Unbeknownst to them, an hour had passed since the start of the competition.
The enthusiasm of the audience remained undiminished. Whenever they caught a glimpse of one of the brave champions in the arena, they erupted into fervent cheers.
The Triwizard Tournament had always been a friendly competition aimed at fostering camaraderie among the three schools. It could be said that everyone was hoping for a champion from their own school to emerge victorious. But in the end, the entire tournament was a grand spectacle of school entertainment.
Believe it or not, no matter who won the championship, students from all schools would offer their sincerest congratulations.
Dumbledore was watching the various changes within the maze intently, a faint smile on his face. However, behind those half-moon glasses, his piercing blue eyes were shining with wisdom.
It seemed like he was waiting for something...
At that moment, Dumbledore shifted his gaze to a specific spot in the maze—a region shrouded in mist. Others couldn't discern what was there, but Dumbledore seemed unaffected by the hazy fog.
He watched with great concentration, as if something were capturing his attention. It wasn't anyone else he was looking at but Maca, who had just separated from the succubus.
It was evident that since he had entered this misty area, the ambushes of the Thorny Thickets had become much more frequent.
For Maca, it wasn't much of a problem, but for others, it was a different story.
As Maca ventured deeper, the darkness around him seemed to devour all light, even the Lumos spell on his wand could only illuminate a small area around him.
He had to increase the magical output, allowing the light to expand to a relatively normal level.
It appeared that this place was not merely "dark"; there was something absorbing the light. It seemed to be—
"Is it the mist that's devouring the light?" Maca raised his head to look, but he could only see darkness.
He shook his head slightly and was about to continue forward when another scream pierced the air.
This time, the scream was very close, as if it were right next to his ear. Simultaneously, he noticed that the surrounding thorny walls began to shake violently, tendrils writhing within, as if something big was happening.
Before long, a spine-chilling roar drowned out the girl's scream completely.
"Where is it?" Maca turned his head and listened carefully, then suddenly looked to his right rear. "This time, it should be Hermione herself..."
As he hesitated about whether to take a look, a third voice broke into Maca's ears amidst the continuous roars.
"Over here! Run—"
"No, I can't—"
If Maca hadn't misheard, the previous voice belonged to Hermione.
He looked left and right, then shook his head.
"Let's go straight!" He muttered under his breath and aimed his wand at the ground where the thorny hedge was rooted.
"Reducio Maxima!" BOOM!
If there was one characteristic of the Thorny Thickets, these magical plants, it was their incredible resilience. They were resistant to fire, explosions, weapons, and spells; even the average wizard couldn't deal with them.
Dumbledore used them as the maze's walls for a reason.
However, no matter how strong their defense, everything had its limits. If something couldn't be blown up, it simply meant that your explosive power wasn't strong enough!
Maca's spell didn't work well on the monsters created by Voldemort's black magic, but that didn't mean his spells lacked power. Just look at this Maximized Reducto, and the audience outside could see everything clearly after the terrifying explosion.
Even the nearby mist was dispersed to some extent, allowing a faint ray of sunlight to shine through and illuminate the area.
Maca casually waved his wand, tossing aside the numerous chunks of earth floating in front of him, revealing his figure.
"A giant?"
Behind the thorny hedge was a reasonably spacious area. When Maca dispersed the dust that filled the air, the first thing he saw was a giant trying to get up from the ground.
It had probably been affected by the earlier explosion because it had stood too close to this side.
"Well, this is quite a coincidence..." Maca immediately recalled Hermione's words from earlier.
He didn't pay too much attention to the giant creature in front of him and casually glanced behind it. Immediately, he noticed—on this open ground, three more giants were wandering around cluelessly.
In the center of the open space, there was a three-foot-high platform with four not-so-tall stone pillars standing on it. A magical glow continuously shimmered on the pillars, and a layer of magical film enveloped the entire platform.
Faintly, one could see a petite figure sitting on the ground.
Hermione and Fleur were not here; it seemed they had left temporarily because of these four giants.
"Is that Fleur's sister inside?" Maca scrutinized, "What's her name? Gabrielle?"
Since Hermione wasn't here, he didn't need to do anything. His goal was not Fleur's sister, and rescuing her wouldn't serve much purpose.
Seeing that one of the giants had already climbed to its feet and was now approaching him, he casually cast a burst of fire, effortlessly knocking the giant down again.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, footsteps from a distant passage suddenly reached his ears.
"Don't! The explosion just now looked very dangerous; you need to think of a plan first—your sister should be safe in there!"
Hermione's shout came faintly, followed by a blue figure rushing out from that passage.
"Gabrielle—"
Naturally, the one who ran out was Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons.
Her figure was still enchanting, her bright silver hair tied into a ponytail, playfully swaying from side to side as she ran.
The vigorous running caused her chest to heave, but she showed no intention of stopping—even with giants lurking, her eyes were fixed solely on her beloved sister.
However, giants didn't care whether you were beautiful or not; in their eyes, any moving creature was food.
Two giants simultaneously noticed this morsel that had just run away and had now been delivered right back to them. They roared menacingly and raised their wooden clubs, moving to encircle Fleur.
"...Maca?"
Following closely behind, Hermione rushed out of the passage and immediately spotted Maca standing at the gap in the thorny hedge. But before her mood could change, her attention was drawn to Fleur's screams.
She narrowly evaded the first giant's club and stopped the second giant's advance with a hex. She agilely maneuvered between the two giants, reaching the platform where Gabrielle was trapped.
However, the magical barrier was not so easily breached. After several failed spells, Fleur realized she was surrounded by three giants!
Facing the consecutive strikes from the giants, Fleur was immediately at a disadvantage. In her hurried dodges, one giant's swing narrowly missed her head, even scattering the ribbon that held her hair together.
Her silvery cascading hair tumbled down, obscuring her vision at this critical moment.
"Maca, help—"
Without Hermione's reminder, three crimson spells flashed in succession, landing precisely on the pitiable heads of the giants. With a resounding crash, Maca's fourth crimson spell landed in front of him, knocking down the giant in front of him once again.
Not long ago, dealing with one giant required him to exert all his strength, but now he could easily defeat four of them in an instant. The stark difference was a result of both extraordinary talent and the diligence he showed in his daily life.
"Tha... Thank you..."
Hermione helped Fleur to her feet, and with gratitude, Fleur nodded at Maca before eagerly shifting her gaze back to behind her.
There, her sister remained trapped between the four stone pillars. However, despite the apparently short distance, the magical barrier made it seem like an unbridgeable chasm.
"Could you help me rescue my sister?" Fleur suddenly turned around, a pleading look on her face.
Maca couldn't help but furrow his brow—while he hadn't planned to become the Triwizard champion, he also had no obligation to help others complete their tasks.
On the sidelines, Hermione, who was assisting Fleur, also displayed a hint of displeasure. Clearly, she was not pleased with this cheating-like behavior.
Especially from this cheeky French girl who dared to put on such a pitiful expression to win Maca's sympathy!
"No, you misunderstand... I've already lost, and I'm willing to forfeit. But if I'm taken out of the maze just like this, Gabrielle will have to stay here until the end of the competition..." Fleur anxiously explained, "I can't leave my sister in such a dangerous place—"
"But you see, it's safe here." Hermione nodded knowingly and pointed to the magical barrier.
Hello everyone,
If you enjoy reading this novel and want to read 10 Chapters ahead of schedule, then please join my Patreon.
Your support is greatly appreciated