Fleur Attacked

In a secluded woodland filled with flowers, Phoebe Delacour was intently gathering the floral Potions ingredients she was most skilled at.

She knelt lightly on the soft grass, her slender fingers gently plucking rose petals and carefully placing them into her herb bag. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling her silver-gold hair with a soft glow.

In her medicine bag, she had already collected a complete set of floral materials: rose petals, rose thorns, lavender branches, and daisy roots. Now, all she needed were the rarest four-leaf clovers and Five-Colored Flower.

Phoebe's blue eyes gleamed with focused intent as she carefully searched the grass. She knew these two plants were extremely rare, especially the Five-Colored Flower, which only grew under specific magical conditions. However, she was unaware that someone was watching her intently from the shadows.

Not far away, Durmstrang's representative Seferis Ludgia, hid behind a large tree, coldly watching Phoebe's figure.

The rules explicitly state that participants may not directly attack their opponents—but there is no rule against creating "accidents."

He smiled slightly, a sinister curve at the corner of his mouth. He slowly raised his hand, gently waved his wand, and chanted a spell in a low voice.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the shadows of the forest.

A group of vicious Imp and Erkling were summoned.

These wicked little creatures love to cause trouble and attack wizards, especially when they realize their "target" is completely unprepared. Seferis narrowed his eyes slightly, watching the creatures stir, and a sinister smile appeared on his face—this is going to be good.

"Go ahead, give her some... trouble." He chuckled coldly in a low voice.

The Imp let out a sharp laugh, Erkling licked its blood-stained teeth before suddenly darting towards the woods where Phoebe was!

Phoebe remained focused on searching for the four-leaf clover, unaware of the impending danger. However, when a strange, fishy smell filled the air, her brow furrowed slightly, and she stopped what she was doing.

The birdsong around them abruptly stopped, as if all the creatures in the forest had sensed some kind of threat and fallen silent.

Phoebe slowly stood up, her blue eyes scanning her surroundings warily, her fingertips unconsciously tightening their grip on her wand. Just then—

"Aww--!!"

An Imp suddenly leaped out of the bushes, its sharp claws aimed straight for her cheek!

Phoebe's eyes narrowed, and she quickly took a step back, simultaneously waving her wand—

"Wind Whirl--"

However, before she could finish speaking, a sharp screech came from behind her—not just one, but a whole swarm of Imp emerged from the bushes, a dark mass, rushing forward with shrill laughter!

These creatures were twisted and grotesque, their claws stained with filthy mud. Above Phoebe, the sound of flapping wings could be heard as a large swarm of dark brown Erkling leaped down from above, attempting to grab her hair and sleeves!

Phoebe's expression changed slightly. These creatures weren't too difficult to deal with individually, but facing such a large group in open terrain without any cover was extremely dangerous. Moreover, when these dark creatures appeared, her hands were focused on gathering, and by the time she realized something was wrong, they were already less than two feet away from her.

There was no time to cast a complex area-of-effect spell, so she rolled on the spot without caring about her image, and three beams of red light shot out from the end of her wand!

"Stupefy, Stupefy, Stupefy!"

The three spells struck the three Imp at the front, who screamed and collapsed to the ground convulsing. However, the remaining Imp did not stop at all; instead, they screamed even more excitedly and pounced on her.

"Impedimenta!"

A barrier quickly rose, barely blocking the attacks from above by a few Erkling, but more Imp pounced from the side, their sharp claws slicing across her arms, tearing her sleeves, and leaving a bright red wound!

Phoebe cried out in pain and quickly retreated, but the monsters followed her relentlessly, continuing their fierce attacks! A deep wound was also torn in her shoulder, blood seeping out, the stinging pain making her breathing somewhat disordered.

This is bad!

She finally realized that she had underestimated the number and aggressiveness of these creatures—her magic could deal with one or two, but it was simply not enough to completely withstand an entire horde!

We can't afford to linger any longer!

She made a quick decision. Suppressing the pain, she unleashed a devastating Blasting Curse, knocking down several of the closest Imp. Taking advantage of their momentary confusion, she desperately retreated. As she ran, she haphazardly threw out several Impediment Jinx and Knockback Jinx, trying to delay the monsters behind her as much as possible.

