Inspection

No one knew that Eli was currently in the Misty Illusion, trading insults... conversing with two legendary Wizards from a thousand years ago.

To everyone else, Eli looked as though he had been scared witless, his head lowered and his gaze slightly unfocused.

On the shore, a large group of Ministry of Magic officials and professors surrounded the five people who had just emerged from the lake. Some had already begun dispersing the students present.

Everyone marveled at the enormous squid corpse floating on the lake's surface. No one would have guessed that it was the Animagus form of one of Hogwarts's founders—Godric Gryffindor.

"You all saw it just now! Three more of them jumped in afterward! That definitely isn't allowed by the rules, is it?"

Karkaroff stood in the middle with his cane, endlessly badgering the Ministry of Magic officials around him.

Most of those officials looked troubled and turned to Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman.

Those two, in turn, looked at the Hogwarts students whom Dumbledore was questioning.

"Professor, we..."

"We were attacked!" Hermione Granger had barely begun organizing her thoughts when Eli, who had been spacing out beside her, suddenly spoke.

Everyone present immediately turned to look at Eli, their eyes full of scrutiny. Eli instantly felt as though he were being watched by a flock of owls.

"Ha, how absurd. You came here to compete, not to go sightseeing. If you didn't encounter an attack, were you expecting the merpeople to invite you for tea?"

Karkaroff said in a bizarre tone. Like a frenzied performer, he had been trying to stir up an atmosphere favorable to himself.

"I don't think the competition included a Giant Squid as one of its obstacles."

While Karkaroff was still yapping away, Eli's voice cut him off. Karkaroff's eyes shifted, and