Hogwarts Raven's Claw

Chapter 319: Accidents
Mike's smile did not last long. This maze made of hedges was very complicated. Mike had just walked forward for a few dozen meters when he encountered several 90-degree corners. The frequent corners and the fact that it was completely dark forced Mike to slow down.

Even though the road was a little unclear, Mike did not use the fluorescent charm to illuminate it.

It's not that Mike is getting arrogant and starting to pretend, but because Mike is currently under the state of the Disillusionment Spell. This invisible state allows him to avoid many dangers, and using fluorescent flashes will undoubtedly expose his position.

This is what Mike didn't want to see.

After running forward for a few dozen meters, Mike saw the first fork in the road he had encountered since entering the maze.

Looking at the two roads that separated to the left and right in front of him, there was no trace of confusion on Mike's face.

Just like the second task, the thoughtful Minister Fudge had already placed special magic marks on the trophy, so he only needed to use a guiding spell to easily find the way.

Mike raised his wand, and as he chanted the Guiding Spell, the wand in his hand suddenly floated and rotated.

This situation did not last long. After spinning for a while, the wand finally stopped, and its tip was now pointing to the left.

Seeing this, Mike smiled. With this backdoor, it would be easy for him to win the championship.

In the original book, Barty Crouch Jr. turned the Triwizard Tournament trophy into a key leading to Tom's family cemetery, and the weak Voldemort was in the cemetery, waiting for Harry to fall into his trap and become the sacrifice for his rebirth.

Unfortunately, it now seems that Voldemort's rebirth plan is doomed to fail, because Michael will definitely be the first to get the trophy.

That's right!

Mike is ready to take the risk and touch the trophy first!
If the trophy had not been tampered with, then he would have won the Triwizard Tournament!

And if the trophy is really turned into a portkey, Michael will be alone to face Voldemort, one of the most powerful dark wizards in the world!

To be honest, this is very dangerous, but danger and opportunity always coexist.

Voldemort at this moment is not the terrifying demon he once was. If nothing unexpected happens, Voldemort, who is in a weakened state, should not be much stronger than a baby, and he should only have a few helpers around him.

Under such circumstances, Mike is confident that he can capture Voldemort alive!
And once he captured the infamous Voldemort alive!

Then all wizards in the country will regard him as a hero, and his status will even surpass Harry, becoming the new generation savior of the wizarding society!
Thinking of this, Mike licked his lips, and even began to hope that Batty had really tampered with the trophy.

Excited, Mike quickened his pace again.

After running a long way, Mike was forced to stop again because he suddenly found a figure standing in the darkness in front of him.

Mike walked forward cautiously, trying to rely on the Disillusionment Charm to pass without alerting the man.

But as soon as he got close, Mike screamed in fright.

It turned out that the person standing in the darkness was a beautiful swimmer with a curvy figure wearing a bikini.

If it were just that, Mike wouldn't have such an exaggerated reaction. What really made Mike scream was the face of the swimsuit beauty.

That face was Mike's own face!

In the darkness, the corners of Mike's eyes were twitching constantly. After the initial shock, he quickly realized that the thing in front of him was a Boggart, the kind of monster that was designed to scare people!

Mike had known for a long time that what he feared most was wearing women's clothes, but what the Bogut in front of him did was beyond Mike's tolerance limit. It even put on a bikini?!

Isn’t this too much?

The bikini Mike on the opposite side seemed very happy to see that he had scared Mike himself. He smiled and twisted his waist, and even threw a wink at Mike.

Mike couldn't stand it anymore. He raised his wand with his hands shaking with anger and shouted angrily:
"The flames are blazing!"

A large ball of flame suddenly exploded from the blackthorn wand and hit the Boggart in front of him almost instantly.

With a deafening explosion, blazing flames shot up into the sky, and the Boggart who liked women's clothing disappeared from this world forever.

At the fork in the road, Krum, who was the second to set out, looked at the flames and smoke rising into the sky on the left and held back his saliva.

He looked at the two forks in the road in front of him, one on the left and one on the right, and silently took a step forward and walked to the right.

