Treasure Chests Have Tiers Too, and the Maze Grows More Dangerous

"I think I understand now," Harry said thoughtfully, watching the scene unfold. "The treasure chest is the key."

"The treasure chest is indeed the key, but..." Krum paused, his expression grave, "The Dementor hasn't disappeared; it's still wandering in the maze."

After he finished speaking, the other three looked at each other in bewilderment.

But soon they seemed to realize something, and their expressions turned rather unpleasant.

Aaron opened a box, took out a map for thirty seconds, but also released a Dementor.

If he opens two chests, it means there will be two Dementor in the maze. And so on, the number of Dementor in the maze will gradually increase as the Champion obtains more clues.

To make matters worse, the box might not only contain Dementor; Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewt hasn't even come out yet!

No wonder Dumbledore said he would unleash a red spark if he wanted to leave, because the maze would only become more and more dangerous over time.

"If I go in and immediately unleash the red spark, will I be able to quit the match?" Harry asked half-jokingly.

"What did you say?" Moody stormed up to him angrily. "I think I just heard some coward say he was going to quit the game."

"No, I..." Harry stammered, "I was just joking."

"Then don't talk nonsense." Moody pulled him to the entrance of the maze and said earnestly, "To be honest, I'm a little disappointed, Harry Potter. You're a Gryffindor, and a brave Gryffindor would actually back down in the face of difficulties."

James and Lily would surely die restless if they knew their son was this bad.

Upon hearing this, Harry clenched his fists, his eyes becoming exceptionally determined. "I will not back down."

"Very good." Moody patted him on the shoulder and lowered his voice, "I know you're worried that someone might sabotage the Third Task, but trust me, trust Lupin, and trust Dumbledore. We won't give anyone the chance to harm you."

So promise me, don't give up unless you feel like giving up.

Harry nodded seriously, took a deep breath, and entered the maze.

At that moment, Ludo Bagman whistled, "Viktor Krum may enter."

Krum glanced at the projection screen, then strode towards the entrance, exchanging a subtle glance with Moody as they passed.

The maze has completed its second movement, and the map in Aaron's hand has become completely useless. Its only function might be to estimate how far he is from the trophy.

Aaron did a quick calculation using the Quidditch Pitch as a reference, and he was about 400 meters away from the trophy.

But being in the maze, he dared not move rashly and could only carefully approach the center.

After passing several intersections, the sound of sparks exploding came from not far away, and it grew closer and closer.

"This is... Blast-Ended Skrewt?" Aaron's expression was strange. He was very certain that the sound came from Blast-Ended Skrewt, after all, Hagrid had them raise it for a long time.

Aaron snapped his fingers and used Illusion Magic to conceal himself.

He then created another illusion, quickly ran down another side road, and led the Blast-Ended Skrewt in the exact opposite direction after it appeared.

The third whistle blew, Cedric entered the field.

He had only crossed two forks in the road when he found a silver treasure chest, which he opened from a distance using a lock-picking spell.

However, no strange creatures appeared in the box, only a piece of parchment.

Cedric raised an eyebrow, opened the parchment and sure enough, it contained a map of the maze: the maze will move again in one minute, please hurry.

In addition to the maze map, the parchment also recorded the specific locations of Aaron, Harry, and Krum.

"Looks like I'm in luck," Cedric chuckled, then quickened his pace following the map's directions.

Watching this scene from the sidelines, Phoebe realized that not every box was dangerous.

But she had barely breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Harry summon a Boggart, while Krum summoned an Acromantula that was over two meters tall, and she couldn't help but feel a toothache.

The number of dangerous animals was 12, and she was still waiting at the entrance, feeling somewhat anxious.

Finally, the final whistle blew, and she was immediately overjoyed, rushing into the maze without waiting for Ludo Bagman's explanation.

As darkness fell, the maze's hedge walls were at least seven meters high, and with a thin mist covering them, the Champion had to use Lumos to see the way.

As Aaron walked, he drew a precise route in his mind, trying to get as close to the end as possible before the maze changed again.

After turning a few corners, a silver treasure chest appeared before him.

"Alohomora!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Aaron opened the box.

A pungent smell immediately spread in all directions, followed by the sound of bubbles bursting.

A Troll about four meters tall slowly stood up, holding a long wooden stick in its hand.

"My goodness."

Aaron shook his head, rubbing his forehead. He never expected that such a creature would exist in the competition maze.

The Troll, carrying a club, strode quickly toward Aaron, a sinister smirk playing on his lips.

