Chapter 231: Unscrupulous Reporter

This time, before the interview, Harry held the booklet in his hands from the start, filling him with confidence and ease.

A blonde woman cut ahead of Rita Skeeter and asked in accented English, "Mr. Potter, would you please explain how you parted the river?"

Harry had already prepared his answer: "It's the Earthly Gang Summoning Scroll, a lengthy but powerful Celestial Empire incantation."

"Could you explain this incantation to us?" the reporter asked.

Harry paused, then said succinctly: "It's an incantation that alters terrain; to reduce magical drain, the chanting time was extended."

"This incantation requires fifteen minutes to prepare—such an astonishing length. How did you memorize it?" The female reporter seemed unusually fascinated by the river-parting spell. Harry tiptoed to look—Rita, unable to secure a spot, had switched tactics and gone to interview Hermione.

"Alright, let me roughly translate it for you—it describes my method of parting the sea. The incantation goes like this," Harry improvised freely, "Behold this deity with a human head and serpent body, this miraculous creature without arms, its whole body covered in fish scales, and these Muggles who, having majored in civil engineering, now toil like beasts. Don't be alarmed—these strange things exist to realize my vision. My vision seems odd too, but don't rush to wake up. Use your eyes, ears, arms, and limbs to help me make it happen, so it doesn't look so strange…"

"That's certainly strange," the reporter interrupted, then awkwardly smoothed her hair. "May I ask why you chose this incantation to part the river instead of simply diving in yourself?"

Harry felt each of her questions struck right at the key point he had to explain—why he'd delayed departure by fifteen minutes—and it made him deeply uneasy.

"This was the result of our advisory team's discussion," Harry said. "We believed that although it takes longer, it's the safest method—guaranteeing flawless completion of the task."

"So you believe fighting the grindylows is risky—that you might lose to them?" the reporter pressed.

Harry suddenly felt angry. No wonder foreign reporters loved picking on him. He snapped, "Of course I'm confident I can defeat the grindylows. What I feared was being ambushed by other champions after diving in—that's the real concern."

"We noticed you used invisibility after parting the river to avoid conflict with other champions. Was that because you feared losing in combat?" the reporter threw out another question.

Harry glanced at the booklet, then replied with full assurance: "I believe combat is unnecessary and discouraged. The judges deducted points from Renata for initiating the attack first—clear proof that avoiding conflict aligns with the tournament's spirit."

"But your avoidance of combat still cost you points. What do you make of that?"

"I don't consider that a valid reason for deduction," Harry glanced again at the booklet. "The organizers were worried giving us full marks would embarrass the other champions, so they made up an excuse to dock a few points."

"Have you considered that if Renata had immediately opened the chest underwater instead of attacking others, your preparation time would have left you behind?" the reporter continued.

Harry glanced at the suggested answer in the booklet, his brow twitching.

"But the fact is, we came in first," he said firmly. "What, you're not satisfied?"

After dismissing this annoying reporter, Harry had planned to speak with Rita. But perhaps she was confident enough to fabricate a speech out of thin air—or perhaps the last interview had left a shadow—she interviewed Hermione and walked off without looking back.

After the interview ended, Harry returned to the train and let out a long breath. But before he could relax, another thought struck him.

"I need to find Donna. Beauxbatons seems to have some undercurrents," Harry said. "Crum told me he saw Professor Harkness secretly brewing Polyjuice Potion."

"Oh, that's nothing surprising," Zhang Qiu said. "He sometimes uses Polyjuice Potion to become others—or gives it to his bedmates to turn them into himself, to add some spice."

Harry was stunned. He stammered, "But how do you know this?"

"Donna told me. In fact, we've done quite a few things together," Zhang Qiu stuck out her tongue. "If you think of her as Beauxbatons' Harry, everything becomes much easier."

"You're not pulling another divination stunt, are you?" Harry's tension eased as he realized this—no dark conspiracy, just a Zhang Qiu driven mad by divination.

