The competition wouldn't end just because a few people had been the first to reach Hogwarts in the sky. This wasn't a race; it was still an elimination contest.
There was no time limit.
It was like a math problem. If you knew how to solve it, you could take your time and still work it out. If you didn't, no amount of time would help.
As time passed and each Champion who cleared the challenge reached Hogwarts in the sky, the pressure on those still left behind would grow heavier and heavier.
Under this kind of format, everyone would be involved—not just the people watching in person, but countless others all over the world, seated in front of their Magic Mirrors, discussing how to solve this difficult problem.
At that moment, the spectators gathered in the tower at the center of Azkaban Island were either staring into the Magic Mirrors before them or watching the island through telescopes. Tension hung in the air.
The host, Lockhart, kept making the rounds among accomplished wizards in various fields, interviewing them about how they thought the Champions could fly into the sky.
"Look!"
A wizard pointed at the Magic Mirror floating beside him. "There's really a Muggle airplane here!"
"I spotted it ages ago!" another wizard beside him said, gesturing with the magical telescope in his hand. He pointed to a spot on the island beyond the railing below the tower's viewing platform. "Over there!"
In an instant, a crowd gathered around.
"Maybe they can fly this helicopter to the finish line?" Arthur Weasley hurried over excitedly. He took a careful look, then cried out, "Oh, it doesn't look to be in very good shape."
"Not very good" was putting it mildly. The helicopter looked as if it had crashed into the