bookbashuk Page 391
Page 391
He had already witnessed the two girls' strength. Even he couldn't guarantee a win in a head-on confrontation (this is partly boasting), let alone attacking them under the surveillance of a live streaming system.
In his plan, Harry had to at least get third place.
Therefore, before the unfortunate Krum had gone far, he was silently controlled by Crouch Jr.'s Imperius Curse and became his powerful assistant in eliminating other warriors.
Crouch Jr. executed this move brilliantly, so much so that even the viewers watching the live stream didn't notice Krum's unusual behavior.
As for how to explain all this afterward, Crouch Jr. had already thought it through: the responsibility lay entirely with Krum.
Krum comes from Durmstrang Academy, a place that teaches dark magic, so it's plausible that Krum attacked and used the Cruciatus Curse on other warriors in order to win the competition.
This would likely send Krum to Azkaban, but what does that have to do with Crouch Jr.?
Estella wandered through the maze alone for about five minutes before another fork in the road appeared before her.
She held the wand flat in her palm and whispered to it, "[Give me the way]~"
The wand spun around and pointed to the dense hedge on her right.
She knew that was north, and the center of the maze was in the northwest. The wisest choice would be to take the left path and then turn right as soon as possible.
However, just as she was about to take a step, a sudden noise behind her made her tense up instantly.
She instinctively brandished her wand, bracing herself for a possible attack, but the wand's light revealed Krum emerging from the path to her right. Krum had a gloomy expression and seemed to be in a bad mood.
"Krum, are there any monsters over there?" Estella tried to ask.
However, before she could finish speaking, Krum, wand in hand, suddenly roared and lunged at Estella, who was five or six meters away.
"[Armor Protection]!"
She reacted quickly, using the [Iron Armor Spell] to protect herself.
She shouted, "I'm here to participate in the competition, what are you trying to do?" while waving her wand and desperately resisting.
The audience outside the stadium was stunned by this scene and began to discuss it animatedly.
"They're all tied for fourth place, so why isn't Krum thinking about finding the trophy quickly? Why is he attacking Estella instead?"
"The rules don't say you can't attack other warriors."
"But if we're going to attack, we should attack the ones ranked higher up. What threat is Estella?"
Ah this,
This last question is indeed very pointed, but Estella would certainly not be happy to hear it.
Meanwhile, Dumbledore stared intently at Krum on the screen, his expression grave; he too had sensed something was amiss.
Krum, instead of stopping after missing his first attack, continued to cast a [Stun Curse] straight at Estella's face.
Estella dodged awkwardly, then tried to retaliate.
From the stands, Gianna glanced at Harry's approximate location, then at the time, a resolute glint in her eyes.
She took a small half-step forward, closer to Fudge, who was standing to her left and in front of her, and said softly, "Minister, I have some urgent business to attend to. Please allow me to leave for the time being."
Although Fudge didn't know what Gianna was going to do, he enjoyed Gianna's respectful attitude of consulting him on matters. So he nodded in agreement, and Gianna gracefully turned and left.
The match had now entered a heated phase.
Hermione overcame numerous obstacles and finally reached the deepest part of the maze.
She could already see the trophy gleaming alluringly on its base, a hundred meters away.
However, between Hermione and the trophy stands a garden shrub pruned into the shape of an elephant.
The trimmer's skill is superb; the elephant's limbs, tusks, and even the wrinkles on its body are brought to life, making it a truly breathtaking sight.
This is undoubtedly a garden decoration with great aesthetic value.
However, its appearance in this maze seemed unusually abrupt.
Hermione immediately realized that this elephant was no ordinary creature.
Sure enough, the moment she took a step, the bush seemed to come alive, instantly reviving.
It raised its long trunk, let out a deafening roar, and then thundered towards Hermione. Two tusks, trimmed from tree branches, were pointed in front of it, looking extremely sharp and gleaming coldly, as if they could easily pierce a person's body.
Hermione immediately recognized it as Levin's masterpiece.
After all, there are several similar living garden shrubs in Levin's garden as well.
She had dealt with these lifelike plants many times and knew exactly how to handle them.
Faced with the approaching giant elephant, Hermione seemed to be frozen in place by magic, constantly chanting spells.
The audience's hearts were in their throats, and a tense atmosphere filled the air.
Finally, at the last possible moment, Hermione completed the magical preparations:
"…【Fire Wall】!"
Instantly, flames erupted in front of Hermione, the blazing fire reaching four or five meters high, like a high wall firmly blocking the path of the garden elephant.
The elephant was terrified by the sudden flames and tried to stop, but it was too late.
Although the revitalized version possesses the strength of an elephant, it also inherits the elephant's clumsiness.
Caught off guard, the activated shrub crashed into the fire wall spell and was instantly ignited like a normal plant, its struggles proving futile.
