...Something's not right.
Fleur's intuition was frantically warning her, making her feel as if her dirty, soil-streaked silver hair was defying gravity because of it. She seemed to turn her head back unintentionally, shifting her gaze from Cedric, who was leading the way in front, then sweeping across the faces of the other two—
"...I think she might have noticed something."
Hermione stared at the floating screen in the air with a confident tone.
"After all, Harry and Cedric have already allied with that Russian... Yes, that's what they said."
Hagrid nodded as well. The unmanned photography technology had made rapid progress with the help of some great inventor, and the magic carpet equipped with a portable camera was hovering closely above Harry's head, faithfully relaying everything happening in the cave to the outside world—
Indeed, after escaping in the direction Harry indicated, the group entered a narrow, pitch-black, and stuffy cave. They cast the Lumos Charm, and the pale white glow barely allowed them to see the cave's contents with the naked eye.
"But, a verbal alliance doesn't mean absolutely stable relations. If I were him—"
Neville held his chin with both hands, "In this situation, I'd probably choose to stick with Delacour for warmth. After all, Harry and Cedric have an apparent, unbreakable alliance, and besides, among so many champions, only we at Hogwarts School have two people—"
"Are you saying, the other champions might..." Ginny's eyes widened.
"Do you guys want to eat something... Why are you looking at me like that?"
Ron mumbled, his mouth full of peach pastries, looking a bit puzzled as he scratched his head under the gaze of the other members.
"It's nothing, you continue eating."
Hermione rolled her eyes, deciding not to waste her breath explaining, and grabbed a couple of peach pastries as well.
...
"...Is it too quiet?"
In the damp and stuffy cave, the group of four, eerily silent and seemingly with hidden agendas, had walked in silence for nearly ten minutes in an order they had politely agreed upon for half a minute, until Fleur Delacour could no longer bear the atmosphere and spoke up.
"Alright, Miss First in the Tournament, do you have anything you want to talk about?"
Cedric nodded while using flames to scorch some unknown plant on the ground— he wasn't about to touch it with his hands. In the Magic World, there were more bizarre things than plants that could poison you, and sparks hit the damp stone walls with a light "sizzle."
"For example..."
Fleur's voice sounded particularly sharp in the enclosed space. She stopped walking, her silver hair reflecting a faint light under the Lumos Charm, and although the dirt couldn't completely hide her beauty, her sky-blue eyes were now filled with a vigilance like thestrals startled in the woods, "How do we get out of this damned place? Or, to speak of something more practical—"
She slightly turned her body, with her magic wand pointing to Harry Potter who was following behind her, "What are you planning to do to me?"
At that moment, it was as if the air in the cave solidified.
The glow from the Lumos Charm elongated their silent shadows on the damp walls, and Alexander's gaze quickly flitted between Cedric and Harry. His tall body subconsciously tensed, and the flowing blue runes on his muscles flickered unpredictably as if because of nerves.
Meanwhile, Harry felt like the sweat trickling down his back from the stuffy environment turned into ice-cold chills, with his heart pounding heavily under his ribs. Fleur's intuition was far more precise than any spell she could cast away— gaining temporary safety only by eliminating the outliers, this was a pact they had already agreed upon.
Clearly, Fleur was the current "outlier"— though such an act seemed rather unscrupulous, that's how elimination matches worked.
"Moreover."
Before Harry and the others could come up with a response, Fleur abruptly shifted the topic, "Do you have something on you that I don't—"
Then, the other three instinctively glanced at each other, looked down at their pockets, and pulled out a slab from their clothes. The slab was emitting a faint blue glow, with intricate, twisted magic patterns just looking at it inducing dizziness—
"Oh, it seems you can't hide it anymore."
Fleur smirked and "smiled" at Cedric.
"Your curiosity is more impressive than your looks, Miss Fleur."
Cedric looked down at the ancient slab filled with strange patterns in his hand, his thumb subconsciously rubbing against it.
He didn't reply immediately but instead looked up, the casual and teasing expression on his face vanished, the smile restrained, replaced by a scrutinizing gaze. Under the luminescent glow, his well-defined face appeared particularly clear.
