abcnovels
Chapter 481
Chapter 481
Harry felt his blood boil as he listened, and he resisted the urge to applaud, looking at Felix without blinking.
“Ahem,” Bagman sounded less comfortable, “well said, Felix, may I use your words at the end of the game? Just kidding, honestly, you might as well give them a hug …”
“That’s right, Professor!” Roger Davies chimed in, “We need a hug more than anything.”
Harry thought Roger’s words made sense and Hermione’s eyes sparkled brightly, but Felix hesitated and smiled, shaking his head, “Better wait until the game is over.”
He walked out of the tent, the smile on his face quickly narrowed, “The Professor’s weird pre-game speech, and the refusal to hug – done. Next, just wait quietly and try to have as little contact with them as possible … is that all?”
He paused where he was, as if waiting for someone to respond, then after a short while he turned to leave.
He returned to the grandstand, a cheerful, restless atmosphere laced through the air, and at one of the entrances to the maze tower, several Aurors who had been hand-picked walked individually into the pitch-black entrance.
The sounds outside became almost instantly inaudible as Felix strolled through the maze, quietly contemplating, Full Physical Assimilation of Rune, can he really do that? Should be possible, just need a little nudge … after all, he has successfully Mastered the first level seven magic.
In the fifth level of the maze, a wandering sphinx, whose body resembled a large and menacing lion: huge paws, a long yellow tail, and a tuft of fur at its tip, along with a woman’s head, spotted Felix.
The Sphinx blocked his path and said in a hoarse voice, “You are very close to the entrance of the next level-”
Felix glanced at it with a flash of silver in his eyes, as the Sphinx froze in place, and Felix brushed past her.
“What exactly is Physical Assimilation of Rune … supposed to do?” He paced away.
…
“Ladies and gentlemen, the final event of the Tournament of Champions is about to begin! Let me announce the current score! While the staff can arrange the first team of champions in their respective positions … Hogwarts, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger are in first place with a total of 128 points, which will earn them a huge advantage as each team is given a five-minute gap… …”
“Five minutes.” Harry’s heart burst with joy, staring at the pitch-black entrance, which means he has a full half-hour lead over last place! This advantage is too big, with a short sharp whistle, Harry rushed into the maze entrance.
He knew that, at the same time, Hermione and Ron will also enter the maze.
Everything around him is terribly quiet and dark. The tall bushes nearly met with a dozen feet high ceiling, casting a large black shadow. Every so often, a candle with an ethereal blue flame would dangle from the ceiling, its light is so faint that Harry could only see a very small area nearby.
“Lumos.” He waved his wand, and the surrounding area immediately brightened, Harry’s heart rose with a feeling of unease, so he carefully lowered the brightness. A few dozen meters along the passage, he encountered the first fork in the road.
“Point Me.” He rested his wand flat in the palm of his hand and whispered to it. The wand rotated and pointed to the right, which is the direction of north, “Very well.” He ran quickly, his head kept swaying from side to side.
The first level of the maze should be the easiest … this is the conclusion of their discussion, at least they will not encounter serious danger. Harry recalled the strategy decided before – that is, finding the second level as soon as he can.
It is a race to the death!
Another fork in the road, Harry this time chose the left one, as he saw a dark shadow flashing on the right, without thinking twice, he turned and fled.
Do not dwell on it, the first five minutes are quite important.
…
“The first team has gone in, let’s see – oh? They’re using a different strategy,” Bagman couldn’t help but stare, “Amazing, Granger’s using Disillusionment Charm very well, for her age!”
Draco grunted disdainfully from the stand, hugging his shoulders and staring at the huge screen.
“… Weasley walked steadily, he stopped, did he find the trap … false alarm, probably the wind, the first level did not have too many traps arranged in order to let the champions adapt to the environment inside, the real danger is going to — ouch!” Bagman ducked his head to avoid a small stone.
Professor McGonagall angrily swung her fist at him, and a chorus of boos rang out from the stands.
“Ah! Sorry, unintentional mistake, I was not supposed to reveal that, as there are champions here who have not entered the maze yet – ahem, let’s focus our attention on the youngest champion, oh look!” Bagman quickly changed the subject, “He’s running through the maze, did he guess something?”
The restless crowd immediately quieted down and stared at the screen, Harry barely hesitated, confirming his direction with a four-point spell at every intersection and then moving quickly, “Look, Harry’s come across a Firetrail Snail!” Seamus yelled.
