...Supporting is pointless.
Looking at the two Explosive Snails not far away, which were turning their heads (or perhaps their rear?), and staring at him with "innocent" black beady eyes, Harry couldn't help but twitch his mouth. He suddenly wanted to take back what he had felt earlier this morning about overcoming obstacles and difficulties…
Can someone tell him, what kind of a maniac would raise two Explosive Snails?
And what kind of a maniac would think to put these two creatures together to block the path?
"Achoo—"
Sitting in the audience, William suddenly sneezed loudly, then politely refused the cold potion Hermione offered, "So, what do you have in that bag of yours?" He curiously glanced at the small leather bag in Hermione's hand, increasingly feeling it was like a bottomless pouch. When he gave it to the girl, how did he not remember it having such a large space?
"Oh, not much, just…"
Before the girl could finish her sentence, Kabuda sprang out of Hermione's little bag, riding on Crookshanks. The cat and the Niffler landed on William's leg, meowing and chirping towards the familiar… dog sitting on William's other side.
"Has it gotten fatter?"
Sirius picked Crookshanks up onto his lap and rubbed the cat's belly, which had grown at least two sizes since last year, smiling at the gingerbread face.
William rubbed his still itchy nose and glanced sideways at Sirius and Hermione, who had started chattering and arguing over how much weight Crookshanks had gained. His gaze returned to the brightly lit entrance of the maze below, where the atmosphere was distinctly different.
The lights from the Strong Light Spell and Lumos around the maze entrance made the area as bright as day, like a mini rock stage.
But standing on the stage was no guitarist or keyboardist; ten minutes ago, Cedric, Harry, Fleur, and Daniel were tensely waiting there. The champions would enter the maze from different entry points based on their scores in previous tasks.
Cedric squinted, adjusting to the suddenly bright lights around him.
He looked at the maze made up of hedges nearby, but the boy seemed to suddenly sense something and instinctively turned back to look—
He saw his parents sitting in the front row of the audience, loudly cheering him on. Yet, for some reason, at that moment a wave of fear engulfed him; it was as if he felt his predetermined fate waiting to arrive. The unknown source of terror surged like a tide, and the boy's fingers started to involuntarily curl slightly—
But the next moment, the noisy world seemed to move away from him, and Cedric suddenly heard a familiar voice whispering in his ear.
"Stay calm."
And so, the fear vanished.
After the voice faded, Professor McGonagall's voice, amplified by a sonorous charm, clearly rang in his ears again, "…Champions, remember, the paths of the maze are ever-changing, and judgment and calmness are your weapons. The Golden Cup is the prime goal, but life and honor are equally to be valued. Now, swear by your magic wands, fair competition, to your utmost abilities."
"Swear by the magic wand!" The voices of the four champions mingled together.
Ludo Bagman, still in his Wimbourne Wasps robe, was as excited as a child about to open the biggest present. He took the microphone from Professor McGonagall, an overly enthusiastic smile on his face, "Brilliant! Friends! The time to witness history has come! Hogwarts' glory stands here to fight! Let us—begin—"
He gave a dramatic wave of his magic wand, and the gates of the four entrances roared open in response, revealing the deep, dark, vine-entangled passages behind, as if the maw of a giant beast.
Simultaneously, four suspended screens in the sky slowly began to rotate, each screen corresponding to a champion.
"Champions! Remember your order! Mr. Po… Potter and Mr. Diggory first! Ms. Delacour, Mr. Stephens to follow! Three-minute intervals! Good luck to you all!" Bagman's voice cracked slightly with excitement.
Taking a deep breath, Harry and Cedric exchanged a glance. The former gave the latter an encouraging smile, and then the two turned in unison, resolutely charging into the nearly unknown darkness of the maze, where the twisted hedges quickly swallowed their silhouettes, leaving only the explosive cheers of the audience.
"It's started! It's started!"
Ron, seated behind William, stamped his feet in excitement, and Neville nervously clutched the back of the chair in front of him. Hermione seemed eager to continue discussing Crookshanks' weight, but now she too was caught up in the tension of the competition, her eyes fixed on the direction the champions had disappeared.
Indeed, it had begun.
William stopped tapping his wrist, his eyes beginning to grow vacant.
...
The massive hedges closed behind Cedric, instantly isolating him from the noise and light. The next moment, cold air, reeking of earth and decaying plants, enveloped the boy; he instinctively gripped his magic wand, and the light from "Lumos" barely dispelled the surrounding darkness for a few steps.
