## Chapter 600: This Was All Wade Grey's Design!
Natasha, the Durmstrang Champion, had just dodged a Dragon's attack and was leaning against a wall, catching her breath, when she suddenly heard a rustling sound in the maze tunnel.
She stood up alertly and saw a spider-like creature carrying a Golden Egg and moving quickly.
Natasha paused for a moment and swiftly cast an Impediment Jinx, but the Spell's light only grazed the Spider Magic Golem's body, hitting the stone wall beside it.
Just as she was about to give chase, she suddenly heard an angry roar: "Stop! Incendio!"
A fiery serpent swept past, the Spider Magic Golem exploded with a crackle, and the Golden Egg rolled away.
Immediately after, Abby from Salem burst out, her reddish-brown hair flying in the air. She rushed towards the Golden Egg without hesitation. Midway, her gaze met Natasha's, and she was startled, immediately redirecting her Wand.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
"Incarcerous!"
The two Spells collided in mid-air and bounced off each other.
At that very moment, a Mantis Magic Golem suddenly shot out from the vines, grabbed the Golden Egg that had rolled to the wall, and by the time Natasha noticed, it had already rushed into the other tunnel, holding the Golden Egg!
"Wait, leave the Golden Egg!"
The two, ignoring their previous confrontation, chased after it together.
The next second, Samuel and Hope from Salem Institute also rushed out of the tunnel. Natasha immediately stopped, stood against the wall, and politely watched as the others ran past her.
Three against one, the chances of winning were too low; it was better to give up early.
...
"Diffindo!"
The Mantis Magic Golem exploded from the middle, and the Golden Egg dropped once again. A Locust Magic Golem descended from the sky and landed directly on Abby's face. She screamed, didn't see the way, and slammed headfirst into the wall!
Hope ran over, grabbed the lower half of the locust, slammed it hard onto the ground, and then stomped the Magic Golem flat.
Abby was actually very afraid of insects. She was still shaken, patting her face and clothes. After Hope pulled her up, she saw that Samuel had already shattered another Ant Magic Golem that had tried to snatch the Golden Egg, and he had secured the Golden Egg.
"That was incredibly difficult," Samuel said, a gloomy expression appearing on his pale face. "That guy made us frantic with just a few Magic Golems. If we were to face him head-on..."
"He brought Magic Golems in!" Abby frowned. "Why didn't the judges count that as a violation?"
"Because his Magic Golems were probably made on the spot here," Hope said, squatting down and prodding the remains of the Locust Magic Golem. "Look, these are all materials that were already in the tunnel."
Abby had been a bit angry just now, but after seeing the messy withered leaves, vines, and branches, she fell silent.
A moment later, she said with both emotion and admiration, "His Alchemy... is truly amazing."
Hope nodded silently.
The three unconsciously didn't want to face Wade Grey. They walked together, wanting to return to the previous tunnel, in silence, their footsteps also silent and slow.
When they returned to the Golden Compass room, Abby and the others found several people already there, some who had just arrived, and Natasha, who had passed by earlier.
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the tunnel on the other side. Samuel quickly walked over and then also gaped.
A Spider Magic Golem had woven a web at the tunnel entrance using vines.
Of course, any of them could easily destroy such an obstacle without Magical Power. But what caught their attention were several Magic Golems perched on the web, extracting the fibers that made up their bodies to form a string of words—
Thank you for your enthusiastic cooperation.
All remaining Golden Eggs are with me.
—V.G.
In fact, even without the signature, everyone knew who had done it just by seeing the Magic Golems.
"Incendio!"
Ganesh from Mando used a Fire Charm, and an exceptionally hot and massive flame shot out, burning the Magic Golems on the spider web to ash.
He looked at the others and said loudly, "I don't believe he took all the Golden Eggs by himself. Who wants to go in with me to check?"
Everyone was silent for a moment. After a while, Natasha said in a low voice, "Ganesh, you arrived late, so you didn't see... Just now, a Magic Golem carrying several Golden Eggs slipped into that tunnel right under our noses."
She pointed to another tunnel.
Ganesh looked in that direction, then turned his head back, his brow twitching, and asked them incredulously, "Then what about you? You just watched the Magic Golem steal the Golden Eggs?"
