An hour has passed in the blink of an eye.
"The game is getting more and more exciting, now the winner is still unknown, let me make a summary -"
"Harry's team is still in the lead, the trio's rapid reunion gives them an absolute advantage, whether it's Boggart, Devil's Snare, or upside-down trap, they have easily broken past them, and currently they have just entered the fifth level of the maze."
"The three champions from the second team also made it to the fourth level, but they have yet to reunite, and one of them has just entered, so it is estimated that they will not meet until the fifth level. Some viewers may wonder why the champions are not using the Amplifying Charm because the shrubs are enchanted with magic that will greatly weaken the sound and light ... That magic of Potter is a special case."
"Uagadou's Champions put their strengths to the best use, let's not forget Rashawn Eliphandy, who showed the most furious power of the African Elephant in the first two tasks, but this time he showed us in action that he has extremely fine control over his transfiguration! As the third team to enter, Eliphandy used the elephant's vibration positioning talent to successfully reunited with his team in the first level of the maze, after which Blanzigor turned into a green eagle and quickly found the entrance to the second and third layers. Then they once again used vibration positioning and headed straight for the entrance with amazing efficiency as they edged closer to the Potter team at one point. But Uagadou's Champions suffered a bit on the fourth level when the Green Eagle got caught up in the wall of thorns, so now they asked Nona Leibert to scout their way ahead - the girl is equally fast, and they are the only team that has a hope of overtaking Potter's pace."
"Next is Beauxbatons, they're on the third level, and they're all approaching the fourth level closely, so they are likely to meet at the entrance;"
"Durmstrang's strategy is noticeably different, Krum is already on the fourth level for some time, but both of his teammates are still on the third level, so it looks like they have a plan, yes! Adam Bewick stopped at the entrance to the fourth level, he is waiting for another person... I got it! Their intention is to have the strongest one keep going forward and the slightly weaker two paired up. Smart move! You know the third level of the maze is not considered dangerous, and the area is one-third smaller than the first level ..."
"Finally, it is Ilvermorny, they only reached the second layer, after all, half an hour late entry. No, they adopted the same strategy as Durmstrang! Only they opted for three-men-team, and although they got delayed in the front, judging from the combination magic shown in the first two tasks, they will be very fast next."
The audience stared nervously at the screen, various small flags clutched in their hands, and even the judges at the judges' table watched with rapt attention.
"Will they meet? Will they?" Mrs. Granger covered her face, her nails clawing out a trail of scratch marks.
"I think they will ... fight's inevitable." Sirius murmured from the sidelines.
...
"The fifth level is dark too." Ron whispered. The first three levels still had candles with blue flames, only with longer and longer intervals, and by the fourth level they could barely distinguish the colour of the shrubs in the darkness, and now there is not even a little light.
He and Harry held up their wands, ready to deal with sudden danger, Hermione leaned back a little and controlled a white flame, the flame hovered over their heads, illuminating a small area nearby. They kept dragging their legs out of the vine-strewn ground and trudged for ten minutes to cross the long passage.
"I refuse to believe there's more outrageous stuff ahead." Ron said.
"Don't open your crow mouth."
They turned a corner and suddenly the sky spun around and Harry found himself head down, standing on the ceiling. The blood kept rushing to his head, he had a similar experience in the second level of the maze when he stumbled into a golden mist that hung him upside down, with an endless void under his head. That trap was a test to champion courage, so all he needed to do was pull his leg out firmly ...
He tried, lifting one leg high, but there was no reaction at all, and he remained firmly on the ceiling, nearly even falling because of his unsteady footing - but not falling downward, but falling on the ceiling. The blood hitting his eardrums made it impossible for him to think, at that moment, he heard Hermione next to him say, "I think we need to walk out like this."
Harry was just about to ask how to walk when he saw Hermione move forward step by step. She walked for almost a minute and her whole body dropped from the ceiling.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" She landed gently on the ground and looked up at Harry and Ron who are still standing there, "Just treat the ceiling as if it is flat and keep moving forward, but of course, you need to put up with the discomfort of the blood rushing upwards."
Soon, Harry and Ron also smoothly landed.
"How strange, gravity is still there, but we were attracted to the ceiling by a stronger force ...," Hermione fondly looked back.
