At this moment, Maxime no longer felt that there was anything inappropriate about Dumbledore treating Link with such an attitude.
If she had such a student herself, not to mention bringing him to a meeting, she would even hand over the entire school to him!
"Hoo!"
Maxime let out a long, slightly trembling breath, nodded, and then said no more.
It was just that her gaze toward Link became even more fervent.
On the other side, however, Karkaroff did not think the same.
To be precise, he hadn't reacted yet.
He suddenly slapped the table and stood up, saying, "Dumbledore, stop making excuses! How could a mere Flamel family possibly take on the external security work of Hogwarts? You're obviously showing favoritism to Link Flamel!"
"As the headmaster of Durmstrang, I absolutely will not allow this to happen, unless you also let Krum participate!"
"And as further compensation for your blatant bias, I demand that the Tournament Committee award bonus points to all champions except Link Flamel!"
With that said, Karkaroff proudly lifted his chin.
He felt his performance, coordinating with Madame Maxime, was pretty good. He had directly stated their demands, and he even shot Maxime a pleased look, signaling her to quickly follow up and echo his words.
But Maxime didn't even bother to respond.
And not just Maxime, even Dumbledore, upon hearing this, remained silent.
This made Karkaroff feel a bit strange. He couldn't help but glance around at the others.
And with that glance, the smile on his face froze completely.
Because Dumbledore, Link, Moody, Snape, Maxime, old Barty…
Everyone present, except for the mermaid girl and "old bug" Bagman, were staring at him with eyes filled with hostility.
Especially Snape. The icy light in those deep black eyes nearly froze Karkaroff on the spot.
Under everyone's glare, Karkaroff stiffly sat back down in his chair, his expression wonderfully twisted.
"Pfft!"
Seeing this, Link couldn't help but laugh out loud. The Karkaroff who had just been so arrogant now had his head lowered, wearing a look of simmering anger but not daring to speak.
"All right, meaningless quarrels end here. Let's move on to the main topic."
Dumbledore finally spoke, helping Karkaroff awkwardly cover up, "Regarding the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, Barty and I have come up with a preliminary plan that looks like this…"
With a flick of Dumbledore's wand, a glowing mosaic-like map formed from particles of magical light floated in front of everyone.
"The third task, being the final part of this Triwizard Tournament, has rules that are actually very simple.
We will use the entirety of Hogwarts as the venue to create a race course. The champions will start in the Forbidden Forest, travel through the forest, then the Black Lake, and finally reach the highest point of the Hogwarts castle.
We will place a cup there. Whichever champion manages to touch the cup first will win the Triwizard Tournament."
"Win directly!?"
The Karkaroff who had sounded like a castrated rooster just moments ago suddenly let out a loud cry, "We're not going to decide the champion based on total accumulated points?"
As soon as he said it, Karkaroff realized he had misspoken and quickly covered his mouth.
Honestly, he looked rather ridiculous right now, but no one present thought it strange.
Even Madame Maxime's mood had suddenly become agitated.
She couldn't help it. The rules Dumbledore had just proposed were simply too favorable to them.
After all, Link had scored full marks in the first two tasks. If the champion were decided by total points, even if he failed to be the first to grab the cup, he'd still almost certainly be the overall champion.
But now, things were different.
Even her own Fleur, who currently had the lowest score, might still have a shot at the championship.
"It is indeed touching the cup that directly determines the winner. But the points scored in the first two tasks are not meaningless."
Dumbledore added with a smile, "The champions' scores will determine their starting order in the third task. That is to say, Link, you'll be allowed to start first, about five minutes ahead of the others."
"Also, to prevent leaks of information about this task, and for everyone's safety, Hogwarts will be placed under full lockdown starting today."
"Except for the families of the champions who will come to spectate the competition, no one will be allowed in or out of Hogwarts!"
When he finished speaking, the small chamber once again fell silent.
Snape was staring seriously at Link, ready to step in and stop him if he tried to rise in protest.
In his view, Link should already be furious, since this rule change harmed him the most.
But in fact, Link didn't care much about how the champion was chosen. At worst, he could just eliminate all the other champions. Then, with only him left standing, the champion would have to be his.
What really bothered him was that Dumbledore hadn't shrunk the competition area as expected, to better control things, instead, he had expanded it several times over.
Could it be that Dumbledore wants to appear weak on purpose, deliberately showing a flaw to lure Voldemort and his followers into a trap, and then crush them all in one move?
Link really couldn't figure out what Dumbledore was playing at. But since Dumbledore had announced a full lockdown of Hogwarts before even asking for opinions, Link simply stayed silent.
On the other side, Karkaroff and Maxime clearly had the same concerns as Link. But this new competition format was simply too beneficial for them, and with the earlier show of pressure, they also kept silent.
"Does anyone have any suggestions about the plan I've proposed?"
Dumbledore was still smiling as he asked. "No? Then it's settled."
Once the final plan was decided, the atmosphere at the table finally loosened a little.
Karkaroff, Maxime, and old Barty lost any interest in continuing the meal and promptly took their leave.
In an instant, only Link, Snape, Dumbledore, and the silent mermaid girl remained in the small chamber.
Link knew that the meeting wasn't truly over yet.
But having just woken up, he was now feeling properly hungry, so he ignored the others and simply continued to enjoy the meal the house-elves had carefully prepared.
Dumbledore wasn't in a rush either. He waved a hand to stop Snape, who wanted to say something, and quietly watched as Link ate.
Only after Link had eaten his fill, set down his fork, and rubbed his belly did Dumbledore finally speak with a smile, "Full, Link?"
"Thank you for the hospitality, I'm very full," Link said, rubbing his stomach. "So now, isn't it time you explained to me why you modified the process of the third task like this?"
"Link!"
