Seeing Harry and Cedric disappear on the spot through the Portkey, the sharp laughter in the forest immediately became hearty.
"Haha, Delores, these students are all very obedient; they leave immediately when they hear the command, without any hesitation."
A tall Wizard walked out of the woods and came to Delores's side: "The group of students just now did a good job; none of the traps in the basement were triggered."
"They also found all the Dark Arts items, and in how much time?"
There was no longer any trace of seriousness on Delores's face; he said with a smile to his partner: "Just one hour, very efficient, they are all good prospects."
"Tsk tsk tsk—, that's really impressive. By the way, which group of students is this?"
"The sixth group, and also the last group. No more students will come, so put away all these props."
"To be honest, I'd really like to see these kids' reactions next, but unfortunately, I'm destined to be a busybody and can only play a small supporting role here. Aren't you curious, Delores?"
"Not curious. Do our part, stop fooling around, and clean up quickly."
...
On the other side, Harry and Cedric's hearts were pounding.
Something went wrong!
The Portkey was fake, and the two of them didn't know where they had been taken.
Was this a trap?
It seems that the Auror just now...
"Harry, don't think so much. Let's use this Portkey to go back to the forest first."
Saying that, Cedric grabbed Harry and quickly reached for the old teacup.
To their dismay, no matter how they touched it, the two of them remained in place, and the old teacup in front of them showed no reaction.
"It's broken, the Portkey was swapped. This is a one-time Portkey." Cedric's expression was grave, "The old teacup before had a chip, it's not the same as this old teacup."
"That Auror definitely has a problem," Harry carefully surveyed his surroundings, "Do you remember those letters we found just now?"
"I suspect there's crucial evidence in those letters."
Letters?
Hearing this, Cedric also remembered.
They had indeed found several letters just now, but before they had a chance to read them, they were attacked by a Dark Wizard.
Cedric thought back carefully and realized that when they took the letters out to the open space outside the door, the Auror named Delores's expression changed.
At the time, he didn't think much of it, but now, recalling it, there were suspicious points everywhere.
"You're right, Harry, we had just taken the letters out when we were attacked."
"Perhaps, that wasn't an attack, just an act, otherwise why would the other party just watch us use the Portkey without any intention of stopping us?"
"No wonder the Dark Wizard escaped," Harry said through gritted teeth, "So they were all in on it. With an Auror giving them a heads-up, they could escape however they wanted."
"Those letters must be the evidence of their communication."
Clap—clap—clap—
Accompanied by a round of applause, a Wizard shrouded in a black robe with a mask on his face walked out.
"Exquisite deduction, I can't help but applaud you."
"That Portkey was just a safety measure, I didn't expect it to be used on you two little fellows."
"No choice, who told you to discover something you shouldn't have."
"Who are you?!" Cedric and Harry were startled, and quickly raised their wands, pointing them at the newcomer.
What's going on?
Neither of them had noticed that a Wizard had been hiding nearby the whole time.
Harry's expression was a little grim.
If the other party had ambushed them just now...
Perhaps, the other party was very confident in his own strength and didn't need to ambush them at all.
"Show your true face!" Cedric sternly demanded.
"Hahahaha, true face?" The black-robed man laughed maniacally, "What's the use of seeing my true face, you won't remember anything anyway."
Saying that, he suddenly raised his wand and cast a red glowing spell at Cedric.
The light of a Shield Charm flashed, blocking the incoming spell.
"Tsk, Shield Charm, the little fellow is quite cautious."
"However, this isn't enough. If I had used the Killing Curse just now, your life would have ended here."
Seeing that the newcomer dared to attack, Cedric and Harry were both shocked and angry, and quickly raised their wands to counterattack.
"Little ones, don't resist. I won't kill you, I'll just modify your memories of today, making you forget some things."
"My memory spell is very good, much stronger than my Auror partner's, guaranteed to make you unaware of any problems."
Harry and Cedric made no response, only quickened the speed of their wand movements.
Spells rained down like a storm, unleashing upon the black-robed man.
However, the other party's strength was unexpectedly high, and Harry and the other could not cause him any trouble no matter how hard they tried.
"The strength of this Stupefy is good, but the wand movement is a bit too large, otherwise it really could have caused me a little trouble."
"Expelliarmus is also good, fast and accurate, but the connection to the next spell is a bit slow."
"Faster, even faster, this can't give me any pressure at all, hahaha."
Listening to the black-robed man's taunts, Harry's heart was in a desperate hurry.
The difference in strength was too great; they had to think of something.
Taking advantage of Cedric's attack, Harry casually pulled out a Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder and threw it heavily on the ground.
In an instant, thick black smoke rose, enveloping all three of them.
Harry acted quickly; the moment the smoke rose, he took out the hand of glory and lit a candle.
"Cedric, it's me, don't be nervous." Harry grabbed Cedric, and immediately both of them could see everything in the smoke.
"We must find a way to leave here," Harry whispered, "Do you know Apparition?"
"No," Cedric shook his head, saying in a hushed voice, "That's a spell only older students can learn."
"Why don't we ambush him while he can't see us, and see if we can knock him down."
"You ambush first, and buy me some time," Harry said quickly, "I'll use the two-way mirror now to contact Professor Swan and ask him to rescue us."
Just then, the black-robed man's voice rang out.
"Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder isn't all-powerful; dealing with it only requires a large-scale Transfiguration."
Suddenly, the weeds in the mist began to grow wildly, turning into ropes, and before Harry and Cedric could react, they were both bound.
Gradually, the black mist dissipated, and the black-robed man swaggered up to the two of them, and under their angry gazes, he gently removed the mask from his face.
Harry and Cedric's eyes narrowed, and they both became stunned.
What's going on?
The black-robed man was Professor Swan!