Chapter 285 - 285 The Champion of the Tournament and the Dispersion of the Black Mist
Chapter 285: The Champion of the Tournament and the Dispersion of the Black Mist
Then, they realized something at the same time -
Now there were only two of them left in the whole maze, and they were only one step away from the final victory!
At this moment, Cedric was standing only a foot away from the Triwizard Cup, and the trophy was flashing behind him.
"Take it, it's yours." Harry panted, suppressed his desire for victory, and said to Cedric, "Whoever gets the championship first will get it, you are closer to the Quarterfinal Cup than me."
Cedric didn't move.
He stood there blankly, looking at Harry, and then looked back at the trophy.
In the golden light of the trophy, Harry could see the eager expression on Cedric's face.
Cedric looked back at Harry again, and Harry was barely standing up with the help of the hedge.
Cedric took a deep breath.
"Take it, the victory should be yours." He said, "You saved my life twice."
If Harry interrupted Krum's Cruciatus Curse the first time, Cedric could still comfort himself by saying that they were both Hogwarts warriors; but the second time, it was Harry's reminder and help that saved him from being killed by the spider...
Hufflepuffs always value integrity and honesty the most. Cedric couldn't accept that he took the trophy representing victory in front of Harry after being helped twice.
"The rules are not like this." Harry shook his head and said.
He saw Cedric's hesitation and felt a little annoyed for no reason.
Harry's legs hurt badly. In order to deal with the two spiders, he was in pain all over... However, after so much effort, he lost to Cedric, just like his relationship with Qiu Zhang before.
"Whoever gets there first gets the trophy. You got there first." Harry shook off his misconceptions and said to Cedric seriously, "I'm telling the truth, and my leg is so injured that I might not be able to walk over."
Cedric was indifferent, but took a few steps closer to Harry, away from the trophy.
"No." He shook his head again.
"Don't be so stylish," Harry said impatiently, "Take it quickly, so we can leave here... Who knows if there will be other dangers waiting for us?"
Cedric saw Harry holding on to the hedge tightly to keep himself steady.
"You told me there was a dragon," Cedric said again after a moment of silence, "If you hadn't warned me in advance, I might have been eliminated in the first task."
"That's because I got help first!" Harry said impatiently, trying to wipe the blood off his leg with his robe, "and you told me how to deal with the second task - we are even."
"Strictly speaking, I also received help from others." Cedric said, "The book was given to me by Mr. Filch, although his original intention may not be like this..."
"But we are still even." Harry shook his head.
He carefully tested his injured leg, and as soon as he put weight on it, the leg trembled violently - he sprained his ankle when he was thrown down by the spider.
"Your score for the second project should be higher, at least higher than mine." Cedric said stubbornly, "You stayed until the end and rescued all the hostages... I should have done the same."
"I was the only one who was stupid enough to take the song seriously! You are all smart people and know that nothing will happen to them." Harry said unhappily, "Hurry up, get your trophy!"
"No." Cedric still repeated the word.
He stepped over the spider that was not burned by Selina and was knocked unconscious by him and Harry, and walked to Harry's side.
Harry looked up and glared at him.
Cedric was serious.
He was giving up the honor that Hufflepuff had not received for hundreds of years - as the most low-key house, it was rare for Badger House to have a warrior in the competition, let alone win the final championship.
"You go." Cedric repeated again.
It seemed that he used all his perseverance to say this. But his expression was very firm, without any hesitation, and he was obviously determined.
Harry's eyes moved to the trophy.
In the light of the trophy, his mind was hazy for a moment, as if he saw himself holding it and walking out of the maze -
He held the semi-final cup high, and the crowd cheered in his ears; he saw Ginny's face full of admiration, saw Ron and Hermione cheering loudly, and saw Sirius smiling and saying that he was proud of him...
Then the illusion disappeared, and Harry saw Cedric's stubborn face in the dimness.
"Let's go together." Harry suddenly thought of a way.
"What?" Cedric was stunned.
"Two people take it at the same time, and Hogwarts still wins." Harry said, "We are the joint champions."
Cedric stared at Harry with wide eyes, and Tong Kong trembled.
"You...really want to do this?"
"Of course," Harry took a deep breath and said to him heavily, "Of course...we helped each other to overcome difficulties, right? We got here together, and this is not the credit of one person."
For a long time, Cedric seemed to be unable to believe his ears, and then he smiled.
"Listen to you, come together!"
He grabbed Harry's arm and helped Harry limp towards the trophy.
Walking from the dim hedges to the brightly lit central square of the maze, the glittering trophy was getting closer and brighter, just like the extremely happy emotions in the hearts of the two.
After walking to the side of the trophy, Harry and Cedric each raised their hands above a shining handle.
"I'll count to three, okay?" Harry said, "Let's grab the trophy together. Mr. Bagman said it will take us back together."
Cedric smiled and nodded.
"One...two...three..."
The two put their hands down at the same time, and each grabbed a handle.
The next moment, their legs left the ground, and their hands were tightly attached to the handle of the Quartet.
The Quartet dragged them forward in the whistling wind and swirling colors, and no one knew where it was going...
...
In the gloomy black mist, a group of beautiful ancient Greek-style buildings were looming around.
Dracula put his hands behind his back and walked leisurely in the secret realm, as if it was not a dangerous battle, but a carefree leisurely tour.
However, there was a faint light in Dracula's eyes, indicating that his mood was not as calm as it seemed.
