Harry was now regretting not having read more Herbology books in his spare time. There were so many things along the way that he didn't recognise.
But now wasn't the time for complaints. Twenty minutes had passed since he entered the ruins, and he still hadn't found the right path.
Leaving an arrow mark on the nearby wall, Harry used Transfiguration to create a simple backpack and stuffed the nearly overflowing materials from his pockets into it before pressing onward.
...
As time passed, the champions gradually inched closer to the centre through continuous trial and error.
At the heart of the ruins where Wayne was, there was a direct passage leading outside—the exit.
Apart from Vladimir and Buso, the other champions had also begun encountering each other.
Cassandra and Sakura crossed paths, exchanging only a brief nod before parting ways.
Harry ran into Krum, both instantly wary of the other.
Krum, looking down at Harry, who was a head shorter, hesitated over whether to rob him.
Sensing the danger, Harry raised his wand defensively.
In the end, Krum decided against it—perhaps because Harry seemed too poor to be worth the trouble, or the consequences outweighed the gains.
The two chose separate paths and moved on.
The roars of magical beasts grew more frequent. As they neared the core area, the danger posed by magical creatures and dark beings intensified.
Fleur was chased by three Graphorns for a full five hundred metres before stumbling upon a swarm of Murtlaps—at least a hundred of them.
A single fire spell later, half were dead, and the rest fled. But when she opened the wooden box, all she found was a bezoar, sending the half-Veela into a furious, high-pitched scream.
"Who the hell designed these challenges?! Are they trying to kill us?!"
"Achoo!"
Wayne, who had nearly dozed off, sneezed and jolted awake, instinctively checking the map.
"Huh? Ran into a Unicorn?"
...
In the western region, Buso and Vladimir tensed as they faced Hestia and Diana.
When it came to Unicorns, if you couldn't afford to provoke them, it was best not to.
Though they appeared pure and holy, they were essentially walking porcupines. A single misstep, and if their blood splattered into your mouth, you'd be done for.
But... the reward was too tempting!
Originally, both had been ready to leave. But as Diana playfully nudged the box with her horn, it accidentally tore open, revealing the herb inside.
Invisibility Grass!
No need to brew it into a potion—just eating it raw granted half an hour of invisibility.
Vladimir and Buso's eyes instantly turned red.
They had to have it!
With Invisibility Grass, wouldn't they be unstoppable in the later stages of the tournament?
Sensing their hostility, Hestia and Diana grew alert. Diana's hooves pawed restlessly at the ground, ready to charge at any moment.
"Wait!" Buso quickly raised his hands to show he meant no harm.
He knew Unicorns possessed extremely high intelligence and could understand human speech, so he asked directly:
"As long as we pass the test, we can take the Invisibility Grass, right? We don't actually have to defeat you."
If they had to defeat two Unicorns to obtain the box, he'd decided to abandon the idea, no matter how tempting the Invisibility Grass's effects might be.
"Mm~" Hestia nodded gently - Wayne had indeed said as much.
The two men's expressions brightened. Vladimir asked gruffly, "So what's the test then?"
Diana stepped aside, revealing a lotus leaf behind her laden with vegetables, beef, assorted fruits and seasonings – a complete spread.
Vladimir felt a sinking sensation. "You're not expecting me to cook for you, are you?"
Diana let out a cheerful cry.
"But I can't cook!" Vladimir wailed, while Buso's face lit up.
"No problem, I can."
"You really can?"
"The food at Uagadou is awful. My friends and I often cook for ourselves." Buso never imagined his culinary skills would come in handy during a competition.
"What about the Invisibility Herb?" Vladimir eyed the shattered wooden box containing only a single sprig.
Buso said matter-of-factly, "Since I'm cooking, it's mine, of course."
Vladimir looked resentful. He pulled a flask from his robe pocket. "I can't cook, but I've got alcohol. Can I trade this?"
The two Unicorns stared at him with large, clear eyes. Though their gaze held no particular meaning, he felt an unmistakable disdain and sheepishly put the flask away.
Buso set to work eagerly, using Transfiguration to turn a rock into a cauldron before starting a fire.
Half an hour later.
A pot of black, gluey sludge sat before them.
Vladimir was silent.
The Unicorns were silent.
