Chapter 424 What does Dumbledore mean?
Long before the start of the third game, Karkaroff received a notice from Barty the Younger. The content was simple: the Durmstrang Warriors must fully assist Hogwarts in winning the championship in the competition.
Although Karkaroff was very reluctant to accept such an order, facing the implicit threat from Barty the Young, he could only nod in agreement.
However, Karkaroff also knew that even if he was the headmaster of Durmstrang, Krum and the other three would not be stupid enough to obey him, let alone give up the championship.
After weighing the pros and cons, he chose an extreme and dangerous path. Just before the game started, he quietly cast three secret Imperius Curses on Krum and the other two under the pretext of sending them to the waiting room.
From that moment on, Krum and the other two became obedient puppets.
In order to avoid being exposed too early, Karkaroff gave the three people simple orders. When they saw the warrior teams from other schools, they should immediately launch an attack and eliminate the other warriors one by one to help the Hogwarts team clear the obstacles.
However, as the game progressed, Karkaroff became more and more frightened. The performance of the Hogwarts team exceeded his expectations, sweeping the maze with overwhelming combat power.
To be honest, Karkaroff was completely paralyzed. From his professional point of view, the combat effectiveness of Harry's team was very high. Even if they faced two warrior teams head-on, they had a chance of winning.
In this case, his use of the Imperius Curse to control Krum and the other two was completely unnecessary, and it blocked his last way of retreat.
After all, the fact that Krum and the other two were under the Imperius Curse could not be kept secret forever; it was only a matter of time before it was exposed to the public.
So, facing the sarcasm and questioning of many principals, Karkaroff pretended not to hear them. All he was thinking about now was how to get out of this situation.
To be honest, if it wasn't so strange to leave the battle between the Durmstrang Warriors so early, he would have wanted to use the pee trick to escape directly.
On the second level of the maze, the flowers that Harry and the other two had been waiting for were about to wither. No matter how they calculated, the Ilvermorny team and the Durmstrang team should have appeared. After all, the first level of the maze was not difficult, and they did not believe that these two teams would fail on the first level.
The long wait made the three of them guess that the Ilvermorny team and the Durmstrang team were probably ambushing them on the first floor of the maze.
"It's time to make a decision. There's no point in waiting any longer," Cedric said, "Should we go get the trophy first, or..."
Before he finished speaking, Malfoy showed up: "In fact, if we are not worried about the enemy's traps, it is not impossible for us to charge directly."
If Malfoy hadn't been told by his mind that the risk was too great, he would have wanted to rush out and complete the feat of one against two. After all, the three of them had been working together for a year and could switch between various fighting styles flexibly. He would not feel intimidated even if facing two teams.
"Well," Malfoy gritted his teeth, "I'll go take a look under the Shield Charm. If I can lure them over here, that's great. If not, then I'll try to find out what their trap is. Otherwise, even if I get the trophy later, I'll still be in a passive position."
As he spoke, he followed the safe path he had just left to the entrance, and after casting an Illusion Charm, he quietly stuck his head in.
The next moment, he shrank back and shouted excitedly: "They are fighting. There are sounds of magic spells everywhere outside. It's so lively."
Fighting?
How is the battle going?
Harry and Cedric also showed up and asked the questions in their minds.
Facing the two people's questions, Malfoy shook his head: "I don't know, you have to go up the stairs to see it. Let's go and take a look. If there is a chance..."
As he spoke, he raised his right hand and made a fierce gesture.
Harry and the other had no reason to disagree, so they recast the Disillusionment Charm and the Silencing Charm, then went through the entrance with Malfoy.
After checking to make sure there were no traps on the stairs, they climbed up stealthily and quietly looked towards the center of the battlefield.
This was a surprising look as they discovered that the area near the stairs was in complete chaos, with traces of spells everywhere and all the magic traps had been triggered.
Krum fought alone against Carl and Megan of Ilvermorny, while the other warriors all fainted on the ground.
Take advantage of his illness and kill him!
There was no reason to let go of such a good opportunity, so Harry and the other two took decisive action and joined the battle.
In the audience, the young wizards exclaimed in amazement.
"Harry and the other two were so smart that they were able to seize the opportunity of the conflict between the other two teams. Their moves were quick and decisive, and they knocked out Carl from Ilvermorny directly."
"There are only two enemies left, this is a sure thing!"
"It's so exciting. This is so exciting. This kind of melee is much more interesting than going through a maze."
"Hey, look at Krum, why is he still staring at the warriors of Ilvermorny? Don't you know how to unite at this time?"
"Simple, he just got angry, and Harry and the other three are all fine. Krum knew he had no hope of winning, so he could only take revenge first."
As they were talking, Harry and the other two had already defeated everyone. They looked at each other and could see surprise in each other's eyes.
This victory... came too easily...
"Dear audience friends!" Bagman roared, "At this moment, the Hogwarts Warriors have already secured the championship of this year's Five Elite Tournament!"
"Hmph! It's meaningless. I'll go back first." Karkaroff snorted coldly and stood up suddenly. He pretended to be furious and wanted to leave early.
However, before he could take a step, Dumbledore tried to stop him, saying, "Karkaroff, with so many people watching, you need to behave like a headmaster."
"Of course," he said gently, "if you are really upset, I can also accompany you to relax, which is considered as my hospitality."
Dumbledore had already heard from Grindelwald what would happen today, including Karkaroff using the Imperius Curse on his own students.
At first he didn't believe that the other party would do such a despicable thing, but the performance of the Durmstrang warriors dispelled his last fantasy.
Because of this, Dumbledore was not going to give Karkaroff a chance to escape.
Dumbledore's attitude made Karkaroff somewhat suspicious. He was not sure whether Dumbledore had seen anything.
However, it was impossible to leave by force anyway, so he snorted again and sat down sullenly, making everyone think that he was unhappy because of Durmstrang's defeat.
On the other side, Harry and his two companions embarked on their journey to break through the barriers again.
Compared with the first level of the maze, the second level is much more difficult. They encountered plant traps, devil's nets and wind-rolling thorns in succession, and then defeated the Tebo Warthog and the eight-eyed giant spider.
After using the Patronus to drive away the working souls that Sebastian had placed in the maze, they encountered the Sphinx guarding the entrance to the third floor.
This is a XXXX-level magical creature originating from ancient Egypt. It is very powerful and likes to keep people guessing.
However, Harry and the other two were well prepared and each threw a Muggle math problem at the other party before the other party could speak. Then, while the other party was lost in thought, they easily bypassed them and arrived at the third level of the maze.
This floor was empty, with a stone table in the center, on which was placed the ultimate goal of this competition, the championship trophy.