Neville's sacrifice had finally made the remaining survivors understand the true nature of this merciless trial that Professor Watson had devised for them.
The glass walkway leading to the mysterious glowing object in the distance, that beacon of light floating in the cosmic void, consisted of sequential steps arranged in a deadly pattern.
Each step contained exactly two glass panels positioned side by side in parallel, appearing for all the world to be identical twins. One panel was real and solid, capable of supporting weight. The other was a deadly fake, a trap that would shatter on contact and send whoever stepped on it plummeting into elimination.
And there was absolutely no way to distinguish them by appearance alone. The survivors could only rely on pure luck, blind fortune to make their attempts.
Now only seven people remained from the original champion teams that had entered this challenge. If their luck was particularly terrible, they would only need to advance seven more steps, make seven wrong choices, before everyone met their doom and complete elimination from the competition.
Of course, simply gambling recklessly with their lives was the most foolish approach possible. Nobody with any sense or survival instinct would choose to do so.
"Could there be a shortcut?" Harry asked with deeply furrowed brows, his mind racing through possibilities.
"Perhaps another path we haven't discovered yet hidden somewhere in this space, or maybe there's some kind of clue here on the platform itself. You know how Professor Watson likes to leave subtle hints in the places most easily overlooked."
Hermione's brown eyes lit up with sudden hope at this suggestion.
"That's right, there's definitely that possibility! This could all be a test of our observation skills rather than pure luck. We just need to find what he's hidden!"
And so, driven by desperate hope and the unwillingness to simply accept the cruel odds before them, the remaining seven survivors began carefully searching the floating platform.
They looked for hidden mechanisms or inscriptions, examined every single plank and corner for clues or secret switches. Perhaps they hoped to discover a second, safer route to their goal, or a pattern that would reveal which panels were safe.
Ten minutes later, after a thorough and increasingly frantic search that turned up absolutely nothing, everyone gathered dejectedly at the edge of the glass walkway once more. Defeat was plainly across their exhausted, sweating faces. Their hope had been crushed.
"It seems this is the only path forward," Cedric said heavily, his eyes were flashing with confusion and frustration. "But this isn't the kind of obstacle that courage alone can overcome through determination. Does this passage test our luck instead?"
"Nobody has luck consistently good enough to cross this, unless one of us has taken Felix Felicis," Fleur said, rolling her eyes.
"There is one crude method we could use," Krum suddenly said thoughtfully. He was carefully examining the gap between the first and second steps.
"What is it? Tell us!" Ron asked expectantly, leaning forward eagerly.
"Look here carefully," Viktor pointed at the steps and the spacing between them with a finger.
"The distance between two levels isn't too large, right? We could have someone with a lighter body weight test the path ahead as a scout, advancing panel by panel, while another person stands securely on the previous step and holds onto them firmly.
If the person testing steps on the wrong panel and it shatters beneath them, the person behind can immediately pull them back to safety before they fall too far into the void."
Viktor turned to look at the thoughtful Fleur, Luna, and Hermione, his eyes were moving between them. His expression appeared somewhat embarrassed and uncomfortable.
His face reddened slightly. "But these glass panels aren't very large. So for safety reasons, I think it would be best..."
Viktor trailed off awkwardly, stammering, unable to continue the thought clearly.
But everyone understood his meaning well.
It would be best for two of the three girls to do the dangerous pathfinding work, given their lighter weight and smaller frames.
The boys were simply too heavy for this delicate task even the lightest among them, Ron probably, still outweighed any of the girls by a significant margin. And if a heavier person fell while being held by someone lighter, both would plummet.
"Oh, I think I'm quite suitable for this job actually," Luna said, tilting her head with a pleasant, dreamy smile. Her silvery eyes reflected the starlight above. "I'm the lightest one here by far. I'd float across like a feather if I could."
"No, Luna! Absolutely not!" Hermione immediately objected with vehemence, shaking her head hard.
"Your team has already lost Neville to this challenge. And you're injured besides from the brutal battle with Slytherin, I can't allow you to risk yourself again. You've given enough. I should be the one to test the path—it's only fair!"
Hearing Hermione say this with such conviction, both Harry and Ron wore expressions of wanting desperately to speak but forcibly holding back their objections. Their faces showed clear struggle.
Obviously, neither of them wanted Hermione to take such a risk. But Neville had sacrificed himself fearlessly for everyone's benefit without a moment's hesitation. They couldn't appear too selfish now by protecting only their friend, by valuing her above the others.
"I'm injured, so shouldn't that logically mean I should go?" Luna said, her pure silver eyes were carrying a childlike innocence.
"If you mean that being injured makes someone disposable, Luna—" Hermione continued shaking her head firmly, her voice was rising with passion. "Absolutely not. Professor Watson never taught us that utilitarian calculus in class."
"How long do you two plan to argue about this?" While Hermione and Luna continued their dispute, going in circles, Fleur took decisive action. She stepped forward and removed her competition jacket, pulling it over her head.
She stretched her still somewhat aching limbs on the spot, rolling her shoulders and flexing her arms to loosen tight muscles that ached from the earlier battle.
"Mmm—"
Finally, Fleur stretched lazily, arching her back, and the slight movement of her curves beneath her fitted shirt made all the watching boys immediately blush and look away in embarrassment, suddenly finding the cosmic sky u[p above absolutely fascinating.
"You're planning to go yourself?" Hermione asked hesitantly, surprised by her initiative. "But Beauxbatons is down to just you alone, isn't it? If you fall into that darkness... Beauxbatons will completely lose their competition qualification."