Here he was, all alone, with the cheering above becoming distant, as if it was from another world. Until now, he was still reflecting on the inexplicable surge of emotions he felt moments ago on the stage, wondering why he suddenly felt that unexplained fear, even more than when he faced Helbo…
No, now is not the time to think about such things.
Thus, Cedric forced himself to concentrate, his ears attentive to any unusual sounds around him.
The silence itself carried a kind of pressure, an unsettling feeling. Just as Cedric was about to choose the slightly wider path on the left—
The scene before him suddenly twisted eerily...
Before it finished twisting, the tip of Cedric's wand steadily shot out a cold white light. The precise Impediment Jinx pushed aside the Poisonous Tentacles that almost climbed up behind him. The dark green plants unhappily sprayed a heap of hallucinogenic pollen, but Cedric anticipated and blocked it.
Next, there was a Boggart transformed into William (in combat mode). Fortunately, its charm wasn't terrifyingly effective. Otherwise, Cedric thought he might not get past this stage... After that, he smoothly resolved quite a few troubles. Despite taking quite some time, luckily—
Those damned Explosive Snails didn't appear on this path from start to finish.
I wonder which lucky person ended up with such a "good thing"... Wait, could it be Harry?
While silently mourning for the other champions for a moment in his heart, Cedric arrived at a T-junction, "Point Me."
The wand pinned in Cedric's palm spun, pointing to the dense hedge on his right. That's north, and from the previous sketch, Cedric knew to reach the maze center, he had to continue northeast. The best way was to take the right path and then turn right quickly.
But... something didn't feel right in the air?
A deeper, fouler coldness replaced the initial dampness.
The boy instinctively held his breath and looked around.
The light from his wand appeared to be engulfed by an invisible medium, becoming stagnant as its illuminating range shrank.
At this point, the ground was no longer simply damp and soft soil but was a kind of strange, dark, oily slick... unknown material. He crouched, pinched some slippery, cold earth, and brought his fingertips close to smell it. The iron and cellar musty scent hit his nose.
Cedric stood up and continued walking into the depths. After turning two more corners, gray-white mist appeared out of nowhere—then, an indistinct shape leaning on the root of a hedge came into Cedric's sight. He squinted to discern—
It's a person!
...Grass?!
Cedric instantly lowered his center of gravity, his wand like a snake locking onto that direction, a white orb of light flying out immediately—
"...Daniel?"
Seeing the American Wizard lying unconscious and unknown at the hedge, Cedric instinctively wanted to step forward, but the next moment, reason overcame physical instincts, entering combat mode almost instantly. His gaze quickly and meticulously swept all places that could hide an assailant.
But apparently, he found nothing—
Then, after confirming the danger had passed, Cedric decided to send this guy out first to avoid him being chewed by passing Explosive Snails as a snack—he tugged the fireworks strapped to Daniel's waist, a piece of which was also tied on his own. Pulling this would attract the referee to come...
So, where was the referee?
Cedric waited in place for a full two and a half minutes without seeing any figure, venting his frustration with the new referee's unreliability from Gryffindor, Weasley, Cedric finally looked up at the sky where a camera was supposed to be following and recording the scene, then he raised his head—
Looking at the empty sky.
"?"
The evening glow burned like a flame, forming a big "?"
Wasn't it? What trouble was this again?
For some reason, Cedric didn't feel any unexpected emotions. After all, the camera going missing was just something that happened countless times in previous events, even Cedric had grown somewhat accustomed to it—
Only, it made him a bit of a headache, what should he do with this American guy?
"...Ah, here you are."
Suddenly, a somewhat unfamiliar voice came from behind. Cedric instinctively turned his head, seeing a red-haired boy smiling at him; another figure was dangling from his hand. From the silver hair hanging down, Cedric guessed it was Fleur.
"Weasley... Referee."
Cedric nodded, "I saw this guy. He seems to be... uh, so now there are only Harry and me left in this maze?" Cedric asked, implying that the Hogwarts had almost secured the Goblet of Fire?
"...Almost."
Percy nodded then raised his wand. A swiftly cast Iron Armor Spell blocked Cedric's sudden attack. He twisted his neck, "…attacking the referee? Cedric, this kind of behavior will get you disqualified."
"What the hell are you talking? The camera's gone, you pretend—"
Cedric spat on the ground and said gruffly, "Don't you think you're good at acting? Worse than a Niffler..."