Outside the castle shrouded in white mist, Evans floated in the air, his robes billowing gently around him. Nearby, Professor Flitwick sat astride his broom, watching the events inside the castle with gleeful fascination.
The mist couldn't block their vision at all. They could see everything happening within as clearly as if watching through crystal.
Watching the young witches and wizards climbing to their feet and looking around in bewildered confusion, Evans smiled with deep satisfaction.
"So, what do you think? My idea's not bad, right?" He gestured proudly at the scene below. "Triggering Portkeys together with the Shrinking Charm completely disguises the feeling of being shrunk. Now they can experience my puzzle in a much more immersive way!"
No awkward shrinking sensation, no obvious magical transport. Just the seamless illusion of arriving in a fog-covered Hogwarts.
Flitwick's high-pitched voice rang with genuine admiration. "Brilliant! If it were me and I hadn't been warned beforehand, I wouldn't realise I'd been shrunk at all. I'd just think I'd truly arrived in a foggy Hogwarts castle."
"This is so much more engaging than just shrinking them directly and telling them to get on with it."
As the two professors discussed the mechanics, the students inside were gradually recovering from their Portkey transport, beginning to explore the castle, identical to Hogwarts in every detail, together with their magical creature partners.
Through a window ahead, Evans spotted Cedric with a Bowtruckle perched on his shoulder. The tiny wooden creature extended its slim arms ahead like a pale green net, every twig-finger alert for possible danger. Cedric moved forward with his wand ready, bent low and cautious, clearly taking the threat seriously.
Floating to another window, Evans watched Hufflepuff prefect Della following a particularly stubborn Bowtruckle. The magical creature was leading the way while Della looked utterly helpless, clearly struggling with her companion's independent streak.
"You really should stand behind me, Kaka," Della pleaded, voice strained with worry. "I can protect you from whatever's out there."
The Bowtruckle let out a high-pitched squeak of defiance, shaking its tiny fist and marching ahead like a wilful child determined to prove its worth.
Evans chuckled warmly. Being able to win a Bowtruckle's heartfelt protection proved Della's promise, just as both he and Newt had predicted.
Elsewhere, he caught the sound of Ron's increasingly irritated voice drifting through the mist.
"Stop pulling my hair! Can't you scout ahead instead of treating me like a bloody pony?"
Peering through another window, Evans saw Ron's iron-grey pixie riding triumphantly on his head, gleefully yanking fistfuls of red hair as if commanding a war horse. Ron, meanwhile, trudged forward with the resigned gloom of a conscripted servant, muttering under his breath.
Poor Ron. At least his partner's enthusiastic.
Suddenly, Flitwick exclaimed from his broom nearby, his voice pitched with excitement.
"Harry's already found the first 'bonfire'!"
Following Flitwick's gaze, Evans smirked knowingly. "Of course he has. Last term, they cracked those exact challenges right there. Harry happened to start near that bonfire. It'd be stranger if he didn't look there first!"
But his expression grew more serious as he added, "My puzzles this time are nothing like last term's, though. Much more collaborative."
A moment later, Evans' face twisted with amused exasperation.
It seemed this puzzle's story NPC was having some... technical difficulties.
"You don't know anything, meow?"
Standing before the enormous orange cat, the little black cat bounced anxiously on her paws, hoping desperately for useful clues. But the massive feline only let out two lazy meows, completely shattering all her hopes for guidance.
Thoroughly demoralised, the little black cat slunk back to Harry, tail drooping. "He says his only instructions are to lie here and act energetic when someone arrives, and he'll get tasty food when the assessment ends."
So much for helpful NPCs.
"But how do we actually get his puzzle then?" Harry asked, confusion evident in his voice.
"No idea, meow... wander around and try random things?"
Harry nodded and stepped forward experimentally. Suddenly, a deep, profoundly emotional voice emerged from the direction of the big orange cat. The stirring emotion didn't seem to match the bewildered expression on the cat's sleepy face at all.
"My name is Big Orange, once a proud warrior of my tribe," the voice intoned with tragic gravitas.
Our cat kin once lived carefree lives, but it was all destroyed by war!
The voice swelled with epic drama while the giant orange cat yawned sleepily, clearly having no connection to the heroic narration.
"Endless mist disrupted our peaceful lives. Monsters lurking in the mist slew most of our kin, casting the survivors adrift like leaves in a storm!"
Our home, destroyed by the cursed mist; our hearts filled with burning hatred. Generation after generation, we struggled and finally invented a device to withstand the fog's deadly effects!
The narration grew increasingly tragic and epic... but the orange cat yawned again and, apparently finding the Cat King completely uninteresting, curled up into a massive furry ball and began snoring loudly, even as the stirring speech continued to echo around them.
Harry: "..."
He glanced at the little black cat, who was now covering her face with both paws in acute embarrassment at her comrade's complete lack of professionalism.
Sadly, these protective devices only work inside our bodies, so we cannot leave our safe zones. But besides them, we've crafted powerful magical tools and some precious sealed fragments!
If you can solve the elders' ancient puzzles, you'll earn these valuable items, even the seal fragments themselves. Use them wisely to reseal the mist and save your world!
The stirring speech finally died down, leaving only the huge orange cat's rumbling snores. Suddenly, an ornate mirror materialised nearby with a soft chime.
"So this is Professor Kahn's actual puzzle?" Harry mused aloud, genuinely curious.
He approached the mirror carefully, immediately noticing it was completely different from the Mirror of Erised. Instead of showing reflections, it displayed an overhead view of an intricate maze, like looking down at a complex board game.
As Harry watched, fascinated, the maze's pieces suddenly scrambled themselves into 35 separate blocks, leaving a single blank slot at the bottom right corner.
The mirror spoke in a perfectly neutral voice, emotionless as clockwork:
"You have ten minutes. Assemble the maze correctly and locate the missing maze fragment somewhere nearby."
A bright ten-minute countdown appeared, numbers glowing ominously.
Harry's mind immediately kicked into analytical mode, processing the challenge's requirements.
Ten minutes. I definitely can't finish assembling this entire maze AND search the corridor for the missing fragment by myself. This has to be designed as a team challenge.
"So you'll have to find the last maze piece somewhere in the corridor while I rebuild the maze pattern before you return," he said, turning to address the little black cat.
Looking directly at his feline partner, Harry grinned confidently. "I'm counting on you!"
She puffed up with pride, confidently tapping her chest with one paw. "Leave it to me, meow!" Then she promptly vanished into her invisible state.
"Alright then, I'll leave the searching to you," Harry called after her retreating form, then turned his full attention to the mirror maze.
Nine minutes remaining. Better get started.
His hands moved to the first puzzle piece, his mind already working through possible patterns and solutions.