(TL NOTE: No Chapter 78)
The camp erupted in chaos.
"ROAR!"
A bone-chilling roar exploded from the dense forest, reverberating through the trees like thunder!
Everyone froze mid-motion, heads snapping up in terror. Gemma Farley leaped to her feet, her normally composed face draining of all color as she stared into the impenetrable darkness of the forest. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped her wand.
After what felt like an eternity, she managed to speak through chattering teeth: "Pack up now! We leave immediately!"
The monster had finally found them.
"But what about Hamburg and Chips? They're still out there!" someone cried desperately.
One sharp look from Gemma silenced the protest. With frantic movements, they began collapsing tents and shoving supplies into bags. The two had left hours ago just to set up simple protective barriers. If they weren't back by now...
Bloody hell! Three years ago when I participated, it was nothing like this nightmare! What kind of youth competition had this become?!
Suddenly, the sound of something crashing through the underbrush reached their ears.
"Whoosh!"
A mud-covered figure burst from the forest, tumbling end over end before scrambling toward them on hands and knees like a wild animal!
Sweet Merlin! What kind of creature is that?!
The teammates recoiled in horror, wands raised instinctively. Without thinking, one of them fired off a Blasting Curse.
"Confringo!"
"AHHH!"
The spell detonated near the crawling figure, who shrieked in agony and curled into a ball.
"You idiots!" Gemma's voice cracked like a whip. "That's Hamburg Carrow! Our teammate!"
Lightning split the storm clouds above, illuminating the pitiful figure on the ground for one stark moment. The spellcaster's jaw dropped as he recognized the aristocratic features beneath the mud and terror.
This broken creature, crawling like a beaten dog, was actually Hamburg Carrow. The same Hamburg who sneered at anyone beneath his pure-blood status!
Fat raindrops began pelting down, washing pink streaks through the grime coating his face. His expensive robes hung in charred tatters, revealing countless scratches beneath. His usually pristine hair was plastered against his skull with mud and worse things.
In the span of mere minutes, he had been transformed from proud Slytherin to something barely human.
But the physical damage paled compared to what had happened to his mind.
"Help me... please help me..." Hamburg babbled incoherently, his entire body convulsing. "There's something out there... it killed Chips... oh god, what it did to him..."
His eyes darted wildly, pupils dilated with shock. Rain mixed with tears and snot on his mud-streaked face, the only clear thing being the pure, primal terror radiating from his gaze.
What kind of hell had he experienced to reduce him to this gibbering wreck?
Crack.
A sound like breaking glass echoed from the forest's edge. Their protective barriers had been shattered without even slowing whatever was coming.
Something had entered their perimeter. Something that was watching them from the shadows, taking its time.
The campfire hissed and died as rain extinguished the flames. In the sudden darkness, no one dared move or even breathe. Only Hamburg's quiet sobbing broke the suffocating silence.
Waves of unnatural heat washed over them, making their skin crawl. They stared into the black forest but could see nothing. The unknown was far more terrifying than any visible monster, spawning countless nightmarish possibilities in their minds.
Then, cutting through the tension like a blade...
SMACK!
The sharp crack of palm meeting cheek rang out. Everyone spun to see Gemma standing over Hamburg, her hand still raised from slapping him.
Hamburg's head snapped to the side, but his wild eyes began to focus.
"Get up," Gemma commanded, her voice shaking but determined. "We're leaving for the mansion. Right now."
She had no idea why the creature hadn't attacked yet. Perhaps it preferred to play with its food first, wearing down their resolve before moving in for the kill.
Strangely, what gave Gemma strength in this moment wasn't her training or faith in the Aurors supposedly protecting them. It was remembering her bargain with a certain first-year wizard.
"I won't target you in the competition."
She swept her rain-soaked hair from her face and spoke with forced confidence: "The Aurors are out there watching. We'll be fine. Once we reach Herpo's mansion and find the Portkey, we can escape this nightmare instantly."
Hope flickered in everyone's eyes. Of course! The Portkey would transport them to safety immediately!
Hamburg felt it too. Despite the stinging pain in his cheek, that slap had shocked him back to some semblance of sanity. The competition wasn't over. He refused to be defeated by whatever was hunting them.
And if he was in this sorry state, surely that mudblood first-year had been eliminated hours ago. Probably lying dead in some corner of the swamp, just like poor Chips.
Hamburg forced himself upright, casting a healing charm on his worst injuries. With renewed determination burning in his eyes, he helped pack their remaining supplies.
None of them realized that sometimes, death was the merciful option.
Splash, splash, splash.
The group slogged through rapidly forming puddles, their exhaustion forgotten in their desperation to reach safety. No one dared rest, because even when they couldn't see their stalker, they felt eyes boring into them from every shadow. Each branch that brushed their shoulders might as well have been claws.
What kind of sadistic creature would hunt them this way, psychological torture before the kill...
Only one thought kept them moving: the mansion meant salvation.
Back at their abandoned campsite, a figure emerged from behind a massive oak tree. A dark red umbrella held casually overhead, cobalt-blue eyes gleaming with amusement as they watched the retreating group.
"How dedicated they are," Ethan murmured appreciatively. "Not even stopping to rest properly before pushing on through this weather."
He had actually been prepared to give them time to recover when he spotted Gemma among them. But apparently they had other plans.
"Well, I can't let them get too far ahead!"
Behind him, the shadows seemed to come alive. Six burning orange eyes opened like infernal lanterns, gradually revealing the massive silhouette of his three-headed companion.
"Grrrr..."
The Cerberus licked its fangs hungrily, claws leaving deep gouges in the soggy earth.
Of course, Ethan hadn't actually murdered anyone yet. He didn't even know the Slytherin student's name properly. He had simply wanted to give him a good scare when he found him alone."
How was Ethan supposed to know the boy's nerves were so fragile that he'd panic and fall off a cliff all by himself? Honestly, Ethan had even waited politely for him to finish his business and get properly dressed before making his dramatic entrance.
He did wonder if the trauma would leave the poor fellow with certain... performance issues... in the future.
"Let's see," Ethan counted on his fingers. "All twelve Ilvermorny students eliminated, plus one Slytherin down. That still leaves Durmstrang with Krum, Beauxbatons with their Veela girl, and the remaining Hogwarts teams."
He tilted his head thoughtfully. "Still quite a crowd to deal with."
The Cerberus was incredibly powerful, but maintaining it drained his magical reserves rapidly. Thirty minutes at most before he needed to dismiss it and recover.
"The problem is everyone's so spread out across this swamp. It's inefficient hunting them down one group at a time." He had been teleporting directly using his combination of techniques, cutting straight through obstacles that would force normal competitors into long detours.
"But wait..." His eyes lit up with sudden inspiration. "I don't need to hunt them all down separately! Anyone good enough to complete this challenge will eventually end up in the same place."
He snapped his fingers in delight. "Herpo's mansion! I'll just get there first and prepare a proper welcome party. Let them all come to me instead."
Much more efficient than chasing rabbits through the forest when he could simply wait by the warren.
(TL NOTE: Unfortunately, my LOTR: Playing Minecraft in Middle-earth book was mistakenly flagged as spam on Webnovel and removed. I'll re-upload it under a different title by tomorrow at the latest. Thank you for your patience!)