Claven had managed to catch up with the Castelobruxo team in just twenty minutes because of his ultimate form—his Animagus transformation.
Animagus transformation was an extremely advanced branch of Transfiguration. In this century, only seven registered Animagi existed in the British Ministry of Magic records. Although there were certainly some illegal Animagi, the number alone showed how difficult the transformation truly was.
Unlike Sean's Flying Charm, which drained magic every second it was active, Claven's bat form consumed no magic while flying. He simply relied on the power of his wings.
However, transforming into and out of Animagus form each consumed half of Claven's current magic power.
After entering the forest, Claven had transformed into a bat to travel quickly. When he discovered Matthew and the others, he reverted to human form—already costing him more than half his magic.
To restore himself to peak condition, he immediately drank a magic recovery potion.
During the first event, Dean had brewed seven recovery potions, and four of them were given solely to Claven. It was clear Ilvermorny had placed their entire bet on him.
"Damn it—we got played by Ilvermorny!" Matthew cursed angrily.
He had tried to ambush them, but instead he had handed over the most important information—the locations of the trophies.
"Jerry, come with me and chase that Daywalker," Matthew ordered.
"He went toward the northeast trophy."
"Gurila, you take the others and head for the northwest trophy."
Even though they couldn't possibly catch someone who could fly, they couldn't just let Claven escape either. So Matthew split the team into two groups.
He and Jerry chased Claven.
The other four went after the opposite trophy.
But when Matthew and Jerry reached the northeast location, the trophy was already gone.
"Damn that Daywalker," Matthew growled.
High in the sky, a massive bat carried a trophy in its claws, flying toward the north.
The trophy just happened to be Castelobruxo's own.
If Claven hadn't taken it, Castelobruxo might very well have won this year's championship.
Meanwhile, Gurila's group quickly found the northwest trophy.
It belonged to Hogwarts.
But while they were returning with it, they ran into the Uagadou team.
The situation worsened because Matthew had feared a fight with Claven earlier and had entrusted Uagadou's trophy to Gurila before splitting the team.
If Gurila hadn't been carrying that trophy, both sides might have quietly avoided each other to conserve strength.
But now—
the enemies met head-on.
All six Uagadou members pulled out their wands.
If they reclaimed their trophy, victory would be theirs.
"What do we do, Gurila?" Anduin asked nervously.
Gurila glanced at the two trophies in her hands.
She absolutely couldn't let Uagadou get theirs back.
That would be the same as handing them the championship.
"You take the two trophies and run," Gurila said decisively.
"No matter which team you encounter, give the trophies to them—just don't let Uagadou get them."
Even if they had to give them away to someone else, they would never hand the title directly to Uagadou.
Anduin nodded and grabbed the trophies.
All twelve eyes of the Uagadou team immediately locked onto him.
"Damn it—someone got here first," Claven muttered angrily.
When he reached the northern trophy location, the rock was already empty.
That place was exactly where Sean and Zach had discovered the trophy earlier.
And that trophy happened to belong to Ilvermorny.
Sean suddenly sneezed.
He and Zach were currently carrying the Ilvermorny trophy toward the rendezvous point they had agreed upon with Charlie.
That location was not far from where Gurila's group currently was.
"I wonder if any other teams have found trophies yet," Zach said.
"We haven't run into anyone this whole time."
"This competition doesn't feel intense at all—we're just hiking."
Sean ignored him.
Zach was a classic chatterbox. The more you responded, the more he talked.
A few minutes later, both of them slowed down.
Sean glanced sideways at him.
"The intense atmosphere you wanted just arrived."
From the forest ahead, five figures emerged.
Unfortunately for them—
it was Ilvermorny's team.
"That's our trophy," Joanna said immediately, even from over thirty meters away.
"It's in Sean Greer's hands," Egilbert said coldly.
"The guy next to him is only a fifth-year."
"There are only two of them. We can win."
Sean looked at the approaching Ilvermorny team and asked calmly:
"Two versus five. Feeling confident?"
"Don't joke," Zach said bitterly.
"I'm definitely not confident. Depends if you are."
"Me neither," Sean grinned.
He wasn't arrogant enough to think he could defeat four opponents alone—even with Zach helping.
"Then why aren't we running?!" Zach whispered urgently.
"Put your hands on my shoulders," Sean said.
Zach didn't hesitate.
He had already experienced the Flying Charm earlier. Now he tightly gripped Sean's shoulders while holding Ilvermorny's trophy under his arm.
"Leave the trophy and you can go," Egilbert shouted.
"You know numbers matter in this competition."
"If both of you get eliminated here, and later your team can't gather two members together, that would be unfortunate."
"But we're not planning to get eliminated," Sean replied.
His palms faced each other.
The complex magical framework of the Flying Charm rapidly formed between his hands.
"Hold tight."
The next moment—
Sean shot into the sky.
"How is that possible?!"
The Ilvermorny team stared in shock as Sean flew away.
"How did he do that?"
"We need Claven back immediately," Egilbert said.
He raised his wand and fired a blue signal flare into the sky.
Far above, the giant bat flying through the air saw the signal.
Claven immediately turned toward it.
At the same time, Matthew and Jerry also noticed the blue flare.
They didn't know which team had fired it—but it likely meant someone had found a trophy.
They were about to head that way when—
another flare rose into the sky.
A yellow signal.
And that location was very close to where Gurila's group had gone.
Matthew and Jerry's expressions changed instantly.
They turned and rushed toward the yellow signal.
Meanwhile, Sean and Zach also saw the yellow flare clearly from the air.
Their hearts sank.
That signal belonged to Hogwarts.
When they had first entered the forest, they used the same signal to gather—because no other teams had entered yet.
But after that, signals were forbidden.
Using one would attract enemy teams.
Just like Ilvermorny's blue signal had drawn Matthew's attention earlier.
Before separating, Charlie had warned them:
Unless it was an emergency, never use the signal.
Instead, quietly reach the rendezvous point.
"Who fired that signal?" Zach asked behind Sean.
"Did someone find our trophy?"
"If someone found it," Sean said thoughtfully, "they'd stay quiet."
"Unless…"
"They found it—and someone stole it."
And in fact—
Sean's guess was already very close to the truth.
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