"Pretty much," Zhang Qiu said. "You get caught sneaking around one night by Snape, but Moody saves you—then Moody takes your Marauder's Map."

"That… I'm already here. That could never happen."

"So we use the universal assignment method," Zhang Qiu grinned smugly. "I assigned Donna as Harry Potter, little Barty became Snape, and Jack, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who helped her, became Moody. Then, with a little guidance, the divination naturally came true."

"But where did the Marauder's Map come from?" Harry felt lost.

"I made it for her—the Beauxbatons Marauder's Map," Zhang Qiu shrugged. "Right before the first task. After all, I saw you make the Torchwood map—it's easy to learn, isn't it?"

"How many other misdeeds have you two done together?" Harry shook his head. "No need to ask—the Black Mark at the Quidditch World Cup was you, wasn't it? And Crum saw it from afar."

"Not me—Cassandra," Zhang Qiu replied calmly, dodging.

"Alright, then none of this is worth worrying about," Harry sighed. "The important thing is, Crum told me a prophecy: On the final day, at the Place of Bones, speak that name—and the war, long over, resumes."

"That's nothing," Zhang Qiu said dismissively. "Who knows which war or which name it means? The prophecy might not even relate to the Triwizard Tournament."

"That's true…" Harry felt the tension in his mind slowly unwind. "Before June 24th, I can take a rest."

The day after Harry said "take a rest," the Daily Prophet made his eyes go black.

Beneath a vibrant photo of Hermione beaming brightly, a terrifying headline read:

"The Enchanting English Lady: Champions Fall Head Over Heels for Her."

While celebrating Harry Potter and Cedric's double victory, we must not forget a girl who played a decisive role—according to Rita Skeeter's report.

Among the team sent to France for the Triwizard Tournament, alongside the finest student, Cedric, and the most unpredictable genius, Harry, was another Hogwarts student who should never have competed—Hermione Granger, a Muggle-born fluent in English, French, and German.

Miss Granger is a strikingly beautiful girl who knows how to use her looks. After becoming Alina Castellane's personal advisor, the white-haired girl from Ilvermorny quickly showed her assistant an unusual level of trust. According to repeated reports from the Planet Daily, nearly everyone believed she and Alina had developed genuine affection. Yet at the most critical moment, she abruptly withdrew, forcing Alina to transfer her feelings to Fleur, who refused to reciprocate. This not only left Alina heartbroken and underperforming, but also froze their relationship.

But Miss Granger's charm affected more than just Beauxbatons' champion.

"Crum has been distracted," said Sean Temple, a regular Beauxbatons student and a fan of Viktor Krum. "Ever since he asked Hermione to be his dance partner and was turned down, he's been off his game—I can tell."

At Beauxbatons' end-of-term ball, Viktor Krum, long smitten with Miss Granger, got into a furious argument with his teammate and girlfriend, Renata Yevgenyevna Chichilina. Their hidden tensions were visible to everyone at the ball; their mutual hostility and refusal to cooperate directly reflected in their competition scores.

Meanwhile, Miss Granger cleverly hid behind Professor Donald Fontroy, a former Auror, now an honorary alumnus of Ilvermorny, who once taught Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts and retired unscathed—his social standing and magical ability beyond reproach. He offered her behavior tolerant silence.

Professor Fontroy commented on Miss Granger's actions: "Undoubtedly, Hermione is loyal to Hogwarts. But she told us nothing—she acted alone, using a series of seemingly unrelated, even meaningless actions to secretly aid Harry and Cedric. No one guessed her intentions. Every move was part of a plan. I call such meticulous, solitary planners 'Wall-Builders'—only the most exceptional can achieve this."

We hold Miss Granger's assistance to Hogwarts in the highest regard, but such behavior is not something others should emulate.

Harry set down the paper, bewildered. He even checked—the paper's header clearly read "Daily Prophet," not "The Quibbler."