Chapter 696: What, the Match Is Over Before I Even Start?
Chapter 696: What, the Match Is Over Before I Even Start?
Boom~
As the two of them sprinted, the Blast-Ended Skrewt trailing behind them intermittently spewed massive flames from its tail, rapidly closing the distance at an unimaginable speed. The ground had been trembling slightly, a result of the Skrewt's approach.
Ahead of them, what had been a clear path was suddenly obstructed by several Giant Spiders, their menacing front limbs waving in a threatening display. Harry knew this was a prelude to an attack.
"Petrificus~ (Petrificus Totalus)"
"Reducto~ (Sectumsempra)"
...
Harry cast spells one after another, petrifying one Giant Spider and blasting its head apart. However, in that brief moment, another Giant Spider leaped down from the side of the hedge, lunging at him.
By the time Harry realized the danger, eight gleaming black eyes and sharp mandibles were already right in front of him. It was then that he understood these spiders had been crawling over from the towering hedges.
It was too late to react. The foul smell emanating from the mandibles nearly overwhelmed Harry, almost making him faint.
Fortunately, Ivan cast a spell in time, blasting the Giant Spider away and using a Blasting Curse to clear the path of the other spiders.
Harry finally let out a sigh of relief, but his heart remained on edge. He turned his head and saw that the Blast-Ended Skrewt, propelled by its flames, was getting dangerously close.
"Ivan, what do we do now?" Harry asked anxiously, feeling that his legs alone wouldn't be enough to outrun these monsters.
"Relax, dealing with them isn't difficult!" Ivan reassured him.
When they reached the end of a passage, Ivan stopped running and instead pointed his wand at the approaching Blast-Ended Skrewts.
A powerful magical fluctuation radiated from his wand, and under the influence of the Transfiguration Spell, thick vines began to extend from the hedges, forming a dense web that crisscrossed the area.
The leading Blast-Ended Skrewts couldn't stop in time and crashed into the web, their terrifying impact breaking some of the sturdy vines.
However, the web was so dense and thick that it was like a quagmire. Vines continued to emerge from the sides, entwining and binding the cumbersome Skrewts tightly.
Harry ran for a while longer, only stopping when he heard no more commotion behind him. Turning around, he was astonished to see the entire passage sealed off by a dense network of vines, with the Skrewts struggling futilely inside.
"If you could handle them, why did we run in the first place?" Harry asked, puzzled.
Ivan didn't answer immediately but pointed upwards to the hedge.
Following Ivan's gesture, Harry looked up and saw several Giant Spiders crawling over from the other side of the hedge.
"See? There are too many of them! We'd never finish fighting them all..." Ivan explained, casting spells to knock the spiders down one by one.
Harry nodded, finally understanding. The key to winning was to get the Cup back, and it was unnecessary to waste time battling these creatures.
The two of them continued to sprint through the maze, surrounded by towering hedges and occasional attacks from monsters. If it weren't for Ivan's clear memory of the path they had blasted earlier, they might have gotten lost.
About half a minute later, Ivan and Harry rounded the final bend, and the exit of the Maze finally came into view.
To Ivan’s surprise, Beauxbatons’ Champion, Fleur Delacour, was standing right by the exit, as if she had just entered the Maze...
When she saw Ivan running toward her with the Cup, Fleur was completely stunned.
“Hi, Fleur!” Seeing that Fleur had no intention of attacking, Ivan waved at her kindly and then ran past her without stopping.
Fleur remained frozen in place, her face full of shock, even as Ivan disappeared from sight.
Was the competition over already?
But she had just entered...
...
“Master Ludo Bagman, it’s not time yet?”
At the same time, outside the Maze on the competition grounds, Krum anxiously asked Ludo Bagman, who was standing beside him.
Almost seven minutes had passed since Ivan had set out. Although Krum, as a Champion, couldn’t see the images in the Crystal Ball, he could guess from the reactions of the crowd that Ivan had likely already retrieved the Cup. Yet, he was still stuck waiting here.
“Soon… soon… just a bit longer!” Ludo Bagman, whose eyes were fixed on the Crystal Ball, dismissed Krum’s question with a vague response.
Krum could only stand there helplessly, continuing to wait anxiously.
About ten seconds later, Ludo Bagman suddenly became excited. Just as Krum thought he was about to announce the official start of the competition, Ivan emerged from the Maze, holding a gleaming golden Cup high in the air.
“Fantastic! I declare the victory belongs to Hogwarts’ Champion—Ivan Hals!” Ludo Bagman shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice amplified by the Sonorus charm and echoing across the entire arena.
In fact, before Ludo Bagman spoke, Dumbledore had already begun clapping, and the young wizards in the stands were cheering enthusiastically.
The Crystal Ball, hovering in mid-air, had accurately recorded everything that happened in the Maze, including Ivan’s successful retrieval of the Cup.
Krum was completely stunned, standing there in disbelief.
He hadn’t even started, and the competition was already over?
After Ivan emerged from the Maze, Harry quickly followed, and then came Fleur, looking dejected.
However, when Fleur saw Krum still standing by the Maze, clearly confused, a slight smile appeared on her face. She realized she wasn’t the most unlucky one.
“Excellent, all the Champions are out…” Ludo Bagman turned to Krum with a smile, patted him on the shoulder, and said earnestly, “Let’s go, Krum. The referees will rank the Champions based on their performance in the Third Task…”
Although the champion had already been decided, the other Champions still needed to be ranked.
“But… Master Ludo Bagman, I haven’t even entered yet…” Krum hurriedly protested.
“Well, it looks like you’ll be at the bottom this time, Krum!” Ludo Bagman sighed, his tone tinged with a hint of schadenfreude.
(End of Chapter)
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