บท 243: Oleandra Wins the Second Task (And Nobody is Surprised)

Dumbledore returned to the judge's table and said, "a conference before we give the marks, I think."

Meanwhile, Oleandra was listening attentively as Viviane gave her phrases to memorize in old Mermish, only opening her mouth to repeat the sentences under her breath, after which Viviane would correct her pronunciation.

"As Lady of the Lake, you draw your strength from lakes," Viviane explained. "But that's not all there is to it; we are protectors of the wetlands. Without lakes, we are no different from ordinary Greater Fairies. You need to know your subjects, be they animals, water demons or Merpeople."

It was a good thing that the stars weren't asking anything of her, Oleandra thought to herself, or she would be overwhelmed by all these obligations! (Foreshadowing is a literary device that—)

Oleandra was momentarily distracted when she caught Fleur planting a kiss on both Harry and Ron out of the corner of her eye. Hermione looked like she was going to explode when she saw this!

"Could you say that one again?" Oleandra said absentmindedly, and Viviane rolled her eyes impatiently.

"You're speaking to yourself again."

Oleandra jumped; she had forgotten that Daphne had been silently and motionlessly watching the lake at her side this entire time. As a half-Wood Nymph, Daphne tended to get lethargic in the cold…

"Was I?" Oleandra said, trying to laugh it off, but it was clear that Daphne wasn't buying it.

Ludo Bagman once again addressed the audience with his magically magnified booming voice, causing everyone nearby to jump in surprise and hold their hands over their ears.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision! Mer-chieftainess Murcus has described what exactly transpired at the bottom of the lake, and we have decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows…"

"Firstly, Miss Fleur Delacour, who demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by Grindylows as she approached the Merpeople's village, and failed to retrieve her hostage. And so, we award her twenty-five points."

This was sure to put Delacour dead last, with a cumulative score of fifty-two out of one hundred possible points. What a humiliation…

"I deserve zero," said Fleur, shaking her full head of hair.

"She's an embarrassment to Frenchmen everywhere," said Viviane in a huff. "When I walked the Earth, French Witches were made of sterner stuff."

'I keep forgetting you were raised in France,' Oleandra thought to herself. 'You never mention it.'

Sarcasm or not, Oleandra could not knowingly tell lies out loud, so she sadly had to keep her thoughts to herself, leaving Viviane oblivious to her inner monologue. But meanwhile, Mr. Bagman had moved on to the next champion.

"Mr. Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was the second to return, exactly one hour after his departure. We award him forty points."

Professor Karkaroff clapped enthusiastically, while shooting a nasty glance at his fellow judges. Evidently, Krum's performance warranted more points, but it seemed like some of the other judges were punishing him for his unfair judging towards the other champions during the first task.

Nevertheless, this left his own champion with a total of eighty-eight points.

"Mr. Harry Potter used Gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned last, and well outside of the time limit of an hour. However, the Mer-chieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was the second to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."

"Nice going, Hero!" Oleandra whispered loudly to Harry, who was standing a few paces away.

"Most of the judges" — Bagman returned Karkaroff's earlier glare at this point— "feel that this shows strong moral fibre and merits full marks. However… Mr. Potter's score is only forty-five points."

This put Harry at eighty-three points total, which was a very respectable score, for someone who had been entered in the competition against his will.

"And finally," said Mr. Bagman, "Miss Oleandra Greengrass was the first to reach the Merpeople's village, and was the first to return with her hostage, all in under twenty minutes. However, we were unable to ascertain the nature of the magic she used to propel herself through the water at great speeds, and Mer-chieftainess Murcus assures us that at no point was Miss Greengrass seen using her wand. As such, we'll reserve judgment until we've heard more from the champion herself…"

Oleandra stepped forward and snapped her fingers, calling out, "Laukaz!" and summoning a ball of lake water in her hand.

"Does this answer your question?" she said, giving the ball a spin on the tip of her forefinger. "This is runic magic, by the way."

Professor Dumbledore then rose from his seat at the judges' table and uttered a few words in Mermish in Oleandra's direction.

"He asked you if you'd like a Cockroach Cluster in old Mermish," Viviane translated.

"No thank you," Oleandra said, shuddering at the thought of the chocolate abomination. "Also, your honorifics are wrong; you should use #$%@ when speaking to someone younger than you."

For once in his life, Professor Dumbledore looked astonished; he looked at the Mer-chieftainess, who nodded, confirming Oleandra's words.

"You really are full of surprises, Miss Greengrass," said Dumbledore mirthfully. "Just when I thought I had a good handle on your character, the Mer-chieftainess tells me you can speak an archaic form of Mermish. You regularly defy all of my attempts to understand you!"

Of course, Dumbledore had heard rumours in the Ministry that a certain young Runesmith had made a special translating hat for the Minister for Magic. But to his surprise, no one other than he and the Mer-chieftainess had understood what Oleandra had just said, which meant that she actually spoke old Mermish well enough to correct him!

The judges once again retired to the side to deliberate, before returning with a verdict. Mr. Bagman cleared his throat, before addressing the crowd once again.

"For the speedy recovery of her hostage, her usage of a rare form of magic, her knowledge of Mermish, which allowed her to interact with the Merpeople to ask for information, and for saving her fellow contestant Fleur Delacour, showing strong moral fibre, we can award Miss Oleandra Greengrass nothing less than a perfect score: fifty points!"

(And then everyone clapped)