He was confused, thinking, Was the Magic Golem that stole the Golden Eggs exceptionally powerful? These few here are so fragile!
"Mainly, it was disguised too well," Zahid from Akatim said, rubbing his nose awkwardly and defending himself in a low voice. "That Magic Golem looked entirely like a vine. If it hadn't accidentally dropped a Golden Egg at the end, we might not have discovered it even after it entered the tunnel."
Who would have thought? An insect disguised as a plant among a group of insects; other Magic Golems were as crude as beggars, no one would pick them up if they were thrown on the ground, but that vine was so realistic it was hard to distinguish even upon close inspection, especially since there were already many vines in the Chamber of Secrets and tunnels.
"Accidentally?" Ganesh rubbed his temples, saying with a headache, "Have you ever seen a Magic Golem that 'accidentally' does something? It must have deliberately revealed the Golden Egg to lure us in!"
Natasha sighed, "Then can't we just not go?"
Everyone was silent for a while. Ganesh still went in to explore, unconvinced. The others, not knowing what else to do, followed him in.
Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test (NEWT) Exams-level traps naturally couldn't stump this group of people. They went in smoothly and, as expected, found no Golden Eggs in any of the mechanisms that were supposed to hold them, so they had to retreat the way they came.
"We were designed," Samuel said quietly to Abby. "If we hadn't been lured out just now, we might have noticed the movement of the mechanisms being bypassed... at least we would have noticed that anomalous vine Magic Golem!"
Abby's face was grim, and she said nothing.
When everyone returned to the Chamber of Secrets, they found an extra person—Olga Ras from Koldovstoretz.
He looked irritated, but his words were rather mild: "It seems something unexpected happened here?"
He swept his gaze over them, asking about their expressions.
After understanding the situation, Olga was decisive: "Then let's go. Since the competition requires the Golden Egg, and only Wade Grey has it, we naturally have to find him."
As soon as he finished speaking, he didn't wait for anyone's reaction but was the first to walk into the passage where Wade was.
Everyone: "..."
Well... yes, we understand the reasoning, but couldn't we have discussed a strategy first?
They hesitated, and after a brief pause, they followed one after another.
The three from Salem Institute had remained mostly silent. They deliberately slowed down, naturally falling to the back of the queue.
Abby blocked the view of others, Samuel casually swung his arm, and the Golden Egg effortlessly slipped into Hope's outer robe pocket.
Even though the material wasn't pure gold, it was a substantial Golden Egg. Hope immediately felt its weight as it dropped into the pocket and looked at the two of them in surprise.
"Don't make a sound," Samuel whispered, his lips barely moving. "You take this Golden Egg and leave first."
Abby nodded slightly: "That's right. Hope, this isn't for me or you, but for the school's honor."
"Among the three of us, you have the best chance of winning. You can't just fall here at the first task," Samuel said softly. "While no one else is paying attention to us, go back quickly, okay?"
Hope touched the Golden Egg in his pocket and nodded vigorously, tears welling up uncontrollably.
"What are you crying about?" Abby chuckled. "It's not like we're saying a final goodbye."
...
The seemingly frail girl touched the Compass, and her figure vanished instantly. As for the others, they had already entered deep into the passage and were out of sight.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Cedric: "How are you feeling?"
At this moment, he was very glad he had gone back to rescue Cedric after getting the Golden Egg. Otherwise, he would have run head-on into that group of people, and not only would he have lost the Golden Egg, but he might have also become the target of their anger.
Cedric, his body limp and his legs like two empty sacks, gave a wry smile: "Still alive."
Harry glanced sympathetically at Cedric's legs, patted his shoulder, and said, "Don't worry, Madam Pomfrey can fix them in just one night."
"When did you learn such... such dangerous Magic?" Cedric asked curiously.
Just now, he had been trapped, and both of them were helpless against that Magic. Suddenly, Harry said he had thought of a way that would cause a little damage to the body and asked Cedric if he was willing to try it.
If he didn't get out soon, Cedric would definitely be eliminated. He naturally agreed, but he didn't expect Harry to use two Spells in a row that completely removed all the bones from his legs!
