Chapter 162: Inside the Labyrinth
The Quidditch field was unrecognizable, surrounded by hedges a full twenty feet high, black notches like a big staring eye, silently watching several warriors, and tension in the air.
"We'll patrol outside the maze, and if you get stuck and want to be rescued, we'll shoot red sparks into the sky, and we'll have someone to help you, do you understand?"
Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Hagrid, and Moody stood in front of the Warriors, each wearing a hat embellished with a glittering red star on their heads, confirming their identity as members of the third Project Patrol.
The four warriors nodded silently, Ludo? Bagman looked pleasant, and he took off his hat and greeted the four patrol members:
"Alright, you guys go."
The four of them dispersed and walked in different directions, spreading around the labyrinth, while Bagman put his wand to his throat and still used a loud spell, his magically amplified voice echoed through the stands, and the noisy and lively stands fell silent.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the final event of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin!" There was a burst of cheers, and he paused for a moment, as if waiting for the cheers to pass, before he continued:
"Let's take a look at the current score! Wickdore? Krum - 90 points, 1st place temporarily, Durmstrang School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! β
Applause and cheers rang out, the Durmstrang students in the stands were eager to slap their hands to pieces, Karkaroff looked proud, and Daphne mixed in with the students, but her face was a little solemn, and she applauded perfunctorily.
"Cedric? Diggory and Harry Potter - 85 points, tied for second, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! β
The cheers in the stands were loud, after all, it was Hogwarts' home stadium, and they were only five points away from the first place, and it was not without a chance to touch the Triple-finals.
"Fleur? Delacour, 3rd Place, Beauxbatons College! β
If there is no miracle, she seems to be going to pass by the top three cups this year, but the teachers and students who watched still gave her applause, whether it is the courage to confess or insist on competing, it is worth encouraging.
Ning An stood there, looking at the entrance of the labyrinth, it was pitch black, he didn't hear Bagman say anything, just thinking about things by himself, all the noise and noise around him seemed to have nothing to do with him, he seemed to have entered a very calm state, only a few people knew that this would not be a cheerful night.
Tonight, there is a demon who is not controlled by man, and he is about to be released from the cage, and the key to the cage is in his own hands, should he really be released?
Think of Dumbledore's fears, think of the fears of wizards, think of his inability to even be mentioned by name, think of so much, do thisβis it really good?
Is there any other option?
Ning An took a deep breath and suddenly came to his senses, all the voices and images came back, he heard Ludo? Bagman was shouting his name
"Krum? Krum? You're going to be the first to enter the maze! A shrill whistle echoed across the field, and the cheers and screams from the stands reached their maximum.
Ning An turned his neck, and Pani stood next to him, of course it looked like Cedric? Diggory looked anxious as if urging him, and Harry and Fleur looked puzzled, as if they didn't understand why Krum hadn't left.
In front of him, Bagman was slowly pulling the whistle out of his mouth, as if to continue telling him something.
Everything seemed to play in slow motion, but the sound was still clear.
Ning An clenched his fists, his heart that was suddenly beating violently just now calmed down again, he turned around, facing the tall and dense hedge, the black gap in the middle, and slowly walked slowly, as if he was walking a sacred road, not in a hurry at all, seeing that he began to leave, the second half of Bagman's words were stuck in his throat.
Since the first place is not in a hurry, others have no choice.
He finally disappeared at the entrance to the labyrinth, and Bagman looked at the watch on his wrist and counted in silence...... 7γ6γ5
"Now it's ...... Toot-"
There was another short, shrill whistle, and Cedric and Harry spread their legs and rushed into the labyrinth at a much faster speed than Krum.
Harry ran forward with all his strength, as if a 100-meter athlete who had been preparing for a long time, and when he heard the starting gun, he didn't care about anything else, but only ran into the maze, and the high hedges cast a dark shadow on the path, until he rushed into the maze for about a few dozen meters, and then stopped.
The labyrinth seemed to be enchanted, and when he walked inside, he couldn't hear any noise from the audience, as if he was back under the water of the second project.
"Fluorescent flickering." He lit the dark path with his wand, then looked back at Cedric, whose instincts told him that something seemed wrong, and he lit his wand too, but instead of looking at Harry, he probed his head as if he was looking for something.
"You...... Which way to go? Harry tried to ask, but oddly, Cedric looked back at him.
What a cold glance it was, cold, ruthless, as if there was a hint of ridicule, not at all like the Cedric he knew, Harry jumped back and subconsciously raised his wand to his chest, he was a little confused about the current situation, he had never been in the Final Three, he didn't know what happened to Cedric, was it because of the third project? Are they going to fight here?
But this worry quickly disappeared, and Cedric walked along the path to the right of the maze for a while, and disappeared into the depths of the maze without looking back, without giving any explanation for the glance he had just taken.
Harry watched the light on his wand disappear around the corner of the labyrinth, and he felt his heart beat so fast that he didn't know if it was because he had run too hard before, or because of Cedric.
There was an indescribable weirdness about this labyrinth, and unlike the previous two projects, he hated it, as if someone was watching him secretly, making him feel terrible.
The whistle sounded again, and Fleur was about to come in.
"Phew-" Harry gasped, "get out of here......"
He hurried along the path to the left, following the opposite path to Cedric, and the glowing wand was held high by him so that he could see farther away, but in the end it was pitch black, and nothing could be seen.
Harry walked around the labyrinth, and with the Guiding Charm he felt like he was getting closer to the Triwizard, and there were no surprises along the way, except for a little trouble caused him by Hagrid's fried tail snail and a strange golden mist.
The fantasy before becoming a warrior frequently comes to mind: what will Qiu Zhang's gaze look like when he lifts the top three cup in front of the whole school and teachers and students? Will she admire him? He was the warrior who defeated Cedric.
