Chapter 254: That's My Son!
A collective gasp swept through the audience.
Some wizards, especially those from old wizarding families, had never interacted with Muggle society in their lives, let alone watched their television, as if Muggles were dangerous creatures emitting poisonous gas.
Now, seeing the giant, wall-sized Streaming Mirror displaying the maze's interior, they were mesmerized.
Even Muggle-born Young Wizards had never seen such a large screen before, and the image was as clear as looking into a mirror.
Some even thought the wall had been magically removed and went to the side of the Streaming Mirror to see if there was a hole behind it. Seeing only dense bushes and leaves, they looked genuinely shocked.
Though the competition hadn't officially begun, the audience's excitement was fully ignited.
Soon after, several other enlarged Streaming Mirrors began to show different parts of the maze. The scenery within appeared almost life-sized, so close that people felt they could smell the fragrance of the plants.
From the Two-Way Mirror in the center came a "hissing" sound.
The enlarged Ball Python was coiled up, like a giant conch shell, with black and white patterns on its skin and a bitter-melon-shaped head hidden in the center of its body.
Some people who were afraid of snakes jumped up in alarm, hastily retreating a few steps, feeling goosebumps all over.
Meanwhile, in the center of the maze, the Ball Python looked at the strange, daring Magic Golem bird in front of it and flicked its tongue.
It had just eaten its fill, so it didn't want to bother with this little thing that wasn't even enough to get stuck in its teeth.
To the audience, this looked like the giant python was giving them a threatening look, making their legs almost buckle with fear.
Then, they heard other voices—
"Are you all ready? We should go!"
"Of course."
In the mirror on the left, several young Wizards appeared.
They seemed oblivious to the audience, not glancing their way once, simply talking among themselves.
"Alright. Just as we discussed—I'll scout ahead, Betty will keep watch, Bryan and Chad get ready to cast Spells, Carol will memorize the route, Avery will bring up the rear, and Buck—"
The boy speaking was tall and handsome, and he seemed to command authority, with all the other children clustered around him.
Amos Diggory excitedly told those around him:
"That's my son, Cedric! Do you see him? That's my son! Go, Cedric!"
He shouted loudly at the person in the mirror, naturally receiving no response.
Another boy said with a grin:
"I've got the Dungbombs and Jumping Eggs ready. If we encounter enemies, I'll throw them first to distract them."
He made a throwing gesture, holding a Dungbomb in one hand, with several green, sweet-potato-like objects hanging from his waist.
A wave of good-natured laughter rippled through the audience.
"What's a Jumping Egg?" someone asked.
"You don't know? It's a new invention by the Weasley brothers, a small thing that bounces around and screams loudly."
Another student replied.
"Most of the competing teams bought them," someone else added. "They say it helps save valuable time."
"...But aren't they competing themselves?"
"That's why the Slytherin team rarely buys them—they're worried the Weasleys might tamper with them."
At this moment, Wade was talking to the "technicians" from Aslan's Magic Workshop.
"It's best to only amplify the sound from one mirror at a time," he said. "Having three sounds at once is a bit too chaotic."
"That's easy."
The bearded Colliver said. He pulled out his short Wand and pointed it at the mirrors, and the jumbled sounds instantly became clear.
Colliver was the main person in charge of the Magic Workshop this time. He was even shorter than Professor Flitwick, and his iron-brown beard was a tangled mess.
Wade suspected he might have Goblin or dwarf blood, but out of politeness, he didn't ask.
To communicate more easily, the group simply sat cross-legged on the ground, able to see the side of the audience stands with a glance.
"Also, we don't need to film the Ball Python for now. Pan the camera around here..."
Wade drew a range and said:
"Let everyone know what challenges the contestants will face, and then focus on a few of the competing teams."
"Hmm," Colliver said. "That team earlier was great. I think they should make it to the end."
"Don't just focus on those who succeed."
Wade said, "Leave two mirrors for the failures—audiences will be just as happy watching others suffer."
Although only three mirrors were visible in the audience stands, Marchioni had actually placed over a dozen parent mirrors to film inside and outside the maze, and Colliver was deciding which footage to display.
After hearing Wade, he skeptically changed the focus of one of the mirrors to a few nervous, cowering young boys.
They were practically huddled together, cautiously moving forward with their Wands raised, completely unaware that an enlarged lizard was quietly following them.
The lizard suddenly shot out its tongue, sticking to the last boy in line and covering him in slime.
"Ah—"
The boy screamed as he was pulled backward, flying through the air.
It was only then that everyone noticed the sudden attack and started screaming in unison. After another person was dragged away by the lizard, they finally remembered to run.
Someone crashed headfirst into a nearby tree trunk, another got stuck between two large trees because they were too fat to squeeze through, and someone else, disoriented, stumbled right into a giant spiderweb, startling the half-man-sized spider within.
Laughter erupted from the audience stands in waves, the roaring amusement almost ceaseless. Cedric's team, in the center, was completely ignored.
Colliver gave Wade a thumbs-up, then intuitively understood the key to viral content.
He kept the main screen on the teams with a real chance at winning, switching between them, while the secondary screens on either side displayed the teams about to be eliminated.
Colliver had a "god's-eye view" and a sharp eye, always perfectly timing his cuts to show contestants just as they were about to encounter trouble, making the "live broadcast" look like a meticulously edited video.
He even assigned someone to handle the sound switching, so it wasn't just visuals, which would have halved the audience's enjoyment.
Magic made this aspect convenient too; no speakers or sound engineers were needed. A Spell could allow one person to do the work of ten.
Wade saw that the Streaming Mirror's picture was smooth and clear, and the sound wasn't distorted; it even picked up ambient sounds well.
He relaxed, then unobtrusively moved to the side.
Colliver broadcasted for a while, getting more and more skilled. Just as he was about to share his insights with Wade, he realized the person who had just been beside him was gone.
-----------
Machine Translation by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
Read ***+ original & fanfic translations in English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, or Русский
Or Translate for free at : https:// randomtranslator.com/translate
Join our Discord: https:// discord.com/invite/XXUR9nkjwa
-----------