From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

Another bubble burst.

Chapter 489 The Competition Begins

"Today, we'll do one last check on the track, then another check on the dangerous creatures to be introduced, and finally one last check on the personnel. Then the race can officially begin."

The maze, imbued with various protective magic spells, is finally taking shape. Tonight, all sorts of dangerous and magical creatures will be introduced in preparation for tomorrow's competition.

This was also the first time William had inspected all the measures since the site began construction—after being freed from teaching fifth graders and the time-killing tools of Felix Felicis, he finally had time to attend to other things.

“Professor William,” Lupin asked, puzzled, as he cast a destructive spell to test the maze’s strength, “Your Felix Felicis is finished and you’ve sent out quite a few, but I always get the feeling you’re not very happy—is there some kind of problem with the fifth-year exams?”

"No, not really—the students' results are expected to be similar to last year's."

As William answered Lupin, he carefully used magic to test the magical properties of the ground. "I'm just feeling a bit sentimental. With the graduation exams over, another batch of students will be leaving."

“That’s true,” Lupin said with a knowing smile. “But the real problem for us is when students don’t grow. It’s already wonderful to see them grow up, leave school, and choose their own careers, isn’t it?”

William smiled but didn't give a direct answer—he really didn't know how to explain to Lupin how absurd it was that more than half of the emotion cards he'd collected from the fifth-graders were in a state of fear…

This is even more unacceptable than Felix Felicis not improving your gacha pulls at all...

'Was I too fierce this year...? Why are all these students so scared, like little quails...'

While inwardly cursing, he grinned mischievously as he pried open a sturdy wall, revealing a dead end on the other side—a move that initially surprised Moody and Lupin, but they immediately copied him with great enthusiasm.

Lupin began setting up powerful traps after destroying half of the wall, while Moody started setting up hidden traps that would sound alarms in secluded corners where people could easily hide.

"Hurry up, add some more interesting parts. After tonight's final protective magic is cast, it will be impossible to add traps!"

William not only didn't stop the two, but instead jokingly urged them to use their imaginations and try to leave a deep impression on the warriors.

In a three-way battle for supremacy, how can anyone determine which side is the strongest without a direct confrontation?

The more difficult the track, the more exciting the race—every professor knows the scenes of those warriors training hard, so how could they let the race end before the results of their hard work are displayed?

During the three's enthusiastic discussion, the number of traps originally planned increased by more than a third, and the setup time was delayed by half an hour.

After William and his group left the maze, Bagman, who had been waiting impatiently, looked relieved. "Professors, you've finally come out—if we had dragged this out any longer, our magical creature for the competition might have been exposed."

"No rush... Let's examine the magical creature a little more..."

William and Lupin cheerfully dismissed Bagman, leaving a reluctant Moody to persuade the Ministry of Magic personnel present to undergo the necessary security checks.

-

"They can't find anything...they can't find anything at all..."

In Hufflepuff's common room, the fifth-year students, who had stayed up all night, despairingly threw down the intelligence they were holding—they had finally finished their grueling exams and were originally full of high spirits, wanting to make up for the contributions they had missed this year, but they couldn't find a single clue.

The large amount of animal food mixed together rendered the analytical method, which had played a crucial role in the first game, ineffective, and the topographical maps drawn up in the past few days were rendered useless by the facts presented by the professors.

There's no way around it—with the entrance to the maze changing every day, who would find a drawn-up map useful?

……

"What a pity, we didn't find a single clue..."

“No need for regrets, you guys have been a huge help to us,” Cedric hugged the classmate closest to him. “Besides, if we can’t find anything, then the other side can’t find anything either. If we’re on the same starting line, we have nothing to fear…”

"Just wait for us to bring back victory."

He waved and walked toward the empty classroom where they usually trained—as per the previously agreed-upon procedure, they would gather there one last time before heading to the competition.

-

"What a pity... Professor Snape strictly forbade us from using poison..."

"Yeah, if we could, we probably would have won without even having to play a match..."

"I've already said, poisoning someone outside the competition venue is absolutely unacceptable..."

Monta gestured for him to stop, "But inside the arena, a few simple snakes are enough..."

"Poisoning a snake? That's too..."

Another person couldn't help but ask—the difficulty of conjuring a venomous snake is definitely not on the same level as that of an ordinary snake. Even a top student in the second year can conjure an ordinary snake, but a venomous snake…

Moreover... snakes that are too venomous don't necessarily become more aggressive, but they might be considered black magic...

"Shh..."

Monta raised his finger triumphantly, "You'll see when the time comes."

-

"You're going to compete now, good luck!"

