Chapter 485

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As soon as Bagman blew the whistle I immediately ran towards the entrance of the maze, without even paying attention to the cheering and shouting of the people in the stands for me.

And already inside the big living maze made of vines and hedges, I started running, using all my senses to guide me around the place.

I went through many paths, curves and passages, easily avoiding some traps that were along the way.

And after 1 minute of running without interruption I stopped, feeling that I had gone deep enough into the maze.

'Okay, I guess I'm far enough from the entrance now' I thought, looking back the way I came.

And I tried to feel Harry and Fleur's magic at the entrance to the maze, but I could only feel a very weak trace of their magic that was lost among the magic of the other people who were on the quidditch pitch.

But the main reason I couldn't sense their magic so accurately wasn't because of all the witches and wizards around me, but because of the maze.

The magic of the maze itself, of the traps and spells, and of the magical creatures were completely filling and saturating the place, and it confused my senses.

'Ugh, the magics inside the maze are stronger and denser than I expected' I thought with a grimace, feeling an overload of information hit me.

I've been to other places with a high concentration of magic before, but unlike the maze when I was in those places I didn't keep my senses on all the time or use them at full power.

And I knew that it was because I was using my senses to their full strength that it was reacting so intensely to the magic around me.

And understanding this I decided that instead of feeling the magic of everything and everyone on the quidditch pitch, I would just focus on what was around me.

I then decreased the range and sensitivity of my magical sensory ability, and after doing so I felt a lightness and tranquility pass through me, as if all the sensations that were tormenting me had disappeared.

'Much better now' I sighed in relief, now much more relaxed and attentive.

And fortunately, this overload problem only hindered my ability to sense magic. My other more physical senses, such as smell and hearing, and my empathy were still working normally, and therefore I did not need to control or suppress them.

And that was good because those senses of mine were the most important and strongest ones I had, and I knew I was going to need them today.

'Well, now that everything is okay and I'm truly ready, I can get on with the task'

*Whistle!*

And just as I was preparing to continue through the maze I heard Bagman's whistle sound again.

And I knew that sound meant my two-minute lead was over and that Harry had entered the maze too.

'He'll probably try to go straight for the cup' I thought, ignoring the fact that I was the only champion who had no intention of doing so.

I then frowned, 'I know Harry has a high chance of reaching the cup before Fleur and Krum, but I'm worried because I'm sure Barty Crouch Junior will interfere in the task to make that happen.'

'But even if I'm sure of his intervention, I still don't know what this fanatical Death Eater will do or even if he has already done something to facilitate Harry's arrival at the cup'

I knew that Barty Junior wasn't going to use Krum to attack the other champions like he did in canon, because before the task began I used my Magic Vision to see if the Bulgarian boy was under the Imperius Curse.

And upon my inspection I saw that he was not bewitched, and this, instead of reassuring me, actually made me quite tense and alarmed.

And I wasn't feeling that way because I was worried about myself. In fact, I was actually worried about Feur, and to some extent about Krum too.

They, like me, would also be targets of Barty Junior and whatever he had planned for us, but unlike me, they wouldn't be expecting outside interference or a surprise attack.

And I knew that anything Barty Junior would do to try to stop us from reaching the cup would be much more lethal and dangerous than the maze challenges.

'Tsk, I knew I should have done more than just have Nyx spy on him' I clicked my tongue, irritated with both the situation and myself.

But shaking my head I decided to push that feeling and my worry for Fleur to the back of my mind, and so I returned my attention to the maze.

And looking around I noticed for the first time the spot where I had stopped, seeing that I was in a somewhat open circular area.

And in front of me I could see that there were three paths that led to different directions of the maze.

'Okay... I feel the magic of many magical creatures around me, and I also feel that the paths ahead of me will lead me directly to some of those creatures' I thought, quickly analyzing the situation.

And in my mind I began to consider my options, reflecting on which path I should follow.

'Well, it doesn't really make that much difference which path I choose. I can feel that all paths will lead me to the end of the maze somehow,' I thought, feeling a little calmer.

'And besides, it's not like I actually want to win the tournament... I actually just need to pretend that I'm trying to reach the cup until I "accidentally" run into Harry, and then after that I'll just need to convince him that we should both win the tournament together.'

'And after doing that we will both have to touch the cup at the same time to be teleported to the graveyard, and there I will be able to continue with my mission and true objective' and after going over my plan in my mind I nodded.

And looking back at the three paths in front of me, I decided to choose one of them at random, and the path I chose ended up being the one to my right.

'Well, until I find out what Barty Junior has prepared for me and until I "accidentally" meet Harry, I'm going to have to spend some time wandering around the maze.'

'And what better way to spend my time here without looking like I'm not trying to win the task than by facing the dangerous and deadly creatures of the maze?' I thought, a small smirk appearing on my face.

This smile of mine then began to turn into a wild smile, with me feeling anticipation and excitement growing inside me.

And just the thought that I would have some fun and action facing magical creatures made my blood boil.

'Heh, I guess it's time for me to release all the energy and tension my body has been accumulating these past few days' I thought, feeling my body and instincts screaming for release.

And then, knowing what I had to do and without wasting any more time, I ran in the direction of the path I had chosen, continuing my run through the great maze of hedges.

And now that I was moving through the maze again I started heading towards the closest magical signature I was feeling, and after running for a few seconds I saw a curve appear in the path a few meters in front of me.

Crossing this distance in a few steps I prepared to turn at this curve, but before I did so I felt a horrible and disgusting odor reach my nose.

And along with this foul odor I heard the sound of air being cut off, and that sound was approaching me faster and faster until I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of something coming towards my face.

And reacting on instinct I immediately ducked, which turned out to be the right decision, as that something was actually a large wooden club that whizzed past just inches from my head, with enough force to break a brick wall.

And after dodging this club I threw myself forward, rolling on the ground before stopping half-crouched but already in a fighting position, facing my attacker.

'Heh, Hagrid really didn't hold back when choosing which magical creatures would be placed in the maze' I thought, looking at the creature that was in front of me.

The creature that had tried to attack me was a large, ugly adult mountain troll, who was as robust as the others of his species and stood a little over three meters tall.

And this troll, after realizing that he hadn't managed to hit anything with his club, looked at it confused, before turning around, looking back and seeing me completely unharmed.

"Grrr!" the troll grunted, looking at me with a confused yet very angry look.

And looking at this troll I couldn't help but think that fate was playing a game with me.

'Of course the first creature I'll have to face in the maze is the same species as the first creature I faced and killed when I entered the wizarding world' I snorted, amused by the irony of the situation.

End.

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