"What's next? Fight?"
"Only three people came up. Nona grabbed the trophy, w-we stopped her, then Viktor came up, and finally Cedric, so we had to fight the final battle in the 6th level of the maze."
"I see."
After a silence, a voice sounded. "Professor - are you really going to be okay? I saw with my own eyes-"
"Ah, I made you worry, I recently mastered a new ability and didn't tell anyone about it."
"But - the side effects of the potion -?"
"Not a big problem, at most a period of weakness, but," Felix hesitated, "I may be invited for tea."
"Tea?"
"It simply means that I have to cooperate with the investigation. After all, there's too much suspicion on me, whether it's the theft of the time-turner or what's going to happen tonight ... Fudge seized a good chance."
"That's not your responsibility at all!"
"Don't worry too much, Miss Granger, I have made some preparations in advance. If things go at the normal progression, Fudge will have to stay in that position for an unknown amount of time, and tonight will be a test for me and him, and if he picks the wrong choice, he'll step down."
"Oh - well, what can I do then?"
"Grab the time to improve your strength, although Voldemort is doomed to fail, but there surely will be a war after a short period, you know, because of the Horcrux ... strength is the most important in a chaotic world. And another thing is, Do me a small favour."
"What is it?" The voice in the hat spoke impatiently.
"I've brought some prohibited items in my ring, and in order to avoid being searched by the Ministry of Magic, I need you to keep them for me."
"No problem, professor, I'll make sure to hide it."
"The things inside are not really much important, but just a little sensitive ... I specifically left some information in the runic language, you can take a look. In case ..."
"In case what?" The hat moved uneasily.
Felix smiled after a slight silence, "Of course, in case there is a danger during my absence."
It is at this point that Felix looks up, "Someone is coming." He stood up and pointed his wand towards himself, his body becoming blurred and transparent, blending in with his surroundings. He quietly moved to the corner.
An athletic figure rushed in swiftly. The seventh level maze became well lit, and Nona Leibert caught a glimpse of the golden trophy, and she transformed into a cheetah, nimbly moving, as she picked up the handle of the trophy with her open maw and ran out like the gust of wind.
The sixth level of the maze lacked the shrubs that grew a dozen feet high close to the ceiling, instead, there are clusters of shrubs half a man's height that have been trimmed into long slabs.
Harry stared at stone statues for a while, they have been at the sixth level maze, and they did not encounter any danger, except for Caped Squirrels(*I can't find its original name*) and a group of Pogrebins disguised as rocks.
It is the first time they have seen Pogrebins in reality. At first, they thought these "round stones" are part of the maze, until the three inevitably depressed, which triggered Harry's Occlumency, then he realized the problem.
Harry used the sharp edge magic, the front of the wand emitted a golden stream of air, condensed into the shape of a long sword. He slapped the stones with the back of the sword, and they immediately jumped up, bouncing around with their big, glossy gray heads, and Harry noticed that when they moved, their hairy bodies became conspicuous.
Ron got out of his depressed state of mind too, then he became worried and used his foot to nudge the last Pogrebins that fell out of line, this creature which is only a foot tall actually has a poor sense of balance, as long as you push it, its huge head will tilt forward, Ron tried a few times, then the Pogrebins curled its body into a ball and rolled away like a pebble.
"Strange creatures, it's hard to imagine Mr. Scamander scaring them away with the noise he made with the kettle." Ron said.
They later encountered Caped Squirrels which stood on the statue, a magical creature about the size of a rabbit that resembled a squirrel, which looked incompatible with Hagrid's tastes at first glance: it had a furry head and long ears like a rabbit, with red fur and a floppy " cape " that shone in golden colour, making it both cute and friendly.
Harry was almost fooled by its cute appearance when he first saw it, the prolonged competition put him in a tense state, so he tried to approach it for relaxation, and immediately these cute little things turned their backs to him, and spread their big curly tails - like a fluffy plush cloak full of numerous spikes - while issuing a threatening cry.
"Never irritate it, being stung by this thing is a nightmare, compared to them, gnomes can be described as docile." Ron said in disgust.
"You know it?" Harry asked.
"Fred and George caught one," Ron said with an uncomfortable expression, "and they tried to extract its stinger, the ones you see ... although non-toxic, once stung it can make you want to pass out!"
He shook his head and dragged Harry away very firmly. Harry did not ask further, he reckoned there must be a tragic story behind it.
That's when Hermione remembered its information.
"Caped squirrels, known for their cute appearance and dangerous tails, have two types of attacks, one is to swipe their tails vigorously when a stranger approaches, and many people who see it for the first time will be curious enough to approach them, the result is predictable ... their stingers have a pain-enhancing effect and can make people feel unbearable pain. The second way of attack is to use their tail to wrap their body into a ball full of stingers, and then like a cannonball they will bounce towards the target - these guys have quite an amazing bouncing power."
Harry's body shook a little, as he could not help but turn around to look at the caped squirrel, it has tucked away its tail, and its two small hands curled up in front of its body, with long ears flopping around, looking very cute.
"These little guys are also very vindictive and a bit crazy, once they are pissed off, they will chase people until all the stingers on their tails fall off, then they will choose to run away, but don't worry, after a while these stingers will grow back again ..."
"Thank you, Hermione, for helping me recall that." Ron said sombrely.
"Oh, uh, we'd better avoid it," Hermione looked around in a panic, "Speaking of which, the sixth level of the maze looks like a combination of a chessboard and a garden, with shrubs and statues everywhere. The light is a lot brighter too ..."
"Is a little strange, why did they replace the tall shrubs with low ones?" Ron chimed in curiously.
"This is a natural battlefield." Harry suddenly said.
Ron and Hermione turned their heads in alarm. "A certain amount of light to provide a view, rocks to act as a barrier, and shrubs to create a detour space ... Yeah, that's what I thought." Harry said, his eyes suddenly flashed, and he ran in one direction.
"What's wrong?"
"I saw Nona Leibert!"
Ron and Hermione chased after him, they also saw a shadow quickly jumping between the shrubs, the caped squirrels were enraged, and they all curled up and rolled themselves into a ball of spikes, trying to attack Nona, but Nona left long before that.
A dazed caped squirrel rushed toward Harry, who shouted, "Stupefy!" The spell hit the caped squirrel, and it fell from midair and bounced twice on the ground.
They ran a dozen steps ahead, and a bright expanse appeared. It is a circular plaza, with a row of upward steps in the center of the plaza linking to the upper level of the maze - that is the seventh level, where the trophy is placed.
"She's out!" Ron shouted.
A cheetah agilely jumped down the steps, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione raised their wands at the same time.
The cheetah glanced at them and turned to run in the opposite direction, and at that moment, she suddenly fell and rolled her body twice on the ground, and despite the critical situation, Harry felt that the action was a bit comical.
"She ran out of breath?" Harry guessed, and the first thing he did is chase after her.
The next second, he knew the answer. A loud voice echoed throughout the Maze tower, and all the champions looked up in unison as they heard the deafening voice - "Fearless champions ~ fight on! No amount of difficulty can bring you down ... Win valour and honour, and I'll be waiting at the end for you to boil a pot of love potion ..."
"My goodness!" Hermione said, covering her head.
Harry cast a Quietening Charm over himself, the huge roar weakened a lot, he endured the intense discomfort to move forward and keep approaching the trophy. But Nona is having a hard time because she is close to it, which made her dizzy and she kept shaking her head in discomfort.
Finally, the song stopped.
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