"...Do you know how to get out?"
"If I knew, do you think I'd still be sitting here with you?"
"Right—"
Cedric sighed. He must be crazy to ask Alexander, someone with a sharp head but whose brain cells probably aren't as plentiful as the hairs on his body, for advice on how to clear the maze—after all, when he found Alexander, the latter was still pounding on the door with his fists. If it weren't for the sheer noise, Cedric likely wouldn't have noticed him there.
If that were the case, Alexander would probably still be locked up until now—
"This won't do, we need to find a way through this maze." Alexander suddenly stood up.
"Mm-hmm..."
Cedric replied feebly.
"I don't even know if we should collaborate or..."
The man lowered his head, looking at Cedric, who was half-lying against the wall and seemingly completely defenseless, "or if I should just eliminate you now?"
"Haha—you plan to repay kindness with betrayal?"
Cedric smirked but didn't move his body. Instead, he tightly gripped the magic wand hidden under his clothes.
"That's why I haven't made a move yet."
Alexander shook his head and took two steps outward. "Maybe we can try... Who's there?!" Suddenly, the man moved. He had somehow reached the corner of the corridor, where he lunged toward the other side and grabbed the person's neck—
"Expelliarmus!"
Cedric cast the spell without hesitation, the charm bypassing Alexander and directly hitting the figure hidden in the shadows.
The next moment, the magic wand flew into the air and landed in Cedric's hand.
Both had long known someone was eavesdropping nearby, and the recent dialogue was meant to attract the intruder's attention as a stalling tactic.
"——Ah, it's you."
Alexander frowned, staring at Krum caught in his grip, looking disheveled and gray-faced. Glancing back at Cedric, who waved the wand originally belonging to Krum, Alexander finally released the grip on Krum's neck—
"...Hello."
Krum slowly stood up, clutching his neck, his sinister gaze sweeping over the two before him.
"Why are you here?"
Alexander positioned himself between Cedric and Krum, his broad chest pushing toward the latter. He squinted inquisitively, questioning in an interrogating tone.
"That's a good question; I also want to know why you're all here?" Krum smirked disdainfully, glancing sideways. "Have you seen Harry Potter?" He turned his head to Cedric, who stood with arms crossed, and eyed the two wands in Cedric's hand.
"Why are you looking for him?"
Cedric furrowed his brows in confusion, noticing Krum's gaze, prompting him to stash the wands closer to himself. "Sorry, your actions earlier were extremely suspicious, so we had to take measures—" Though he apologized verbally, he had no intention of returning the wand.
"So, you haven't seen Harry Potter?"
"Are you very concerned about him?"
"Of course, he suddenly appeared and attacked me, then fled when he realized he hadn't succeeded—"
Upon learning that the two hadn't encountered Harry, Krum visibly relaxed, blinking, though his malicious gaze made Cedric uncomfortable.
"...He attacked you?"
Cedric squinted, scrutinizing Krum's face for a long moment before asking in a peculiar tone, "Are you sure it was Harry Potter who attacked you?"
"Of course, I was certain..."
"Impedimenta!"
Cedric pressed the wand against Krum's chest without hesitation. Before being struck by the face-on spell, Krum was still wearing a look of bewildered panic, flying backward like a cannonball, leaving a "大" shaped imprint on the wall.
"..."
Alexander blinked and then positioned himself next to Cedric. "Alright, I can help you, but afterward, you need to explain it all to me—" Holding his wand, the man stood there, winking at Cedric—only to be met with Cedric's eyeroll.
"Was it necessary to give him breathing time instead of just striking immediately?"
Thanks to the cultural influence of a certain non-famous transfer student, Cedric had long since abandoned the cumbersome duel etiquettes and facade, those are only used in exhibition matches. Genuine wizard duels don't have any bowing rituals—who's going to wait for you to count down? You think you're a Card Face Fighter with invincible transformation timing?
Since getting kicked in the face during a bow by Senior William, Cedric had already forgotten all that nonsense.
