The brief respite vanished in an instant.
Cedric stood at the entrance to the competitor's passage, taking a deep breath, trying to steady his pounding heart.
In his mind, Krum's cold, calculated strike that had defeated Fleur replayed over and over—the opponent's stone-like will and terrifying sense of balance etched deeply into his thoughts.
Amid the deafening cheers, he and Krum stepped onto the arena at the same time.
Cedric stood tall and straight, a gentle yet determined expression—so typical of a Hufflepuff—on his face.
He didn't have Fleur's magical creature bloodline, nor Krum's overwhelming power or dueling instincts; what he had was a solid foundation, strong resilience, and a repertoire of spells diligently learned from books.
Their eyes met, and they exchanged a silent nod. The stone tablet lit up and spun, before finally settling on a random setting: Time-Turner Workshop.
Space twisted and warped, and a strange, dim, mechanical workshop suddenly replaced the dueling platform.
Directly above the arena hung a massive hourglass, and surrounding it were countless clocks of all shapes and sizes—on walls, ceilings, even suspended mid-air—everywhere.
Gears and mainsprings whirled rapidly, and pendulums swung violently.
Clicks, ticking, and humming blended into a chaotic mechanical symphony.
Cedric and Krum immediately felt the oppressive pressure of the environment.
The disordered noise attacked their nerves, and the unstable flow of time subtly disrupted their rhythm.
Krum once again chose to make the first move, but this time, he was noticeably more cautious. He didn't immediately launch a powerful spell; instead, he waved his wand and cast, "Sonorous Charm!"
His target was a massive, spiked gear pendulum clock hanging above Cedric's head.
Dong—!!!
A deafening roar suddenly erupted, and the powerful sound waves crashed down like a sledgehammer, violently striking toward Cedric.
At the same time, the pendulum clock, disturbed by the spell, began swinging wildly. The surrounding gears clanked into overdrive, and several sharp metal fragments broke loose, whistling through the air as they flew straight at Cedric.
This was a calculated double strike—soundwave pressure combined with physical debris. Krum had cleverly exploited the arena's environment to generate the first wave of chaos.
But Cedric was ready.
The moment Krum raised his wand, Cedric had already grasped his intention. He immediately cast a quick "Muffliato!" on himself.
At the same time, his wand moved swiftly: "Protego!"
A silver shield shimmered into existence in front of him.
However, the unstable time flow delayed the fragments in midair by half a beat.
Cedric was momentarily startled, but then made a calm decision—he dismissed the shield and took several quick steps back. The deadly shards of metal whooshed past him, missing by inches.
Krum reverted to his tried-and-true strategy, maintaining pressure. His wand snapped up like lightning: "Stupefy!"
The red light howled through the air, but once again, Cedric dodged it with ease. Under the influence of the hourglass, even the speed of spellfire was gradually slowing.
Time had become the greatest variable in the arena, but neither of them relented in trying to throw the other off balance. As fellow Seekers, their instincts aligned in surprising ways—both were now unconsciously closing the distance between them.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
"Impedimenta!"
"Incarcerous!"
A barrage of spell light flashed from both wands, but affected by the warped flow of time, the spells moved slower and slower, allowing each wizard to dodge them with relative ease.
Krum's large frame moved deftly through the chaotic forest of clocks. His wand suddenly pointed at a rapidly spinning grandfather clock to Cedric's right: "Reducto!"
Boom!
The grandfather clock exploded on contact!
Fragments of gears and twisted mainsprings flew out in a deadly arc, forming a steel storm that rained down on Cedric, cutting off nearly all escape routes.
But Cedric wouldn't back down. He swiftly aimed his wand at the suspended clock above Krum's head: "Descendo!"
Clang!
The giant wall clock detached from its hook and plummeted toward Krum.
But both the whistling shrapnel and the falling clock visibly slowed… and then, bizarrely, froze mid-air!
Neither wizard paid the looming threats any mind—they didn't even flinch, continuing to cast spells without interruption.
Then—Dong!!!
A deafening boom shook the entire workshop.
The massive hourglass above suddenly flipped, and before either could react, the flow of time abruptly surged forward.
The fragments of the grandfather clock, previously suspended in stillness, turned into a violent torrent, rocketing toward Cedric. Simultaneously, the massive wall clock above Krum crashed down with immense force.
Both were caught off guard—everything happened so fast that there was no time to dodge.
In that split second, Cedric and Krum's eyes locked.
Without hesitation, both made the same decision—their wands shot up in perfect sync, pointing directly at each other.
"Deflectere Incantationem!"
"Deflectere Incantationem!"
Two flashes of spell light zipped through the air, crossing paths in a streak and striking their respective targets precisely.
Bang!
