Fleur's lead in points bought her quite a bit of time. She had been waiting in the staging area for at least fifteen minutes before Bagman outside finally called Klein's name.
"Now, let's welcome the contestant currently in second place, from Hogwarts, the one and only Champion, Klein Grindelwald!"
The head of the Department of Magical Sports and Games had piled on plenty of embellishments before Klein's name when introducing him.
Klein couldn't help laughing. He turned to Krum and said,
"I'm off, then."
"Just get lost! It's not like we're friends!"
Krum was fuming inside. He wanted nothing more than to throw those words right in Klein's face.
But what he actually said was,
"Oh, all right."
Krum didn't need anyone else to tell him. Even he thought he must look pretty pathetic.
"See you in a bit, then."
"Teasing" a hunk like that had stopped being enough to satisfy his mischievous streak. If he wanted to have some fun, he'd have to turn to their One-meter-four Dark Lord. Shaking his head, Klein strolled out of the staging area without a hint of urgency.
Once outside, a gust of cold wind blew away all the random thoughts cluttering his mind.
"I'd really like to thank whichever genius came up with the Second Trial."
His sweater and heavy robes did nothing to keep out the cold. The wind cut like a knife, relentlessly sneaking down his collar.
Klein muttered to himself and quietly cast a spell. Only then did things improve.
"!!!"
A heartthrob as well as a powerhouse, he'd won the affection of every wizard, from toddlers just learning to walk to those nearly in their graves. When Klein emerged, the spectators in the stands by the Black Lake went wild.
Without the professional security team—Ministry of Magic Aurors