The second round of the Top 100 Tournament was extremely difficult. Contestants had to defeat the monsters in the Monster Maze while also protecting the Muggles at their sides.
In fact, some young wizards had played it safe and chosen to give up the chance to bring a Muggle to the competition.
Even so, of the 1,080 contestants, more than half had been eliminated.
When the host announced the figure, everyone who had watched the competition from start to finish called it brutal.
Only 498 contestants had made it through!
This was a competition that tested every aspect of a contestant's abilities. Combat skills, intelligence, courage, luck, perseverance—all were essential.
Jim Hack, the Muggle Prime Minister, whom many had been rooting for, was not very lucky.
The young wizard in his group had been one of Beauxbatons' renowned seventh-year students, and he had always performed well in the Duelling Club. Unfortunately, he seemed too accustomed to the Club's style of fighting and hadn't paid attention to the forest's complicated terrain.
In a ridiculously comical fashion, he caught his foot on a tree root and fell. He not only broke his Wand but nearly got stomped to death by one of the enormous "monsters" in the event.
Of course, Jim Hack hadn't come away empty-handed. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the safety personnel rushing over with their Wands raised. He immediately threw himself at the boy and shielded him in his arms, winning himself a huge amount of goodwill from the wizards.
Every successful contestant in this competition had a remarkable story behind them.
Each story made these Champions all the more celebrated.
To borrow the words of the Dark Lord Tom Riddle, who had met an untimely end amid the dazzling glow of magic, "These young