"What is gravity?" Ron asked.
"It's the force that allows us to step solidly on the floor." Hermione said simply.
"Doesn't that how it should be?" Ron wondered.
"Keep your voice down, don't attract monsters." Harry warned them.
For the next ten minutes, they went through the quicksand trap, when Ron quickly thought of the Levitation Spell that Hermione used before, and they easily crossed, followed by a hanging bridge, the bridge is not for crossing water, but a bottomless abyss, the Levitation Spell also disabled, but it did not take much effort for Harry to walk across, "This is much easier than Quidditch."
Ron was a little slower, but he made it through. Hermione got stuck when it was her turn, "I, oh, I'll try ..." she shuddered and glanced down, quickly shrunk back.
Harry and Ron looked at each other - They remembered, that Hermione rarely used a flying broom.
"Don't worry, it's not dangerous at all--"
"Yeah, you took flying lessons and passed the test!"
"I only passed," Hermione whispered, "Wait, let me think." She came up with a solution, using magic to conjure up a rope, throwing a section of the rope to Harry and Ron, and tying the other end to herself, "If I fall ... you guys have to pull me."
She walked trembling on the hanging bridge, twenty feet away, like on a rift. When she reached the last step, she plucked up her courage and jumped across at once.
"Great, Hermione!"
"Uh, I'm a little dizzy ..." Hermione said, covering her head, "Let's keep going."
"Whoosh!"
A shadow quickly jumped over the hanging bridge after leveraging twice on the wall and disappeared into the darkness with a few ups and downs.
"What the hell was that just now?" Ron asked in horror, if it suddenly sneaked upon them, it would be difficult to dodge.
"A cheetah." Harry said.
"The one who gave you the amulet?" Ron remembered, "She is called, called ..." He looked at Hermione for help.
"It's Nona Leibert!" Hermione said, "It seems she chose to leave her teammates and venture out on her own, she's too fast, we need to catch up!"
They trotted off, and after hitting two dead ends, they took a narrow, rugged path where a large behemoth blocked the middle of the road.
"It's the Sphinx." Hermione whispered.
They walked forward gathering all their guts, white flames illuminating its body, the beautiful woman's head bowed, seemingly lost in thought. Hearing movement, it raised its head, took two steps forward, and spoke in a low, and hoarse voice.
"You are already very close to the next level entrance. The fastest route would be going past me. As soon as you-"
"What's the shortest season?" Hermione asked, interrupting it.
The Sphinx's beautiful eyes blinked, at which point Hermione continued, "What is something that is obviously yours, but everyone can use it?"
"Well--"
"There's always fake news in the papers, but there must be truth in one thing, what it is?"
The Sphinx once again fell into contemplation.
Hermione waved at them and carefully passed by, the Sphinx ignoring her. Harry and Ron also passed by without incident, not daring to breathe a sigh of relief as they kept walking a long distance and saw the stairs leading to the sixth level of the maze.
"Hermione, how did you know that?" Harry panted and asked.
"Hagrid talked about it, have you forgotten? Just say three riddles in advance, and it will be spell-bounded, I never really believed it before ..."
Outside the maze tower.
"Someone caught up with Potter and the team, Champion of Uagadou, but still Potter and the team entered the sixth level of the maze first, but that doesn't mean much, Nona Leibert is too fast, her body is covered with many protection spells, which her teammates put on her."
"Nona took a long detour, and the sixth level is close at hand! Maybe she can get ahead and enter the seventh level, then the Potter and his team will be passive." Bagman shouted, "The other champions are also rejoining their teammates one after another, and most of them are gathered in the fourth level, and the advantage Potter's team had in the early stage is rapidly shrinking. Who will win the championship, let's wait and see!"
...
The seventh level of the maze is only half the size of the school's great hall, a single crystal stone platform build in the center of the maze with nothing but empty space around it. A trophy is placed on the stone platform.
Felix sat on the stone platform and whispered, "The trophy is indeed enchanted, he didn't tamper with the original destination but added an extra transit in the middle ... very clever way, you simply can't detect it without looking closely."
"Yes, Professor." A muffled voice came from the hat on top of his head.
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