Some people in the audience had already started cheering.
Hermione gracefully bypassed the burnt-out, living garden shrubs and walked elegantly toward the trophy.
Having learned of the news from Levin beforehand, Hermione did not act rashly in the face of the gleaming trophy and championship medal.
)
She carefully cast a series of identification spells,
After ensuring there was no curse, he cast a spell on them to detect the door key.
Just as Levin guessed, neither the first nor the second medal was the key.
Hermione made up her mind, and so she put on the champion's medal.
However, she did not rush to leave the maze, but chose to stay and wait.
The moment she received the medal, the cheers from the audience were deafening, and the young wizards of Hogwarts jumped up from their seats, cheering and celebrating.
"Our champion for this tournament has been decided! He is Hermione Granger from Hogwarts!" Bagman cheered excitedly, seemingly even happier than if the Kingdom of the Underworld had won the Quidditch World Cup.
After a while, Furong finally ran over amidst huge cheers from the sidelines.
Furong looked relaxed and showed no signs of fighting; all the troubles had been resolved by her three "disciples."
"Hibiscus, are you alright?" Hermione asked with concern.
"Congratulations, Hermione! I heard cheers," Fleur said sincerely to Hermione. "The champion is Hogwarts now."
"The runner-up is Beauxbatons," Hermione retorted, and the two exchanged smiles, celebrating this moment of victory together.
Chapter 431 Eye-opening
Hermione chose to stay not out of concern for Harry, but out of care for Fleur.
Behind Harry's story lies Voldemort, and Hermione, well aware of the stakes involved, understands that she does not yet possess the power to engage in a confrontation of that caliber.
Levin shared the same view, and he seriously warned Hermione not to touch the medals that might be problematic.
On the eve of the match, Hermione tried to ask Levin if she could fight alongside him against the threat of Voldemort and the Death Eaters.
However, her proposal was met with strong opposition from Levin: "Fighting the Dark Lord is the responsibility of me, Jaina, Tonks, and the other adult wizards. You just need to focus on training our successors at the Academy of Knowledge. We're not dead yet, it's not your turn to step in."
"You're not an adult either."
Hermione muttered under her breath.
She had never seen Levin so angry, and in the end she obediently agreed to Levin's request.
Although she was scolded severely by Levin, Hermione was in a great mood.
This wasn't because she had a masochistic awakening, but because she could sense deep care and concern in Levin's angry rebuke.
Despite his fickle nature in relationships, Levin always provides a strong sense of security when it matters most.
However, even if Hermione doesn't intend to directly intervene in Levin's plans, she is not willing to stand idly by.
She decided to do whatever she could to help Levin—like keeping an eye on Fleur and preventing him from accidentally touching the slide that was off-limits… I mean, the medal.
If Fleur is delivered to the Dark Lord before Harry, Levin will be heartbroken.
Of course, from her personal perspective, this was entirely an act of aiding her enemy (her love rival), but considering Levin's deep affection for her, Hermione reluctantly decided to consider it for him.
When Hermione personally hung the runner-up medal around Fleur's neck, the audience erupted in enthusiastic applause once again.
Hermione herself believed that she did this simply to prevent Fleur from accidentally touching other medals.
However, her attentive actions became a symbol of the friendship between the two schools in the eyes of the audience.
"They say friendship comes first, competition second. Miss Granger truly deserves to be the champion. Not only is she outstanding in skill, but her personal character is also admirable. She put this into practice with her actions," Bagman said, deeply moved.
Since both of them had won medals and decided not to stay in the center of the maze, they used their wands to create sparks, signaling their departure.
The two women initially thought that staff members would then take them away.
To their surprise, the staff did come—or rather, they were always there, just in a way that was slightly different from what the two had imagined.
The hedges ahead seemed to come alive; they undulated and split open, revealing a brand new path, as if warmly inviting them to go in this direction.
The two women exchanged a glance and suddenly remembered the new friend Levin had introduced them to the night they were informed about the fourth competition.
So, disregarding any danger ahead, they carried the trophy and headed straight for the new path.
The moment they passed through the hedge, a woman covered in lush vegetation suddenly appeared; she was none other than Rose, the tree spirit they had encountered earlier.
"Congratulations!" Rose clapped her hands enthusiastically, her green eyes sparkling with joy. "Congratulations to the two of you for winning the championship and runner-up (bjej) of the Triwizard Tournament."
"Thank you, Rose."
The two nodded in greeting.
As they continued forward, the surrounding hedges parted to make way, creating a path leading to the outside of the maze, as spectacular as Moses parting the Sea.
Whenever they passed a split hedge, tree spirits or flower fairies would joyfully emerge, clapping and cheering, expressing their congratulations in various languages:
"Congratulations!"