Bagman's Suspicious Behavior

"Harry!" Bagman's baby face lit up with a bright smile. "I've been hoping to see you! How are you? Are you alright?"

"Very well, thank you." Harry's expression was stiff; he hadn't gotten used to Bagman's strange enthusiasm towards him.

"I wonder if I could speak with you alone for a few minutes, Harry?" Bagman smiled, looking at the group around him. "Excuse me, could you please do us this favor?"

"Uh..." Ron wasn't really keen on agreeing.

"Okay!" Hermione replied crisply, picked up two glasses of Butterbeer and handed them to Loren, then went behind him, put her hands on his shoulders, and pushed him to find another seat.

Ron glared at Bagman and followed him eagerly.

Loren was captivated by two full glasses of Butterbeer, and with a driver behind her, she could only let herself be pushed forward.

Aren't you curious about what they'll say?

"Curious!"

"Then why are you leaving?"

"Lower his guard."

"How despicable, pilot Granger."

"I know you think so too, Morgan trolley."

"..."

The two walked around the tables and chairs for a while, and finally found a seat not far behind Bagman, with Ron following behind.

The three exchanged a glance, tacitly remaining silent as they eavesdropped on the conversation not far away.

Bagman smiled helplessly at Harry: "Actually, what I meant was that we could leave each other for a while."

"The result is the same..." Harry's gaze went past Bagman's shoulder and met the eyes of the three people behind him. His eyes flickered slightly, and then he looked away without making a sound.

"Your friends are so considerate, especially that red-haired boy." Bagman winked at him with a strange smile. "I think his name is Ron, right? There are too many Weasley family kids; I can't quite remember their names."

"Yes, Ron Weasley ..." Harry looked at his expression, unsure of what he was trying to do.

"The friendships formed during our school days are the most precious, aren't they? You should understand, they're like treasures..." Bagman winked again, making Harry feel uneasy.

"Mr. Bagman, what can I do for you?"

"Oh, Harry, I want to congratulate you again on your outstanding performance in dealing with that Horntail," Bagman praised sincerely. "It was fantastic! Clean and efficient!"

"Thank you." Harry frowned slightly. If it was just a blessing, he wouldn't have needed to send Loren and the others away.

However, Bagman doesn't seem to be in a hurry to uncover the mystery, or perhaps there are clues he hasn't noticed.

Harry noticed Bagman's gaze and saw him glance at the goblins on the other side of the bar in the mirror. The goblins' clothing style was very different, and they didn't seem to be locals. They all had slanted black eyes and were silently watching this side.

"It was an absolute nightmare," Bagman said in a low voice when he saw Harry looking at the goblins. "Their English was awful, it was like being back in the Quidditch World Cup, getting into a fight with those Bulgarians ..."

"But at least the Bulgarians can use gestures to make themselves understandable. These guys just keep gurgling in their turkey language..." Bagman chuckled softly and briefly.

Harry noticed that the goblins were looking at Bagman with suspicion, as if they regarded him as a prisoner and were worried that he would escape.

He couldn't help but wonder, "What do they want?"

"Uh...they..." Bagman suddenly tensed up, "They're looking for Barty Crouch."

"Why come here to find him? Can't they contact the Ministry of Magic?"

"Oh, Barty has handed over all the Ministry of Magic's affairs to interns," Bagman stammered. "He's only thinking about the Triwizard Tournament now, Harry, you won't believe it, he's actually planning to throw me in—"

Bagman suddenly stopped, lowered his voice, and glanced cautiously to the left and right. "I can't tell you these things too bluntly, and you absolutely mustn't tell anyone about this, understand, Harry?"

"Understand what?" Harry looked confused. "I didn't understand anything!"

"Yes, that's it!" Bagman said with delight. "Barty has been so busy lately that he's practically obsessed, leaving all the department's affairs to interns... This is not good news. You know, Rita Skeeter is still asking around, and if this makes the newspapers, it'll be considered a disaster..."