Hestia and Diana instinctively took two steps back at the sight of the fumes rising from it.
"What the hell is this?" Vladimir voiced the question on everyone's mind.
"Beef stew."
"Where's the beef? The vegetables you just put in?"
"It's all boiled down." Buso saw nothing wrong, scooping a taste with a spoon and smiling blissfully before turning to the Unicorns.
"Go on, eat up. Then you'll give me the Invisibility Herb, right?" he asked hopefully.
Diana shook her head frantically and kicked the herb straight to Buso.
Neither she nor her mother were touching that horrifying concoction.
"This counts?" Vladimir gaped. If this was the standard, he could've done it too.
Buso tucked the Invisibility Herb into his robes, overjoyed, and clapped his hands. "Let's go."
"Hold on."
Vladimir, unconvinced, conjured a spoon and took a sip of the 'stew'.
His face immediately turned green.
...
Time ticked by, and before long, an hour had passed.
Finally, at the one-hour-and-fifteen-minute mark, the first contestant arrived before Wayne.
It was Krum again. At the sight of Wayne lying there, he recalled their earlier encounter and retreated hastily.
"Relax." Wayne didn't even open his eyes, gesturing to the passage behind him. "Exit through there, and it's over. You can choose to leave or keep exploring."
"I'm leaving."
Wayne finally opened his eyes, surprised. "Then leave. Why tell me?"
Krum's eyebrow twitched violently, and he walked out without another word.
The judges waited outside. With no students emerging for over an hour, some Headmasters were growing anxious.
But the moment Krum appeared, Karkaroff—who had been pacing fretfully—broke into a delighted grin."Viktor, congratulations on coming in first."
He strode forward and gave his star pupil an enthusiastic hug. "No serious injuries, I hope?"
"None." Krum shook his head lightly, not appearing overly pleased about being the first to emerge.
He'd sacrificed too many treasures, and the potions he'd retrieved couldn't be combined into anything worthwhile. One might say he'd gained nothing but points.
Karkaroff cared little for such details, interrogating him closely about his experiences inside the ruins while the other Headmasters pricked up their ears.
All the arrangements within had been made by the Ministry of Magic - even they hadn't known what to expect.
The account proved rather dull, given Krum had spent most of his time hurrying from place to place.
When they heard how Wayne had sent Krum back to the starting point, Karkaroff trembled with rage while the other Headmasters chuckled.
Fontaine remarked bluntly, "Professor Karkaroff, Durmstrang's cultural education needs some work. Even six-year-old Muggle children would know how to answer such a simple story."
Karkaroff snorted coldly, ignoring the jibes. "Viktor, get some rest. You're already at least ten points ahead of the others."
An hour and a half had passed, yet he remained the only champion to emerge.
This had the other Headmasters frowning.
After such delays, no matter how precious the treasures, shouldn't they be more concerned about scoring?
Little did they know - it wasn't that the champions didn't want to emerge.
They were being blocked!
...
BOOM!
The earthen wall shattered as the massive bronze armour swung its greatsword, cleaving through every obstacle in its path - even the Ministry workers' carefully constructed barriers stood no chance.
The reunited Cedric and Harry sprinted desperately, terrified the enormous blade might find their backs.
They'd initially turned to fire off spells, but when their attacks failed to leave so much as a scratch, they'd resorted to simply running for their lives.
"Is this thing insane? How far is it going to chase us?" Harry panted between strides.
He'd previously deduced that magical creatures and guardians would only pursue within set boundaries - escape their territory and they'd give up.
Yet this oversized construct had chased him through three streets already!
Cedric rolled his eyes. He wanted to swear but lacked the spare breath.
His was the worst luck - peacefully searching for an exit when Harry came barrelling through with the monster in tow, turning a solo escape into a duet.
"Stupefy!"
A sharp cry came from the left front. Harry and Cedric exchanged glances, instantly understanding each other's thoughts, and altered their fleeing course.
Two minutes later, they encountered Fleur, whose face paled at the sight of the pursuing bronze colossus:
"Don't come this way!"
"Miss Delacour, help!" Harry shouted, but Fleur had no attention to spare, her long legs already carrying her away at speed.
She wasn't foolish - if this monster had two champions running scared, adding a third would make little difference...
Thus, two became three, then four, then five.