Without bones, Cedric was easily pulled out of the trap by Harry. But now, dragging two limp legs and relying on Harry's Levitation Charm just to "walk," he didn't know what else he could do.
"Wade taught it to me," Harry said, then paused, realizing it might be considered Dark Magic, and added, "Gilderoy Lockhart once used this Magic on me. Wade saw it and remembered it, then taught it to me later."
"That's terrifying," Cedric sighed. "I feel like these two legs aren't even mine anymore... You two, don't just learn any Spell!"
"We just thought it was interesting; we haven't used it on anyone else."
By the Compass, Harry put the Golden Egg from his Magic Golem into Cedric's hands.
Cedric refused: "This is the Golden Egg you got; I can't take it!"
"The people from Salem are right; we should ensure that the person with the better chance of winning passes this task first. Plus, I need to go check on Wade... see if I can help him out a bit."
Harry said earnestly, and with a wave of his Wand, the floating Cedric, despite his resistance, was helplessly sent onto the Compass, carrying that precious Golden Egg.
According to the rules, whether he himself was willing to admit it or not, he had already passed the task.
Watching Cedric's figure disappear from the Compass, Harry's thoughts drifted for a moment.
He seemed to see himself leaving with the Golden Egg, soon after raising the trophy, countless people cheering for him, and Qiu looking at him all the while, her eyes gleaming with an unprecedented brilliance, a sweet smile on her face;
Then the protagonist of the fantasy changed to Cedric, and the girl he liked stood beside that Hufflepuff, looking at him and saying, "Thank you, Harry, you've helped us so much..."
Harry couldn't help but regret his magnanimity, and then he got angry at himself, slapping his face hard on both sides.
The fantasy disappeared, and before him was still the dimly lit Chamber of Secrets, with many more traces of Spells than before.
Harry gripped his Wand and walked deeper into the passage.
...
"That was quite a struggle! The third Champion has successfully completed the task... Oh, it doesn't seem so smooth, healer! Healer! Quick, check Mr. Diggory's legs... Let's see what the other Champions are up to..."
Amidst Bagman's commentary, the Scottish Black Dragon was roaring and stomping furiously, vigorously striking the barrier that contained it with its tail.
Just now, he had seen another person appear at the entrance to the passage, but that person had suddenly vanished!
The Scottish Black Dragon had accumulated some experience; he knew that every time the entrance spat out a new Wizard, he would suffer.
These Wizards tried every trick to torment him, not to mention poking his eyes with Magic, cutting his belly, making him lose many scales, and some even almost blew his backside to smithereens!
The Scottish Black Dragon was going mad with rage. It furiously breathed fire at every inch of the ground, trying to burn that vanished Wizard to death, then flapped its wings to fly up a certain height, landed, and stomped hard!
If anyone had truly been on the ground, after being charred, they would have been stomped into black ash!
The agitated Black Dragon's one eye was still bleeding, so it didn't notice at all that a gerbil that looked very much like a mouse had just jumped onto its claw, climbed up its thigh, and then audaciously stood on the Black Dragon's back!
As the Black Dragon bounced, Jabari, the Uagadou student transformed into a gerbil, climbed up a bit further, firmly gripping the bone spikes on the Black Dragon's back with his claws, and peered into the distance.
He didn't hear the commentary, but in the stands, a Uagadou student suddenly held up a sign with three large "Go! Go! Go!" written on it in sparkling paint.
Only three contestants made it out? Jabari muttered to himself. It seems the competition in there is even more brutal than I imagined! Are the judges really prepared for this outcome?
Despite his thoughts, the expression in his black, beady eyes remained calm.
Taking advantage of the Dragon landing again, the Sand Rat slid down its tail and agilely scurried towards the Compass, its limbs rapidly shifting position, like a shadow rolling across the ground.
Soon, the Sand Rat leapt onto the Compass. It blinked, watching the last few contestants still trying to get past the Dragon, and the view before its eyes rapidly changed.
-----------
Machine Translation by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
Read ***+ original & fanfic translations in English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, or Русский
Or Translate for free at : https:// randomtranslator.com/translate
Join our Discord: https:// discord.com/invite/XXUR9nkjwa
-----------