HP: Wormwood and Lightning Wood

Ludo Bagman led four warriors onto the Quidditch pitch.

The place has completely changed. A hedge nearly 20 feet high has enclosed the edge of the site.

The Quidditch pitch had been transformed into a vast maze, with only one narrow entrance. The entrance was pitch black, fueling the imagination of dangerous monsters and traps hidden within.

Harry and his friends waited at the entrance for a while, and then the students from the Great Hall gradually entered the stands, filling them to capacity.

At the same time, the referee entered the field, but unlike before, West's position was replaced by Fudge.

Harry's gaze involuntarily drifted toward West.

Wester was completely immersed in the green sea of ​​Slytherin. He observed Barty Crouch Jr.'s every move without making a sound.

Draco sat next to West, looking somewhat nervous. He tried to appear calm, and squeezed the door key in his pocket through the fabric.

Draco was to cooperate with West in staging a scene, personally delivering him to Voldemort.

The unsuspecting students were caught up in the excitement of the upcoming match, with only a few knowing that they were about to face Voldemort head-on for the first time.

Professor McGonagall walked over to the four warriors. "If you encounter difficulties, shoot red sparks into the sky, and we will come to help you. But this also means giving up the competition, understand?"

Harry snapped out of his daze and nodded along with the other four warriors.

"Good luck, warriors!" Ludo Bagman said cheerfully.

The order in which you enter the maze is determined by the total score ranking of the first two sections.

The four warriors dispersed to different parts of the maze, waiting for Bagman to announce the start of the match.

A whistle blew, startling the birds roosting in the Forbidden Forest. Harry responded and was the first to rush into the maze.

We have to thank Hermione for her foresight; she forced Harry to learn the Direction Charm, and Harry only needed to say "Give me directions" for his wand to tell him where north was.

Harry kept running frantically in the northwest direction, because that was where the center of the maze was.

Strangely, he traveled smoothly without encountering any obstacles.

Harry remembered what West had said: "It won't be difficult for you to win, Harry. You're strong enough to fight the magical creatures in the dungeon, and—"

West shrugged. "Trust me, Crouch will do everything he can to clear the way for you."

Thinking of this, Harry quickened his pace.

As he rounded a corner, Harry finally heard some noise. He calmly raised his wand, assuming a defensive stance.

A huge monster wearing a black hood suddenly appeared and approached Harry, its familiar stench of decay assaulting his face.

Dementors?

Harry frowned. No, that's not right. The Ministry of Magic wouldn't dare put Dementors in the competition, so this is... a Boggart.

"Hilarious!" Harry quickly cast a spell, reverting the Dementor to its original form, which exploded with a bang and turned into a wisp of smoke.

That's way too easy!

Harry yelled inwardly. So far, most of his spells hadn't worked a single thing.

Harry ran almost nonstop toward the next corner.

Immediately afterwards, a cloud of golden mist appeared in front of him.

This is magic that Harry has never seen before.

Harry cautiously stopped and tried to dispel the golden mist with an Icebound Charm or a Shattered Bone Charm, but unfortunately it was no use.

The spell passed through the golden mist and landed on the hedge behind, shattering a large patch of vegetation. The golden mist still floated there, as if mocking Harry's overestimation of his abilities.

Just then, Harry heard a scream, "Ah—"

"Hibiscus?!" Harry called out, but no one answered him.

Harry was almost certain Fleur was in danger. He cast an armor charm on himself and stepped into the golden mist without hesitation.

The next second, the world spun around, and Harry was hanging upside down in the air, with a vast and boundless starry sky below.

An illusion. Harry took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and used all his strength to pull his bound right foot free.

The next second, he landed on solid grass, and the golden mist landed behind him—he passed through the golden mist successfully.

Once again, Harry heard Fleur's sobbing. He followed the sound and saw Fleur being dragged little by little into the hedge by vines.

"Crush to pieces!" Harry smashed the vines and quickly knelt down to check on Fleur, only to find that she had fallen into a coma.

Harry had no choice but to help Fleur launch the red spark.

Fleur was attacked. Harry was certain of that; otherwise, given Fleur's abilities, she wouldn't have been so entangled by several devil vines that she couldn't break free.

"Barty Crouch Jr., what have you done?" Harry murmured, puzzled. He had a feeling he was getting closer and closer to the trophy.

Harry was a little out of breath. He had been running for quite a while without taking a break, nor did he intend to give himself one.

He needs to go faster, faster! Cedric and Krum are both formidable opponents, and he has to give it his all.

Harry continued down the path, and soon a huge Blasttail blocked his way.

Harry was speechless. He recognized Hagrid's handiwork at a glance; he might have even fed this Blasttail Snail when it was a kitten.

However, it was clear that the Blasttail had turned on Harry. It fired a burst of flame from its tail at him first.

Harry rolled away from the flames. "Freeze Away the Thousand Miles!"

Harry's wand tip shot out a ball of icy blue light, striking the unprotected abdomen of the Blasttail. Thin ice spread along its skin to its entire body, briefly immobilizing it.

While the Bombshell was struggling, Harry ran right past it.

"What are you doing?!" A shout made Harry stop in his tracks. It was Cedric's voice. Then came a painful groan.

Following the sound, Harry used two Shattered Bones to break a hole in the hedge separating him and Cedric, and crawled through.

The scene before him shocked him. Cedric lay on the ground, his body trembling uncontrollably, as if enduring a sharp pain.

Krum stood to the side, looking down at Cedric with a blank expression.

"Knock out!" Harry didn't hesitate to kick Krum, who collapsed to the ground. Harry then pulled Cedric up and fired a red spark into the sky.

Cedric watched Harry's smooth, familiar movements. "Harry, thank you... but you're just sending him away like that?"

"He can't continue the game, can he?" Harry said.

Cedric nodded, looking dazed, then his face showed confusion. "Has he gone mad? He used the Unforgivable Curse on me."

"He's under the Imperius Curse, Cedric," Harry explained quickly. "He's probably the one who attacked Fleur."

All of this was the work of Barty Crouch Jr.

Harry had almost figured it all out. Barty Jr. had not only tampered with the maze's traps and mechanisms, but he also wanted to use Krum to eliminate the other heroes, leaving only Harry Potter alive.

Harry gave a cold laugh. He could see Voldemort's urgency.

While Cedric hesitated for a moment, Harry continued walking. Guided by the orientation charm, he was already very close to the center.

Now his only competitor was Cedric, Harry thought. He had to get there before Cedric; he absolutely couldn't let Cedric touch the trophy.

Outside the maze, the students anxiously awaited the final result.

Fleur and Krum were rescued by the professor one after the other, and Karkaroff turned pale.

The students at Hogwarts breathed a sigh of relief; regardless of whether Harry or Cedric won the Triwizard Tournament, the trophy ultimately belonged to Hogwarts.

West checked the time and guessed that Harry would soon receive the trophy.

He and Snape exchanged a glance across their faces. Snape pouted in displeasure, but still nodded. They had agreed that Snape must stay at Hogwarts to help Dumbledore capture Barty Crouch Jr.

Snape could tell that West was doing everything he could to avoid meeting Voldemort.

Snape was never someone who needed protection. He was a brilliant Potions Master, exceptionally gifted in Dark Magic, and someone who had truly faced Voldemort. He was not at all weak.

But West always seemed overly sensitive, treating him like a fragile piece of jade.

Overprotection stems from an excessive fear deep within—a fear of loss, a fear of repeating past mistakes. Snape understands that the truly sensitive and vulnerable person is never himself, but West.

Snape stood still, gripping his wand tightly.

Since this is what West wants, he is willing to stay here.