Crouch: 10
Ariana: 8
Grand Total: 89 (Beauxbaton: 90)
"You won!" Gabrielle said excitedly, throwing her arms around Fleur and Lucas.
"I told you," said Adeline, also beaming - evidently not even caring that the one he defeated was her brother.
Lucas just let out a hollow laugh. Aiden Dumbledore was powerful. Unfairly so.
"You understand now, don't you? The crushing gap," said Fleur.
Lucas shrugged, nonplussed. "Do you know how long Aiden has been practicing magic?"
"A decade? Maybe more."
"And how long since I started?"
Fleur paused. Her lips opened but she couldn't utter a single word.
"Exactly."
Seeing Aiden's power, Lucas was surprised, but he was not discouraged. To begin with, he had not even used the full extent of his abilities in the Tournament. Even Fleur did not know exactly how far he could go.
On top of that, it had only been a few months since he had arrived in this world. With his aim being as high as Ariana, he was not going to be discouraged by this little display.
Fleur had only seen Aiden as the peak of talent until now, and she still unconsciously had the image of a squib in her mind.
"And the scores are out! Aiden Dumbledore - to his credit - performed exceptionally well; but according to the judges, their strategy left little for Cedric to contribute." Bagman's commentary continued.
"I have to remind everyone that this time, the tournament is going to assess the two most capable students of each school, not one."
"And this, ladies and gentlemen, makes Beauxbatons the leading school in this task so far, with 90 points! Can Durmstrang beat this score?!"
Hermione was biting her nails nervously as she calculated. "Lucas and Fleur lost ten points to their home country judges. If Durmstrang get full marks from their home country judges, we might be in trouble - especially since Sigrid is much better than Cedric."
Her meaning was clear. If Durmstrang simply completes using the 'safe' method, they can actually win.
"But as far as I know, Malachor is notoriously arrogant. I don't think he would settle for a less showy method. And his ability is far from Aiden's magic or Fleur's flames," said Adeline.
Lucas saw her look in Harry's direction. Of course she knew about Malachor, since Harry had beef with the guy.
"You guys are underestimating him," said Fleur. She rarely addressed Adeline and Hermione, unless it was to refute them. "Malachor's actual abilities… might not be less than Aiden's."
"Impossible. Aiden has had numerous resources and rituals since birth. Lestrange can't even come close," said Adeline, uncommonly confrontational.
But Fleur simply shrugged, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.
"I don't know how, either. But I still remember my duel against him. I thought I was winning. But then, I felt a shift. It was as if he had stopped holding back for a moment and then - I had already lost. Almost lost my life too."
The Durmstrang Champions entered the arena. And Lucas noticed that Sigrid got a lot more cheer than Malachor.
She was dressed in a battle robe with slits on both sides, showing her stocking-clab muscular legs.
Her steel grey eyes remained indifferent to the cheers, her blonde hair tied in thick braids. She just glanced at her father who was seated among the judges, her action highlighting her prominent cheekbones and jawline.
It was obvious why they were cheering.
SIGRID! SIT ON MY FACE!
Lucas saw someone actually raise this poster, causing many people to distance themselves from him.
'What a weird… man of culture.'
You aren't supposed to openly admit to these things.
"Sigrid seems… quite popular," said Lucas.
For some reason, all girls turned to their heads towards him, their gazes either sharp or inquisitive.
"I just can't understand why," he elaborated.
"Because she always dresses like a slut," said Fleur.
'You're the one to talk?' Thought Lucas.
"That's not true," said Hermione. "I've read that the viking women often dress in traditional attires that do not inhibit mobility. It's their culture."
Fleur glared at Hermione. Gabrielle looked at Sigrid's legs and hips and compared them with her own long and slender legs. She pouted. "Lucas, can you not look at her?"
Thankfully, the Champions were teleported at that moment, starting their task before things could get worse.
"The Task Starts!"
"But… What is this? The Champions seem to be arguing about something! I don't understand Bulgarian!"
The projection showed that Sigrid and Malachor seemed to be having a heated argument in their language, with lots of yelling and gesturing.
"I'll just do it myself." At last, Malachor simply threw his hand and started trudging his way towards the nest.
