised his eyebrows, looking much happier.
"Krum's right..." Harry mused after he came back to his senses.
"About you two having a big Patronus battle?" Ron asked curiously.
"You really want to fight?" Krum said, rolling up his sleeves, eager for a challenge.
"No, about your exams—you don't have to spend so much time practicing spells with me," Harry said. "Krum's right, he can actually practice with me—"
"Don't worry, at least we'll get high marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and maybe Charms and Transfiguration," Hermione said. "Besides, a lot of spells don't work on Krum, you might not even know if the spell took effect—like the Stunning Spell or something."
"When are you going to switch with me? My back of the head is almost bald from falling while practicing the Stunning Spell," Ron complained to Hermione. "But this is great training for us becoming Aurors, isn't it?"
"Aurors, huh?"
Krum wasn't too keen on shattering Ron and Harry's fantasies about the future, because Arnold's eyes seemed to lose all their light after he went to the Auror Office. Of course, it wasn't out of the question that Arnold simply didn't want to work, just like Edward.
When something is extremely important, its arrival seems to speed up significantly—this was true for Harry, and also for Krum.
June twenty-third.
The night before the third task began, Professor McGonagall called Krum and Harry away after dinner.
"Professor, isn't the competition tomorrow?" Harry asked Professor McGonagall.
"I know, Potter," Professor McGonagall told the two. "The champions' relatives need to have a pre-competition interview and a group photo with the champions—they should be on their way. You can wait in the conference room for a bit."
Professor McGonagall led Krum and Harry to a spacious room. Cedric was already there, but Krum and Fleur were nowhere to be seen.
Then, Professor McGonagall quickly left, likely to call the other champions and their respective families.
"Harry, Krum, good evening," Cedric greeted them politely.
"Good evening," Krum and Harry replied.
Then came the three "introverted" contestants, who, unable to find anything to talk about, fell silent simultaneously.
Krum could have found something to talk about—but the thought of needing to prevent Cedric from getting involved in Voldemort's plan and accidentally dying by stopping him from touching the cup made him a little uncomfortable striking up a conversation with Cedric.
It felt like he was snatching away Cedric's rightful glory.
However, when choosing between life and a trophy, Krum believed that even if Cedric knew everything, he would choose his life over a trophy only worth a thousand Galleons.
Not long after, Fleur and Krum entered.
They were followed by Fleur's parents and Krum's parents, whom they had seen in previous tasks, but this time they were all dressed in relatively more formal attire.
Perhaps due to certain special circumstances that prevented a full inheritance of Veela blood, Madame Delacour looked like an elf from some fantasy movie.
The Krum family all wore dark, high-collared robes, had black hair, and were chattering in a language Krum didn't understand.
Then came Sirius and the Weasleys—
"Surprise!" Mrs. Weasley enthusiastically hugged Harry and Krum. "Sirius and Edward both invited us to watch your competition!"
"Why do you seem more enthusiastic about Harry than I am about Harry..." Sirius said, a little helplessly, as Mrs. Weasley had just kissed Harry's cheek.
"Watch the buttons, it's indecent."
Krum deftly dodged when Sirius came to ruffle his hair, and pointed at Sirius's almost-open robe.
"I used to wear this to parties when I was young," Sirius managed to get his hand on Krum's head, and he looked incredibly childish and proud. "All those girls were charmed by me—"
"You're thirty-four, you should start thinking about finding a partner," Mrs. Weasley said, as if some maternal core code had been activated, lecturing Sirius earnestly. "You can't just rely on—"
"Hiss—ow, my ears seem to ring easily since I got out of Azkaban..." Sirius quickly changed the subject. "What did Krum just say—how are your preparations for the competition going?"
"Pretty smoothly," Harry said, suppressing a laugh, because Sirius being urged to get married by Mrs. Weasley was truly hilarious.
Next to enter were Cedric's parents. Cedric's father, Amos Diggory, clearly had some anger on his face when he looked at Krum.
Especially as he passed by, he muttered what sounded like insults.
"Don't mind him, Krum," Cedric whispered to Krum from behind Amos. "He just thinks you got a ridiculously high score... emmmm..."
"It's fine," Krum said, understanding, and smiled at Cedric.
If Edward were in this position, his pettiness would probably be even more obvious on his face.
But Krum wasn't concerned about that right now; it wouldn't matter even if Amos said a few words to his face. Krum wanted to know something else.
After Fudge, Crouch, and a host of photographers and reporters entered, Krum asked Sirius:
"Where are Edward and the others?"