"What are you going to do!?"
Harry stopped abruptly, and he heard a voice coming from the road around the bend in front of him, it was a girl's voice, it was Fleur.
He bent his waist and ran forward with small steps, and at a right-hand turn that led to the northwest, he stopped, leaned against the thick hedge, and looked against the thick hedge, and under the dark shadow, three figures stood in the other three warriors.
What are they doing here? Harry was a little weird.
"Do it......"
This is Krum talking, he looks familiar with Cedric, what does that mean?
Harry watched as Krum took a step back, Cedric slowly raised his wand, he couldn't see Cedric's expression clearly, but Harry remembered the cold look in his eyes before, Cedric.
Fleur had nothing in her hand, her wand seemed to have been knocked off, she was defenseless, and her voice was full of panic and disappointment.
"How can you do that? Krum, are you crazy? β
"It's nothing ......"
They're attacking her, Krum and Cedric, why? Why did they come together?
Harry felt that his mind was full of greetings, he couldn't understand the situation at all, and at this time, a rustling sound that was amplified dozens of times attracted his attention, and he turned his head to look at the other side of the passage, there was a huge thing that was rushing towards them quickly from the other side, obviously this also attracted the attention of Krum and the others.
Cedric dropped his wand aimed at Fleur.
Harry had seen the huge black shadow clearly, it was a huge eight-legged spider, and the body of Ebony Do/Mao passed in front of Harry like a small mountain, and it ignored Harry hiding around the corner and headed straight for the other three.
"Out of body!"
Harry? Potter felt his heart suffocate for a moment, as if it was being clenched by a pair of powerful big hands, clenched tightly, so that the blood in his body was about to coagulate, and he saw Victor? Krum aimed his wand at the giant eight-legged spider and then used a Lifestealer charm.
The spider immediately stopped moving, meekly like an obedient puppy, lying in place, the moon peeking half of its face out of the thick clouds, and Harry could barely see Fleur's expression through the moonlight.
As if she couldn't believe what was happening in front of her, she covered her mouth tightly with her hands, and her body swayed for a moment, as if she might fall backwards at any moment, and she barely stood up with her right leg supporting, her face as white as the misty silver hair behind her head.
"You...... Victor ...... You...... How can it be ......"
She pointed at Krum, her throat as if choked by someone, *****, speechless, her eyes wide with horror, and she couldn't even retreat, she was already clinging to the hedge wall behind her.
"This thing can help us clear some obstacles."
Krum seemed to be unconcerned about the fact that he had just used the Unforgivable Charm, and he spoke to Cedric beside him as usual, and Cedric echoed and nodded silently.
"What about her?"
Cedric lunged at the still trembling Fleur Nunu, and Harry felt like he was about to run out of breath, his wand holding his hand soaked in sweat.
Krum was silent, the moonlight faded again, and Harry could only see the dark shadow standing behind Cedric, and after a few moments, he slowly walked towards Fleur, wand in his hand as if he was going to cast a spell on her himself.
Harry could hear his heart thumping, thumping, thumping.
Krum walked up to Fleur, and he saw Fleur trembling violently, like a sieve, Victor's finger seemed to be on Fleur's lips, and Harry could clearly hear his deep voice drifting in the wind, and the wand in his other hand was slowly raised
"I'm sorry, but I'm not Krum, maybe you'll know who I am later, like I said, what's going on underwater, let's forget about it, don't worry, I won't hurt you, Fleur, just let you sleep......"
Harry didn't have time to ponder what he meant by "not Krum", he felt like he was about to run out of breath, and the image in his mind kept replaying images of Moody pointing his wand at the spider in the bottle, and after a flash of green light, the spider rolled over and died, motionless.
Then the spider's face turned into Fleur in the blink of an eye, Moody turned back into Krum, and then into Cedric, and Harry's ears gradually lost hearing nothing but the sound of his own heavy, suppressed breathing, and he stared at Krum and Fleur, and saw that his wand was raised higher and higherβ
Can't wait, he can't watch Krum kill Fleur, Harry somehow, a sudden surge of power in his body, cold hands and feet regained their instincts, he jumped up and rushed out of the corner
"Except for your weapons!"
Harry who burst out of nowhere? Potter, to everyone's surprise, the red light went straight for the wand in Krum's hand, and the strong wand made of hornbeam wood flew straight out, and Harry felt as if he had used all his strength.
He saw Cedric raise his wand at him without hesitation, and before he could even pronounce the first note of the second incantation, a red light that was almost identical to the one he had just shot flashed in front of him, and the blinding light made Harry subconsciously close his eyes.
Then I felt like something was being hammered on my chest, and my body flew backwards uncontrollably, and more importantly, the wand in my hand came out far away and landed in a dark place out of nowhere.
"Harry? Porter? β
It was Krum's voice, opening his blurred eyes, Harry saw that he didn't even look down to pick up his wand, but Shi Shiran drew another one, how could he have two wands?
"Fluorescent flickering."
This time it was Krum who lit up the surroundings, Harry could finally see clearly, Fleur was behind him, looking at himself with wide eyes, shaking his head, and then Cedric, who was still silently pointing his wand at Harry, who had just been able to disarm the Charm.
"Harry? Porter? β
Krum said again, he had walked in front of him, and Harry recalled the days when he and Moody learned to resist the Imperius Curse, Moody's shout echoing in his ears, "Always be vigilant!" β
He forced himself to brace himself, wondering if the next move, Krum would suddenly give him a Imperius Curse or a Heart-Piercing Charm or something.
"I'm still wondering how to find you, Harry."
Krum crouched down, like a friend he hadn't seen in a long time, and patted Harry on the shoulder.
"Now that we've found it, let's hurry up and finish this troublesome game."