Jordan grabbed the golden microphone and began his enthusiastic commentary:
"Folks, the Hogwarts Grand Wizarding Tournament team match is about to begin! All the teams have entered the arena!"
"The final venue for this match is the Wizard's Canyon, a large, inverted triangular primeval forest split by a three-pronged river. To win, a team must either traverse this vast forest and destroy the opponent's protected Red Crystal, or eliminate all of the opposing team's members!"
"And with the settings designed by Mr. Victor Dreyar, the Wizard's Canyon will be filled with a variety of magical plant fruits and creatures. Contestants must identify which of these flora and fauna are beneficial and use them to their advantage as much as possible!"
"And now, we can see the three teams' starting members leaving their home bases, heading towards the river…"
The Ravenclaws, led by Ivanna, were advancing in a two-and-three formation. The two in front were leading the charge with Protego charms on them, while the three in the back were providing support. The three-three system that Victor had taught them was becoming increasingly sophisticated for the young eagles.
The five young eagles stopped near the river. They spread out and hid in the bushes and treetops, waiting in silence.
The Hufflepuffs' Rolf first released his five pets from his home base: a Wampus Cat, a Demiguise, an Occamy, a Dugbog, and a very tricky Thestral. That's right, a Thestral, a magical creature that can only be seen by those who have witnessed death.
It was Rolf's ultimate trump card. He believed that none of the contestants would be able to see the Thestral, and Thestrals were very special creatures. They were not afraid of other creatures, even dragons, Basilisks, or phoenixes, because no one had ever seen a Thestral be killed.
Rolf left the Thestral at home to guard the crystal. After that, the Hufflepuffs began their "four-protecting-one" strategy. The five of them advanced just like the Ravenclaws. When they reached the river, they stopped. At this moment, Rolf also sent the Dugbog into the river. This Hufflepuff team was ready for battle on land, in the water, and in the air.
Meanwhile, the five starting members of Fairy Tail had also arrived at the river.
"It's so quiet." Fred looked at the wide river and the endless forest in front of him. "Cedric, what should we do now?"
"You and George should first use a detection device to check the situation in the water and on the other side of the river. Although their overall strength isn't as good as ours, it's best to be careful," Cedric said, looking through his binoculars.
So, Fred and George used their spirit magic to attach their consciousness to two Golden Snitches. One dove into the water, and the other flew into the forest in the distance.
In the river, the Snitch's two transparent wings merged into one, becoming a propeller that stirred up invisible waves. Soon, the Snitch ran into a large green crab climbing slowly at the bottom of the river.
"Hmm? What's that?" Fred was a bit confused when he saw the river crab.
"Did you find anything?" Cedric asked.
"A very large green crab. I've never seen a species like that before. I wonder if it's a Scamander pet," Fred replied. "It's moving strangely. It crawls for a bit and then zips far away."
"A green crab… Hermione, do you remember any such magical creature?" Cedric turned to look at the most knowledgeable person on the team.
"I can be certain that there's no green crab in the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I think it's a creature that Victor put in the canyon," Hermione replied after thinking for a moment.
"In that case... Fred, take out that crab and see what happens." Cedric immediately gave the order.
"Alright." Fred smiled excitedly and immediately controlled the Snitch to approach the river crab. A moment later, the runic inscription on the surface of the Snitch glowed, and the one-time curse stored inside was released, instantly blowing the river crab to smithereens.
"Well?" Cedric asked eagerly.
"It dropped an item! A green crystal," Fred said. "But I can't take it by myself. I need George's help."
"I haven't found anything over here. Tell me your location, and I'll be right there to help you." George heard that he was needed and immediately controlled his Snitch to fly back.
A moment later, the five of them had the green, four-sided crystal that the river crab had dropped.
"This is… a Dugbog!" Hermione said when she saw a creature that looked like wood reflected on one side of the crystal.
"This must be Scamander's pet," Penelope guessed. "This crystal must have a tracking function, but the range is probably limited, most likely only to the river."