At the same time, Mike, who finally got rid of his anger, set out again to find the trophy.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if God was deliberately targeting Mike today. He stopped again not long after he moved forward, and this time, a mythical monster stood in front of him!

The sphinx!
Mike had seen this monster from ancient Egyptian mythology in Gringotts. The goblins used this monster to guard the vault.

But in fact, the Sphinx's killing power is not very strong. It is a very principled monster. After encountering its prey, it will not eat it immediately, but will ask it a question. If the prey answers the question correctly, it will let it go.

But if the prey answers incorrectly or remains silent (this is for unintelligent creatures), then it will eat it.

At this moment, the Sphinx was lying on the ground with its front paws as its head resting on it like a cat, and did not notice Mike who was in invisible state at all.

In the past, Mike might have tried to answer the Sphinx's questions, but now he really was not in the mood to play with it.

Mike, who was in invisible state, showed no intention of slowing down. He raised his wand and cast an explosive spell without even reciting a spell.

There was another loud bang, and the Sphinx's body exploded.

The blood and rotten flesh dyed the place where it was lying and the surrounding hedges blood red!

As for Mike, he passed through this bloody area early.

Next, as Mike walked further and further, more and more forks in the road appeared in front of him.

Every time Mike would choose the path according to the guidance of the Guiding Spell, but today there seemed to be a problem with the Guiding Spell. Every time, there would be some special obstacles on the path chosen by the Guiding Spell.

Mike has triggered things like quagmire traps, flip traps, and bow and arrow traps countless times, and he has also encountered quite a few monsters like the Sphinx, Boggart, and even the Acromantula.

Interestingly, Mike also encountered a very special monster.

This creature looks like a crab with a snail shell on its back, or a snail with crab legs and a hard shell.

But unlike ordinary snails or crabs, the monster that appeared in front of Mike looked extremely ferocious. It was ten feet tall, with sharp barbs all over its back and body shells. There was also a round opening at the tail of the "snail shell" on its back, which looked like it would spray out some disgusting liquid.

At the same time as its appearance, an extremely strong smell of rotten fish and shrimp appeared in the air.

Mike didn't pay much attention to this creature at first. Just like dealing with the Sphinx, he casually threw an explosive spell at it and prepared to deal with it. But what surprised Mike was that its shell covered with barbs actually had the ability to use rebound magic, and the explosive spell Mike cast was perfectly rebounded back by it.

Then, it started spraying flames at Mike with its ring-shaped tail.

As a last resort, Mike had to use a more powerful fire spell to deal with this difficult monster.

At this time, Mike also recognized the identity of the monster in front of him.

A creature Hagrid created by mixing a manticore and a fire crab - the blasting-tailed skrewt.

Although Mike did not take the Care of Magical Creatures class, he had heard of this creature. However, he never expected that this creature would have such a terrifying thing as a magic-reflecting shell!

It seems like Hagrid is really good at breeding dangerous creatures!
Thinking of this, Mike continued on his way.

As time went by, Mike, who had not reached his destination for a long time, began to doubt the accuracy of the guiding spell.

After Mike followed the guidance of the guiding spell and came to the area that was painted blood red by the flesh and blood of the Sphinx, Mike finally understood.

The magic mark of the Guiding Spell has been tampered with!

Cursing fiercely, Mike moved forward at a faster pace.

He had no time to complain. After wasting so much time, other warriors who set out later than him might have already found the trophy!

After no longer using the Guiding Spell, Mike's journey indeed became much smoother. Mike soon discovered many traces of other contestants' activities through magical perception.

Mike became even more anxious because this meant that someone had already walked ahead of him.

Just when Mike's attention was distracted by those traces, a red light suddenly shot out from the shadows in the distance.

"Armor protection!"

Almost instinctively, Mike released the armor protection spell.

"Peng!"

With a slight sound, the red light reflected back at a faster speed than when it came.

Unfortunately, judging from the trajectory of the light and the explosion after it landed, this unknown offensive spell did not hit the target.

After the spell was bounced back, Mike did not stop. He swung his wand continuously, and three disarming spells formed a "品" shape and shot towards the shadow.