"Fortunately, Rita Skeeter hasn't shown up for quite some time..." Seeing Harry's increasingly bewildered look, he tensed up again and lowered his voice, saying, "Ahem, after saying all that, what I really wanted to ask you is, how's your research on that Golden Egg going?"

Golden Egg... Ron... Treasure

Harry vaguely grasped at something, and looking at Bagman's face, he absentmindedly replied, "Um... not bad."

Bagman immediately became anxious. "You're alright? You haven't—"

"Nothing?" Harry asked knowingly.

"Oh, Harry, the other Champion have already begun their preparations... I can give you a hint."

"We should solve this mystery on our own, shouldn't we?" Harry tried to make his tone sound casual, so as not to sound like he was accusing the Director of the Department of Magical Games and Sports of breaking the rules.

"Oh, yes..." Bagman paused, then said cautiously, "Listen, Harry, I'm very sad about all of this. You were forced into this Triwizard Tournament, nobody believed in you, you didn't participate voluntarily..."

Bagman's voice was so low that Harry had to lean in to hear him. "If I can help, give you a little bit of assistance... it's not a bad thing. I have faith in you and hope things go well for you... It's okay, just say the word."

"Thank you, but I've already studied the Golden Egg quite thoroughly."

"Really?" Bagman was quite annoyed.

"Yes, the secret is in the water, isn't it?" Harry knew perfectly well that Bagman was a member of the tribunal, so he had no reason to hide it.

These words were like Cheering Charm, instantly bringing a smile to Bagman's face, "Oh, yes, I knew you could break it. You're very clever; I could tell from the way you dealt with the Fire Dragon!"

"Alright, I have a lot of things to take care of, I need to get going." Bagman's smooth little face was flushed. "It was nice to see you... and your friends. Good luck, Harry."

He hurried out of the tavern, and the fairies all stood up from their chairs and followed him out.

The driver, Granger, pushed Morgan's trolley back to the bar, and as soon as he sat down, he asked, "What does he want?"

There was a very quiet conversation that she didn't hear clearly.

"He wanted to give me some hints about the Second Task ..." Harry took a sip of his Butterbeer. "In fact, he already gave me a hint."

"He shouldn't have done that!" Hermione said sternly. "He was one of the referees!"

No one paid any attention to her sense of justice; even Loren was indifferent.

Ron asked excitedly, "What is it? What is it?"

"It's you." Hermione said crisply, slamming her hand on the table. She had heard the previous part of the conversation very clearly.

Harry looked frustrated; he had finally had a chance to show off his intelligence, but Hermione had stolen it away.

"Me? What does that have to do with me?"

Harry's face lit up with joy, but then he heard Loren say quickly, "They're going to throw you into the lake and have Harry find you within an hour."

"!!"

Harry's eyebrows were furrowed tightly, and he looked very uncomfortable. He looked at Ron with urgent eyes—

Quickly ask about the reasoning process! Quickly ask about the process!

"Oh!" Ron clapped his hands, suddenly realizing, "So that's what they were hinting at earlier, all that deliberately mentioning me and all that nonsense about friendship!"

Harry's eyebrows drooped, and he stared blankly at the three of them, his eyes unfocused.

I'm tired. I want to sink you all into the lake, the kind of sinker that I won't pull up.

"What do you think, Ron?" Hermione asked, taking a small sip of her Butterbeer.

"It couldn't be simpler!" Ron said smugly. "Don't forget about the coral; I'll get to show off then!"

"This is to our advantage, but we need to be careful of unexpected situations..." Hermione's gaze unconsciously drifted to Loren, whose lips were rimmed with hop foam. She paused for a moment before continuing, "Did you manage to buy the Gillyweed?"

"I bought it, but it was quite expensive."

Coming to his senses, Harry said, "He said the storage method was special, but Ron and I both thought he was trying to scam us, so we tried negotiating with him using the Loren school's methods, and we almost got kicked out."

Loren rested his chin on the table, his mind blank. "You haven't grasped the essence."

"..."

The conversation lightened for the rest of the time, and they lazily sprawled on the tavern table, temporarily setting aside matters like the Goblet of Fire and Mermaid...