The closer they got to the centre, the higher their chances of encountering other competitors.
Buso and Vladimir initially tried to resist, relying on their numerical advantage, but after being effortlessly kicked several metres away by the statue, they quickly sobered up.
Thus, apart from Sakura and Krum, the other six champions found themselves cornered in a dead end by the bronze statues.
Everyone wore expressions of utter despair.
Why were these guardians so terrifying? Their magic resistance was even more formidable than a dragon's.
Cedric was about to fire magical fireworks to summon the judges for help when suddenly, the statue halted.
"Squeak!"
An eerie sound emitted from within the armour. Fleur's ears twitched—it sounded oddly familiar.
After a few more squeaks, a black furry ball wriggled out from the statue's eye socket.
"Jerry?!"
Both Fleur and Cassandra immediately recognised the little creature.
No doubt about it—a Niffler this plump could only be Wayne's Jerry. There was virtually no chance of a second one existing in the world.
"Squeak! Squeak!"
Jerry nimbly landed on the statue's boot. Fleur sighed exasperatedly and bent down to look at it:
"You little rascal, chasing me all this way—are you trying to exhaust me to death?"
"Squeak! Squeak!"
Jerry chattered animatedly, but no one present understood Niffler language, leaving everyone utterly baffled.
Until it reached into its belly pouch and pulled out a vial of Phoenix tears, clutching it proudly.
Everyone gasped in astonishment.
"Is this the treasure you're guarding?" Fleur asked in amazement. Jerry nodded its tiny head.
"Hand it over." The girl's eyes gleamed as she reached for it, but the Niffler deftly dodged, and the armour's massive sword rose threateningly.
"You actually thought Wayne would give you special treatment during the tournament?" Cassandra sneered. "This bronze statue is clearly part of the challenge."
Fleur snorted. "Oh, so clever. Why don't you dismantle this statue then?"
"Impossible. I don't have that capability."
"Then why mock me? You're no better off."
The two girls bickered relentlessly, much to the exasperation of the male champions.
Ladies, could you perhaps read the room?
If that giant sword above us slips even slightly, we'll all be turned into mincemeat.
Jerry, too, grew irritated. Finally getting a chance to earn some side income, only to be completely ignored.
The little creature scampered between them, interrupting Fleur and Cassandra's squabble.
It placed the Phoenix tears on the ground, then produced a gold coin from its pouch. After waving it before everyone, Jerry stuffed it back inside.
Recognising this familiar routine, Harry blurted out reflexively:
"You want money?"
"Squeak!"
Jerry regarded him approvingly.
Excellent. This was the kind of perceptive young wizard it appreciated.
Far brighter than its mistress.
Cedric's expression turned complicated. "Truly Wayne's pet... This shameless money-grubbing attitude is carved from the same mould."
The others fell silent.
They were all reminded of that painful memory before the first task—paying two hundred Galleons each just to see the dragons.
Fleur coaxed gently, "Jerry, I don't have money on me now. How about I pay you back later?"
"Consider it an IOU."
"Same here," Cassandra added competitively.
Jerry shook its tiny head firmly and hugged the vial tighter.
Seeing its resolve, Fleur reluctantly removed her silver hairpin studded with two diamonds.
The Niffler's little eyes lit up, and it reached out to grab them, but Cassandra took off her bracelet and earrings as well.
Now the Niffler hesitated again.
The others also began making their 'offers'.
Vladimir took out all five Galleons he had on him, Cedric offered ten, and as for Buso... he was so poor he only had about a dozen Sickles.
The two hundred Galleons he'd spent last time to see the dragons had been pooled together by the Uagadou students, and he still owed them a pile of debt.
No one had told him participating in the tournament would be this expensive.
Finally, everyone turned to look at Harry.
Harry smiled and pulled out a dragon-hide wallet with an air of extravagance, pouring out its contents – a full hundred Galleons.
The coins clinked crisply as they hit the floor.
Fleur gasped.
"Potter, why on earth did you bring so much money to a competition?"
Harry gazed wistfully at the pile of gold. "You'd have to ask Wayne about that. These days, I feel utterly insecure without a decent amount of cash on me."
"Sometimes I feel like even though the wallet's mine, the money inside already belongs to Wayne."
"See? It's come in handy now."
The others: "..."