Fleur Delacour was the first to come over, holding her younger sister Gabrielle tightly in her arms.
"You saved her..." Fleur's voice was hoarse, and she was so emotional she could hardly breathe. "Even though she wasn't your hostage!"
"I suppose so..." Jon replied with a wry smile, feeling Astoria squeeze his hand hard.
"Thank you so much!" Fleur lowered her head and kissed both his cheeks twice. Jon's face burned hot.
Astoria looked as though she wanted to devour Fleur whole... though she said nothing.
"And thank you too!" Fleur turned to her, then lunged forward, kissing Astoria's cheeks twice as well. "You must have helped a great deal!"
Astoria's cheeks flushed scarlet.
"Good luck to you both!" Fleur said lightly, then carried Gabrielle away toward Madam Pomfrey.
"For the first time, I don't find her all that annoying," Astoria muttered.
Just then, Hermione walked over.
Her voice was strange. "Jon, thank you... Viktor told me it was you who saved me!"
"I suppose so..." Jon gave another bitter smile.
Hermione seemed unsure what more to say, but Viktor Krum stepped up beside her.
"You are outstanding!" Krum said seriously, looking at Jon and speaking in broken English. "You escaped hundreds of Merpeople, bringing them back to shore... Just now, ten Merpeople were enough to take me down!"
He gave Jon a firm thumbs-up.
"Thanks..." Jon replied this time, modestly. "It was mostly luck."
Hermione exchanged a few words with Krum before heading toward Harry Potter. She seemed to whisper something to him.
Finally, Harry walked over to Jon.
"Jon..." Harry's voice was low. "I'm sorry... for a moment, I actually resented you..."
"I'm the one who should apologize!" Jon said earnestly. "It's my fault you couldn't rescue your hostage in the end."
"It's not your fault!" Harry shook his head firmly. "If it had been me, I would have saved Hermione too... and that little girl... and your friend."
"I believe that..." Jon nodded.
"It's just that I didn't have the strength to make it that far..." Harry said with a bitter smile. "Hermione told me just now that the Gillyweed came from you, passed through her to me... Your generosity and sportsmanship toward a rival make me ashamed of resenting you."
He spoke the last part so softly that even Astoria didn't hear it.
"If not for your help, I wouldn't even know how to dive. I'd probably have been left standing uselessly by the lakeside, enduring the crowd's jeers!" Harry continued sincerely. "Jon, give it your all... win the Third Task for Hogwarts!"
"No!" Jon shook his head gravely. "Whoever wins the Goblet of Fire, it will still be Hogwarts' glory! Harry, I believe in you. The Goblet chose you, and that means you are just as worthy to win honor for Hogwarts!"
Harry froze in place.
"In fact, the most perfect outcome I can imagine..." Jon said softly, "would be for us to lift the Goblet of Fire together. That would be unprecedented... For Hogwarts, it would mean twice the glory!"
"Twice the glory..." Harry murmured.
...
Harry wanted to argue further.
But just then, Ludo Bagman's magically amplified voice boomed in their ears, startling them and instantly silencing the crowd in the stands.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have finally reached our decision. Merchieftainess Ael has given us a full account of what happened beneath the lake. Based on a maximum of fifty points, we have decided to score the champions as follows..."
Ludo Bagman proclaimed loudly:
"First, Fleur Delacour. Miss Delacour demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, but was attacked by Grindylows when approaching her target and failed to rescue her hostage. We award her 20 points."
A light smattering of applause came from the stands.
"I should have gotten zero," Fleur said with a bitter smile, glancing at her sister lying in the hospital wing.
"Next is Jon Hart. Mr. Hart used Gillyweed to astonishing effect." Bagman paused. "Mr. Hart located his target in just 20 minutes, evaded pursuit by hundreds of Merpeople, and brought his hostage back within 30 minutes. We award him 47 points."
"Forty-seven points!" Astoria threw her arms around Jon, nearly ecstatic. "That's amazing!"
Thunderous cheers erupted from the Hufflepuff stands.
Jon saw countless yellow-and-black flags waving, and Zacharias's roar was so loud he could hear it from here.
And it wasn't only Hufflepuff. Applause also came from Ravenclaw and Slytherin stands. Only Gryffindor's side clapped a bit more sparsely.
"Five judges gave you full marks. Ludo Bagman gave you seven points. Karkaroff gave you zero... Your final score is 47," Professor Sprout said with a radiant smile as she walked over. "Gillyweed, what a brilliant idea... Jon, your grasp of herbology is nearly equal to mine!"
"No, no, Professor!" Jon denied quickly. "I'm still far behind. I have much more to learn."
"Next, Viktor Krum. Mr. Krum used Transfiguration—imperfectly, but effectively." Bagman continued, "He evaded the giant squid but was captured by the Merpeople and failed to rescue his hostage. We award him 18 points."
"Hmph!" Karkaroff snorted angrily, venting his frustration.
"Finally, Harry Potter. Mr. Potter also used Gillyweed with impressive results," Bagman said, his tone somewhat disappointed. "He searched underwater for thirty minutes, but was ultimately seized by the Merpeople and failed to rescue his hostage. We award him 14 points."
"That's unfair! Why is Harry's score so low?" Ron Weasley shouted indignantly from the Gryffindor stands.
Bagman also turned to the judges' table with a questioning look.
Percy Weasley produced a parchment, glanced at it, and explained, "It's normal—two judges gave Harry Potter zero points."
...
"Jon, your final score is 91, first place!" Astoria said excitedly. "Second is Krum with 58, third is Fleur with 55, and fourth is Potter with only 54!"
"Amazing... you're more than thirty points ahead of second place!" Astoria, who had already memorized the scores, rattled them off without pause.
"Not bad at all," Jon exhaled in relief.
All in all, the results of the Second Task had turned out exactly as he had hoped.