The Final Trial P6
"Wow… you guys really know how to have fun," Harry said with an amused smile while glancing around curiously.
"Harry," Draco said with some exhaustion. "What do you want? Did you come here just to annoy us?"
"Well…" Harry said slowly. "Maybe a little." Then he took another step toward them.
And the moment he did…
dozens of golden weapons buried beneath the ground instantly reacted.
Draco didn't even have to move his hands.
The gold simply responded by reflex to the presence of someone entering his territory.
Several spears shot out from below straight toward Harry.
But he didn't even look surprised.
"How rude," Harry muttered while slightly moving his hand, the attack getting deflected with ease.
Draco looked at his friend and rolled his eyes for a moment. "Stop trying to look for an excuse," he said, easily recognizing what he was doing.
"Right." Harry said with a smile while looking at Draco and then Luciel. "So, do you want me to beat both of you together, or should I wait for the winner and then beat whoever's left?" Harry said with a smile that practically said either option would be easy for him.
As always, his words could hit exactly where they needed to.
Draco's face, which had remained calm throughout the entire fight with Luciel, couldn't help but show annoyance and a bit of anger.
Luciel's smile almost cracked for a moment, showing those arrogant words from Harry had really hit both of them perfectly.
"Hey," Luciel said lightly toward Draco without taking his eyes off Harry, who was watching them with an arrogant smile. "How about a temporary truce?" Luciel asked while slightly moving his neck, making it crack softly.
"Normally not my style. But when he acts like this, it really makes me want to punch him," Draco said in a dry tone, even if he was talking about his best friend since childhood.
Meanwhile Harry kept that amused smile, even tilting his head slightly for a moment while watching them, like he was waiting for their answer.
But it already seemed pretty obvious from the exchange between the two of them.
…
Victor was possibly, among all the champions, the one who seemed to be advancing through the labyrinth the best, easily defeating both humanoid and beast golems in his path, without any enemy managing to truly slow him down or any trap stopping him.
Even when he could hear explosions in the distance that sounded like a truly massive battle, making the labyrinth walls shake from time to time, he didn't stop and kept moving forward. At most, the only thing that slowed him down for long enough was the sphinx he had just passed, which wouldn't allow him through unless he answered its riddle. He also used the chance to rest a little, since he hadn't stopped jogging since the trial began.
"Uf," Victor said while catching his breath after taking a short moment to rest while walking slowly.
Once again he stretched his body and prepared himself to start running again. Right as he crossed a corner, far away, at least a hundred meters ahead, he suddenly saw a bright light in the path.
At the end of the route he was taking, he could see a cup resting on top of a pedestal, making Victor's eyes shine for a moment.
"The cup," he said excitedly without even thinking twice. He instantly changed his mind and instead of jogging, started running with all his strength no matter how tired he was. Once he grabbed the cup, he would be the winner.
And with that, he would prove it to that she-demon.
Victor instantly shook his head the moment he thought about that. Why was she the first thing he thought of if she was the girl who caused him the most trouble? Ever since arriving at Hogwarts, she had turned his life into hell.
He quickly pushed every thought out of his head while his eyes stayed fixed on the cup.
But right when he was about to pass through a crossroads connected in the shape of a cross, he suddenly saw a flash coming from the corner straight toward him.
Thanks to his reflexes as a seeker, Victor quickly jumped to the side while rolling across the ground.
Meanwhile the flash that had appeared out of nowhere slammed into the hedge wall of the labyrinth, opening a hole for a moment into another corridor about the size of a bludger, showing just how powerful that spell had been. Although it quickly closed thanks to the magical healing of the labyrinth walls.
Victor quickly raised his gaze to see who the attacker was.
And from the shadows, a familiar figure approached him while staring at him intensely, with a truly cold look as he raised his wand and pointed it toward Victor.
"Kovac?" Victor asked after seeing his fellow Durmstrang student suddenly attack him.
"Sorry, Krum, but I can't let you reach the cup," Marton said in a cold tone while staring directly at Victor. "Imperio," Marton said instantly while lightly flicking his wand.
Victor's eyes widened the moment he heard that incantation.
…
Meanwhile, in the stands, everyone was watching the screens when suddenly Victor's screen went black, just like Marton's had after passing the sphinx, making his fans immediately cause a small uproar.
Unlike Marton, who it seemed nobody was paying too much attention to, Victor, who had continued advancing without struggling much and fairly calmly, still had a huge amount of people supporting him thanks to his fame. So losing his image so suddenly annoyed them quite a bit.
"What's happening?" Ludo instantly asked with annoyance while placing a hand over the microphone for a moment so his voice wouldn't go out, also clearly annoyed.
The workers, who seemed to be running all over the place, appeared to have no idea why another one of the screens was failing, shaking their heads in complete confusion.
"We're sorry. We have no idea," one of the nearby workers quickly said.
"Then get in there and fix it. Even if you have to run after the champions with giant cameras strapped to your backs," Ludo instantly roared in a genuinely irritated tone.
While people seemed upset, luckily for him the fight between Draco and Luciel still seemed to entertain most of them, giving them something to watch. And Fleur, who was advancing through the labyrinth at great speed after defeating Harry.
"Well, it seems we're having a small issue with our cameras. As you all know, this is new magical technology, so I hope you can understand," Ludo quickly said while calming the crowd smoothly. "Oh, but look," he suddenly said while pointing toward the screen showing Luciel and Draco's exciting battle. "What's this? It looks like someone else is joining that battle of titans," Ludo said while perfectly redirecting everyone's attention, controlling the audience with ease.
Though it was also lucky for him, because right at that moment Harry arrived to join the fun.
"What do you think will happen now?" Ludo said excitedly, encouraging everyone to get distracted while they fixed the problem with the other two screens.
And luckily for him, Luciel and Draco, who had been emotionally fighting each other before, suddenly seemed to stop their battle and turned toward Harry, even appearing to form an alliance to face him directly. And Harry himself looked genuinely entertained, which only made the crowd even more excited.
With that, the people complaining about suddenly losing Victor seemed to quiet down to watch what would happen next, making Ludo let out a slight sigh.
He looked toward the workers with a serious expression.
"Go," he told them like an order.
Which they instantly obeyed.
The moment they left, Ludo looked at Marton's black screen and then Victor's before allowing himself a small smile that nobody seemed to notice.
Or at least that's what he thought.
Because Sirius was staring directly at him from his seat, letting out a mocking little smirk for a moment. Then he turned toward Wanda, who was sitting not too far away beside Selene, Pandora, and Susan.
"Please step in before any champion gets seriously hurt. If nobody gets injured, just stay on standby," Sirius told her in a tone only they could hear.
Wanda gave him a dry look for a moment while nodding before staring directly toward the labyrinth.
As if she could easily see through everything.
But at the same time, she let out a slight smile, because there was no need for her to move just yet.
"Mm? What's that?!" shouted someone from the stands while pointing toward Fleur's screen, where after turning a corner she suddenly found Marton launching a furious attack on Victor.
And at that moment, Marton pronounced one of the three unforgivable curses in the entire magical world.
"Imperio!"
The spell was about to hit Victor head on, but Fleur, who came around the corner suddenly, moved her wand by reflex.
"Expelliarmus!" she shouted toward Marton.
Marton turned his head and quickly dodged, causing his spell to miss Victor.