Meanwhile, Sigrid stood in place, the tip of her wand pointing upwards as she swirled it around, murmuring incantations.
"What is she doing?" Lucas asked Fleur.
"She's preparing an environment where she can use powerful lightning spells. Her instant lightning spells won't work against the big ones."
Lucas happened to glance at Malachor, but he froze.
'Those fluctuations… no way.'
Lucas had only ever seen those around Dumbledores. For good reasons. It signifies the gathering of a large amount of magic in a caster.
That's why Ariana almost always has these fluctuations around her - signifying the sheer enormity of her magic, while the other Dumbledores are capable of creating it when they mobilize their magic.
'Flow state… activate!'
Lucas's gaze sharped, his mind processing everything much faster. For a moment, he felt like he saw a glimpse of a crimson light flash in Malchor's dark pupils.
"Today is the day I… stop holding back." The Durmstrang Champion slowly made an S in the air with his wand. He uttered the incantation, but his voice was so low that it was impossible to make out the incantation.
But, in flow state, Lucas tried to discern the words through lip reading.
And then, a shocking spectacle unfolded as the tip of Malachor's wand erupted in a dark green light. A massive shadow of a striking green snake emerged from his wand, circling the area.
All the trees started to shake as the spiders in the vicinity began to flee at top speed.
"W-WHAT…?"
"WHAT IS THAT?!"
"WHAT KIND OF MAGIC IS THIS?!"
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! AM I HALLUCINATING?! Wait a moment… the sources are telling me that it might be the corporal image of a… BASILISK! Yes! The mythical Basilisk! If someone does not know yet, Malachor's wand allegedly bears Basilisk tooth core!"
But the spectacle was yet to end. The snake opened its giant maw and spewed wispy green magic in the direction of the egg.
All the webs and traps of the Stealth and Trap category Acromantulas dissolved into nothing, and even the trees instantly started to wither.
"LOOK AT THAT DESTRUCTIVE POWER! And Acromantulas are running away! May I remind everyone that Acromantulas fear Basilisks the most!"
"What kind of monsters have taken part in this tournament?! I have never seen even the best of the wizards perform anything remotely close to these Champions! First the swordsmanship and flames, then the transfiguration, and now this!"
Malachor strode through the pathway, throwing back a disdainful glance at Sigrid, who was still muttering the incantations.
The VIP area was abuzz with shocked murmurs and heated discussions.
"Told you. I don't know how he got that power, but he had indeed been holding back," said Fleur, crossing her arms.
"What kind of spell is that? I couldn't hear the incantation. It can't be a Patronus, right?" Asked Hermione.
"It's too dark to be a Patronus," said Adeline, slowly shaking her head. "Patronuses are usually only for protection."
"Shouldn't dark magic be against the rules?" Asked Gabrielle.
"Using dark magic wasn't exactly illegal, but it's usually frowned upon when used against other champions or endangered creatures, or if it causes major damage," Fleur replied patiently.
"His dark magic is destroying the centuries old tree of the forest so… he might be in trouble, but not much if completes the task without a hitch."
While the girls discussed the magic, Lucas was still in shock.
Because his lip reading ability, along with his mind in the flow state had helped him roughly guess the incantation: "Sssa-lith-vash-shae... Kroth-sss-ur-hasssa!"
'It can't be… right?'
Lip reading is not a skill that he has been most proficient in, but in the flow state, it was possible. And when he did it against Malachor, all he came up with at first were what seemed to be unintelligible words.
But, having consumed the books and movies multiple times, he noticed the unnatural stress on 'S' and instantly made the connection with Parseltongue.
Parseltongue is an ancient language of snakes, acquired through family genetics or soul connection. And the last most known user of Parseltongue was Voldemort.
That means, either Malachor was Voldemort's child… or his horcrux. Lucas didn't know which was worse.
'Anyways, at least I know how the fuck he's so fucking strong.'
Voldemort's successor, or his horcrux - both justify power and talent equivalent to Aiden's.
One Ariana's successor and the other Voldemort's.
'Wait, what have I gotten myself into?'
…
Malachor's journey was almost as smooth as Aiden. When he reached the nest, it was found to be empty - leaving only the small chitin egg he was supposed to retrieve.
