Chapter 311
Chapter 311
Mid-February in Scotland was no longer as cold as winter, with only some snow remaining on distant mountains. The Forbidden Forest, mostly covered in evergreen trees, had already turned lush and green.
After landing at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Liam and his companion took cover behind a large rock to change their clothes. They then raised their wands and cautiously entered the forest.
The moment they stepped from the shallow shore of the lake into the tree cover, the gold coins in their hands began to buzz and vibrate, giving Liam a strange feeling as if he were receiving a text message on his phone from a past life. Raising the gold coins, they discovered that each displayed three points, along with the boundaries of the tournament area and the location of the exit.
"Let's combine the information and search the points one by one, starting from the nearest. We should find the hostage as quickly as possible and head back to the exit. We're the weakest team, so it's best to avoid conflicts with other participants as much as we can", Liam said after examining the gold coin. Harry nodded in agreement, as he was the one holding the team back. Liam's suggestion to minimize confrontations was something he wholeheartedly supported.
It took them about seven or eight minutes to reach a point where they could no longer see the lake shore, though they had only walked a few hundred meters. The forest had become increasingly dense, and various plants began to appear under the trees, creating a vibrant and lively environment.
These plants under the tall trees greatly impeded their progress, especially for Harry. He had always followed paths when visiting the Forbidden Forest and had no experience navigating a primeval forest. Fortunately, as a master of Nature Magic, Liam was well-adapted to this environment. With his guidance, Harry managed to keep up, albeit with some difficulty.
Half an hour later, when the gold coins buzzed again, Liam and Harry had already collected three gold coins and were on their way to the fourth point.
"It seems there are no more than five people in the Forbidden Forest now", Liam said, glancing at the gold coin that served as a detector and counting the number of coins displayed. "We should hurry. We have a one-sided advantage in the tournament, but I don't know how long it will last. We need to move as quickly as possible to avoid running into participants from other schools."
Fortunately, they saw a gold coin belonging to someone else on their way to the fourth point, which they promptly took. It belonged to another Durmstrang participant, Gustav.
At the fourth point, Liam and Harry finally found a hostage: Hermione, sitting quietly on a tree branch, looking up at the sky with a bored expression. Upon seeing Liam and Harry, she greeted them with a relaxed wave, "Good morning, Liam, Harry. It's been a few days since I last saw you. How have you been?"
"Pretty good, actually. We can even order what we want to eat. I once had some very authentic traditional Chinese cold noodles and roujiamo", Liam said, pressing his gold coin on the golden circle at the base of the tree. The circle quickly disappeared.
Seeing the circle vanish, Hermione immediately jumped down from the branch, about four meters high. Harry hadn't even had time to call out in alarm before she landed gracefully.
"Wow, that's cool!" Harry exclaimed admiringly.
"Thanks", Hermione said, raising an eyebrow and turning to Liam. "The circle was too small and the ground was too dirty, so I decided to sit in the tree. It's cleaner and I can see farther from up here."
On the way to the next checkpoint, Liam finally figured out what was going on today: Hermione and the others had been called to Professor Dumbledore's office early in the morning and were informed that they were to be Hostages. From there, a few Headmasters led them into the Forbidden Forest.
In the Forbidden Forest, every time they reached a predetermined point, the Hostages were placed inside circles drawn by the three Headmasters. These circles were imbued with Magic, and Hermione tried to leave but found herself unable to do so. She had no choice but to stay inside and wait for Liam and the others to rescue her.
Harry, who had just managed to free his foot from a tree pit filled with leaves, looked at Liam and Hermione, who moved through the forest with the agility of elves, with a hint of envy. After finding Hermione, the team's progress sped up significantly. Whenever they encountered difficult terrain, Harry was often pulled through by Liam and Hermione, saving a lot of time that would have been wasted on detours. This assistance became especially beneficial after Harry's stamina had greatly diminished after more than half an hour of navigating the forest.
For Wizards, Magic can indeed help with travel, but using it still requires good physical fitness or other prerequisites.
For example, without sufficient practice, the Lightning Charm can only make one fall repeatedly, and in the chaotic environment of the Forbidden Forest, it's easy to collide with obstacles. Apparition is impossible if one doesn't know the appearance of the destination. Moreover, some temporary Magic that enhances physical strength works by overexerting the body, which is only useful for a final sprint.
Harry naturally felt that he was the one holding the team back in the Forbidden Forest. He was puzzled by how these two friends, who spent their days in the Library, could move faster in the forest than he, a professional athlete. The fact that Hermione, a girl, had better stamina than him was particularly hard for him to accept. However, the reality was clear, and his pride pushed him to grit his teeth and keep up to avoid further embarrassment.
"Wait, I think we might have to fight someone", Liam suddenly called out after the three of them climbed a two-story-high stone wall. On the Gold Coin in his hand, a point belonging to another team, which was close to their fifth checkpoint, suddenly disappeared.
"You mean someone might ambush us?" Harry quickly understood why Liam had stopped them.
"If this person can see the positions on other Gold Coins, I think it's very likely", Liam nodded. "And given how long we've been on the move, I suspect other teams' Gold Coins now show our position."
"What should we do?" "We should—" After a brief discussion, Liam and the others changed their formation and cautiously made their way to the next checkpoint.
At the next checkpoint, there was another Hostage. In a clearing in the forest, Ginny was sitting against a rock, hugging her legs. Harry rushed over to her as soon as he saw her, while Hermione waited at the edge of the forest.
But when Ginny saw him, she suddenly opened her eyes wide and shouted something at Harry. Because of the distance, Harry could only see that she looked agitated and was pointing to the other side of the clearing.
"There's an ambush—" Harry finally realized it and rolled on the ground, narrowly avoiding a red beam of Magic that shot past him.
He raised his wand, aiming at the source of the attack, but only saw the bushes rustle slightly. The attacker had already moved to a different location.
(End of Chapter)
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