[This chapter is dedicated to fellow reader @Moji Rensheng, answering his question in the comments with a little personal opinion.]
The newly appeared passage was dark and deep, as though it led to some unknown destination.
Cedric, Pheobe, and Krum passed through it, exhausted and under immense mental strain.
After that brutal "battle of self-examination," their minds had reached a strange calm born of being utterly drained.
In theory, they believed the hardest part was over.
But remember, this was a challenge designed under Professor Holmes's guidance and carried out by the Weasley Twins.
Let their guard down?
Ha, Deputy Director Moody did not even need to stress it.
What student of Professor Holmes would ever let their guard down when facing him?
Yet when they finally swam out of the passage, the sight before them still took them by surprise.
A majestic, tranquil Coral Village, filled with the beauty of primal life, stood quietly on the lake bed.
Brilliantly colored coral formed an underwater forest of exquisitely crafted homes.
Glowing jellyfish drifted leisurely between the homes like floating lanterns, casting soft, dreamlike halos.
At the very center of the village was an enormous magical bubble that radiated a gentle light.
Within that glow, Hermione, Cho Chang, and Gabrielle were gathered around a steaming White Shell, eating with great relish.
It was a... hot pot.
Wisps of steam rose, blurring their smiling faces.
Plates and dishes of fresh ingredients floated nearby: translucent Moonlight Shrimp, Rainbow Fish slices as thin as cicada wings, and emerald-green Sea Lingzhi.
The immense cognitive dissonance crushed every Champion's nerves like the heaviest pressure in the deep sea.
Just as their brains were about to shut down at this absurd scene, figures silently slipped out from behind the coral homes.
They were Merpeople.
They wore light