Look at the Cup, but don't touch it!

Soisen advanced between the vegetal walls of the labyrinth and realized that since his encounter with Cedric, the place had become very quiet, too quiet to be normal. He didn't know if it was because he must be approaching the central part of the labyrinth or he entered a stretch where the creatures were silent.

The point was that it seemed like the calm before the storm and he became more cautious with his steps. There was a high possibility that Krum, being controlled by the person behind the scenes, would not act like Cedric and directly cast a sneaky curse on him.

Just in case, he generated a small illusion of himself a few meters ahead while his real self turned invisible and followed him almost sticking to the walls. By now, everyone was aware of the illusion ability he had and he was much freer to use them frequently.

But since he didn't know if the controller was looking through the den den mushi, he made sure that his illusion would only begin to exert itself as he passed a blind spot.

He advanced cautiously and nothing happened for several minutes, until a green light suddenly shot out as his illusion rounded the corner. Although he was surprised by the attack, he did not let his guard down and made it appear as if his illusion was hit and his "body" fell lifelessly to the ground.

He stood motionless, avoiding generating any noise as he waited for the attacker to reveal himself.

Footsteps broke the silence of the labyrinth and Krum, looking dazed, advanced towards Soisen's "corpse", apparently wanting to assure the state of his target as he looked at his wand in confusion.

But even though Soisen knew Krum was being controlled, he noticed that something else was out of place. He assumed the curse Krum cast on him was meant to kill him, but it seems that was not the controlled wizard's intended effect judging by his uncharacteristically unconscious actions.

Did someone want to render him helpless and trap him alive?

He looked at the surrounding den den mushi and noticed that they all died, turned into mummified versions. Whatever happened at this point, no one would know.

Krum was quick to notice that there was something wrong, especially when he saw the magic mark on the wall behind the target. How could he hit his curse there, if he hit the Hogwarts champion first?

The curse naturally passed through Soisen's illusion and left the mark there.

He heard something dart at him from behind his back and quickly cast the same curse to intercept his attacker before he even saw it.

-A rock? -Krum muttered in confusion again as he saw the projectile being hit by his curse and knocked back.

Seeing that the rock he threw with the levitation charm didn't explode, Soisen was even more certain that the curse was non-lethal, though it certainly had some sort of severe debilitating effect.

-Bombard.

Krum heard the voice from his side and understood that he had been tricked, but he didn't have time to erect a protective shield before the blast swallowed him up and hit the ground several times, knocking him unconscious like a rag doll.

Soisen looked down at his hand in surprise. He was so used to using non-verbal casting, he sometimes forgot that uttering the spell helped focus the intent and empowered it to some extent.

He didn't want to use such a strong blast when he's so close!

After casting a sleep spell and a paralysis spell to be absolutely sure he couldn't surprise or fake it, he hurried to see if Krum was still alive.

-"He's got a few bones out of place and several nasty bumps, but nothing Popy can't fix," Soisen sighed in relief to see that the Drumstrang champion was still breathing.

Krum worked hard enough during the Tournament to perform well and was an opponent who respected the competition, unlike his headmaster. He just had the misfortune of becoming the perfect stooge in the final test.

After setting up the same protections as with Cedric, he threw dense, high red sparks skyward for someone to go after Krum. The nearby den den mushi were dead and he could not request rescue through them.

-I'll have to ask for compensation from the Ministry for their deaths," Soisen sighed at the sight of the mummified snails with no chance of recovery.

Those were all money and the ones he had in his hands were still very scarce!

Minutes later, Soisen arrived at the clearing where he stood silently waiting for the Tournament Cup and watched as Potter also arrived at the same time.

Looks like the plot armor rivals the effects of Felix Felicis.

-Potter.

-Galegold.

Under the gaze of the den den mushi and consequently the gaze of all the spectators, the two Hogwarts champions engaged in a staring duel after greeting each other.

And while Hogwarts taking the Cup was already a given, who would become the champion to receive eternal glory?

-Fleur has retired," said Potter after a minute of silence.

After managing to run away from the mad sphinx and catch his breath, he watched as the Aurors took the injured Beauxbatons champion with them.

-Cedric and Krum have also retreated," Soisen replied to return the kindness of the information, being secretly relieved that his friend was not in a bad situation.

But to Harry, the words sounded like he was bragging that he beat the two champions without much effort. And he was next!

He calculated the distance between him and the Cup, hoping he could use some distraction to run and get close to it to grab it. He didn't want to face Soisen in a duel, as much as it pained him to admit it, ever since their encounter at the dueling club, he still had nightmares of him being a roasted piglet spinning over the fire. That, along with the spectacle of watching him punch a dragon to death, made her want to avoid conflict with him at all costs.

Since the difference in strength was so great, he could only try to outsmart him.

But Soisen seemed to have thoughts of his own and his eyes lit up as he cast a spell with a quick gesture. But not at Potter, but at the cup!

-What are you doing? -The abrupt action puzzled Harry, because he was able to recognize that it was not a levitation charm.

Did he want to destroy the cup so that it would be declared a draw?

They were both Hogwarts champions and he knew he was not happy to be forced as he was to participate in this competition.

-Have you never played a role-playing game? -asked Soisen as he kept the spell circling around the cup, as if examining it-when someone comes to the room with the treasure at the end of the dungeon, there is usually a boss guarding said treasure. I'm just checking to see if we have to worry about one last surprise challenge coming out," he made up a reasonable explanation for his actions.

-Is that so? -Although the explanation seemed logical to him, he didn't quite trust her words.

It could be a psychological trick to make him lower his guard and defeat him!

-It seems that there is indeed something wrong," Soisen frowned deeply, "The Cup has been converted into a Transporter and although I am not able to know where its destination is, it seems that its spatial coordinates would take us out of the school grounds as soon as we touch it. This is very strange, if it was just to get us out of the labyrinth, it wouldn't be necessary to do something so complex.

-What do you mean? -Harry asked.

-I think someone has maliciously interfered with the Tournament, but I don't understand what their purpose is," Soisen explained after undoing his magic around the goblet, hoping that his action would draw the attention of Dumbledore and the others, "I suggest we stay away from it and ask for an explanation from the organizers.

-Harry was silent for a few seconds before agreeing.

Soisen turned his gaze to the den den mushi that watched everything that was going on.

-Director, please send someone to check the cup. In the meantime we-" Soisen's statement was interrupted with the sound of a bubble popping and he turned around in confusion.

The Tournament Cup and Harry Potter disappeared.

Soisen blinked and his mind went over recent events, until he connected the dots in short order.

Did Potter think he was fooling him and while calling for help, sneak up to the cup to claim his victory?

Not only him, the directors and students watching the projection were also speechless as they watched Potter tiptoe up to the cup and giving a disdainful glance at Soisen's back, took the cup only to disappear in the next second just as he would with a Transporter.

Wait, so... where did he go?