HP: Wormwood and Lightning Wood

Harry felt his head was spinning, and he forced himself to look Draco straight in the eye.

"I like you, Draco."

At the same time, Cedric emerged from the water carrying Cho Po, and a huge cheer erupted from the crowd, completely drowning out Harry's voice.

Harry stared at Draco's smile and knew that Draco had heard the confession.

He mustered his courage and said, "So, you..."

"Hey bro, are you alright?!" Ron lunged at Harry, knocking him off balance. Harry took a deep breath, too embarrassed to ask again, and muttered to Ron, "Do I look like I'm hurt?"

Draco chuckled and returned to Pansy and Blaise's side.

At that moment, Krum also led Hermione out of the Black Lake. Ron squinted, a strange displeasure in his eyes. "I was wondering why Hermione hadn't been seen all morning..."

He forcefully squeezed between Krum and Hermione, and put the towel he had gotten from Madam Pomfrey over Hermione's head.

"Gabrielle!" Fleur, kneeling on the platform, let out a soft sob and took her sister from the mermaid's hands.

Hermione went to Harry's side. "Harry, great job! I heard from Ron that you came in first!"

Ron stood to the side with a sullen face, looking unhappy, his eyes glancing at Hermione every now and then.

Dumbledore and several referees, including West, exchanged a few words before handing the result to Ludo Bagman.

Ludo Bagman stepped onto the stands and shouted in a booming voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, our judges have made their decision! We have decided to score each of you warriors based on a 50-point scale as follows!"

"While Fleur Delacour demonstrated excellent application of the Bubble Head Charm, she failed to rescue the hostages. We give her 25 points!"

"Viktor Krum used a Transfiguration Charm and was the third to return with the hostages. We give him 40 points!"

"Cedric Diggory made an excellent use of the Bubble Head Charm, arriving second with the hostages. Unfortunately, he exceeded the one-hour time limit by one minute, so we give him 45 points!"

The students of Hogwarts, especially Hufflepuff, cheered enthusiastically. Cedric and Cho embraced, their smiles radiant.

"Finally! Harry Potter, our youngest warrior, achieved an amazing result with the gill sac grass! And returned within the time limit, winning first place! We give him 50 points!"

The Hogwarts students cheered again, their voices deafening.

This time, Karkaroff didn't dare to cause Harry any trouble. During the discussion, he kept feeling Somerset's subtle gaze sweep over his skin like a cold snake's tongue, and that elusive scrutiny sent chills down his spine.

This feeling of being constantly on edge made him afraid to even breathe.

The second match was over. Harry thought groggily, but something else was still going on. He kept staring at Draco in the stands, who was talking to Pansy and only turned his head when clapping; their eyes always brushed past each other quickly.

"Harry!" Ron yelled in Harry's ear, "Did you hear me?! Krum dared to invite Hermione to visit him during the holidays! Merlin's suspenders!"

Hermione's cheeks flushed red, half from embarrassment and half from anger. "Enough! Ron, what's it to you?!"

"This is my business! This is Harry's business! You can't hang out with Harry's rival! That's betrayal!" Ron roared.

Hermione stared at him, dumbfounded. "Are you crazy? Ron, are you satisfied with me being with Neville?!"

Navi, who was passing by: ? ? ? what?

Neville suddenly stammered, "Hermione, don't be impulsive... Of course, it's not that I'm unwilling..."

Ron glared at him. "That's enough, Neville!"

Hermione, unable to bear it any longer, covered her ears and left the scene, with Ron hurriedly chasing after her.

Harry hadn't come to his senses since then, but Neville patted him on the shoulder, and he turned around abruptly.

Neville asked, "Harry, I think you're alright?"

Harry nodded absentmindedly. "I'm fine."

"Just something on your mind?" West appeared beside the two. Neville was a little intimidated by this unfamiliar judge, so he greeted him and then quietly slipped away.

Harry gave a wry smile, then suddenly remembered something: "Oh, right, I have something to tell you."

At this moment, Dumbledore, West, Snape, and Harry were sitting in the headmaster's office, and Harry's dream made everyone present fall into deep thought.

"So, you dreamt that you turned into a snake?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes," Harry said somewhat anxiously, taking a sip of his black tea as a cover-up, his head jolted by the sweetness.

Snape observed Dumbledore's expression and, noticing his unusual mood, asked, "What do you know, Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore rubbed his temples. "It's a long story. I have a hunch that Voldemort might have turned Nagini into a Horcrux..."

"Nagini?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"The snake's name," Dumbledore paused, seemingly reluctant to elaborate, "was Bertha Jorkins murdered this summer. I suspect it might have been Voldemort's doing. He used it to split his soul again, transferring a piece of it into Nagini."

“He did kill Jorkins,” West explained. “Jorkins was kidnapped by the Lestranges while on vacation. I found out that Jorkins had worked for Crouch—she might have known the Crouch family’s secrets and had been given an amnesia spell by old Crouch—which would explain why she was so forgetful at work.”

Snape said with a grim face, "So this is why Crouch came to Hogwarts, is that it? Voldemort broke Jorgins' Forgetfulness Curse, learned the date of the Triwizard Tournament, and thought it was a good opportunity."

"That seems to be the case," Dumbledore nodded. "As one of the Horcruxes, Harry sensed Nagini's presence at a certain moment."

Snape's expression was grave, his voice low and hoarse. "I always thought he had all six Horcruxes ready long ago. Hmph... who could have predicted that the sixth Horcrux would only be completed this year?"

"At least we now have information about his last Horcrux," West made a throat-slitting gesture, "Or should I sneak into Crouch's old house right now and..."

Snape, Dumbledore: ...

"I'm afraid that won't work; you impulsive and arrogant brat."

A flippant and irritating voice rang out as Grindelwald entered through the door. "Voldemort has moved his base. He's no longer at Crouch's house."

Dumbledore: "No, we can't kill him now. His connection with his body isn't strong right now, so abandoning it and escaping wouldn't be difficult for him."

"Do we really have to wait for him to come back to life?" West frowned.

Dumbledore tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, making a rhythmic sound. "For now, it seems there's no other way. We must be patient and wait for his soul to return to its place..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly fell into deep thought. "However, something strange has happened recently...maybe I'm overthinking it."

The conversation abruptly ended, and seeing this, West changed the subject: "In that case, shouldn't we prioritize dealing with Harry's problem?"

Grindelwald scoffed, "Trying to extract remnant souls from a living person? You're underestimating the extent of their entanglement."

West twirled his wand. "Mr. Grindelwald, the boundaries of magic are far wider than we imagine. Perhaps we can try some uncharted paths."