Hogwarts Raven's Claw

Chapter 318 Maze
Fleur's tangled look was not noticed by others, and everyone used the excuse that children speak without restraint to cover up Gabrielle's embarrassing words. Soon, except for the Krum family who did not understand English and were still whispering in the corner, the members of the other three families all became friends.

Everyone gathered together to chat and talk. Mrs. Weasley and Black would occasionally tell some interesting stories from their study time, making everyone laugh.

Fleur's mother introduced some information about the daily life and food in France. These novel things made the little wizards listen very carefully. Fleur's mother finally invited everyone to visit France if they had the chance, and as the host, she would entertain them throughout the trip.

On the surface, everyone agreed happily to this matter, but in fact, they all felt that Furong's mother was just being polite.

(Don’t think that foreigners can’t say polite words just because you read some one-sided self-media articles. Although they are not as good as Chinese people in this aspect due to language environment and other reasons, they still say common social polite words. For example, if someone greets you with “how are you”, most of the time they are just being polite and don’t really mean to ask how you are doing. You just need to reply with a fine thanks. If you really tell them how you are doing recently, it will make them very embarrassed.)
Of all the people present, only the red-haired young man next to Mrs. Weasley seemed to take it seriously. Mike saw him nod heavily when Fleur's mother said this.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was very lively, but Harry felt a little depressed.

At first he thought Furong's mother didn't understand English, so he specially repeated her words to greet her, but now it seems that her English is very good.

This made Harry feel cheated.

But he didn't dare to talk about this matter to her face, so he could only sulk in his heart.

Fortunately, Blake did not take his attention away from Harry when he was chatting with everyone. He immediately discovered Harry's problem. After being pulled aside by Blake and counseled for a while, Harry finally had a smile on his face when he returned.

Everyone was talking and laughing in the conference room the whole morning, even the Krum family who had been staying alone in the corner.

Mike was not surprised at all. Krum was in school, participating in the Quidditch World Cup and training, so his home days must be few and far between. Poor Mr. and Mrs. Krum must not have been reunited with their son for a long time.

At noon, everyone followed their warriors back to the restaurant for lunch.

Black and Mrs. Weasley naturally went to the Gryffindor table, while the Fleur family sat with Michael and Flitwick. As for the Krum family, they went to the Slytherin table. Chris decided to reserve a large empty seat for them so that they could chat for a while.

The lunch food was no different from usual, which surprised Mike. After all, whenever there were guests visiting, their meals were always better. He didn't expect the school to suddenly become so tough this time.

The atmosphere at the Ravenclaw table became very heated after Fleur, her daughter and her three companions arrived. Mike, who was treated like a treasure in the morning, was now being collectively ignored by everyone.

Mike originally thought that everyone's attention would be focused on Furong and her mother. After all, this mother and daughter pair were indeed extremely beautiful.

But to Mike's surprise, almost everyone was desperately piling food in front of Gabrielle, and then after receiving a timid thank you from Gabrielle, they collapsed in their seats with an 'awsl' expression.

Mike was also happy to see this happen. He had long been annoyed by the preferential treatment from his classmates, and now that someone had taken the initiative to help him share the firepower, he naturally agreed with both hands.

After enjoying a not-so-rich lunch, Mrs. Weasley, Black and others prepared to let Harry take them around Hogwarts. Fleur and her daughter and the Krum family also disappeared. As for Mike, Professor Flitwick had to invigilate the exams of senior students in the afternoon, so although he had received Black's invitation to tour Hogwarts Castle, he returned to his dormitory to recuperate and prepare for the evening's game.

Mike didn't appear in the restaurant again until dinner time.

At this moment, some changes took place in the restaurant. Many professors who did not eat in the restaurant in the past appeared this time at the teachers' seats at the innermost part of the restaurant.

In the most conspicuous seat in the classroom, in addition to Dumbledore and the other two principals of the magic schools, there were two new faces. The man with a short beard was someone Mike had never seen before, and the other was an old acquaintance of Mike, the Minister of Magic, Fudge.

Unlike the cheerful Fudge who usually appeared in public, Fudge, who was now sitting in the teacher's seat, had a frown on his face and looked a little depressed.

Also unhappy was Ms. Maxime, who was sitting next to Fudge. Her eyes looked a little red at the moment, and she kept looking towards Hagrid from time to time.

Mike smelled gossip immediately. Ms. Maxime's behavior at this moment was too much like a young girl in love. If Rita Skeeter was here, the headline of the Daily Prophet tomorrow would definitely be a report that these two were lovers.

However, love is unrelenting, and Hagrid acted unconcerned about the looks that Ms. Maxime cast at him from time to time. He buried his head in eating the food on his plate, but unlike usual, the food on his plate was much less than usual.

"It looks like Hagrid is not in a good mood either. He doesn't have much appetite."

Mike thought so as he looked at Hagrid's huge plate and the food inside, which seemed small but was still enough to feed two adult men.

At the same time, Mike noticed that Bagman's favorite seat in the teacher's seat was empty.

Mike looked around for a while before he confirmed that Bagman was indeed not in the restaurant.

Mike frowned and casually flipped the food on the plate, but he had no intention of eating at all. On the one hand, it was to stay in good condition for the competition, and on the other hand, he really had no appetite.

He was somewhat distraught by Bagman's sudden disappearance.

Penelope, who was sitting next to him, thought Max was nervous because of the game that was about to start, so she patted Mike on the shoulder and comforted him softly:
"It's okay Mike, you are excellent, and you will definitely be the champion of the Tri-Winners Tournament."

Mike smiled and held Penelope's little hand in his palm. Just as he was about to respond, he saw that all the plates and food in front of everyone suddenly disappeared.

