"What? What?"
Cedric was a bit confused, still looking around the room for any clues.
"Hold on, let me see—"
Harry groped around and then exerted a little force. The brick in his hand instantly crumbled into powder, "Holy cow!" The boy exclaimed, which led to Cedric's inquiry. Harry squeezed his palm, "I've mastered my divine skill—"
"Did you sneak a peek at the novels in the senior's bookcase?"
"How do you know?"
"Nonsense, because I've read them too—Wait, so what did you master?"
"Uh, I crushed a brick on the wall... Okay, I'm out now, outside, seems like a maze?"
Harry crawled out from the hole he had made and dusted off his clothes—yes, the swimming environment had ended. Before entering the pyramid, the Merpeople Leader gave the champions new clothes. "I looked around, and there doesn't seem to be a path leading towards you, hold on, let me try..."
"What are you trying?" Cedric was a bit puzzled and upon hearing Harry, he also loosened a brick from the wall.
"Trying to see if I can... hss, it seems my training is still not enough."
Harry rubbed his swollen fist, expertly applied some Dittany—since he started practicing with William every afternoon during the summer holidays, at first, Professor Lupin would help heal his injuries. Later, due to the frequent injuries, Professor Lupin simply taught him how to heal various wounds—
Since then, Harry has always kept healing potions at hand.
Even when he went swimming earlier, he had sewn an internal pocket into his swim trunks.
"... this is clearly the right path, creating a fake door to attract attention is something that misch... handsome William could come up with." Cedric was halfway through his sarcasm when he suddenly remembered they were live streaming, so he quickly changed his tone.
"It really is a maze."
Cedric frowned as he walked forward; it was a corridor turning to the right. He knocked on the wall from Harry's direction, and the next moment, the latter also knocked back, "It seems we'll have to figure out the path on our own." Cedric sighed.
"...Can't you not make such normal things sound so... romantic?"
Harry sighed, wondering why he always felt Cedric was checking out his butt?
So, the two separated. The already unstable communication through the Copper Knuts completely cut off. Harry lowered his hand, and following his principle of flipping a coin in uncertain situations, he walked onward until ten minutes later, he saw the mark he made earlier. The boy blinked—
Alright, he was lost.
Harry sighed, scratched his head in frustration, and sat down on the spot.
Then, the air seemed to quiet down, Harry could only hear his breathing, and then, even the sound of his breath seemed to disappear. For some reason, Harry felt he really calmed down, then a lingering song drifted into his ears—
Follow the song?
Harry suddenly got a bit excited, thinking he might have found a clue, so he stood up, held his breath, and continued towards the faint song. After another ten minutes, looking at the marks on the ground, the boy scratched his head again—if he didn't find the right path soon, he'd go bald from all the scratching.
"Follow the song, follow the light... follow the light?"
Harry paused, then looked up at the overhead fluorescent light. Trying to close his eyes, he held his breath—then, the faint sound started to become louder, and a white path of light appeared in his view. But he remembered... his eyes were closed?
After thinking for a moment, the boy decided to follow the light path before him, even though in his mind, the path extended into a wall—
"...Harry Potter?"
Hearing the call, Harry opened his eyes, "Krum?" Seeing the man with a buzz cut standing at the end of the passage, Harry felt a sudden sense of panic for no reason.
Why...
"Avada Kedavra!"
"!"
Harry instinctively bent backward, the deadly green light nearly grazing his forehead. Cold sweat instantly drenched the boy's back.
"Potter, a stupid, lowly little brat, long time no see?"
"Krum's" face twisted into a smile, a smile that face shouldn't be able to make. Harry stood straight, clutching his magic wand, staring at the man at the end of the passage. For some reason, he instinctively knew the man's true identity—
"Voldemort." Harry gritted his teeth and uttered the name.
"Harry Potter, you're very perceptive."
Voldemort's smile paused slightly, his crimson eyes flickering for a moment. Listening to the man purposely stretch his words, Harry felt he had never faced such overwhelming malice before—in comparison, Snape seemed almost friendly in his memory.
"Have you learned dueling, Harry Potter?"
He heard Voldemort ask softly; the fluorescent light above them started to flicker, then went out, leaving the red eyes glowing in the dark.
"Ha, of course—"
Harry gripped his magic wand, feeling a surge of courage. This was his fourth time facing the man; last time in the Illusory Realm, it was a senior who saved him. The time before that, at the end of his first school year, it was Dumbledore who saved him. The time before that, when he was still in diapers, it was his mother who saved him—
Who will save him this time... No, why do I always need saving?
Harry suddenly widened his eyes, looking at Voldemort, who seemed to be speaking. Harry had no interest in listening to his words. So, the boy swung his wand forcefully, as if that could boost the magic spell's power—
"Expelliarmus!"
"You haven't even bowed yet, Harry."
Voldemort said as he flicked away the Disarming Spell with his wand. He nodded slightly, but in Krum's grim appearance, he kept his eyes on Harry—
"Come now, etiquette must be observed... Dumbledore would want you to behave graciously... Ah, I forgot, it seems your dueling tutor now is Mr. Richard, ha, he never taught you any manners, so I understand your rude conduct—what, without your mother, are you hoping for him to save you?"
"Yes, I'm waiting for him to come, and then? Let's guess what happens next? Oh, perhaps the famous Dark Lord, fleeing in disgrace with his tail between his legs? Or begging for mercy? Just to keep his poor life from the senior—
"Oh, I forgot, this wouldn't be the first time, right? Voldemort... no, Tom, you're afraid."
Harry blinked, sniffed the air, then grinned. But the emotion in his eyes remained unchanged as he instinctively engaged in mockery and taunting, swinging his wand continuously, while his verbal attacks never ceased.
"...No threat, 'Savior' sir, just like your feeble spells."
Voldemort paused for a moment, then his corners curled up slightly, "Your dear senior might be on his way to save you now—but guess what happens after that? Trust me, I'm not a Gryffindor fool like you, Potter. Since I've come, I'm fully prepared, you may meet on the path of death—"
"Haha."
Harry suddenly let out an emotionless laugh.
"...What are you laughing at?"
"I'm laughing at you, dear little Tom, fully prepared?"
Harry smirked, his hand still releasing magic spells. "Meeting on the path of death? Why not take a look behind you?"
"Avada Kedavra!"
Almost immediately, like a reflex, Voldemort threw a Killing Curse behind him, and the powerful curse hit the sturdy wall, creating a crater, with the green light dancing inside—meaning nothing was there.
Voldemort instinctively turned back, only to discover Harry's figure had disappeared around the corner. Meanwhile, Harry pointed his wand upward, blasting apart thick stone bricks, the rising dust obscuring his form.
"We're not playing hide and seek, Harry."
Realizing no intruding transfer student appeared behind him, Voldemort couldn't maintain a stoic expression, and his malicious voice came out of his mouth.