Barty Appears

Don't be fooled by the fact that Skylar seemed to solve the puzzle with ease; it's because his strength far surpasses that of most wizards. Even the most elite and top-tier Auror in the Ministry of Magic wouldn't be a match for Skylar.

The person who set up this challenge probably never imagined that Skylar, who was still a fourth-year student, would have such strength.

Let's take the main character from the original work as an example, without mentioning others.

If Harry Potter were in Skylar's position, based on his experience passing through the golden mist in the original story, he would have merely used a Reducto as a test. Seeing that the Reducto had no effect, he would have charged directly into the golden mist without any backup plan. Fortunately, the golden mist only reversed the world where the intruder stood; its purpose was purely to test the intruder's courage. As long as one bravely continued to take another step forward, the magic would automatically dissipate.

If Harry continues his reckless actions in the face of this fog, rushing into the attack range of the Swordleaf Palm Tree—

It's foreseeable that his end will not be pleasant.

After passing this hurdle, Skylar's journey became much smoother. He once again summoned a group of magical field mice to scout ahead for him. With their innate intuition for mazes, they could choose the optimal route to the destination even when encountering forks in the road.

"The rest of the way is surprisingly clear. It seems—" Skylar walked briskly with a blank expression, but a chilling glint appeared in his gray eyes, "Those people probably never expected me to be able to get past the Swordleaf Palm obstacle..."

After slaying a forest Troll in less than a minute around a bend, Skylar saw a faint light emanating from the end of the path ahead. Skylar had finally reached the end—

The destination was an irregular octagonal space enclosed by multifaceted hedges. Between the hedges were numerous dark and gloomy intersections, indicating that there was more than one path leading there. However, Skylar's chosen route was undoubtedly the most optimized and fastest.

It must be noted here that Skylar's field mouse scouting tactic was the most effective, far more so than the "Four-Point Spell" used by Harry in the original work and many other protagonists in fan fiction. The Four-Point Spell can only make the wand point north, which is the same principle as a compass. It allows the user to quickly identify the direction and choose the route most likely to lead to the destination.

For example, Harry entered the maze from the southeast entrance, and his destination was in the northwest. Being able to recognize the north would help him deduce which fork in the road was more likely to be the correct one.

However, anyone who has played maze games knows that the straight-line distance is not the same as the distance traveled. The design of a maze can easily lead you to a dead end after going around in circles, wasting all your progress and having to go back and start over. Moreover, according to Skylar's experience, this magical maze is alive, with the hedges inside constantly moving, further increasing the difficulty of navigating it.

In the original story, without someone secretly helping him, it would have been a pipe dream to expect to reach the destination smoothly using only a Four-Point Spell.

Skylar was the first Champion to enter the labyrinth, and if Skylar hadn't spent so much time at the Swordleaf Palm Tree, he was almost certain he would have been the first to reach the end. Now—

He couldn't be too certain.

After all, if Harry had someone secretly helping him, he would most likely have reached the finish line before him. Don't forget, Harry's journey would have been even smoother than described in the original books. In the books, Harry also had to escape from the Blast-Ended Skrewt and rescue Cedric from Krum's clutches—

With the Blast-Ended Skrewt dying at its own hands and the two female Champion withdrawing prematurely, these two plot points should have been omitted in this world.

A hundred meters ahead of Skylar, the Triwizard Tournament trophy sat on a base about a foot high, gleaming with an alluring light.

The Goblet of Fire is still here!

Harry has disappeared!

Victory is within reach.

Skylar had just taken a step forward when he stopped and stood still.

According to the tropes of many novels Skylar had read in his previous life, the closer to the end, the easier it is to fail. This is because people tend to let their guard down when they are closest to victory, and that moment is often the beginning of tragedy.

Skylar activated his full Divine Insight of Amaterasu; within a radius of several dozen feet, not even a tiny insect on the grass could escape his gaze.

Skylar slowly pointed his wand to a spot not far to the right.

At the same time, four strange black shadows appeared on the ground in the four directions in front of, behind, to the left and right of Skylar. The shadows were humanoid, but their edges were covered with fine, short spikes, like a human covered in thorns.

"Interesting—" Skylar murmured, "The Shadow of the Magic Dragon?"

Where Skylar pointed, the camouflage created by the Disillusionment Charm slowly faded, revealing a thin figure standing on a wooden leg.

It's Mad-Eye Moody.

Skylar was both within Skylar's expectations and somewhat unexpected.

"Impressive!" Mad-Eye Moody's voice was chillingly cold. "With my Disillusionment Charm, even Dumbledore couldn't pinpoint my location so easily in this dark corner. Looks like you've got quite a few secrets up your sleeve..."

"Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch., it really was you..." A glint flashed in Skylar's eyes, but he forced a relaxed smile. "I must say, your methods are far more sophisticated than I imagined... Those Blast-Ended Skrewt, the Magic-Breaking Arrow Crossbowmen, the Swordleaf Palm Tree, and all that, weren't they all your doing?"

"Incredible..." Barty Crouch Jr. clicked his tongue twice, saying with some lingering interest, "Even though I tried my best to overestimate your strength... I still didn't expect you to be able to break through the three trials carefully arranged by the organization: the Blood-Changed Beast, the Magic-Breaking Arrow, and the Excalibur Palm. It seems that lord really had foresight... How exactly did you cultivate? Your strength is probably almost catching up with that of a Magister, right?"

Skylar offered no comment, instead asking casually, "Where's Harry? Logically, he should be here by now, given how long I've been delayed. Did you kill him?"

"It's not that I can't tell you, anyway you'll soon be joining him—" Even with Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch.'s composure, he couldn't contain his smugness and said, "Harry —he's gone where he's supposed to be—my master is coming back... Hahaha..." After saying that, he burst into wild laughter, his eyes filled with madness.

Judging from Barty Crouch Jr.'s smug face, it seems Harry has really fallen for him.

Well, since the Goblet of Fire is still there, it means he found another way to get Harry out. To do this right under the noses of the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore, it couldn't possibly be through simple methods like Apparition or Portkey.

The Apparition restriction might be broken, but it couldn't be done without alerting Dumbledore; similarly, creating a completely new Portkey isn't difficult, but it's impossible to hide it from the Ministry of Magic's nationwide surveillance.

Skylar asked himself, if he were in Schelling's shoes today, could he have done the same thing—"Silencio transport Harry out of Hogwarts"? The answer was—

It's possible. There are countless forms of magic in this world, but not all magic has a way to be detected; the Vanishing Cabinet is one example.

The method for making the Vanishing Cabinet has been lost, but if the other party is the Shadow of the Magic Dragon, the Dark Witch from a thousand years ago, it wouldn't be surprising if they knew how to make Vanishing Cabinet. Then a new question arises: Voldemort needed Harry's blood to be resurrected, so why would the Shadow of the Magic Dragon have captured Harry? Unless...

Skylar considered a rather terrifying possibility.

"Since your target was Harry, and you've already succeeded..." Skylar shook his head, a hint of confusion on his face, and asked, "Then why are you still blocking my way? Just to show off?"

Skylar had his reasons for asking that question.

The maze for the Triwizard Tournament only allows the four participating Champion to enter. To ensure fairness and prevent any suspicion of cheating, the four patrol members standing on the outer perimeter of the maze can only enter to carry out the rescue when they see a red spark.

Barty Crouch Jr..'s presence here must have been under the pretext of rescuing the two female Champion, allowing him to enter openly. However, if he stayed in the maze for too long, it would inevitably arouse suspicion from others. After all, Dumbledore was in the audience at the moment, and he was not someone easily fooled.