Aaron snapped his fingers, but instead of taking out his Wand, he turned and sped away.

The Troll immediately gave chase, the dull thuds of its running echoing throughout almost the entire maze.

Once the Troll had run far away, Aaron's figure emerged from the shadows.

Troll are highly aggressive and destructive, but they are relatively unintelligent and can easily evade Illusion Magic, making them the least threatening to them.

He took out a Marauder's Map identical to Cedric's from the silver chest, looked at it meaningfully, and chuckled, "Looks like treasure chests come in different grades after all!"

The wooden treasure chest is a regular map with 30 seconds to select a route, while the silver treasure chest is Marauder's Map that includes the Champion's location, and the maze movement time is doubled accordingly.

There should also be gold treasure chests, and the maze movement will be either overall movement or partial movement. Otherwise, if the Champion get the map at roughly the same time, the maze movement frequency will be too high.

Aaron thought to himself, and then followed the Marauder's Map to find the correct route.

After a dozen or so minutes, the Champion had explored most of the maze map, and each of them was methodically moving towards the very center.

Aaron was closest, and according to his calculations, he was less than 100 meters away from the trophy. Harry and Cedric were tied for second place, about 100 meters away from the center. Krum and Phoebe were also less than 200 meters away.

But things aren't as easy for them now as they were at the beginning. Besides the maze shifting from time to time, the giant Blast-Ended Skrewt and scorpions hiding within it have also started to show themselves.

These behemoths are like scavengers; they are highly lethal and possess a certain degree of magic resistance, so people can only go around them.

In addition, each of them opened about three treasure chests, releasing more than a dozen dangerous Fantastic Beasts, which added even more danger to the maze.

Aaron opened a silver treasure chest in a dead end.

No strange creatures were released; there was only a mirror inside— the Mirror of Erised. (Reflecting the deepest desires of one's heart.)

"Wow, they even brought out this old relic."

Aaron approached the magic mirror, where his own image was reflected.

A moment later, Aaron in the mirror pointed to his feet, and Aaron immediately understood, bending down to pick up a Marauder's Map.

The map shows that he has three turns to go and one minute to go before reaching the finish line.

Aaron felt relieved. It was less than ten meters away, and an hour was enough time to walk there.

But just in case, he quickened his pace.

However, an unexpected incident still occurred. He went through several corners but stopped at the final exit.

He could clearly see a circular open space twenty meters away, where the Triwizard Tournament trophy was located, surrounded by three golden dragons, with a shimmering blue light constantly flashing around it.

But a Sphinx made of yellow sand blocked the exit. It was enormous, with limbs like stone pillars, and even when it was lying on the ground, it was as tall as the hedges on either side.

"Answer my question. If you guess right, you can pass. If you guess wrong, I will eat you. If you don't guess, you will have to take another path." The Sphinx spoke in a human voice, which was extremely hoarse.

"I'm short on time, you'd better hurry up," Aaron said impatiently.

"I do not exist in the past, but I will always exist. No one has ever seen my face, and I am the pursuit of all living things. What am I?"

"An abstract answer!"

Luckily, I know a friend who really loves riddles; the answer is tomorrow.

"The answer is correct."

The Sphinx, like yellow sand dissipating, cleared the final path.

Aaron shrugged and walked to the finish line, where the Triwizard Tournament trophy was placed on a base, gleaming with an alluring light.

All the spectators outside the venue watched this scene with excitement, and Professor Flitwick even raised his baton, ready to play music at any moment.

"It seems the champion of the Triwizard Tournament has been decided," Ludo Bagman said excitedly. "After more than a century, we are about to witness history..."

His voice abruptly stopped halfway through his speech.

Aaron didn't go to take the trophy. Instead, he sighed, sat silently next to the pedestal, and waited quietly for the others to arrive.

"Miss Klein, did you arrange this?" Dumbledore with a meaningful smile.

"I just let him be the last to touch the trophy, but there's only one way to win the championship under these circumstances."

Dumbledore paused, then exclaimed in surprise, "All the Champion touched the trophy together, but this..."

"He has to convince others," Adrian said matter-of-factly, "Or beat others into submission."

"Miss Klein is truly...unconventional!" Fudge laughed. "Using Warlock duel as the finale, most people wouldn't come up with such a brilliant idea. I'm sure the audience here will be in for a treat every day."

"Perhaps!" Adrian said dismissively. "I've also arranged something else to make this final project more interesting, but I don't know if it will be accepted."