As evening fell, the streets of Hogsmeade were already lit up with scattered lights. The four of them left the tavern together and walked along the cold, damp path back to school.

The road was muddy and difficult to walk on due to the water from the melting snow and ice. Every step left mud spots on the trouser legs and hem of the clothes.

It hasn't snowed heavily for several days. Occasionally, we see sleet, but more often it's a fine drizzle, not heavy, just small drops, but it falls frequently, usually in the middle of the night or early morning.

As the weather warms and Black Lake begins to thaw, Durmstrang's large ship remains moored on the lake, its masts straight, but its shape resembles that of a salvaged shipwreck, its gangway shimmering with a dim, misty light.

"Look, it's Krum!"

Following Ron's gaze, they saw Krum walk from the cabin onto the deck, wearing only swimming trunks. He nimbly climbed onto the gunwale, stretched out his arms, and plunged into the water with a splash.

Its jet-black head bobbed in and out of the middle of the lake, moving very fast.

Ron shivered as if he could feel the chill. "Ugh, it's January, it must be freezing!"

"He must be practicing for the Second Task," Harry said gravely. "I wonder how he'll handle breathing underwater..."

"Think about yourself instead." Loren covered his mouth with his right fist and yawned. "Although you can breathe underwater, your swimming skills are definitely not as good as his."

"That's right, you need to practice more too!" Hermione nodded.

"Uh, I'll try my best."

Sunday, Prefect's washroom.

Colorful mist floated in the room, and a thick layer of foam covered the surface of a pool of steaming water. Harry suddenly surfaced, wiped the foam off his face, and exhaled a sigh of relief mixed with melancholy.

"I definitely can't swim as fast as Krum, and there won't be Mermaid to guide me during the race..." Harry sighed, leaning against the poolside. "What am I going to do..."

"Maybe I can help you." Moaning Myrtle sat cross-legged on a dragon head and winked at him from behind her thick glasses.

Are you familiar with the underwater terrain?

"Oh, I sometimes go to the lake too," Moaning Myrtle shrugged. "Sometimes I have no choice; someone flushes my toilet when I'm not looking..."

"..."

Harry forced himself not to think about that scene, and silently mourned for the ghost girl for a few seconds. "Thank you so much."

"It's what friends should do, no need to thank me. Just come visit me in my bathroom from time to time."

"Uh, I'll try, but please close your eyes again now..." Harry climbed up, dried himself off, and put his clothes back on. "Now, I have to go find Professor Snape to learn Occlumency ... Goodbye, Moaning Myrtle."

"Farewell," Moaning Myrtle said wistfully.

Walking through the dark underground corridor, Harry walked lightly to the door of the Slytherin Head of House's office, but before he could knock, he heard a familiar voice coming from inside.

"We need to talk."

It was Principal Karkaroff of Durmstrang, and his voice was anxious.

"I'll talk to you again tonight, Igor," Snape said calmly.

"I want to talk now, while you can't slip away, Severus, you've been avoiding me lately..."

"... I don't understand why you're making such a fuss, Igor."

"Severus, you can't pretend this didn't happen!" Karkaroff's voice sounded frightened and hoarse, as if afraid of being overheard. "It's become more and more obvious over the months... I'm very worried now, I can't deny it..."

"Then run away." Snape's voice was very impatient. "Run away, I'll make an excuse for you, but I want to stay at Hogwarts."

"Severus— "

Just as Karkaroff was about to persist, Snape suddenly raised his voice. "Come in, Potter."

Harry's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly stopped his wild thoughts, pushing open the wooden door with a normal expression.

Good afternoon, Professor.

Upon seeing Karkaroff standing to the side, he feigned just the right amount of surprise. "Principal Karkaroff? Oh, it's nice to see you."

Karkaroff gave him a deep look, then glanced at Snape, his curly goatee twitched a few times, snorted at them, and strode out of the office.

Harry stepped aside to make way, a series of questions popping into his mind.

When did he and Snape start calling each other by their Christian names?

What does he want to talk about? What do the two of them have to talk about?

Why is Karkaroff so worried?