"Oh, where did your cleverness go, Granger?" Fleur said with a slight smile. She loosened her silver hair from its tie, shaking it slightly with a toss of her head. The silky strands caught the starlight.
The boys suddenly noticed a captivating, almost magical fragrance in the air they breathed.
Fleur retied her hair efficiently into a high, tight ponytail to keep it completely out of her face and smiled at Hermione. "There are only three girls here total, aren't there?"
Hermione bit her lip lightly. She didn't give Luna another chance to volunteer or object. For ease of movement and flexibility, she followed Fleur's example and removed her own competition jacket with quick, decisive movements.
Hermione also wore a simple cotton t-shirt underneath which was practical and comfortable.
"Hold this for me, Harry,"
Hermione tossed her jacket into Harry's surprised arms and began stretching her waist and legs as well, preparing her muscles for the challenge ahead.
The air around the platform filled with the scent of youthful hormones and nervous sweat.
"You look stronger, so I'll test the path in front while you hold onto me from behind for security. Deal?" Fleur looked at Hermione with an appraising eye.
'Look... stronger?'
Hermione clenched her fists tightly, suppressing the sudden, irrational urge to push Fleur off the platform into the abyss just to wipe that appraising look off her face. She nodded faintly in brief agreement.
Hiss—there was no point in delaying further.
Having made her decision, Fleur nimbly sat at the edge of the platform.
She carefully turned her body around, gripping the platform's edge with both hands. Meanwhile, Hermione and Luna both grasped her wrists firmly.
Together, they slowly lowered Fleur down toward the glass panel Harry had successfully stood on, the one they knew was safe. The lowering process felt agonizingly slow. Fleur's legs dangled in empty space for a moment before her feet found the glass below.
THUD!
Fleur's wrists were still being held securely by Hermione and Luna as she stomped down hard with both feet, testing the panel's strength deliberately. She put her full weight on it, bouncing slightly. The glass panel she stood on didn't budge.
"Phew, it seems quite solid and stable," Fleur said with audible relief, breathing easier. "It should definitely be able to support both our combined weight without issue."
Then Hermione also slowly descended onto the same cramped glass panel.
Hermione took a deep breath and had Harry grip one of her wrists. She gradually transferred her body weight onto the glass surface, testing it.
"Let go, Harry. I'm stable," Hermione said, though her voice wavered slightly.
After more than ten tense seconds, both Fleur and Hermione stood together on the first panel.
The cramped surface forced the two girls to stand face-to-face, pressed together close enough to feel each other's body heat, as they steadied each other by gripping arms, their bodies were occasionally making unavoidable contact that made both of them tense and shift awkwardly.
"Oh, how surprising," Fleur said softly, looking down from her superior height advantage. Her eyebrows raised playfully as she spoke in a low voice only Hermione could hear, her meaning was pointed and teasing.
A deep blush rose to Hermione's cheeks, spreading down her neck. She glared at Fleur resentfully, her voice was trembling with suppressed anger. "Let's begin the attempt right now. Don't waste time!"
"Oh, you're no fun at all," Fleur said, rolling her eyes before her expression turned serious.
Then, under the anxious, barely breathing gazes of the five people still safely on the platform above them, Fleur and Hermione slowly adjusted their positions with care.
They first stood side by side, then slowly crouched down together in synchronized movement. Hermione grasped Fleur's arm with one hand while gripping the edge of the glass panel beneath them with her other hand.
"I'm going now!" When it came time to actually begin the test, the playful smile vanished completely from Fleur's face. It revealed genuine tension in her widened blue eyes.
She bit down hard on her teeth struggling with effort to shift one knee forward onto the next glass panel ahead. She slowly, incrementally transferred her body weight from the known panel to the unknown one ahead, moving by tiny degrees—
CRACK!
The not-very-sharp but unmistakable sound of shattering glass fell into everyone's ears like thunder shocking them all into alarm and horror.
Time seemed to slow down. The sound echoed in the cosmic void.
"Oh!" Fleur cried out in terror, her face was losing all color instantly, draining to white as bone.
Like Neville before her, her body immediately plummeted toward the bottomless abyss as the glass beneath her knee exploded into thousands of glittering fragments.
Her hand slipped from Hermione's grip—
"Don't be afraid, I've got you!" Hermione shouted with determination.
Hermione immediately felt a heavy force bearing down painfully on her arm.
She gritted her teeth against it and using every ounce of strength in her torso and her other hand gripping the glass panel, forcibly hauled Fleur up and flung her onto the second step.
Fleur's feet found solid support once again with a heavy thud. But her face remained pale, eyes were wide and blank with shock. Her whole body was trembling.
The glass walkway theory was only their speculation based on observation, after all. It wasn't necessarily correct. There were no guarantees in this place.
What if both panels shattered? if the next one collapsed too under her weight?
One second passed. Two seconds. Three seconds.
Everyone frozen in place, waiting for the crack that would mean disaster...
Whoosh!
A collective exhale of relief sounded under the artificial starry sky, loud in the silent void. Everyone had been holding their breath without even realizing it.
The glass panel beneath Fleur's trembling feet hadn't shattered. It held firm. Fleur and Hermione's desperate attempt had succeeded against the odds!
"Oh, you're really strong, Granger!" Fleur said happily. "I felt like I was being grabbed by a strong boy!"
"I can't guarantee I'll be able to pull you up every single time, Fleur!"
Hermione said in a stiff tone, breathing heavily as she adjusted her breath and restrained certain wicked impulses to let go next time. "Continue! We have a long way to go!"
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