Ludo Bagman also found this, he stood up excitedly.
” Would Potter will avoid it? No, he doesn’t, he chooses to fight, the Silent Disarming Charm! Oh crap, the spell bounced off… and a brilliant Gouging Spell, the Firetrail Snail is temporarily stuck, the next move should solve it – oh, Potter doesn’t continue the attack, he chooses to leave, the Firetrail Snail jumps out of the pit, but it lost Potter!”
Bagman was excited, “The game almost reached five minutes point! Potter is close to the entrance to the next level, his two teammates are far behind him, and the other teams haven’t entered yet … Does he want to be a seeker in the maze now? First to claim the trophy? That’s not necessarily wise, his teammates can’t keep up with him …”
The crowd murmured, they could all see Harry racing to the finish line, but they didn’t know what he is up to.
“He wants to be the first to get the trophy, it fits his character, doesn’t it?” Draco said, “Still so fond of the limelight.”
“But the trophy is on the seventh level, the further you go, the harder it would get for sure, he’ll suffer a big loss.” Daphne looked at the screen in confusion.
…
“Phew … phew …” Harry breathed heavily, his chest felt like it is about to explode, but it was all worth it, he showed a wide smile and walked towards the vine-woven steps, where an entrance is hidden in the ceiling.
He braced himself to walk up the steps, his feet felt light, like he stepped on soft marshmallows, and he couldn’t muster the strength to climb halfway up the stairs and almost rolled down.
But he finally stood at the top, his head pressed up against the ceiling, and he could make out the distance of about a foot between the bushes and the ceiling. Harry grinned, his palms reached out, and a rune flickered and took shape at his fingertips, coalescing into a milky white ball of light.
Outside the maze tower, everyone stared at the scene with wide eyes.
The ball of light floated away slowly, Harry sat on the steps, stared at the ball of light for two seconds, and whispered, “Explode.” The ball of light quickly swelled up, and an endless flash of light shone –
Milky white light spread through the maze, the bushes suddenly shimmered in the shimmering light, and the effect of the illumination spell quickly diminished, but it was enough, in a different location on the first level, Hermione and Ron looked up at the same time, staring in the direction of the ball of light exploded, and immediately after that their surrounding lit up, stretching everywhere.
“Well done, mate!” Ron clenched his fist and roared out excitedly. He ran quickly, the maze is as bright as day at the moment, but he had noticed that the light is rapidly fading, but that is just enough for him to reach the end.
Outside the maze silence reigned, from the judges’ stand to the spectators, there was no trace of sound.
“This is cheating!” Karkaroff shouted in exasperation.
“Karkaroff, they didn’t break any rules,” Bagman retorted out of habit, “This magic is not in the prohibited category, and it’s not lethal, even if … well, it does have a great range …”
He froze for a couple of seconds before realizing what had happened, and the implications of doing so.
“Oh my god! Unbelievable! Pott-Potter actually found a way … his two teammates are rapidly moving closer, faster than the speed Harry had previously travelled, and they’re chasing the light!” Bagman’s emotion uplifted, and he excitedly unbuttoned his collar, “Although I hate to admit it, but the game has lost half of its suspense … the remaining half depends on the other teams, they have to hurry up.”
Collins, Cedric, and Roger each stood in front of the entrance with bewildered expressions, what had Harry and the gang done to get such a comment from the judges? All the champions realized at the same time that Harry’s team had gained a huge advantage, and they had to catch up.
Another short whistle sounded and the second team of champions entered the maze. They coincidentally adopted a more aggressive approach.
…
Harry sat on the vine steps and applied two healing spells on himself, the soreness in his legs significantly reduced and his chest didn’t sound like it would explode soon. He counted silently, as he got close to 100, a footstep was heard and Hermione appeared from around the corner, she walked up to Harry, smoothed her hair, and said with a soft smile, “Harry, you did well.”
After another ten seconds or so, Ron came rushing out of another fork in the path, he looked a bit of a mess, his clothes covered in mud.
“Ran too fast and ran into a big hole, I don’t know who made it … they really lack virtue.” He said half-truthfully while reaching out and pulling Harry up from the steps, he looked at the entrance overhead with wonder still on his face, “We’re about to reach the second level here? Too bad it works only once.”
“Yeah, let’s go.” Harry said.
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