HP:BSG - Chapter 681: Two People Eliminated!

Krum’s heart seemed to skip a beat.

Beside Wade was a massive cheetah. Even crouched on the ground, its shoulder reached half a man’s height; its dark green body looked both sleek and deadly.

Wade was leaning casually against the beast, one hand resting on its neck, without the slightest concern that it might tear out his throat.

Magic Doll!

The word flashed through Krum’s mind as he quickly raised his wand. The tip had just begun to glow red when a sharp pain shot through his back — and then his whole body went numb.

Through his stiffening gaze, he could see fine spores drifting down from above. They were so faint, like dust carried by a breeze — utterly unnoticeable.

Krum’s heartbeat quickened, his breath became short and ragged, and his vision started to blur. He struggled to move his head and finally caught sight of several suffocating figures—

A massive gorilla hung from a tree. Tangled leaves and a few scattered flowers sprouted from its body, almost blending it into the canopy. Seeing that Krum could no longer fight back, it let out a strange, croaking laugh.

A mantis more than a meter tall hid in the underbrush, the serrated blades on its forelimbs gleaming faintly. Its triangular head tilted in what almost looked like a cute gesture, while its huge eyes reflected Krum’s stiff form.

Not... this... one...

The hazy thought flickered in Krum’s mind. He forced his gaze upward.

Clinging to a thick tree trunk was an enormous lizard, and its body was pressed flat against the bark so tightly it seemed part of the tree itself. From the cracks between its scales, dust-like spores continued to fall.

The lizard “stared” at its prey. Its long tongue stretched out from its throat, reaching all the way to Krum’s back.

That was the source of his pain.

Krum’s pupils dilated. His knees hit the ground hard, and his burly frame collapsed as if all the bones had been sucked out of it.

Before the darkness swallowed him completely, he saw Wade walking over with an expressionless face, bending down to pick up his wand.

“Whoosh—Bang!”

A red flare exploded above, washing Krum’s furrowed brow in crimson light.

“Go deal with the others.”

Wade tossed away Krum’s wand and looked at his dolls, giving a quiet command: “If there are any other obstacles in the Forbidden Forest, eliminate them too.”

The mantis slipped silently through the bushes, vanishing from sight;

The gorilla’s lower lip curled slightly, revealing its gleaming fangs. It grabbed a vine and swung forward, leaping several meters in an instant;

The lizard moved the slowest. Its claws rose and fell in a peculiar rhythm, gliding forward almost soundlessly, and its body gradually blended into the trees until it became one with them.

Then, the cheetah stood up, lowered its head, and arched its spine into a perfect curve.

Wade mounted the cheetah, leaned forward, and patted its neck. “Let’s go… run a little slower,” he said.

The cheetah doll lifted its front paws. At first it only trotted cautiously, but then it sped up slightly, its tail swaying as it slipped swiftly through the gaps between the trees.

Sharp, curved claws gripped the earth like hooks, and thanks to them, the cheetah could even climb trees with feline agility, moving lightly across rugged terrain.

Wade wrapped his arms around the cheetah’s neck and sighed softly with a faint hint of regret in his heart.

In theory, he could have used Morphing Gummies to transform himself into a cheetah and run through the Forbidden Forest, just as he had once turned into a mermaid. 

But that transformation had lasted so long only because he had mixed a rare ingredient—gillweed—into the gummy. He didn’t have anything like that now to stabilize another transformation.

If he turned into a peregrine falcon, the disguise would merely be a contrived illusion of the gummies’ magic—it would fool no one. 

The transformation of an Animagus is completely different from that of a Morphing Gummy, and this tournament was being watched by countless powerful wizards. He couldn’t afford to assume they wouldn’t notice the difference.

Wade suddenly ducked his head to avoid several branches whipping toward his face, then patted the cheetah again. The doll understood at once, slowing its pace carefully to avoid a thorny bush ahead.

…

Jabari crouched behind a patch of wild roses, his body transformed into a gray mouse no larger than a fist. Tiny claws clutched the leaves in front of him, and his bead-like black eyes stared unblinking.

Even though those terrifying dolls had scattered, Jabari still didn’t dare to move. Cold sweat soaked his fur, making him shiver from head to toe.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of… He didn’t notice me… It’s only because I’ve turned into a mouse that my courage feels so small…”

A series of “squeak, squeak, squeak” sounds came from the mouse’s mouth as Jabari muttered to himself for encouragement.

“That’s right! Those big brutes are way too clumsy. Even if he spots me, he’ll never catch me… And even if I can’t beat him, it’s not like I won’t have a chance to escape!”

His claws dug into the dirt. Instinct screamed at him to flee from such monsters, but reason forced him to follow.

In the end, his desire to win triumphed over fear.

