The Second Project

After entering February, time seems to have sped up considerably. It feels like just yesterday that February 27th arrived, and now there's only a week left.

Fred and George were quite disappointed, though. After being smeared in the Entrance Hall that day, Karkaroff never came to the castle again, and their long-planned "Skiving Snackboxes feeding scheme" never got a chance to be implemented.

"The Second Task starts in a week. Aren't you really planning to take some time to study that rock?"

Once in the common room, Phoebe looked at Kyle, who was playing chess with Cedric, and said in a somewhat irritated tone.

She initially thought Kyle was just joking, but she didn't expect him to actually do it... As for why she was so sure Kyle wasn't secretly researching behind her back...

The reason is simple: those three stones have been lying on the cabinet in the common room for over a month.

If it weren't for the House-elf ' diligent cleaning, it would probably be covered in a thick layer of dust by now.

She had been planning to make Kyle anxious, so she secretly took the stone that night.

As it turned out... for a full two weeks, Kyle didn't notice anything amiss. He went about his daily routine without ever looking for it once.

It really is like meeting Merlin...

"Not really," Kyle said casually.

If he had that idea, he would have done it when Nicolas Flamel came that day. To Nicolas, the secret hidden on the stone was almost as obvious as if it were written directly on it; he could see it at a glance.

Since we didn't ask then, there's no need to waste time on it now.

"Do whatever you want! If I ever try to control you again, I'll be Leprechaun!" Phoebe turned around and stormed back to her dorm, pulling Kanna along with her before she left.

"I feel like I've heard that phrase somewhere before..." Kyle shifted the knight's position. "I think she said something similar about two months ago."

Cedric shook his head, glanced subconsciously at the shelf in the lounge and the three Winky stones on it, and then said:

"Actually, I thought you were joking at the time, but who knew you really weren't in a hurry at all."

"There's really no need for that. The judges will speak for themselves when the time comes," Kyle laughed. "Besides, you should know about the previous Triwizard Tournament. Only the Third Task was the real Triwizard Tournament. The first two events were just warm-ups and a way to gain a slight advantage."

Moreover, these advantages are fixed; as long as you're number one, it makes absolutely no difference whether you get 100 points or 80.

"While that's not entirely wrong, you're probably the only one who could remain so calm..." Cedric sighed. "I heard that Phoebe was incredibly anxious the other day, and was still flipping through books in the lounge at one in the morning."

"I hadn't noticed that."

"I guessed so," Cedric said, then changed the subject, "But have you noticed that Phoebe seems to have changed a lot lately?"

"Change?" Kyle thought for a moment and said, "No, hasn't she always been like this?"

"That certainly applies to you." Cedric shook his head. "I remember when she first came, she was so arrogant towards everyone, but now... how should I put it, yesterday I saw her helping a third-year student correct the hand gestures for the Cheering Charm. This would have been impossible three months ago, wouldn't it?"

Fleur Delacour helps third-grade students correct their hand gestures?

Kyle thought he had misheard and said incredulously, "Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"

After the students from Beauxbatons arrived, quite a few tried to strike up a conversation with Phoebe under the pretext of asking about spells. Phoebe generally ignored them, regardless of gender or age.

Even Cedric once subconsciously asked her a question about Transfiguration, but he received no answer.

"I felt like she was looking at me like I was a sprouted potato," Cedric said at the time.

It's hard to imagine that someone like Phoebe would actually take the initiative to teach others magic hand gestures.

"Of course not..." Cedric said confidently, "After all, she's the only one in the entire Hogwarts with that kind of silver hair."

"Her change is indeed quite significant," Kyle muttered.

In the following days, the atmosphere in the castle became increasingly enthusiastic, and the cheering badges that had been put away were taken out of the boxes one after another and worn by people.

As for those badges that are lost or missing, you can go to Sirius to get one for free.

He made a whole box of badges and placed it outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts office; anyone who wanted one could take one from there.

He originally kept it in his office, but Professor Moody overreacted to the sudden knocking and after the door was repaired three times, Sirius simply left the box by the door.

Fred and George were the most extravagant; they hung almost half a chest of badges on their robes, making a clattering sound as they walked, like they were wearing armor.

With only one day left until the Second Task, Kyle can hear all sorts of cheers and encouragement wherever he goes.

There were students and professors.

During the second period of the afternoon's "Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid used the excuse of checking homework to run over to Kyle and quietly ask him how his preparations were going these past few days.

After receiving an affirmative answer, Hagrid excitedly patted him on the shoulder.

"I was indeed worried before you faced the Dragon, but now I know that there's nothing you can't do if you set your mind to it. I'm not worried at all anymore; I can feel that you will definitely succeed."

"Thank you, Hagrid..."

Kyle grimaced as he pulled his foot out of the soft mud.

Sirius was right; Hagrid should indeed realize just how strong he really is.

By evening, the atmosphere in the Hufflepuff Common Room reached its peak, as two of the three Champion were there.

The lounge was filled with snacks and drinks on all the tables. As soon as Kyle came in, people kept stuffing all sorts of candy and dried beef into his pockets, as if they were afraid he wouldn't be in the mood to eat tomorrow and would go hungry during the game.

Although Phoebe was Champion of Beauxbatons, she had lived here for quite some time, so no one showed her any favoritism and gave her some as well.

Of course, it's definitely not as many as Kyle's.

Furthermore, to ensure the Champion could get a good rest, everyone voluntarily returned to their dormitories before 9 PM.

Soon, only Kyle and Phoebe remained in the lounge.

Phoebe was also preparing to return to her carriage in Beauxbatons, and Madame Maxime seemed uneasy about her staying overnight at the castle at this time.

But as she reached the door, she suddenly stopped, turned around, and said, "If you don't want to go to bed so early tonight, why don't you go for a walk?"

"Remember to bring those stones to the lake on the field, put them in the water, where the moonlight can reach... Yeah, that's it."

Upon hearing this, Kyle instinctively turned his head, but by then Phoebe had already left the common room, and he only saw a tightly closed wooden door.