"No wonder I'm so exhausted," Daphne muttered under her breath, only now realizing she'd completely forgotten about her Patronus.
Summoning a Patronus took an enormous amount of magic and mental energy, and keeping it active drained both continuously.
An ordinary wizard would have been emptied dry long ago. She'd maintained that form for several whole minutes. If it had been anyone else, they would've collapsed on the spot.
With a shift of Daphne's will, the Patronus dissolved into a burst of white light. Likewise, the Obscurus, trailing thick black smoke, immediately shot back into Ariana's body.
A moment ago, Ariana had looked far less worn out than Daphne.
But the second the Obscurus returned, her face went pale.
The Obscurus had taken serious damage during the fight. And now it was drawing on her magic to repair itself.
Daphne blinked, still looking a little dazed, "So… I won?"
"That's right. You won," Ariana said, sounding more than a little bitter.
She hadn't been lying before.
Without the forbidden dark magic, and with the arena's restrictions on transfiguration, she really had no way to beat Daphne.
Daphne's command of many spells was still rough. She had to focus hard just to cast them properly, nowhere near the point of effortless control. And yet, when they came out, they were absurdly powerful.
Worse, there was a strange force hidden inside them, something incredibly hard to neutralize.
The golden apple.
Ariana narrowed her eyes. She was certain Daphne had eaten one.
The only question was whether it had been a whole apple or just part of one.
That faint pressure on magic, that subtle sense of suppression, wasn't her imagination. And Daphne's ability to throw around such ridiculous spells despite her shaky fundamentals had to be connected to it.
The golden apple had elevated her very nature.
Most importantly... her skin had suddenly become ridiculously good.
And Ariana's guess wasn't wrong. After the latest batch of golden apples ripened a few days ago, Tom had fed one to Daphne.
The changes were gradual. It had only been a few days, so the effects weren't obvious yet. But given enough time, they would become impossible to ignore.
'Favoritism.'
Ariana looked up into the empty air and shot it a glare.
She didn't know where Tom was watching from, but she was sure he'd been monitoring the whole match.
...
Somewhere hidden, Tom gave an awkward but polite smile.
He knew she'd figured it out.
Still, there had only been three ripe golden apples in this batch.
He'd kept one for himself. The other two had gone to Newt Scamander and Nicolas Flamel.
The golden apple's real value wasn't raw power. It was in elevating one's life essence and granting an exceptionally long lifespan.
The girls were still young. They could wait.
But those two old men? If he didn't look after them now, who was supposed to help carry the load for him later?
Tom always made his choices carefully.
He didn't act on impulse.
…Fine. He admitted that giving Daphne one had been a little biased.
But he simply couldn't bear to watch her lose after everything she had poured into this. He knew exactly how devastated she would be.
Besides, this was the first time Daphne had ever asked him for something with genuine seriousness. If he couldn't bend the rules inside the tournament, then helping her outside of it was hardly unfair, was it? Anyone with the means could do the same. The headmasters could have, too... well, if they'd possessed something like a golden apple.
And if he was being honest, part of his favoritism toward Daphne ran deeper than that. She had been the one who chose him when he was at his lowest, weak, penniless, and with nothing to his name.
Back then, when he asked for money, she had given him everything she could without hesitation. So now that she was the one asking, it only felt natural to give her everything he could in return.
...
..
Seeing Ariana willingly concede, Daphne was naturally thrilled.
Then her gaze shifted to Fleur and Kamio. "What about you two? Want to fight and decide the real final champion?"
She'd spent a lot of energy, sure. But after only this short rest, Daphne could already feel her stamina and focus recovering fast.
As she spoke, she blinked at Kamio, then fixed her eyes firmly on Fleur. The two of them had been at odds ever since the first school exchange. And right now, Daphne's hands were itching.
She wanted a proper excuse to teach Fleur a lesson.
Unfortunately, Daphne was terrible at hiding her thoughts. That expression, that look in her eyes, it was practically written across her face.
There was no way Fleur was giving her that chance.
She shook her head immediately, "I'll pass. I know I'm not your match. Congratulations. You're the champion today."
"Oh. Fine." Daphne looked a little disappointed.
At that, the fox girl smiled sweetly. "Ara~ I spent a lot of magic holding back those puppets earlier. I don't have any strength left either. The final champion can only be you, Daph. You're what everyone was hoping for."
At those words, both Ariana and Fleur twitched.
This girl... she was treating Daphne like a child and coaxing her.
And the worst part was, Daphne completely fell for it. Her eyes curved into happy little crescents.
With no one left to challenge her, Daphne walked toward the massive Goblet of Fire at the center.
During the battle, an indestructible magical barrier had protected it from the crossfire. But when Daphne reached out, it rippled like water, letting her hand pass through easily.
She looked at her small hands, then at the huge goblet.
After a moment's thought, she climbed halfway into it, grabbed it with both hands, and hoisted it up.
The moment she lifted it, the entire Dream Arena erupted into thunderous cheers.
At the same time, her body rose into the air, flew out through the tower window, and shot toward Dalaran as a streak of light.
In less than ten seconds, she had crossed the distance and landed perfectly on the champion's podium in the arena.
She was still half-dazed when the deafening cheers hit her ears.
A moment later, the phoenix Fawkes appeared inside the magic tower and brought the remaining three girls back as well.
Based on the order they'd reached the tower. Second place went to Ariana. Third place to Kamio.
And Fleur, unfortunately, missed the podium entirely.
...
"Shall we go?" Dumbledore rose with a warm smile, leading the headmasters toward the stage.
In the next private box, Fudge also got up, bringing several Ministry officials with him.
This kind of spotlight was Fudge's favorite thing.
He hurried to catch up to Dumbledore, but before he could speak, Dumbledore beat him to it. "Cornelius, perfect timing. I'm rather tired today, not quite myself. Why don't you handle the awards ceremony for the champions?"
"Oh, I couldn't possibly."
Inside, Fudge was blooming with joy. But on the outside, he put on a modest face.
Only after Dumbledore insisted twice more did he finally "reluctantly" agree.
To be fair, this kind of thing was exactly his specialty.
Starting from third place and working his way up to first, the medals were awarded one by one.
After Daphne took her championship medal, Fudge turned to face the entire crowd.
He was just about to give a speech when Rufus Scrimgeour came charging in with a group of Aurors, leaned close, and whispered something into his ear.
Fudge's face changed instantly.
Forgetting all composure, he turned and shouted toward Dumbledore, "Albus! Something terrible has happened!"
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