"Incarcerous! (Instant Binding)"
"Revelio! (Unveil)"
He swung his magic wand, bright yellow hemp ropes shot out from the tip and aimed at the figure that was almost scraping itself off the wall. Simultaneously, he also cast a Stunning Spell and a second Disarming Spell; when the lion hunts a rabbit, it uses all its strength—this is a lesson he learned after getting splattered by Ginny—and more importantly, the opponent isn't a rabbit—
If his guess is correct...
Why take action? Naturally, it's because Cedric almost knew all the information about Harry and that Dark Lord. Not only did he know the Dark Lord had used some method to return to life, he also knew the opponent was still watching Harry intently—and besides,
He actually didn't need so many reasons, merely trusting Harry's judgment was enough to motivate Cedric.
Even if this judgment was spoken by the other person, if the judgment was wrong—Cedric said: don't blame him, since you insisted on saying it yourself?
But evidently, Cedric gambled correctly this time—under the effects of the Revealing Spell, Krum's skin rippled with disgusting waves; Cedric had originally just casually tried the Revealing Spell, never expecting that the disguise method used by the other was truly not Polyjuice Potion—
Though he did not know what method it was, something generally effective only on objects now unexpectedly worked. Krum's skin started turning into a large mass of disgusting pus, making Cedric frown intensely and lose sanity.
"What on earth is this!!"
Alexander was shocked, thinking the contest between champions would be a fair competition, but now it felt as if they're figuring out who was the undercover agent.
Seeing the broken human figure crawling out of the pus, the man instinctively took half a step back.
But Cedric wasn't afraid, he continued casting spells onto the figure, from Disarming Spell to Stunning Spell, from Eye Condition Charm to Levitating Spell, from Hundred Herbs Garden to Three Flavors Bookstore...basically whatever he thought of, he'd use, while subtly retreating. Soon enough, he has shielded the bewildered Alexander...
"Enough..."
A hoarse voice emerged from the figure. By now, "Krum" had completely revealed his true form: a mummy wrapped in filthy yellow-white bandages all over—
This was precisely why Cedric chose to retreat—
He had seen this thing before, in William's cage, he witnessed firsthand how William conducted inhumane experiments on it.
Thinking back, Senior William was still too merciful.
"I said, enough!!"
The next moment, as expected, the mummy exploded into action, dripping with half-body pus and charged towards Cedric. But as mentioned, Cedric had already shielded Alexander, so naturally "Krum's" target fell squarely on the latter—
"Damn!"
Alexander was startled, mainly because this "Krum" looked truly horrifying, even with some psychological preparedness, he couldn't react instantly.
He instinctively stretched out his hands to hold the claws "Krum" extended towards him, looking at the opponent's unwashed-for-centuries yellow cloth and the overpowering stench infiltrating his nostrils, Alexander twisted his body. As the man's lips buzzed, a soft glow began to surface on his skin—
Then, with a toss, he slammed the mummy onto the ground, producing a muffled thud.
Following this, he didn't release it but endured the disgust and punched the mummy's face hard, like a cannonball, his rocket punch directly smashing the mummy's face into meat...jerky. Feeling the shriveled texture, Alexander's face involuntarily scrunched up into a frown.
"Don't stop—"
Seeing Alexander seemingly about to stop, Cedric hastily shouted, but it was already too late, the mummy's head inflated like a balloon, crimson pupils filled with tangible bitterness and hatred, dirty bandages glowing with purple-golden runes. The mummy, originally suppressed, lifted the man sitting atop it.
"Bang—"
This time, Alexander was the one flung, crashing into Cedric, his gaze still dazed, but overall, he didn't seem too troubled—
The almost humanoid Iron Armor Spell provided him immense protection; now it wasn't pain, but being confused by the slam, staring at the mummy's limbs, which had little flesh, and questioning—
Muscles, useless?
This was Alexander's second time immersed in confusion during this period, the last was when Hermione punched him into a wall. He barely saw any...muscle on her.
Why do these people, without bodybuilding, still use force to outmatch me, then why am I still working out?
Since young, he admired fitness, loved strength and the aesthetics of violence, and was even praised as a once-in-four-thousand-years unrivaled genius by his coach. Seventeen-year-old Siberia youth, Alexander Vladimir, found himself in deep confusion about his future.