Ten minutes earlier, Anduin had escaped with both the Uagadou and Hogwarts trophies, covering his retreat under the protection of his teammates.
The Uagadou captain Vanessa and a fourth-year teammate Ravi chased after him. The remaining four clashed with Gurila's group of three, but with Omar present, Gurila and the others were already mentally prepared to be eliminated.
Anduin hadn't run more than a few hundred meters before Vanessa caught up.
The two Uagadou students attacked without hesitation.
"Protego!"
Anduin clutched the Uagadou trophy in his left hand, tucked the Hogwarts trophy under his arm, and desperately defended with his wand.
Vanessa and Ravi pressed forward relentlessly.
Their wands never stopped moving.
Victory was right in front of them—anyone would fight fiercely in that moment.
Anduin ran while blocking their attacks, but against a seventh-year and a fourth-year, he simply couldn't hold out.
Within two minutes, he was struck and knocked unconscious.
"We've got the trophy," Ravi said.
"What about the Hogwarts one?"
"Take it far away," Vanessa replied.
"We'll return to the entrance with our trophy."
Vanessa understood that carrying another team's trophy could cause trouble if they ran into its rightful owners. It would be safer to dump it far away.
Even if the other team had tracking magic, they'd have to waste a lot of time retrieving it.
Ravi nodded and picked up the Hogwarts trophy, preparing to leave.
At that moment, two figures appeared in the distance.
When they saw the trophy in Ravi's hands, their eyes lit up.
"We found it—our trophy!" Theo whispered excitedly.
"Not so fast," Percy said.
"Look at Vanessa. She's holding the Uagadou trophy, isn't she?"
Theo nodded.
"With that strange shape? It can't belong to anyone else."
"And Anduin is already down," Percy continued.
"That means it's two versus two now."
"If we win here, the championship will belong to Hogwarts."
Determination burned in Percy's eyes.
"Vanessa is stronger than me," Theo said quietly as he pulled out his wand.
"This fight depends on you. Beat the one beside him and come help me immediately."
Vanessa had already displayed her incredible skill during the second single-duel round before Christmas.
Her flashy duel with Matthew had stunned the Hogwarts students with its complexity and precision.
"Charlie and Sean won their fight," Percy said firmly.
"So we can win ours."
Charlie and Sean had been the perfect Gryffindor–Slytherin combination.
Now Percy and Theo represented another alliance between two houses.
The two rushed forward like the wind.
The battle between the four was evenly matched.
Theo struggled to keep up with Vanessa, but he managed to hold his ground—buying Percy time.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Stupefy!"
Percy seized an opening and finally knocked Ravi unconscious.
Theo breathed a sigh of relief.
Percy didn't even have time to pick up the Hogwarts trophy.
He immediately rushed to support Theo.
But Gurila's team hadn't delayed Uagadou long.
Soon all three of them were lying unconscious.
The remaining four Uagadou members were already rushing toward Vanessa.
Seeing the reinforcements arrive, Percy realized they had no chance.
He fired a yellow signal flare, hoping their teammates—or even another team—would arrive quickly.
A giant bat circled above Ilvermorny's group.
Egilbert looked up and shouted:
"Our trophy is in Sean Greer's hands!"
"He can use some kind of flying magic!"
"He's already heading toward the yellow signal!"
"Go after him—we'll follow!"
Claven cursed inwardly.
"Just my luck."
"I lost to you in the two-man duel… but when it comes to flying, I won't lose."
He beat his wings faster and sped toward the signal.
The first to arrive, however, were Charlie and Penelope.
They had been heading toward the rendezvous point when they saw the emergency signal from their team.
When they arrived—
Percy and Theo were already defeated.
Vanessa was reviving Ravi with a counter-curse.
Ravi regained consciousness but was still dizzy and far from combat-ready.
"They have our trophy, and they've recovered their own," Penelope said anxiously.
"If we don't stop them, Uagadou will win this tournament."
Charlie remained calm.
"That signal wasn't just for us."
"Others must have seen it too."
"Let's keep our distance and follow them."
He knew that the two of them alone couldn't take back the trophy.
Even if Uagadou left immediately, it would still take five hours to reach the exit.
There was still time for reinforcements.
But reinforcements arrived faster than he expected.
In the sky above, Sean appeared carrying Zach on his back.
His magic was nearly exhausted, so he slowly descended to the ground.
"That Sean can actually use flying magic," Vanessa said grimly.
"That's an advanced spell only ancient wizards could use."
Sean's arrival immediately made them wary.
Behind a tree, Penelope stared blankly.
"Charlie… did you know Sean could fly?!"
"I had no idea," Charlie sighed.
"That kid hides his abilities too well."
Sean pulled out his last magic recovery potion, uncorked it, and drank it in one gulp.
"Sean! Zach!" Charlie and Penelope ran over.
"Charlie, Penelope—are you okay?" Zach asked quickly.
"We're fine," Charlie replied.
"But by the time we arrived, Theo and Percy were already defeated."
His eyes fell on the trophy under Zach's arm.
"That's… Ilvermorny's trophy!"
"We already ran into Ilvermorny earlier," Sean said calmly.
"They'll be here soon."
He paused before continuing.
"I'll attack from the air."
"You coordinate on the ground."
"We must take back the trophy quickly."
"If Ilvermorny arrives, we'll be fighting two teams at once."
Sean's Flying Charm had a key advantage over Claven's bat form.
While flying, Sean's hands were free to cast spells.
Claven, however, couldn't cast magic while in Animagus form.
After seeing Sean fly, Uagadou became even more determined.
They absolutely couldn't let Hogwarts reclaim their trophy.
If Sean grabbed it and flew back to the entrance, they would never catch him.
Led by Omar, the six Uagadou members advanced toward Sean's group.
The battle was about to begin.
At that moment—
a giant bat swooped down and landed on a nearby branch.
Claven reverted from Animagus form back into a human.
He drank a recovery potion and said calmly:
"Uagadou… how about we team up and eliminate Hogwarts first?"
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