Taking a deep breath, Jabari used fallen logs and roots for cover, slipping along the shadows as he trailed far behind.

…

A massive lion’s body stood before him — but atop it was the head of a woman. Her beautiful almond eyes gazed intently at the handsome young man as she spoke in a low, resonant voice:

“I was born from the mouth of the void, yet I spoke before the dawn;
When grasped, I vanish — when wind passes, I leave no trace.
Write me with flame, and I am reborn from the ashes;
Call me with water, and I sink into the reflection.
— What am I?”

Cedric paced back and forth several times under the Sphinx’s watchful smile. Then, with a hesitant tone, he said, “It’s… smoke, right?”

The Sphinx smiled with satisfaction. She stood up and stepped aside.

“Thank you,” Cedric said, exhaling in relief — grateful he had answered correctly on the first try, and even more grateful that his Ravenclaw girlfriend loved to quiz him with strange riddles.

As he passed the Sphinx, the woman’s pupils suddenly contracted. She frowned slightly, lifted her upper body, and glanced toward a nearby thicket.

A moment later, the Sphinx looked back at Cedric’s retreating figure. A mysterious smile returned to her face as she lowered herself back down.

…

“Thud!”

The sound of a branch being sliced apart came from right behind him. The hair on Cedric’s neck stood on end — he spun around in shock, only to see a flash of cold steel sweeping straight for his neck!

“Protego!”

In that split second, he shouted the spell with a roar. His whole body jolted as if struck by lightning.

“Clang—!”

The scythe struck the invisible shield, sending ripples through the air like waves. The hastily conjured barrier held for only a second before shattering with a violent crack!

Cedric rolled aside just in time, then whipped his wand up again and yelled:

“Stupefy!”

A red bolt shot through the air, but it only grazed the attacker’s head and slammed into a nearby tree trunk, exploding with a sharp bang.

The attacker was far shorter than Cedric had expected — a triangular green head emerged from the trees, eyes as large as tennis balls, and interlocking fangs glinting menacingly from its mouthparts.

The mantis lunged forward, blades flashing. Cedric barely managed to twist aside, but one razor-sharp scythe still pierced clean through his shoulder!

He screamed in agony, mustering every ounce of strength to press his wand against the creature’s jaws and shouted, “Confringo! Bombarda Maxima!”

Boom—!

The explosion erupted at point-blank range, blasting both of them off their feet. Cedric slammed hard into an old oak tree, pain ripping through his ribs as though they were about to snap.

Blood trickled down Cedric’s forehead as he gasped for breath. He saw the mantis doll dragging its half-shattered body toward him — its head barely hanging onto its neck — yet it still raised its bloodstained scythe high with ruthless precision!

Cedric struggled to lift his wand and roared, “Petrificus Totalus! Stupefy! Confringo! Confringo!”

Pieces of the mantis’s body exploded one after another — or rather, each time a spell was about to hit, it sacrificed a part of itself to block the curse, trading pieces of its body for movement.

At last, it crawled right up to Cedric. With the single front limb it had left, it struck hard, knocking the wand from his grasp.

Cedric, wracked with pain and unable to rise, closed his eyes in despair — only to feel a cold blade gently touch the side of his neck.

An Auror who had been about to intervene froze midair, her wand tip glowing, ready to strike.

Cedric opened his eyes in confusion and saw the broken mantis golem before him, its body was in tatters, rasping out a broken, mechanical voice:

“Su… surren… der… or… no… mer… mercy…”

Cedric gave a bitter smile. “Ha… that Wade, huh…”

He spat out a mouthful of blood. Feeling the pain tearing through his body, he knew he had no chance left in this match — and with that realization came a strange sense of relief.

Raising both hands weakly, he forced out the words, “I… surrender… I forfeit the match…”

From the treetops, a figure swooped down — Auror Tonks, riding a broomstick, landed beside Cedric. She waved her wand, causing the nearby branches to twist together into a stretcher, then carefully laid the boy upon it and lifted him into the air.

Cedric turned his head. Through his fading vision, he saw the remains of the mantis doll crumble apart as if pulled to pieces by invisible hands — until all that was left was a pile of weeds, dead wood, vines, and tangled debris.

“So terrifying… Wade’s alchemy…” Cedric muttered faintly.

Tonks nodded, her hair turning deep blue with tension as she said in a fearful tone, “Isn’t it just! Making bugs that big — it gives me chills just thinking about it! And you actually fought that mantis head-on! Mr. Diggory will be so proud of your bravery!”

She rubbed her arms exaggeratedly. “I really don’t get it — why does Wade Grey always make his dolls look like insects? That hobby is so creepy!”

Cedric gave a weak, wry smile.

The “terrifying” he meant… wasn’t that kind of terrifying at all.

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