Just as Madam Pomfrey took Pheobe and a nervous Gabrielle to the nearby tent to treat their injuries, a cheer erupted from the stands.
Su Er and Hermione looked up at the curtain of water.
Harry was kicking his legs as he approached Ron, tugging hard at the ropes of waterweed around him. The merpeople seemed unwilling to let Harry take Ron away and advanced with their spears.
This was strange. Su Er and the others had never encountered anything like this.
"Champion Harry Potter has found his treasure. He seems to have run into trouble," Ludo Bagman's commentary rang out. "Oh, yes, the guardians are blocking our champion from taking his treasure away."
Cold sweat broke out on Su Er's forehead. Ludo Bagman seemed not to realize anything was wrong with his wording. Calling one man another man's treasure sounded far too bromantic...
"That is only natural," Ludo Bagman explained. "Because Potter has already failed. He exceeded the one-hour time limit, and according to the rules, the merpeople cannot return the treasure to the champion."
Su Er looked up at the clock. It was already ten thirty-six.
"Let us see whether Potter intends to give up or persist... Oh! He has chosen to draw his wand! Even underwater, facing ten times his number in merpeople, he has still chosen to draw his wand!"
On the curtain of water, Harry's actions eventually prompted the merpeople to let him take Ron away.
"He did it!" Ludo Bagman said loudly. "Wonderful! Potter did not abandon his Ronnie!"
Applause rose from the Gryffindor section. Although Harry was certain to come last, they still applauded his actions.
But... more than an hour had passed. If Su Er remembered correctly, gillyweed was only supposed to last an hour...
Potter wasn't going to croak, was he?