The maze entrance changed the instant the three of them stepped inside.
The hedges seemed to come alive. Branches and leaves surged, paths twisted, and Will, Harry, and Cedric were surrounded.
Then Will felt the ground beneath his feet lurch downward.
It hadn't collapsed. He immediately felt something tug at him—as though an invisible hand had seized his ankle and was dragging him somewhere. Another teleportation.
Spatial Magic had been cast on the maze entrance. Each person would be sent to a different starting point.
A few seconds later, everything went still. Will looked around and found himself in a narrow passage. Towering hedges stretched along both sides, their branches and leaves cutting the sky overhead into a thin slit. A little sunlight filtered through, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
The hedges rotated and rearranged themselves around him. The green walls moved as though alive, rustling as they went.
"Hogwarts's three Champions have been scattered across different parts of the maze!" Bagman's voice carried clearly from afar through Sonorus. "This is the maze's first test—facing everything alone!"
"Of course, the Champions may still run into one another inside the maze!"
There was a path on either side of Will. He picked a direction at random and walked on.
The atmosphere inside the maze was oppressive. It was gloomy throughout, and strange sounds kept coming from within. Most Wizards would have been under tremendous psychological pressure.
But psychological pressure was nothing compared to physical pressure—and right now, Harry knew that better than anyone.
"Merlin's spectacles! Mr. Potter is in trouble! He's the first Wizard to encounter a crisis! What terrible luck!" Ludo cried from the commentary box. Harry really was that unlucky.
After being teleported in, Harry had taken just one dazed step before treading on several vines. They belonged