Then, Dumbledore stood up from the teacher's seat and announced with a smile:
"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes I will invite everyone to the Quidditch pitch to watch the final event of the Triwizard Tournament. Now please follow Mr. Alva to the playground."

Mike wiped his mouth with the handkerchief handed to him by Penelope, and then walked out of the hall with the other three warriors amid the applause of the Ravenclaw students.

Outside the auditorium, the short-bearded man who sat with Fudge had been waiting for them on the stairs.

"Hello, I'm Hassan Alva, you can call me Hassan." Alva said when he saw Mike and the others coming, "I'm here to replace Mr. Bagman as the temporary commentator and referee. I'll take you to the stadium next."

After saying that, Alva made a gesture of invitation, then turned around and prepared to lead the way.

"Is Mr. Bagman sick?" Mike asked suddenly.

Alva seemed to have expected someone to ask this question. He turned around and smiled politely at Mike again, then said:

"Oh! You're absolutely right, Mr. Townley! Mr. Bagman just handed in his resignation letter to the Minister this morning, citing illness as the reason. But I think he probably feels that after what happened he is no longer qualified to be the Director of the Sports Department!"

When he said this, the smile on Alva's face became even brighter. He paused, as if he was organizing his words, and then said: "But the work he left behind still needs someone to do it, so as the deputy director, I have to take on this important task!"

After saying this, Mr. Alva immediately raised his head and chest, as if waiting for compliments from Mike and others.

But he was destined to be disappointed. After getting the answer he wanted, Mike had already passed him and went to the Quidditch field. Fleur and Krum naturally had no intention of flattering an official from the Ministry of Magic of England, so they followed Mike.

In a moment Harry and Mr Alva were the only ones left on the steps.

Harry looked at Mr. Alva who was still waiting for praise, and then looked at Mike and others who were getting farther and farther away. He frowned and thought hard for a while, but still couldn't find some compliments in his mind. In the end, he could only give Alva an awkward but polite smile, and then quickly chased after Mike.

But when Mike and his four companions arrived at the Quidditch field, it had become completely unrecognizable.

A twenty-foot-high hedge enclosed the edge of the grounds, and before them there was a gap which was the entrance to the great maze.

Harry poked his head in to look inside, then pulled it back even faster.

It's dark in here and a bit scary!

Five minutes later, people began to enter the stands. Hundreds of students filed in. The air was filled with excited voices and noisy footsteps, and Mr. Alva finally arrived on the field.

He seemed to regard what had just happened as a humiliation from Mike, and gave Mike a vicious look when he passed by Mike and others.

Mike ignored him, his attention now drawn to the sky.

The time now is between sunset and moonrise, and the sky is a clear deep blue, which is very magnificent.

At this time, Hagrid, Moody, McGonagall and Professor Flitwick walked into the sports field and walked towards Mike.

They all had big, shiny red stars on their hats, except Hagrid, who had a star on the back of his terry vest.

"We will patrol outside the maze." Professor McGonagall said, "If you encounter difficulties and want to be rescued, just shoot red sparks into the sky and someone will come to help you. Of course, if you accept help, you will be disqualified from continuing the game. Do you understand?"

Mike regained his composure and nodded like everyone else.

"Good luck, Mac," whispered Professor Flitwick.

Then the four of them walked off in different directions and dispersed around the maze.

At this time, Alva's loud voice rang out from the pulpit.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the last competition of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me report the points ranking in front of us, which will determine the starting order of the warriors. Mike Townley is from Hogwarts School and is currently ranked first!"

After Alva said Mike's name, there was an earth-shaking applause and cheers from the stands. The sound was so loud that it startled the birds in the Forbidden Forest.

"Victor Krum, from Durmstrang Academy, currently ranked second!"

The cheers continued. As a Quidditch star, Krum had just as many fans as Mike.

"Next is Harry Potter, also from Hogwarts School, currently ranked third. Fleur Delacour, from Beauxbatons Academy, currently ranked fourth!"

Compared to the two people before them, Harry and Fleur received much less cheers and applause, which made Harry very disappointed. Although Fleur did not look abnormal, her clenched fists betrayed her.

"Now... Mike! Listen to my whistle and get ready!" Alva said, "Three-two-one-"

As a short whistle sounded, Mike swung his wand continuously, and successively added several enhancement spells such as the wind speed spell and the disembodiment spell to himself. Then Mike took a step forward, and in the gradually dimming environment, he completely turned into a phantom and rushed into the maze at an astonishing speed.

This sudden scene immediately caused a burst of exclamations in the stands.

No one expected that Mike's speed could be so fast. It seems that if Mike can maintain this speed and not get lost for too long, the championship is almost certain to come.

Thinking of this, the Hogwarts students in the stands immediately burst into unprecedented cheers!

The other three warriors at the entrance of the maze all had dark faces. Mike's strength put them under considerable pressure.

Inside the maze, Mike was still moving at high speed.

The sky had turned completely dark at this moment, and the moon replaced the sun hanging in the sky.

In the moonlight, the tall hedges cast dark shadows on the path. Perhaps because there was a soundproof magic attached to this place, as soon as Mike entered the maze, the voices of the audience and Alva disappeared.

The surroundings suddenly became quiet, coupled with the maze formed by the hedges.

This reminded Mike of a horror movie he had seen in his past life called The Shining.

Thinking about it carefully, the situation I am facing at this moment is very similar to the climax of the movie. Everyone is looking for an exit in such a maze made of hedges, and at the same time, they must always be on guard against the dangers that may appear at any time ahead.

The only difference is that the characters in the movie are facing a crazy murderer, while Mike is facing various magic traps set up by the event organizers.

However, Mike is not those helpless ordinary people in the movies. He is now a wizard who possesses powerful magical powers!
Mike thought of this and suddenly laughed.

(End of this chapter)