The traps at the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests level were naturally not a challenge for this group of people. They went in smoothly and unsurprisingly found that none of the mechanisms preserving the Golden Egg contained an egg, forcing them to retreat the way they came.
"We were set up," whispered Samuel to Abby. "If we hadn't been lured out just now, we might have noticed signs of someone trying to break the mechanism... or at least the unusual behavior of that Vine Puppet!"
Abby stayed silent with a serious expression.
When everyone returned to the Chamber of Secret, they found someone else had joined them—Olga Las from the Kodostorians.
His expression was furious, but his words remained somewhat calm: "It seems like something unexpected happened here?"
He turned his gaze and looked at the expressions of everyone, asking.
After understanding the situation, Olga also acted decisively: "Let's go then. Since the competition requires the Golden Egg and only Vid Gray has the egg, we naturally need to find him."
As soon as he finished speaking, without caring about the others' reactions, he proceeded first into the passage where Vid was.
Everyone else: "..."
Although... despite understanding the reasoning, can't we discuss the strategy a bit?
They hesitated, paused for a moment, and then gradually followed along.
The three from Salem Academy remained mostly silent, deliberately lagging behind, naturally falling to the back of the group.
Abby blocked the view of others, and Samuel casually flicked his arm, causing the Golden Egg to lightly fall into Hope's outer robe pocket.
Even though it's not made of pure gold, it's still a weighty Golden Egg. As soon as it landed in the pocket, Hope immediately felt it, looking at the two in surprise.
"Don't make a sound," Samuel mouthed silently. "Take this egg and leave first."
Abby nodded slightly: "That's right, Hope. This isn't for me or you, but for the honor of our school."
"Among the three of us, you have the best chance of winning the championship. We can't let you fall at the first challenge," Samuel said softly. "While everyone's not paying attention, quickly go back, understand?"
Hope touched the Golden Egg in his pocket, nodded forcefully, tears involuntarily streaming down his face.
"Why are you crying?" Abby chuckled lightly, "It's not like we're parting forever."
...
The seemingly frail girl touched the Compass, her figure instantly disappearing. As for the others, they had already delved deep into the passage, out of sight.
Harry exhaled, turning to Cedric: "How are you feeling?"
At this moment, he was thankful for having grabbed the Golden Egg and then going to rescue Cedric; otherwise, he would have faced that group directly, not only failing to keep the egg but possibly also bearing their wrath.
Cedric, utterly exhausted, dragged his legs like a pair of bags, forcing a bitter smile: "Still alive."
Harry sympathetically glanced at Cedric's legs, patting his shoulder: "Don't worry, Madam Pomfrey can fix it in just one night."
"When did you learn such... such dangerous magic?" Cedric asked curiously.
Just then he was trapped, and both were helpless against the magic. Suddenly, Harry said he thought of a method, it would cause some physical damage, asking if Cedric was willing to try.
To escape without getting eliminated, Cedric naturally agreed, not expecting Harry to cast two spells that removed all the bones in his legs!
Without bones, Cedric was easily pulled out of the trap by Harry. But now, with legs so floppy they needed Harry's Levioso spell to "walk," he wondered what he could do.
"Vid taught me," Harry said, then paused, realizing it might be considered Dark Magic, and added: "Professor Gilderoy Lockhart once used this spell on me, Vid saw and remembered, then taught me."
"That's terrifying," Cedric sighed. "I feel like these legs aren't mine anymore... seriously, you two shouldn't learn every spell out there!"
"We just found it interesting and haven't used it on anyone else."
Near the Compass, Harry placed the Golden Egg that the Poppet had given him into Cedric's hands.
Cedric refused: "This is your Golden Egg, I can't take it!"
"Salem's people are right, the one with the better chance of winning should pass this challenge first. Besides, I have to go see Vid's side... to see if I can lend a hand."
Harry spoke earnestly, with a wave of his Magic Wand. Despite Cedric's resistance, he was helplessly sent onto the Compass, carrying the precious Golden Egg.
Per the rules, whether he admits it or not, he has already cleared this round.
Seeing Cedric's figure disappear from the Compass, Harry felt momentarily lost in thought.
He seemed to see himself leaving with the Golden Egg, lifting the trophy shortly after, with countless people cheering for him, Autumn watching him with eyes shining with unprecedented brilliance, smiling sweetly;
Then the imaginary protagonist transformed into Cedric, with Autumn, the girl he likes, standing next to the Hufflepuff, saying, "Thank you, Harry, you helped us a lot..."
Harry couldn't help regretting his magnanimity, feeling angry at himself, and slapped his face hard from both sides.
The fantasy vanished, and the dimly lit Chamber of Secret remained, with more traces of magic around than before.
Harry grasped his Magic Wand, walking towards the depths of the passage.
...
"It's not easy! The third Champion has successfully passed the competition... oh, it seems not too smoothly, Healer! Healer! Quickly check Mr. Digory's legs... let's take a look at what else the Champions are busy with..."
In Bagman's commentary, the Hebridean Black was roaring furiously, stomping angrily, pounding its tail against the barrier trapping it.
Earlier, it saw another person appear at the entrance of the passage, but that person suddenly disappeared!
The Hebridean Black had gathered some experience, knowing each time a new Wizard emerged from the entrance, it suffered.
These Wizards came up with endless ways to torment it, not only injuring its eyes with Magic, slicing open its belly, removing many scales but also nearly blasting its behind to pieces!
The Hebridean Black was on the brink of madness, spewing fire over every inch of land, trying to burn that vanished Wizard alive, then flapping its wings to gain height, landing harshly, stomping fiercely!
If someone had been on the ground, they would have been scorched to charcoal, and then stamped into black ash!
The irate dragon's eye was still bleeding, so it completely failed to notice a rodent-like jerboa had jumped onto its claw, climbing along its thigh, daringly standing on the Black Dragon's back!
As the dragon bounced, transformed jerboa Jabari climbed even higher, gripping the dragon's backbone spike tightly, gazing afar.
He hadn't heard the commentary, but from the stands, a Uagadou student suddenly raised a sign, painted with glowing colors, writing three big words: "Go for it!"
"Only three participants successfully came out?" Jabari wondered in his heart: "It seems the competition inside is more brutal than I thought. Are the judges really ready for such a result?"
Though he spoke thus, his black bean-like eyes remained calm.
As the dragon landed again, Jabari swiftly slid down, like a shadow rolling on the ground.
Swiftly, the rodent reached the Compass, looking at the last few still attempting to pass the Fire Dragon. He blinked, and the view ahead rapidly shifted.