Sirius, anxiously waiting by the Black Lake, immediately jumped into the water when he saw Harry surface and hauled the utterly exhausted boy ashore.
Fleur also broke free of Madame Maxime's restraint at once and leaped into the water to rescue her younger sister, Gabrielle.
Ron, who had only just regained consciousness and spat out a huge mouthful of lake water, was still splashing about in confusion. Watching Harry and the silver-haired girl get rescued, he could only swim to shore himself, where Fred and George finally reached out and pulled him up.
"Well done, Harry."
Sirius lightly tapped Harry's shoulder with his wand, removing the water and cold from his body, then smiled and patted him encouragingly on the shoulder.
"Um... I didn't manage to rescue the hostages."
Harry was a little disappointed. He had made so many preparations beforehand, yet in the end, he had failed to complete the hostage rescue.
"It's all right, Harry. As long as you came back safely, that's enough," Sirius reassured him softly. "You really don't need to care about the results of the competition."
"But..."
"Mr. Anderson brought back his hostage in just fifteen minutes. I dare say no Champion can surpass him. So don't dwell on the score—it'll only trouble you for nothing." Lupin also patted Harry on the shoulder and kindly reminded him, "Perhaps you should think about what this competition has brought you. Compared to the points you earned, wasn't the event itself more interesting?"
Harry looked up at Albert, who was talking with a beautiful red-haired girl, and fell silent. Lupin was right. There was no need to care about those things. It would only be asking for trouble.
Harry wanted to be champion. He wanted to win in front of Cho Chang and prove that he was