Blanco landed on the leaf in human form, his gaze settling on the vivid red fruit before shifting to the remains of several smashed fruits on the ground.
Clearly, Harry's little trick had worked. Without any warning, several of the Champions behind him had also let the fruits they exchanged their Gemstones for fall and smash to pieces. They clearly were not as wicked as Harry, however, and had not deliberately cleared away the fragments.
Had the Viewing Screen been activated a little earlier, the audience would have seen that some of the Champions after Harry had noticed and kept their own fruits from falling and smashing.
Unfortunately, there had been relatively few such contestants. Of the nine Champions between Harry and Blanco, only three had caught their fruits without wasting an extra Gemstone.
The first was Krum.
Krum had been right behind Harry. Apart from Ron, who had set off first, and Elizabeth, who had set off second, he was the third to receive no warning whatsoever.
Yes, Elizabeth had received none either, because Ron had reacted incredibly quickly, catching the fruit the instant it fell.
That was extremely difficult. It required not only lightning-fast reactions but also exceptionally nimble movements. As luck would have it, Ron possessed both. Thus, he had caught the fruit even without any warning.
Since he had caught his fruit, he had naturally left no warning behind, and so Elizabeth had smashed her first fruit.
The Tournament Committee's original idea had been that the first person to set off would have the most Gemstones, so wasting a few would not matter and could give those behind him a warning. As it turned out, Ron had reacted faster than they had anticipated.
Still, Elizabeth, who had set off second, also had plenty of Gemstones, so