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The Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch, after being vacant for several months, finally bustled with noise once again.
On this day, the sun was just right, and the breeze was gentle.
Six giant flags floated above the pitch, representing the six participating schools, snapping in the wind driven by magic.
The stands were packed, filled with people sitting shoulder to shoulder.
Almost all Hogwarts students had turned out, and the teachers and students from the other five schools occupied specially designated areas. Everyone's faces were full of excitement, their eyes shining like stars in the night.
Except for Slytherin, because their house didn't have a single champion.
But the other three houses were different; each waved their own house flags, especially Hufflepuff's, which were everywhere. After all, they had two champions today, although the house affiliation of one was a bit controversial.
The young Wizards waved their flags and shouted at the top of their lungs, cheering for their champions.
"Hufflepuff—Go!"
"Cedric! Lynn!"
"Gryffindor! Potter!"
The other schools were not to be outdone.
Although they were few in number, their momentum was not lacking at all—
The girls from Beauxbatons waved their handkerchiefs, shouting something in French in unison; the students from Durmstrang stood in neat formation, occasionally letting out deep, powerful shouts; in the Ilvermorny camp, someone even held up a giant flag, with a hand-painted "Go Ryan" hanging next to it; the students of Uagadou wore bright robes, singing and dancing; the little Wizards of Castelobruxo beat on small tambourines they had gotten from somewhere, full of rhythm.
The audience cheered for a long time until their throats were nearly parched, yet they hadn't seen so much as a hair of the champions.
The only thing to watch was the giant display screen floating in mid-air—it was looping various advertisements.
But the content of the ads... well, it was a bit shabby.
"Honeydukes Sweetshop, the starting point of your sweet life!"
"Zonko's Joke Shop, make your friends laugh until they hiccup!"
"Quality Quidditch Supplies, 20% off Flying Broomstick maintenance this month!"
Occasionally, some big brands would appear—for instance, for a split second, the silhouette of a Firebolt flashed on the screen, but only for a brief two seconds before immediately cutting back to Honeydukes' Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans advertisement.
It couldn't be helped.
The businesses placing the ads had to do the math.
There were many spectators present, but the vast majority were poor students who were short on cash and high on demands; their purchasing power was truly limited. Asking Firebolt to spend a fortune on ads for such an occasion? The sales wouldn't even cover the advertising costs.
The audience wasn't picky either, cheering cooperatively every time an ad ended.
Just as another round of Fizzing Whizbees advertisements was nearing its end, a figure appeared in the center of the field.
Ludo Bagman was wearing a bright yellow Wimbourne Wasps kit, with the large word "Wasps" printed on his chest, looking like a giant bee.
With a face full of smiles, he opened his arms and shouted:
"Hello everyone! I am the host of this Triwizard Tournament—Ludovic Bagman!"
Thunderous cheers instantly erupted from below. Regardless of whether they liked the man, his appearance meant the competition was truly about to begin.
"Welcome!" Ludo waited for the cheers to subside slightly before continuing to shout, "Welcome to the 126th Triwizard Tournament!"
Another burst of cheering.
"Of course," Ludo winked, "it used to be called the Triwizard Tournament. In the past seven hundred years, there have been a total of one hundred and twenty-five tournaments. Among them—" He paused deliberately, building suspense. "Hogwarts has won sixty-three championships!"
The Hogwarts stands exploded. The cheers almost blew the roof off the Quidditch Pitch.
"And Beauxbatons—" Ludo drawled, "sixty-two championships, coming in a close second."
The Beauxbatons girls clapped politely, but their faces carried somewhat defiant expressions.
Ludo did not continue the introductions.
To go any further would be a bit impolite—after all, the remaining schools had never won in history.
He cleared his throat and brought the topic back on track:
"Alright, enough small talk! The location for the First Task of this Triwizard Tournament is—" He turned and pointed toward the distant Forbidden Forest. "The Hogwarts Forbidden Forest!"
The giant screen timely cut to an aerial view of the Forbidden Forest, the dense canopy like a green ocean stretching beyond the horizon.
"The competition will last for three days and three nights!" Ludo raised his volume. "Only the champions who complete their tasks can leave the competition grounds early! The rest must wait until the time is up before coming out!"
Three days and three nights.
Staying in the Forbidden Forest.
The audience whispered excitedly, full of curiosity about the challenges the champions were about to face.
"Now—" Ludo raised his hand, pointing at the giant screen. "Let's see how our champions are doing!"
The advertisements on the giant screen vanished instantly, replaced by nineteen split screens, each showing the figure of a champion.
They had clearly just been sent into the Forbidden Forest, separated by significant distances. Some were looking around, while others had already begun to grope their way forward.