Snape frowned and snapped at him for his rudeness.
But Dumbledore once again raised a hand to stop him.
"You've already guessed what I intend to do, haven't you? Anyway, I can promise you this, the design of this task will definitely catch Tom and the others in one net!"
Dumbledore slowly placed a bite of ice cream pudding in his mouth, savoring it with a blissful look as he went on, "In the Forbidden Forest, I've already contacted the centaurs."
"At that time, they'll join forces with some of the friendly creatures in the forest to protect your safety and help capture the Death Eaters."
"Inside Hogwarts, the professors will be responsible, assisted by the magical armor, statues, and other mechanisms within the castle."
"As for the Black Lake, that will be left to the merfolk."
As he finished, Dumbledore turned his gaze toward the mermaid girl in the corner.
"Leave it to us."
The mermaid girl smiled as she spoke.
Link had heard mermaids' voices before, from the golden egg in the second task.
Normally, due to the difference in vocal organs, the voice of any mermaid out of water should sound like a terrifying shriek.
But this mermaid girl was different.
Her voice was melodious and clear. Perhaps because she wasn't yet fluent in the language, her tone was a little odd, but it was absolutely not unpleasant, on the contrary, it carried the flavor of singing.
Hearing her speak for the first time, Link's eyes were again locked on her, unwilling to look away for a long while.
Finally, Dumbledore couldn't help but say, "Within Hogwarts, our victory is certain. But to be safe, Link, your hunters stationed outside the school shouldn't sit idle either."
"I will place a transmission coordinate on Harry. If during the competition the Death Eaters take him beyond Hogwarts's borders, have your hunters Apparate to support immediately."
"Of course, the other professors and I will head there as well."
Link thought for a moment, then found it reasonable. He finally said, "This plan is quite comprehensive. On behalf of the Flamel family, I can fully accept it. But I think that transmission coordinate should also be placed on me."
Hearing this, Dumbledore fell silent for a moment.
He had only placed the coordinate on Harry because Harry was the main target of the Death Eaters' operation.
Now Link also wanted one, did that mean…
"Those people already know your secret?"
"I'm just afraid of dying, that's all." Link brushed it off casually.
Dumbledore didn't press further, only nodded.
"Being cautious is always good. I'll place one on you as well."
"Also, the OWL exams are coming soon, you'd better hurry and review."
"That's something I'd do without you reminding me."
Link waved his hand. He was genuinely surprised that Dumbledore would even care about his OWL exams.
"In that case, go rest. After such a busy afternoon, you haven't rested enough yet."
Dumbledore said with a meaningful smile.
But hearing this, Link didn't move to leave, because the mermaid girl in the corner hadn't left yet, and he was far too curious about her.
"Hurry up! Stop dawdling!"
Snape wasn't about to indulge him. He lowered his voice to a harsh growl and dragged Link out of the chamber, leaving only the mermaid girl and Dumbledore inside.
Out in the pitch-black corridor, Link shook off Snape's grip, rubbing his wrist as he said, "Professor Snape, why drag me out? I wanted to hear what Dumbledore and that mermaid were going to talk about!"
"Don't get any ideas about that mermaid." Snape said coldly.
Link, having his thoughts exposed, wasn't embarrassed in the slightest. He answered boldly, "You make it sound so serious. I'm about to get engaged to Emily, how could I possibly do something like that?"
"I just think that mermaid is strange, so I'm curious about her."
"Don't be curious. Don't have any thoughts. Just stay away from her. Best if you pretend you never saw her today."
Snape's warning only made Link more curious.
"Oh? Why?" Link raised an eyebrow and pressed.
Snape suddenly stopped walking, turned to look Link straight in the eyes, and said, "Whether it's the Forbidden Forest or Hogwarts castle, although they're nominally under different supervision, in reality they're protected by professors and magical creatures from Hagrid's preserve."
"But because of the unique environment of the Black Lake, we can't provide much help there."
"Under those circumstances, do you really think the merfolk alone could resist a Death Eater attack?"
"So that mermaid is Dumbledore's reinforcement for the Black Lake?" Link guessed uncertainly. "A sea mermaid?"
"The princess of the sea merfolk, or rather, their crown princess, the future empress."
"So she must be really powerful then?"
Hearing this, Snape suddenly smirked. His gaze at Link shifted from icy cold to the kind one might use when looking at an idiot.
"Though I don't know the specifics of her abilities, she's definitely stronger than you can imagine!"
"Otherwise, why do you think wizards would allow the merfolk to claim such a vast portion of the oceans? Out of humanitarian spirit?"
At those words, Link finally understood why everyone in the chamber hadn't dared to approach the mermaid girl earlier.
It wasn't that they disliked her splashing water around, or that they discriminated against her.
It was purely fear, fear of her power as a formidable being of another race.
For Link, though, this was actually a good thing. At the very least, the Black Lake now had reliable protection.
"Wait," Link suddenly thought of something. "Why would such a powerful figure willingly come to help Hogwarts?"
"The Black Lake merfolk made the connection. They bore no small responsibility for the second task, so they wanted to atone."
"Of course, as payment, Dumbledore gave that mermaid princess fifty liters of phoenix tears!"
Snape's voice carried a note of grinding teeth.
It was understandable. In the eyes of a potions master like him, phoenix tears were an unbelievably rare material. And now Dumbledore had not only given them to a mermaid, but given so much at once!
But Link's expression turned odd.
Because he couldn't help but recall that tub of phoenix tears Yoyo had soaked in.
After that intense pain, Yoyo had defecated and urinated right in it. Combined with its venom and blood, the tears, while still usable, had been contaminated, their effects greatly diminished.
'No way, right? No way? Dumbledore couldn't really be that shameless, could he?'
With a strange expression, Link silently repeated this thought in his heart.
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