"It shouldn't be, should it? Fred said to me, Mr. Richard is very good at dueling magic, maybe..."
Mr. Weasley smacked his lips, mumbling, but obviously, the two of them couldn't come up with any conclusions, so the man turned his attention back to the TV screen, "Wait, is that... the Diggory boy? And those goblins, are they turning like that yet they're not planning to end this competition?"
The people in front of the TV were still immersed in the shock of William single-handedly and effortlessly dealing with the armed goblins and armored trolls. However, the camera had already been switched by an invisible hand of a werewolf, cutting back to another corner of the dense forest.
The view hovered in the mid-canopy, clearly showing two figures moving one behind the other through the woods, along with the sharp sound of charms whistling through the air. Now, coming into view of the audience were no longer William's reassuring silhouette but the rather bedraggled shadows of Cedric Diggory and Fleur Delacour in frantic escape—
At this moment, Fleur's beautiful face was a mess of mud and sweat, and the champion known for her looks appeared utterly disheveled, her usually neat silver hair looking chaotic.
"I thought you might have some—gentlemanly spirit?"
She panted while running, quickly casting spell after spell behind her—"Impedimenta! (Impediment Jinx)" At the same time, she gritted her teeth at Cedric running alongside her, who appeared much more at ease. Though, in their constant sprinting, her sarcastic remark sounded more like a playful complaint, charming and full of allure—
If by her side wasn't Cedric but Ravenclaw's Roger Davis...
Little Roger would probably have become as stiff as a board.
"Ha, I've tried my best, Miss 'Competition First, Friendship Second'.
Cedric's face was expressionless, entirely avoiding looking at the distressed veela who seemed to have a different charm in her plight. He turned back, flicking his wand silently, casting the Impediment Jinx, creating invisible walls to slightly slow the pursuers behind them—
"Damn it! These things just keep coming!"
Fleur's voice carried an unprecedented frustration and a hint of barely detectable panic. She staggered, barely dodging a poisoned crossbow arrow fired close to the tree trunk, "Is this really part of the Triwizard Tournament? I've never heard of this before! Since when was the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts a training ground for Gringotts security?!"
"Wow, those are some serious accusations, Miss 'Competition First, Friendship Second'—"
Cedric held a stone tablet in his hand, blinked, and pointed his wand, still helping Fleur deal with goblins who nearly grabbed those long legs.
"Oh!"
Countless viewers in front of the TV sighed, harboring a strong resentment toward Cedric—obviously, their desire to see a "battle-damaged version" of Miss Veela wasn't likely to happen.
But at the next moment, an unexpected change occurred in the forest—a giant armored troll charged out, its wolf fang club crushing down heavily towards Cedric. At the same time, the ground and tree trunks around them suddenly exploded, and the blast waves lifted both of them off the ground—
"What the hell!"
Cedric couldn't help exclaiming, clearly unprepared for this goblin and troll combo attack.
"Bam—"
But fortunately, reinforcements arrived at that moment. Alexander Vladimir, in a flash, appeared at the center of the site, his expression somewhat bewildered. Staring at the wolf fang club headed toward his forehead, he instinctively raised his arms... People in front of the TV couldn't bear to look, closing their eyes tightly—
Faced with what seems like certain disaster, blocking a wolf fang club with one's arms could only result in one outcome—
But in the next second, blue light blossomed, the robe on the man's body shattered suddenly, revealing muscles sculpted like a statue, with blue runes almost covering his entire body, making him look like those rune warriors from Norse mythology.
"Clang—"
The scene everyone instinctively imagined did not occur. Alexander actually caught the mighty wolf fang club with his arms.
"?"
The troll, sensing something was amiss, sniffing its nose, instinctively leaned forward to take a look, but met with a blue glowing iron fist.
"...Disgusting."
Watching the troll's green brains splattering onto her robes, Fleur took a few steps back in disgust.
"Don't mind about that at a time like this, lady!"
Cedric's steps wavered, his tone somewhat resigned, "Do you know Apparition?" He gazed at Alexander, still "getting cozy" with the troll, curiously asking.
"...No."
Alexander's eyes were somewhat bewildered; he didn't even know how he got there. He was just talking to a centaur, and then…
He quickly glanced back—about five to six armed goblins were bypassing the troll and his "troll" battlefield, darting and sliding swiftly through the woods like malevolent ghosts, their speed appear incredibly fast.
One of the goblins, holding a crossbow, was skillfully loading it, the crimson crossbow arrow gleaming ominously as it aimed in Fleur's direction. "Watch out on the left! Impedimenta! (Impediment Jinx)" Cedric pushed Fleur aside, quickly casting an Impediment Jinx, narrowly blocking a poison arrow.
Although with the addition of a "meat shield," the group no longer needed to keep running as before, clearly, the endless goblins were not something they could withstand. Even for Cedric, trained by William, he felt a sense of despair when he saw the three armored trolls appearing at the forest's edge —
Was this really not part of the Triwizard Tournament?> wasn't a clue as to where these creatures came from… Maybe he should use his trump card after all?
Cedric took a deep breath, pulling out a pea from his pocket...
But at this moment, "Expecto Patronum! (Expecto Patronum)"
The powerful charm light exploded like the light of dawn, unexpectedly shooting out diagonally—
A white giant charged out of the woods, and all the Hogwarts students instinctively looked at a certain Magical Creatures Class professor sitting in the stands—Hagrid froze, staring at the screen at the identical white giant, finally realizing—
"It's Harry!"
Yes, Harry Potter also dashed out of the woods with Guardian Hagrid, controlling "Hagrid" to charge at those trolls, while Harry continued to swing his wand, "Expulso! (Blasting Curse)"
The purple Reductor Curse precisely hit the armor connection on the wrist of a goblin swinging a war axe. "Crack," accompanied by a sharp sound, the goblin howled in pain, and the heavy war axe went flying out of its hand.
"Accio. (Accio)"
Cedric put the pea away, swung his wand, causing the airborne axe to fly towards him. The boy ducked, and the axe flew straight over his head, smashing into a goblin's skull.
"You okay?"
Harry had quickly rushed over to the group, glanced quickly at Cedric, then shouted at Fleur and Alexander on the other side, speaking rapidly, "Get up! We need to get out of here, come on, run this way!" He pointed to a narrow passage raised by giant tree roots, which in the darkness looked inconspicuous, "While their encirclement isn't complete! Move fast, Impedimenta! (Impediment Jinx)"
He cast another strong Impediment Jinx, temporarily blocking the remaining few goblins who were confused by "Hagrid"'s appearance.
Alexander, having freed himself from the troll's entanglement, also came over, quickly exchanging glances with Harry and Cedric—
Thus, a three-person team of four was formed.