"Thank you, please watch our performance."

In the Ravenclaw common room, Nancy is receiving blessings from the other members of her college.

Although everyone speculated about the tactics the Warriors would use in Game 3, no one discussed the topic.

Everyone silently offered their blessings, then smiled and saw off their own academy's warriors—the conversation quickly veered to whether or not to go to Hufflepuff's place for a free meal and drinks while watching the game.

As for the game—if you still can't tell from your own Warriors' posture that she's confident and in control, then you might as well just sit outside the locker room and chat with the door knocker for a couple of days before making any decisions…

-

"Go Harry!"

Ron hugged Harry and then waved the support item in his left hand.

They worked overtime during their exam breaks to complete these tasks—especially the fifth graders, who, having escaped the clutches of exams, diligently took on most of the work.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Even if you fail, we'll always support you, Harry!"

As the twins came over to hug Harry, they whispered in his ear, "Of course, winning would be best—we've seen firsthand how hard you've worked!"

"good luck!"

The blessings from his friends filled Harry with confidence—and the scene reminded him of Quidditch matches at school, a familiar feeling that gave him even more confidence in winning.

"Watch me bring the trophy back."

Harry clenched his fist and then walked resolutely toward the empty classroom.

...

"Hey, what are you looking at...?"

"Yeah, that's right. Keep it up, and take care of yourself."

"That's all for now. I have to go back to the academy. Professor Flitwick said we should gather together to cheer on the warriors..."

After a hug and a kiss, Qiu smiled, waved, and ran off.

Harry was almost at the empty classroom they had agreed upon. He waved to Cho and walked resolutely toward the classroom.

-

"Personnel checks confirmed, space lockdown confirmed, props checked."

In the large office, three professors lay on rocking chairs, none of them wanting to move.

"Fortunately, we have the latest tracking system, which makes judging the score no longer a problem—otherwise, we might have to figure out who was the first to grab the trophy."

"We can't just follow the Ministry of Magic's suggestion and turn the trophy into a Portkey. Who knows what might happen if we rashly remove the teleportation restrictions in that area?"

William yawned. "It's settled then. Warriors, shall we begin to assemble? — Have you verified your identities and checked for any external magic interference?"

"No, I'll go and get it..."

Lupin lazily got up. "I almost forgot about this. What if the warriors were controlled by dark magic and suddenly turned against us, or the Polyjuice Potion failed halfway through and they turned into us or someone from another school? That would be too embarrassing..."

"No, it's just a matter of prevention..."

As William fumbled for the potion and handed it to Lupin, he added, "This was just me talking nonsense; how could such a thing possibly happen..."

-

“How could this happen! Professor Lupin—I know your basic qualities as a former hitter, but how could our Warriors be replaced right under their professor’s nose?”

Bagman waved his arms, his face saying, "Don't be ridiculous."

"The match starts in half an hour. It's a bit much for you to be checking whether the Warriors are disguised or controlled..."

He couldn't find the right words to describe Lupin's actions for the time being. "To be honest, Professor Lupin, if we were to conduct an inspection rashly, it would cause an international dispute."

"Think about it. The winning school certainly won't say anything, but what if they lose? Won't they make excuses like the potions we provided were faulty and affected their players' performance?"

"So it won't work, it definitely won't work, Professor Lupin."

Bagman shook his head as if under some kind of curse, blocking Lupin from conducting this dangerous examination.

The other members of the judging panel quickly noticed something was wrong and they walked over, chatting and laughing.

"what happened?"

Dumbledore looked at Lupin with a smile. "Is there anything else, Remus?"

"I'd like to have some necessary tests done—this is the medication."

As Lupin spoke, he took out the two potions used for testing and showed them to everyone.

"A very professional medicine..."

Principal Ivamoni glanced at what Lupin was holding and gave it high praise, "Then let's check it... Is there anything we can't check?"

"Go ahead and check, but the Hogwarts students also need to be checked..."

Mrs. Maxim glanced at the medicine but offered no objection.

And so the resolution was passed.

-

"Quiet, quiet."

In the stands where Gryffindor was located, Professor McGonagall looked at the pile of support items without any sign of anger, and smiled as she looked at the bonfire in front of her—when the match started, everything would be displayed on it.

Fred and George felt an itch inside them, like tiny insects were crawling all over them, but they managed to restrain themselves and watch the game from the stands.

"What's that? Why did Professor Lupin go there?"

The unusual event on the field caught the attention of almost everyone. On the side of the assembled warriors, Lupin stood in the middle and began spraying potions on each of the Hogwarts warriors one by one.