The two sat on the ground, catching their breath for a moment.
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked hoarsely, gripping Fleur's arm.
"I'm fine," Fleur gasped, "I can't believe it... he snuck up behind me... I heard him, turned around, and he had his wand pointed at me..."
"It's hard to believe... I thought he was just a big oaf," Hermione said.
"So did I," Fleur agreed.
"Is that why you screamed like that all of a sudden?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Yes," Fleur said, her face pale with lingering fear. "He hit me with a Cruciatus Curse, I thought it was over for me... then he kept chasing me."
"How is that possible! If you were hit with the Cruciatus Curse, you'd have been down in agony, not like this," Hermione questioned loudly, knowing the severity of the curse.
Fleur was shaken, but clearly in better spirits than someone who had endured such a curse.
"Believe me, it's true," Fleur hurriedly explained. "I don't know why it didn't work on me... oh, wait..."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a badge.
Hermione also had one like it, a red heart-shaped badge with a "+1" in the center.
But the "+1" on Fleur's badge was charred black, obviously rendered ineffective.
"I think it's because of this magical item. It appeared after I defeated a turtle-like monster.
When the Cruciatus Curse hit me, it seemed like it blocked the curse for me, and then it turned out like this."
"It seems like it represents an extra life +1," Hermione muttered to herself. "I should have guessed."
She then took out her own badge and handed it to Fleur. "You take this for protection."
"No, no, this is your loot, you keep it," Fleur insisted.
But Hermione insisted sternly that she take it, "My combat strength is stronger than yours, Krum will catch up sooner or later, we need to subdue him and hand him over to the professors!"
Hermione was right. Before long, Krum caught up. He blasted through the maze walls with a blasting curse, charging straight ahead.
"Is he not worried about exhausting his magic?" Fleur asked nervously, clutching her wand tightly.
Although the recent Cruciatus Curse hadn't physically harmed her, it had clearly left her psychologically scarred.
"I think there's something wrong with him. Normally, he wouldn't behave like this," Hermione calmly said, standing up and pointing her wand directly at Krum.
"But whatever the truth is, once we defeat him, it's over."
Fleur was still nervous, but she gathered her courage and stood shoulder to shoulder with Hermione.
Krum roared at the sight of the two girls, then cast another curse at them.
"Bombarda!"
The curse that was supposed to be used on the maze walls was now aimed at the girls.
"I'll block it!" Hermione stepped forward, casting a Shield Charm. She was very proficient with Shield Charms, and this one held against Krum's magic.
The red light seemed to strike an invisible wall and then exploded.
However, the girls behind the Shield Charm were unharmed.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Fleur cast a Disarming Charm at Krum.
The coordination between the two girls was seamless, and Krum was disarmed before he could react, his wand flying out of his hand.
Krum still tried to reach for his wand, but Hermione's Stunning Spell hit him, freezing him in place.
He collapsed forward, face down on the grass, unmoving.
"Finally... it's over," Hermione sighed, reluctant to harm other young wizards.
However, Fleur walked up indignantly, the tip of her wand emitting silver ribbons that securely bound Krum.
"Have you seen Harry?" Hermione asked.
"No," Fleur replied. "Do you think Krum also targeted him?"
"I don't know," Hermione said slowly.
"Should we leave him here?" Fleur asked in a low voice.
"No," Hermione said firmly.
"I think we should send up red sparks to have someone take him away... otherwise, he might get eaten by some creature."
"He deserves it," Fleur muttered, but she raised her wand and shot a string of red sparks into the air.
The sparks circled around Krum, marking his position.
Hermione and Fleur stood in the darkness for a moment, scanning their surroundings.
Then Fleur said, "Um... why do you think he attacked us?"
"It's the Imperius Curse," Hermione pondered for a moment, then suddenly said.
"His actions just now were too reckless. No one would continuously use blasting curses to chase down opponents like that, he would exhaust his magic before catching up.
And his movements were very stiff, completely lacking in agility.
I think, considering his position as the Seeker for the Bulgarian team, with his agility, he could have dodged our spells at least once - but if he was under the Imperius Curse, then it all makes sense."
"Clap, clap, clap."
Applause rang out in the darkness.
The two girls nervously looked around, only to see a man with wrinkled scars and a magical eye replacing one of his eyes and a wooden leg emerging from the shadows of the wall, appearing before them.
It was Professor Alastor Moody.
Although he was a formidable old man, he was still the patrolman of the tournament, and his appearance meant safety.
Upon seeing Moody, Fleur immediately cheered up.
She had been too scared just now, so she hurriedly walked up to him.
"Professor Moody, just now..."
However, before she had taken a few steps, Hermione stopped her.
The girl stood behind Fleur, watching Moody warily and pointing her wand at him.
"Be careful, Fleur, don't go over there," Hermione said calmly.
"There's something wrong with Professor Moody."
"How could that be, Hermione?" Fleur looked at her incredulously.
"Are you too sensitive? Professor Alastor is our tournament patrolman.
We can't point our wands at him. What if he cancels your qualification for the tournament?"
Before she could finish, Professor Moody, who had been staring at them, let out a wild laugh that interrupted her.
The laughter was as harsh as a crow's caw, unpleasant and chilling.
"Miss Granger, you sure are a intelligent," Moody's magical eye stared at Hermione, teasingly saying.
"What a smart girl you are. How did you figure all this out? I thought I was hiding it quite well."
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