"It seems the champions have taken their positions and entered the Forbidden Forest," Ludo's commentary rang out opportunely. "They are scattered, with a certain distance between each other—this is to ensure the fairness of the competition."
The spectators craned their necks, searching for the champions they supported among the nineteen screens.
"Let's see what the champions do next—" Ludo's gaze also scanned quickly, then his voice suddenly spiked. "Oh! It's Lynn! What is he doing?"
Everyone's eyes focused in unison on one of the screens.
Lynn was seen looking up at something, then reaching out and feeling toward the direction of the screen—
The next second.
The screen went black.
Audience: ???
The entire stadium fell into an eerie silence.
Ludo was stunned for a moment, then quickly looked down to check something. A few seconds later, he looked up.
"Uh... Mr. Lynn? Please put down the recording equipment!"
He paused and added into the microphone—it was a communication channel connected to a monitoring device inside the Forbidden Forest:
"Mr. Lynn, please put down the recording equipment! That's the cameraman!"
The screen flickered and lit up again.
Lynn's face appeared on the screen, facing the lens and scratching his head sheepishly. His voice spread clearly throughout the Quidditch Pitch via amplifying magic:
"Sorry about that. This thing looks too much like a Golden Snitch. I thought some house had lost their Snitch again."
Everyone: "..."
The whole stadium was silent for two seconds, then erupted into a massive roar of laughter.
In the Gryffindor stands, Wood nearly slipped from his seat, and George and Fred were doubled over laughing. Even on the Slytherin side, someone couldn't help but laugh, only to be glared at fiercely by Malfoy.
Lynn looked away, no longer paying attention to the monitor that looked like a Golden Snitch, and began focusing on studying his environment.
On the giant screen, he was seen drawing his wand and pointing it at his temple.
The audience quieted down again, watching this scene with curiosity.
The wand lightly touched his skin, and Lynn closed his eyes, his expression focused.
A few seconds later, a mass of silvery-white substance was slowly pulled from his temple—it was a memory, condensed by magic into floating strands of silver thread.
He opened his eyes and flicked his wrist.
He threw the silvery-white mass to the side, and it instantly condensed into a giant projected map in the air!
The map was so rich in detail that it almost looked like a real-life photograph—mountains, dense forests, streams, and valleys, every location clearly marked.
Ludo Bagman's voice rang out again, this time with unconcealed shock:
"Oh! Mr. Lynn has pulled out his own memory! That's a map made by the Ministry of Magic! He actually presented it through memory—a very sophisticated spell!"
The audience let out a collective gasp of wonder.
Lynn stared at the map projection before him, lost in thought.
The outer edges of the map were filled with dense mountains and forests, stretching as far as the eye could see.
In the central area, there was a sunken valley where the terrain was flat and open, with a stream winding through it. Most striking were the rock walls on both sides of the valley—marked with several cave symbols.
Lynn cross-referenced his current position and then reached out a finger, pointing at one of the caves.
He decided he would try his luck at the cave first.
Ludo's commentary rang out again, the shock in his tone now turning into almost exaggerated admiration:
"Lynn's finger is pointing at a location on the map—a cave. Merlin's beard, look at this ridiculous fellow! With just one spell, he has cracked the level meticulously designed by the Ministry of Magic!"
He paused and glanced at the other screens:
"While the other champions—are still wandering around like headless flies!"
On the giant screen, the other frames flashed by in sequence.
On the Hogwarts side, Cedric and Harry had just met up and were talking in low voices, seemingly discussing their next strategy. Roger Davies was exploring alone not far away, stopping from time to time to observe the surrounding plants.
The Beauxbatons trio had already gathered together.
Fleur was drawing something on the ground with her wand, seemingly marking directions. Chloe looked a bit nervous, following closely behind Fleur.
Uagadou's Amina stood on high ground, looking out over the distant terrain, while Nema and Wanjiru stood quietly behind her, as if waiting for orders.
On the Ilvermorny side, Ryan, Thomas, and Jordan had just found each other. Ryan was excitedly patting Thomas on the shoulder, saying something, while Jordan rolled his eyes helplessly beside them.
As for the other two schools...
Ludo's voice rang out again, this time with a hint of schadenfreude:
"It seems the progress of the champions from each school varies. The champions from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, Uagadou, and Ilvermorny have taken the lead in meeting up—while the champions from Durmstrang and Castelobruxo are still fighting their own battles."
He paused, his tone carrying obvious mockery:
"And as for their progress... it's about the same—all wandering aimlessly."
A burst of laughter erupted from the stands.
Dissatisfied boos came from the Durmstrang and Castelobruxo camps, but they were quickly drowned out by louder laughter.
On the giant screen, Lynn had already put away the map projection and strode off in his chosen direction.