"How can it be so easy?! You two had it much more dangerous!" Gabrielle protested.
"It's not that simple," said Fleur. "But maybe… he does think it is."
"MALACHOR IS ABOUT TO SUCCEED–"
Seeing the egg, Malachor snorted, casually taking the egg. But just then, the disaster struck. As soon as he touched the egg, a large amount of web fluid spurted out, forming into covering him.
"NO! IT WAS A TRAP!"
The green corporal snake let out a hiss, opening its maw. But a web thread shot out, accurately latching onto Malachor's wand. With a sharp tug, the wand left his hand, and the green snake shadow slowly dispersed as well with a last defiant hiss.
"There goes his wand! This does NOT look good for the Durmstrang! It was just one moment of carelessness!"
It was only then that the Moss-Belly Queen emerged from the ground beneath Malachor, having been hiding underground this whole time.
Its color was still blended with the brown and green color of the ground and it was only the size of a small car - the smallest among the three Acromantulas. But with information he had received about it, Lucas would have never underestimated it.
The very first point was: It had the highest intelligence among all the Acromantulas of the forest. Only this single power made it quite fearsome when combined with its natural stealth abilities.
Within a second, Malachor was completely tied up.
Crack–
"Mphfff!"
"OH! Ohno, Ohno! Malchor is in serious trouble here!"
With its mandible showing surprisingly delicate control, the Queen systematically began to break the fingers Malachor's hands one by one, also taking out the nails in the process.
"Children, please don't look! Malachor seems to have passed out! Is it going to be declared a forfeit?"
If the champion's life is in danger and they are unconscious then indeed the Headmaster of the school can declare forfeit so that the Champion can be saved in time.
At the judges area, Lucas saw Karkaroff frantically shaking Ragnar, looking scared out of his wits while the latter remained impassive, his eyes fixed on the projection.
Just then, there was a flash of blue light that momentarily blinded the camera.
In the next instant, the Moss Queen's body lay curled upside down on the ground, tremors of electricity running through its limbs.
Sigrid appeared in the camera's view, with a miniature lightning cloud over her head.
"IT'S SIGRID! THE VALKARIE SAVED THE DAY!"
Sigrid attached the egg to the unconscious Malachor's chest with a sticking charm. Then, she hefted him over her shoulder like a log and began a mad sprint for the finish line.
"SIGRID IS CARRYING MALACHOR! What an amazing strength! But here comes trouble!"
Unfortunately, the Spiders were no longer scared of them. In fact, they were furious.
"Strikes one! Strikes two! Oh what was that?!"
Sigrid struck two of the biggest spiders with her lightning bolts and then she released some sort of pulse that rendered most of the spiders in her vicinity immobile.
"Amazing." Lucas's eyes were filled with appreciation. Using low magic power to produce such high damage through scientific principles... this was brilliant! And here he thought Vikings were all muscleheads.
Unfortunately, Sigrid's lightning cloud did not last long.
"It seems that she couldn't fully charge her lightning beforehand! Sigrid now has to somehow reach the finish line through traps and stealthy attacks of a swarm of angry acromantulas!"
Sigrid had to take a detour, using low level lightning magic and various other spells to keep both of them alive.
In the end, they did complete the task, but only after Sigrid managed to gather her charge again, during which period she and Malachor suffered from several more injuries.
The final scores?
MALACHOR
Alaric: 9
Maxime: 5
Karkaroff: 10
Ragnar: 7
Crouch: 6
Ariana: 6
Total Points: 41
"Kill him! I'm going to kill him right now!" Everyone had to hold Fleur back from burning Alaric to the ground as her features started to shift.
The absolute fucker had given his own school 5 points while showering the faulty performance of the enemy school with a generous 9.
SIGRID
Alaric: 8
Maxime: 6
Karkaroff: 10
Ragnar: 9
Crouch: 6
Ariana: 7
Total Points: 46
Grand Total
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
= 87 Points
"With 87 points, they have claimed the third spot! And that makes Beauxbatons - THE WINNERS OF THE FIRST TASK - with a total of 90 points!"
….
A.N.: vote gng🥀✌🏻