Decoding things really was a pain.
That was what Harry and Ron were thinking at the moment.
The Second Task had drawn to a close. Although neither the process nor the outcome had been particularly satisfying to anyone, over was over. The scores were out and could not be changed.
What they needed to work out now was the Third Task, six weeks away.
But the clue they had obtained in the Second Task was yet another puzzle to decode.
The Seashell the Giant Squid had given them shimmered with iridescent colors and looked very pretty. But Harry and Ron did not like it one bit right now.
Because it was another clue they could not open.
With their previous experience with the Golden Egg, Harry and Ron had made plenty of similar attempts this time. For instance, they had soaked it in water for an entire night, but the Seashell still showed no sign of opening.
When submerging it failed, Harry and the others tried burning it.
Had it been an ordinary seashell, it would have been thoroughly cooked eight times over by now, but it still showed no sign of opening.
Annoying. So annoying.
Harry and Ron both declared that decoding things was something Ravenclaw liked-they had to solve a puzzle every day just to enter their Common Room. But Gryffindor really did not like it at all.
Several Ravenclaws who were close to them, such as Qiu, agreed with that assessment and actively joined their efforts to solve the puzzle.
Unfortunately, they still made little progress.
"This is just awful..." A week later, having made no progress whatsoever, Harry finally lost patience and tried to force the Seashell open with a crowbar.
But the Tournament Committee seemed to have anticipated that the Champions might use such a