But the Imp persisted, screeching and trying to pounce again!

"Skylar!" she couldn't help but shout as she ran, her voice revealing a rare panic—she had never been so passive in battle!

Meanwhile, Seferis Ludgia, standing at a distance, watched this scene with a cold smile, his eyes full of mockery and disdain.

"Truly... useless." He chuckled softly, crossed his arms, and watched Phoebe flee frantically through the monster horde, showing absolutely no intention of helping.

Phoebe staggered out of the woods, panting as she glanced back. She saw the Imp still howling relentlessly behind her, but seemingly unwilling to leave their original territory. Finally, they stopped at the edge of the woods, staring at her fiercely.

She stopped, leaning against a tree trunk, her face slightly pale. The wounds on her arms and shoulders throbbed, and blood had stained her sleeves. She quickly tried to stop the bleeding, then opened her bag and applied Dittany Ointment, only to discover that she had lost most of the raw materials she had gathered during her escape.

By this time, nearly two hours had passed since the start of the race, and she had returned to the Qidian.

In the past, she probably would have been heartbroken and wept uncontrollably. However, since the battle in Valley of Giants, her heart had become much stronger than before. She pursed her lips, forcibly suppressing her anger, and began to think calmly—

Imp and Erkling are indeed dark creatures that enjoy attacking humans, but the fact that both types of monsters were attacking him in groups at the same time seemed very strange.

This is definitely orchestrated by someone behind the scenes!

Damn it... who did this?

Her gaze turned slightly cold.

Instead of sending the Imp and Erkling to hunt down Phoebe, Seferis began to control them with a strange magic, making them collect all the materials that Phoebe had dropped.

"Tsk tsk, this Veela isn't very good at fighting, but she's quite good at gathering flowers. In that case, this young master will accept her without hesitation, hehehe..." Seferis looked at the various flower materials respectfully held in the hands of an Imp and chuckled coldly.

"My men—" Seferis's cold voice rang out, "Let's go, let's find our next target..."

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Magic Garden, a colossal ancient tree stood silently in the breeze. Its trunk was old and twisted, as if it had endured countless years of erosion, and its lush foliage blocked out the sky above, making the area appear exceptionally dark.

Beneath the tree, a hidden hollow lies deep within the tangled roots, like a gaping maw waiting to devour any intruding prey. At this moment, Igor Morozov is curled up in this dark space, a sinister smile playing on his lips.

Unlike other contestants who traveled around painstakingly collecting Potions ingredients, he had prepared in advance.

Igor slowly took out an obsidian-carved wand from his pocket and used it to carve intricate ancient Slavic runes on various parts of the tree hollow wall, exuding a faint aura of darkness.

He gently touched the ground with his wand, recited a long, very convoluted spell, and finally—

"Забвениекорней...пробудись." (Forgotten roots... awaken.)

A groan, like that of a demon, rang out, seemingly coming from the depths of the earth, carrying an indescribable sense of oppression. Igor's gloomy face revealed a triumphant smile. He pierced his finger with the end of his wand, dripping a few drops of blood onto the soil in the tree hole, where they were instantly absorbed by the earth.

The surrounding air suddenly turned cold, and all the ancient trees outside the tree hole began to tremble slightly, as if they were awakening.

Excitement gleamed in Igor's eyes. He looked up and watched as the thick tree roots above the tree hole slowly began to wriggle, like a sleeping monster being awakened and beginning to perceive the world anew.

The demonic tree... is awakening.

A few seconds later, the branches and leaves of the ancient tree moved without wind, cracks appeared on the bark, black sap seeped out, and a distorted human face could be vaguely seen on the trunk, as if a soul imprisoned in the tree was struggling in pain.

"Perfect." Igor chuckled softly, slowly rising to his feet. He stretched out his palm, feeling the Dark Arts connection established between himself and the demon tree. His plan wasn't to win by concocting Potions himself, nor did he intend to personally hinder Skylar or the other contestants. Instead, he wanted to make this forest work for him, to turn this forest... into his hunting ground.