Both were struck hard by the other's spell, their bodies flung backward uncontrollably.
Cedric's backward trajectory let the deadly storm of fragments whistle past his chest.
Krum, thrown back as well, narrowly avoided the massive wall clock crashing to the ground!
"Beautiful!" In the stands, countless spectators finally exhaled, their tense nerves relaxing as cheers erupted.
Both hit the ground heavily, but neither had time to catch their breath.
Krum, relying on his strong physique, was the first to get up. In his haste, he managed only a single Banishing Charm—sending a pendulum clock hurtling through the air toward Cedric.
Cedric had just managed to stand, still gritting his teeth through the pain, when the head-sized pendulum clock came whistling toward him.
"Diffindo!"
Crack—!
The pendulum clock shattered into fragments under Cedric's Severing Charm. But before the debris could hit the ground, he flicked his wand upward.
"Multi-iecit incantatores!"
The fragments instantly transformed into a deadly metallic torrent, whistling through the air at incredible speed.
Krum roared, and the silver glow of the Shield Charm instantly flared to life in front of him. A dense barrage of impacts pounded against it like a storm.
But Cedric, now holding the upper hand, unleashed a relentless wave of spells at Krum.
"Stupefy!"
"Expelliarmus!"
"Reducto!"
Under the influence of the hourglass, the three beams of spell light shot out so fast they appeared as mere afterimages! Krum had no time to roll away—he could only grit his teeth and maintain his Shield Charm to absorb the blows.
Cedric's eyes gleamed sharply, and he quickly turned his wand toward either side:
"Pincer Impetum!"
The clocks suspended on both sides of Krum suddenly accelerated, as if seized by an invisible giant hand, and smashed inward with tremendous force.
Krum bent backward to the limit, and the heavy clocks collided violently, grazing his sides and bursting into fragments.
Just as he prepared to use those shards to launch a counterattack, Cedric's next icy-blue spell light struck—fast, fierce, and merciless.
"Bombarda Maxima!"
Krum's heart sank.
A bright yellow beam struck the falling debris in front of him, and a deafening explosion followed.
Although he managed to summon enough magic to maintain his Shield Charm at the last moment, the overwhelming impact still sent him flying, crashing hard to the ground.
"Cedric—!"
The Hogwarts students erupted in cheers, but the duel wasn't over yet.
Dong!!!
Another thunderous boom echoed as the giant hourglass flipped once more.
Time slowed again, and Cedric's follow-up spell lights visibly lost speed.
Seeing Krum—seriously injured and sprawled on the ground—about to catch a brief moment of reprieve, Cedric made a bold and unexpected move.
Apparition!
SNAP!
His figure disappeared from his original spot. In the next instant, he reappeared beside the fallen Krum, wand extended.
Red light glowed at its tip.
"Bombarda Maxima!"
But this was Krum's voice!
Cedric's expression shifted dramatically, but the attack was too close to dodge.
Although the spell missed its mark thanks to his desperate evasive maneuver, it still struck the ground between them with tremendous force.
Boom—!!!
A blast even more powerful than before erupted at close range, and the shockwave hurled both of them into the air.
Krum, however, had already been lying on the ground, so he wasn't thrown far. Gritting through the pain, he stood up, raised his wand toward the hourglass overhead, and cast an Exploding Charm.
Crash—!
The giant glass casing shattered, and heavy sand poured down, instantly dissolving the chaotic time field that had enveloped the entire workshop.
Then, drawing on sheer willpower, Krum turned his wand toward Cedric, who had also been blown away.
"Stupefy!"
The stunning spell hit Cedric squarely.
The wand slipped from Cedric's hand with a soft "clink" as it landed on the oil-slicked floor.
His body, which he had been trying to hold upright, swayed—and then collapsed forward, limp as if all the bones had been taken from him.
A soft white light appeared just in time, catching his falling body.
The stone tablet rose from the ground, and the surroundings returned to their original state.
Krum walked over to Cedric, slowly bent down, and silently picked up the wand that had slipped from Cedric's hand.
When Cedric gradually regained consciousness under the effect of the protective magic, his eyes still slightly unfocused, Krum was already holding out his wand to him.
"You are tenacious," Krum said simply in his deep, hoarse voice. It was the longest sentence he had spoken all day.
Cedric took the wand, feeling its lingering coldness, and looked at his formidable opponent, managing a weary smile. "You... are very strong. Congratulations, Krum."
His voice was faint but sincere.
Krum nodded without saying more. He turned to face the roaring Durmstrang stands and raised his wand.
"Viktor! Viktor! Viktor!"
"Krum! Krum! Krum!"
The cheers erupted like thunder.
Sunlight pierced the clouds, casting its glow on his silent, resolute face—like a crown upon the victor.
__________
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