— — — — — —
Hearing Tom's words, Astoria felt her heartbeat quicken.
Even though it had been a long time since she'd last suffered the agony of her blood curse flaring up, the curse itself still lingered like a thorn buried deep in her heart.
She might be able to endure that pain herself. But she would never accept even the slightest chance of her future children—or her sister's—having to bear it too.
She always remembered the way her mother used to look at her, eyes filled with a kind of helpless pain. And how she had once watched her sister die… and now, her daughter too.
Astoria didn't want to experience that kind of suffering. She was certain it would be far more painful than the agony of the blood curse itself.
"Hey, hey..."
Pressed close against her, Tom sensed the faint tremor in her body. He reached out, gently taking her hand, his voice soft with reassurance. "Don't overthink it. Things will only get better from now on."
Astoria nodded firmly. Her mind gradually steadied, and she refocused her attention on the match.
...
..
After the initial chaos, the champions had finally begun to adapt to the environment of the Black Lake—and to the dangers that kept popping up without warning. One by one, they started searching for the so-called "treasures."
Well, everyone except Daphne.
The young lady was still lost, swimming in circles like before… making Astoria's cheeks flush bright red.
"You idiot sister, why do you keep going in circles? Even if you've got no sense of direction, couldn't you just pick a straight line and stick to it? That has to be better than this!"
Hermione was laughing so hard she could barely breathe. She kept snapping screenshots with her iCodex, capturing Daphne's utterly clueless expressions. Ginny and Cassandra were doing the same.
At this rate, who knew how much embarrassing blackmail material Daphne would rack up by the end of the match?
Maybe it really was a twin thing—some kind of unspoken connection. But after Astoria had been muttering complaints for a full five minutes, Daphne finally chose a direction and charged straight ahead. At last, she found her first treasure.
The "treasure" turned out to be a magically enchanted envelope. Once a champion got within ten meters, it would start glowing, guiding them to collect it.
Technically, the first person to encounter a treasure had been Quinta. But the blowfish was too big, and she'd been too startled to notice the glow at all, missing her chance entirely.
But most of the treasures were hidden in areas where magical creatures were active, effectively making those creatures their guardians.
Once the champions figured that out, the ones who had been avoiding magical creatures were forced to grit their teeth and dive straight into danger. Only then did they start making real progress.
In the first half hour, only the fox girl, Kamio, had managed to collect two treasures. But in the next thirty minutes, more than fifteen treasures were uncovered.
Nassim spotted a cluster of light and swam toward it. The glow sat between two reefs, and seeing no obvious "guardian," he assumed it was a freebie. But the moment he picked up the envelope, an electric eel shot out from the crevice and zapped him senseless, leaving him nearly unconscious.
Jauncey also ran into a giant blowfish—and a glowing treasure at the same time. Thinking quickly, he transformed a clump of seaweed into a small fish to distract the creature, pulling off a neat bait-and-switch before claiming the prize.
Watching his student win through clever thinking, Fontaine couldn't help but smile.
---
The Black Lake wasn't enormous, but it wasn't small either. Swimming a full lap in two hours was already unlikely—let alone with its uneven depths and the constant presence of magical creatures.
As a result, the champions rarely crossed paths. Even when they spotted someone in the distance, caution usually made them steer clear.
But Daphne was a different story.
After wandering aimlessly for so long and only stumbling across a single treasure by sheer luck, she finally accepted the harsh truth about her nonexistent sense of direction. So she decisively switched strategies.
If she couldn't find treasures… she'd find people.
So while the other champions hoarded supplies, she hoarded people. To her, the other champions were walking treasure chests.
The first "lucky" victim she ran into was... Quinta.
They met just outside the merpeople village, the only place in the depths of the Black Lake that glowed with a faint, hazy light.
By the time Daphne arrived, she happened to see Quinta defeat a merman warrior and take the envelope from his hands.
Quinta froze for a moment when she noticed the girl who had suddenly appeared.
But Daphne, overjoyed, didn't hesitate for even a second. She charged forward like a machine gun burst, and before Quinta could even process what was happening, Daphne slammed straight into her stomach.
Well… fish belly, technically.
And one might ask… just how strong was Daphne?
Well, one only had to look at her eating habits to get an idea. Two bags of snacks a day, never out of reach. Her regular meals were enormous. She'd even drunk so much dragon-blood strengthening potion that it stopped having any effect.
If not for Tom's weight-loss potion, she probably would've turned into a chubby little pig by now.
That collision? It was basically like a runaway truck plowing straight into Quinta. Thankfully they were underwater, which softened the impact quite a bit. Otherwise, that hit alone might've sent Quinta straight to meet her Latina ancestors.
Even so, she didn't fare much better. As she was sent flying, her mind went blank, her ribs felt like they'd snapped, and the envelope she'd been clutching slipped right out of her hands.
Daphne happily caught it.
Then right in front of the stunned merpeople, she charged straight into the village again, convinced there had to be more treasures inside.
...
..
Back in the Quidditch stadium, Castelobruxo's headmaster, Sanchez, had been all smiles earlier. Now his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, his lips trembling.
"Th-this… how is that acceptable? That's barbaric! Completely barbaric!"
He could accept his student losing. This year's competition was full of monsters. Quinta was outstanding among ordinary students, but compared to these freaks, she was still lacking.
But being knocked out in an instant by getting body-slammed?
That was something else entirely.
Was that even a wizard anymore? That was practically some brute strongman from the Muggle world!
How could a young girl have that kind of strength? How could a young lady have that kind of thinking?
At this point, Sanchez's head was buzzing. Looking at Quinta lying motionless, he had the sudden urge to ask if she was still alive.
"Please don't worry too much, Professor Sanchez," Dumbledore said gently, offering reassurance. "They're underwater. Even great force is reduced. She's likely just stunned and needs a moment to recover."
"And this doesn't count as a foul?" Sanchez shot back angrily.
Dumbledore blinked innocently. "The rules don't seem to place any restrictions on physical contact. How could it be considered a violation?"
"Fine. Just fine." Sanchez fumed, practically smoking with anger.
He had already made up his mind. Once they returned, every student at Castelobruxo would start physical training. Next time, they wouldn't even bring wands.
Each of them would just carry a stick instead.
.
.
.