After a while, Cedric finally spoke again, his voice resonating in the cave with an echo. His tone was flat but struck each person's eardrums like a heavy hammer, "Do you think even if you really managed to pull Mr. Alexander, our combat power would already be balanced? You shouldn't be acting rashly at this point, at least wait for two more people?"
A certain Russian man's body suddenly stiffened.
The pair of gray eyes, often tinged with a trace of confusion as if just awakened, had now been replaced by sharpness. Cedric's words and the spell Harry had raised were like cold blades against his throat, and his muscular arms slowly lowered, shifting from a natural hanging posture to a subtle, ready-to-explode action.
"What do you mean?"
The man's voice was as deep as distant rolling thunder, with a heavy Siberian accent, but the meaning was unmistakable.
"Sorry, Mr. Hamilton has already told me everything—"
Cedric smiled, his tone calm, but his words inexplicably sent a chill down one's spine.
"Piero? Why did he..."
Fleur was stunned, seemingly puzzled about what had happened to the cauliflower...
"It's unfortunate, due to certain reasons, he has already withdrawn from the tournament—"
Cedric's face still maintained a smile—but the next moment, a fist glowing blue broke through the air, smashing towards Harry's shoulder—in this situation, no one could guarantee that support from a certain "referee" would arrive in time, so Alexander chose to restrain himself somewhat—
But that fist, capable of smashing a troll's skull, was not something a fragile wizard could endure head-on.
Fleur also struck at the same time, her magic wand pointing at Harry, clearly they intended to first eliminate one person!
No matter what, they first needed to dismantle Hogwarts' internal alliance; this was a consensus and policy directly reached during the first discussion by their group, the outside school champions' alliance, formed right after the conclusion of the second event. Because, during the second event, Harry's team's full cooperation exerted too much pressure on them—
This elimination contest must seize the opportunity to eliminate the two, at least eliminate one of them.
Otherwise, they simply couldn't go ahead—
During Christmas, Fleur had already attempted to use her racial talent to create a rift between the two, but unfortunately, these two were completely impervious, not even accomplishing the first step "becoming dance partners," they were directly and sternly refused, their indifference was almost not like normal men!
Afterwards, just as the few who were still discussing methods encountered unexpected delight, as Cedric and Harry themselves came knocking—so Alexander planned to act accordingly and pull in the Ilvermorny guy too, and when everyone was gathered, launch a surprise attack—
But as soon as the project started, this situation arose, plans could never keep up with changes—
Alexander's fists, wrapped in blue runes, shrieked as they tore through the air, smashing towards Harry's somewhat slender shoulder.
This was not a warning or an attempt to control, his intent was exceedingly clear—to completely resolve, in an instant, this Hogwarts champion who, though appearing weakest, was actually the most dangerous, holding the most unknown factors. As long as he was eliminated, Cedric would lose support, left isolated and defenseless.
By then, they would see the upcoming elimination rules and decide whether to spare some face for the "host."
Meanwhile, Harry was under attack from all sides!
Because Fleur's spell followed closely behind, the cold, blue spell— "Immobulus! (Freezing Charm)," targeted Harry's side, completely compressing Harry's escape space, forcing him to make a choice—
Take the punch? Or take the spell?
In the Lumos Charm's white light, Harry's figure seemed exceptionally small; only, this youngest champion declared—
Adults might want it all, but I'm a minor, I want none of it!
His reaction was beyond everyone's imagination.
As the Weasleys exclaimed in front of the TV, Ron choked on a peach crisp due to nervousness, and Ginny instinctively closed her eyes—
Harry moved, his glowing green pupils flickering slightly. He didn't choose to dodge backwards—because that would expose his entire back to Fleur's spell. The boy swiveled on his right foot, his body twisting as if broken towards the inner side of Alexander's charging direction, lowering—
"Shhh!"
The heavy punch almost grazed Harry's flying robe hem and rear shoulder clothing, a powerful air current carrying the icy chill of death; but ultimately, this punch missed, and so did the spell, exploding into a patch of crystalline ice on the cold stone wall of the cave.
"You—"
Fleur's startled scream burst forth, shocked that Harry could perfectly predict both her and Alexander's collaboration!
To be precise, it was Alexander who initially decided to act, so much so that Fleur didn't fully react at first, causing her spell to be about half a beat slower, but despite this… this guy… is he really only fourteen?
The girl raised her head, meeting a pair of icy green eyes.