At that instant, all of Hogwarts fell into absolute, deathly silence.
Time seemed to have been frozen by the rift that slashed through the velvet night.
Hundreds upon thousands of eyes, regardless of which house they belonged to, reflected only the same sight-the fist-sized physical rift torn open above the Black Lake, flickering with unstable light.
The students were speechless.
The professors were speechless.
Even Fred and George, far away in the Marauders Power command tent, watching the battle intently through a magical screen, stopped breathing, the smiles on their faces freezing completely.
The rift existed for only three seconds.
But to the members of the Vanguard Team standing closest to it, those seconds felt as long as a century.
Through that distorted tear in space, Cedric, Pheobe, and Krum saw something they would never forget.
Beneath the dark, icy lake water at their feet, a dry passage, carved out by an invisible force, led straight into the depths of the lakebed.
They could even vaguely make out what seemed to be the outlines of merpeople settlement buildings and indistinct figures at the end of the passage.
"The Water-Dividing Charm... it's the Water-Dividing Charm!"
Pheobe cried out involuntarily. The Beauxbatons champion with Veela ancestry understood part of the truth behind the Second Task almost instantly.
Before she had finished speaking, the rift snapped shut.
A violent blast of energy slammed into them from the front like a giant's palm, throwing Neville and the others at the very front to the ground.
Yet no one spared a thought for their disheveled state.
They struggled to their feet, their faces showing not the slightest trace of pain, only bone-deep shock.
In the distant spectator area, a brief, suffocating silence gave way to a tidal wave of cheers and applause.
The sound was