The Hagrid's son

While Krum was warming up before diving into the water, in the stands...

"My parents are packing and will return to their own house this afternoon," said Tonks, sitting next to Barnaby, as she rested her head on his arm. "It's been months since the Quidditch World Cup, and things have calmed down, so we'll have the house to ourselves starting tomorrow."

"Are they sure?" Barnaby turned to look at her.

"Yes, don't worry," Tonks didn't want to tell him that after the Yule Ball night, her mother had spoken to her in secret when they returned from the Scamanders' house.

It was the most embarrassing conversation of her life!

In any case, her mother gave her some "life advice" and then later convinced her father to leave and give them some space. After all, Sanshi and Calcifer were around, but by now, they were family.

Barnaby thought for a moment and nodded. Although there were some shady types that had become restless in Knockturn Alley ever since he had taken Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters there one night, things had generally calmed down.

Krum dove into the water and put on a magnificent display of partial transformation as his head and neck morphed into those of a shark, solving the short-term need for air in one go.

Simultaneously with his entry, box number three opened and released the creature that would challenge him.

"A warm-water mermaid?" someone from the crowd exclaimed.

Tonks looked at the creature in the water and her eyes widened in surprise.

"That's not… Meroune, is it?"

"Yes," Barnaby nodded.

"The same Meroune Lorelei who stayed at our house for a week in a wheelchair?" When Barnaby nodded again, Tonks turned, shocked. "Wasn't she some kind of princess or something?"

"Don't look at me. I originally wanted to ask Suu to come in her place," Barnaby explained with a shrug. "I don't even know how she found out."

"And why did you let her come?" Though she had no idea who Suu was, Tonks didn't hear any reason to justify the switch.

"She paid me to take Suu's place."

"You're saying she bribed you?" Tonks gave him a strange look upon hearing that Meroune bought her participation in the task.

"No, a bribe would be if she did it secretly," Barnaby corrected wisely as he leaned over to whisper the amount he'd received in Tonks's ear.

Tonks was left speechless, and unconsciously, she tried to calculate how many Galleons they could get by selling that much gold in Gringotts...

"But why would she want to participate this badly?"

"She's obsessed with tragic romances," Barnaby explained. "She wants to see if she can live a story where the challenger falls in love with the creature he's up against, but they can't be together because they're from different worlds. Or something like that—she's a bit quirky in that sense."

"I didn't get that impression from her..." Tonks was left speechless by the revelation.

To her, Meroune had always seemed very warm and friendly, not to mention extremely polite, with what could only be described as a regal demeanor. Even someone as laid-back as Tonks had felt a little uncomfortable by her impeccable manners at first, though that feeling had quickly passed.

As they spoke, Krum and the others finally got a clear look at the creature that had fallen into the water and were momentarily stunned.

Meroune appeared to be a tall, attractive young woman, well-endowed, with blue eyes, fin-shaped ears, and long light pink hair divided into four curled sections at the ends: two in front of her shoulders and two on her back. As a mermaid, her fish tail was pink with pelvic fins, she had gills along her torso, and webbed hands.

Frankly, if you looked at Krum with his shark head and then at the elegant Meroune, just by their appearances, it seemed as though Krum would be the one hurting the mermaid like the wicked creature in a fairy tale.

The Durmstrang champion was alert and ready to react to whatever she did. Even if he wasn't specialized in marine magical creatures, it was common knowledge that mermaids were incredibly fast in the water.

Meroune swam nimbly around Krum a few times, observing him with curiosity, then disappointment.

Wasn't she supposed to face a human champion?

This guy looked like a fish-man, just like so many in her home that didn't spark any interest in her...

It seemed she wasn't destined to find a tragic love today, either!

Maybe she should join the species exchange program her mother had mentioned...

She turned her head to glance at her friend in the stands.

Well, it had been his idea in the first place, so she couldn't let Barnaby down...

Though she'd heard he'd just gotten engaged. Barnaby was quite handsome too, maybe…?

No! She had to focus—the clock was ticking, and her distraction would only give points to the champion she was up against. She could think about all this later; it had potential!

The spectators in the stands were confused when they saw the mermaid stop moving in the water, but the more observant ones noticed her mouth was open, and she seemed to be...

"Ah, a mermaid's song—and underwater!" Dumbledore pointed out. "It seems young Krum will have to go through an experience similar to Miss Delacour's in the first task."

While Maxime was pleased that another champion would have to endure this, Karkaroff frowned, inwardly a bit unsure.

He knew his champion. Krum had a strong mind, tempered at Durmstrang, and wouldn't be easily enthralled. But here the problem was that maintaining the partial shark transformation required part of his attention.

If his mind was divided and not focused on resisting, that certainty became very vague.

But focusing on resistance would cause the transformation to drop, and he'd soon face the problem of running out of air.

So unless Krum could block out the song, he'd either be captivated or pass out from lack of oxygen.

And the worst part was that only two minutes had passed!

Krum seemed to realize his difficult situation, but since he couldn't attack, his mind failed to come up with a solution before his gaze turned dazed, and he fell victim to the beautiful mermaid's voice.

The next thing he felt upon waking was the impact of a tail against his chest, which sent him flying out of the water sphere and into the Black Lake below, where the giant squid's tentacle picked him up and deposited him on the shore platform, where a temporary medical station had been set up.

"Viktor Krum is out, with two minutes and twelve seconds recorded!" came the announcement from the loudspeaker.

Meroune bowed, even though she knew the audience was isolated from her song as a safety measure. Before leaving, she turned around and blew a kiss to Barnaby.

Tonks looked at the mermaid with suspicion, feeling an odd sense of foreboding.

"Cedric Diggory, it's your turn to choose!"

Cedric raised his eyes and looked at the remaining boxes.

"I choose box number one!"

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