"Fred, George. Go find this Dugbog. This magical creature crawls in the mud at the bottom of the river, and we should be able to follow its tracks to find the Hufflepuffs." Hermione immediately planned the attack.
"Got it!" The twins replied in unison.
A moment later, they controlled the Snitches to find the Dugbog at the bottom of the river. They then followed its tracks on the riverbank and successfully found the Hufflepuffs hiding in the bushes, disguised with concealing pollen.
"Found them!" Fred shouted excitedly when he saw the cautious Rolf surrounded by his teammates.
"Should we take them out now?" George was already rubbing his hands together.
"Are you two confident?" Cedric asked.
"Leave it to us!" The twins looked at each other and took out two large cases from their Extension Charm bags.
"Spirit Imprint!" They opened the cases, and Fred and George cast the spirit magic on the items inside. Two light-green magic circles slowly unfolded. A moment later, hundreds of sparrows flew out of the cases and headed straight for the sky…
On the other side, the Hufflepuffs were very patient. Rolf's Wampus Cat was currently scouting for the enemy's location. They didn't dare to make a move before they heard back, so they wouldn't lose the initiative. But at this moment, the Hufflepuffs didn't know that they had been exposed. Their opponents didn't want them to wait patiently.
Suddenly, Megan Jones, who had a sharp eye, saw a lot of small black dots circling above their heads through the dense bushes. She immediately had a bad feeling.
"Look, up there," Megan whispered. "Those black birds look a bit strange."
The other Hufflepuffs looked up when they heard her.
"You're right. Those birds weren't here before." Rolf frowned. "I think we need to move. There's no way this flock of birds would just stop above us for no reason. Something must have attracted them."
"Then let's go. What if they are after us!" Owen said anxiously.
With that, the Hufflepuffs immediately prepared to move. But just then, the black dots in the sky suddenly started to grow larger. The sparrows were diving towards the ground at an incredible speed.
"Run!" Megan noticed something was wrong in the sky and shouted. The Hufflepuffs took off running. They didn't care about hiding their location anymore.
"It's no use. These birds are too fast!" Rolf said, glancing at the sky. He immediately realized that they probably couldn't escape the birds' attack range. So he immediately shouted, "Kano, protect us!"
The Occamy in the distance heard the command and immediately darted to the group, growing larger and coiling into a ball. The five Hufflepuffs hiding under the Occamy's wings breathed a sigh of relief. But at this moment, Owen asked worriedly, "Rolf, is it okay for Kano to be blocking for us like this? It won't get hurt, will it?"
"Don't worry, it'll be fine. Kano is an adult Occamy. Even an Auror would have a hard time breaking through the defense of its feathers and skin in a short period of time," Rolf said confidently.
But soon, reality began to slap him in the face. On the other side of the river, Fred and George were sweating profusely, controlling the suicide sparrow bombs they had made all day.
Fred: "George!"
George: "Fred!"
Fred and George: "Are you ready? Art is an explosion!"
As soon as they finished, 500 sparrow bombs dived towards the ground, performing a carpet bombing.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Countless explosions rang out around the Occamy. But what was strange was that the explosions weren't very loud, not even as loud as a normal firecracker.
In fact, although these so-called sparrow bombs looked weak, it was the red smoke they released after the explosion that was truly deadly.
Fred and George had learned from the Hufflepuffs' experience in the arena. These sparrows were filled with a high concentration of capsaicin. They thought, since they knew it would be difficult to break through the magical creature's defenses with a physical attack, they would just enchant the bombs. Let's see if you can handle it!
And so, countless hot pepper fumes were inhaled by the Occamy, which made it feel extremely painful. Its feathers began to tremble.
"Kano, what's wrong?!" Rolf asked, worried, when he heard his partner's pained screams. And as the Occamy began to thrash and twist its body, the hot pepper fumes also poured into the Hufflepuffs' hiding spot.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
"What is this… cough, what is this?!"
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