Although Andros was strong-willed, his situation was not good.
In the final analysis, this old antique who had survived in the ancient Greek period did not really live for so many years. He just used his unique patron saint to place the remaining soul, just to be able to use his own power to trap Helbo in the secret realm.
But the patron saint is ultimately created by a person's positive emotions. No matter how heartless Andros is, he can't resist the wear and tear of time.
Dracula can clearly feel that, especially in the last few hundred years, Andros's patron saint has become weaker and weaker... If he hadn't been obsessed with stopping Herbo from going out to do evil, he might have disappeared with the wind.
The despicable Herbo must be found in the shortest time, otherwise Andros may be completely submerged in this endless darkness.
Dracula's eyes locked on a location and then quickened his pace.
The darkness in that direction is much thicker than other places!
The dark breath in the air became more and more dignified. The deeper it went, the more the darkness seemed to turn into substance, so sticky that it formed a dark liquid, blocking the steps of others.
But these obviously couldn't stop Dracula.
As one of the purest dark creatures, Dracula walked in this darkness like a fish in water.
In the deep darkness, he saw an unkempt, shifty, and rather wretched old man, standing hunched over in the place where the dark atmosphere was the thickest.
That was the despicable Herbo, who was notorious enough in the thousands of years of history of the magic world.
"We meet again, Mr. Count."
Seeing Dracula coming, Herbo took the initiative to say hello.
"Oh? You seem different today." Dracula looked at him in surprise, "I remember that every time I came to this secret realm, you would dodge in a panic. Why do you look so confident today?"
"Hehehe..." Herbo laughed sinisterly, "I have dodged you too many times, and I don't want to hide again today."
"I want to know, who gave you the courage?" Dracula took out the magic wand and gently rubbed it in his hand.
The gloomy wooden wand seemed extremely excited in the dark, exuding an eager breath all over his body.
Not only that, there seems to be some energy awakening inside the wand...
"Dracula, you don't understand what kind of power I have gained." Herbo was very excited, his face full of fanaticism.
Dracula suddenly sneered and curled his lips in disdain.
"If you are talking about the power of the 'God of Death', then I think your sense of superiority is a bit ridiculous." He said indifferently, "You are just a poor guy who relies on external forces."
Herbo's eyes suddenly enlarged, and the expression on his face changed from fanaticism to shock.
"You clearly don't have a Horcrux, how could you know the existence of the God of Death?" He asked loudly, "Is your so-called lack of interest in eternal life all pretended, and you have split your soul in private? Hypocrisy!"
"I'm not interested in learning your self-mutilation-like stupid behavior," Dracula sneered, "Who told you that only by splitting the soul can you have the opportunity to understand another world?"
The stone archway of the Death Hall in the Department of Mysteries is connected to another world. No one seems to know about this... After all, entering that veil means death, and not everyone has the opportunity to force their way out of that world.
Dracula became more and more curious about himself from the future, and he could actually snatch people from the "God of Death".
"Nonsense!" Helbo's exasperated voice interrupted Dracula's thoughts.
"The power of that person is definitely not something you people who have never experienced it can understand!"
He suddenly held his hands together, and a vortex of dark energy was slowly gathered, gradually forming an extremely terrifying black hole, as if even the eyes could be sucked into it...
"Dracula, I admit that I have been suppressed by you for many years..." Helbo's face gradually calmed down, but his tone was extremely vicious, "But today, I will let you feel the real power of darkness!"
The black hole suddenly erupted, and a dense dark cone burst out in the direction of Dracula.
Dracula's eyes suddenly became solemn.
He realized that if this spike hit the edge of the secret realm, it might be able to tear apart this space that brought together the faith and potential of the entire Greek magic world!
However, Herbo did not do so.
In order to avenge Dracula's suppression of him for thousands of years, Herbo chose to use this borrowed power to take revenge!
Dracula's eyes flashed. He knew that he could not fight head-on, so he decided to avoid the edge for the time being and choose the right time to counterattack.
However, at this moment, a power seemed to suddenly wake up in his wand.
That was the power left in this wand by his future self, and Dracula had never discovered what use it could be.
So he raised the wand with this power.
As the wand was waved, the surrounding darkness seemed to be attracted by an inexplicable force, and all gathered towards the wand... It was as if they were following the guidance of the wand!
Dracula's eyes lit up, and instead of dodging, he turned around and flew towards the terrifying spike.
The tip of the magic wand accurately touched the front end of the spike. At that moment, time seemed to freeze...
"Buzz..."
After a long time, a buzzing sound came from the intersection of the two.
The extremely solid spike was first torn open, and then shattered inch by inch, turning into pieces of black light.
Afterwards, under the guidance of the gloomy wooden magic wand, those black light spots also joined the surrounding dark energy army, and were deprived of control by Dracula bit by bit, and turned to crush Helbo.
"How... is it possible?" Helbo's eyes widened, and the whole person was stunned on the spot, "This kind of power... Why can you control it..."
Before he could finish his words, the surrounding "rebellious" dark power had already swept in, like a millstone, crushing Helbo's soul into powder.
Helbo failed again and could only rely on the Horcrux to wait for rebirth.
"I'm sorry, it seems that even if you borrow other powers, you still can't seek revenge on me." Dracula raised his mouth happily, "No matter how strong the borrowed power is, it is not your own. Isn't it easy to turn against me?"
Then, Dracula waved his wand again.
The black fog in the secret realm dissipated in an instant.