The red light exploded, and Mike vaguely heard a muffled groan. The attacker was hit!
Mike chased after him with his wand raised high, and when he got closer, he could see the attacker's face clearly in the moonlight.

"Krum!?"

Mike screamed.

At this moment, Krum was lying on the ground, not knowing whether he was dead or alive, with blood still flowing from the corner of his mouth. He seemed to be unconscious. The three disarming spells of Mike must have hit him, otherwise the damage would not have been so high.

What’s strange is that even though he was seriously injured, Krum’s face was still filled with happiness, as if he was deeply immersed in the most beautiful dream in the world.

Mike understood instantly that Krum was under the control of the Imperius Curse!
Gritting his teeth and looking at the still dark passage in the distance, Mike quickly picked up Krum's wand that had dropped aside, sent a distress signal to the sky, then put Krum's wand into his pocket and resolutely ran towards the passage.

He now had no time to think about who cast the Imperius Curse on Krum!
After walking forward for less than ten minutes, a bright light suddenly appeared in front of Mike!
That's the Tri-Power Cup!
To be precise, the source of that light was the base of the Tri-Power Cup, which was flashing an alluring light a hundred meters away from Mike!
Mike gritted his teeth and started to speed up again.

He had to do this because there was a figure standing next to the Triwizard Cup.

And that person was Harry!

Looking at Harry reaching out for the Triwizard Cup, Mike roared:
"Wait! Harry!"

As if frightened by Mike's voice, Harry immediately retracted his hand and looked towards Mike with a look of doubt.

"Is that Mike?"

"It's me! Wait a minute! Don't touch the Tri-Wizard Cup, it's been tampered with!"

When Harry found out that the person coming was Mike, a smile immediately appeared on his face, but the second half of Mike's words made Harry's smile freeze.

"You're not kidding, are you?"

Harry asked uncertainly, his eyes constantly moving between the Triwizard Cup and the rapidly approaching Mike, and finally he slowly took a few steps back.

Mike breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Harry was subconsciously more willing to believe in him. He was truly a kind little angel!

Thinking of this for the first time, Mike ran quickly towards the Tri-Power Cup. With his current speed, it only took him a few seconds to cross the 100-meter distance.

But at this moment, accompanied by the whistling of the wind, a beam of pale green light shot towards Mike!

Mike's pupils suddenly shrank into a small dot. This attack was so sudden that he had no time to cast a spell at all.

Fortunately, Mike had never slacked off in his physical training. Relying on his strong physical strength, Mike managed to force himself to turn sideways at the critical moment and brushed past the green light that was filled with danger. However, due to his too fast speed, Mike was thrown out by inertia and slid on the ground for a long time before he stopped.

"Harry! Don't believe him! He just wants to be the champion!" Hagrid, holding a wand and with a ferocious expression, walked out from the shadows and came to Harry. He was still wearing the flannel vest. "Hurry up and pick up the Triwizard Cup! As long as you pick up that trophy, you will be the champion of the Triwizard Tournament!"

This sudden scene frightened Harry. He bit his fingers and watched this incredible scene with wide eyes.

After hearing what Hagrid said, Harry's face was filled with surprise. He waved his arms and shouted at Hagrid:
"You don't have to do this at all, Hagrid! Mike is my best friend. If he wants the championship, then I'll give it to him! Oh my God! Mike must be hurt. Let's go help him!"

After saying that, Harry wanted to run towards Mike, but Hagrid's big hand grabbed him tightly, preventing him from moving at all.

"You're hurting me, Hagrid! Let go..."

"He's not Hagrid. Hagrid's wand is hidden in that umbrella, isn't it?" Mike slowly got up from the ground and said expressionlessly, "Besides, he just used the Killing Curse on me, Harry, do you really think that a good guy like Hagrid would use a spell like the Killing Curse to attack me?"

Hearing this, Harry instinctively stopped struggling. He stared at Hagrid who was holding his arm, as if trying to determine whether Mike's words were true or false.

In response to Harry's horrified gaze, Hagrid laughed grimly.

(End of this chapter)