The Return to Hogwarts

The young wizards of each house—Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin—performed differently.

Although the fear was the same, most of the Gryffindors, who believed in courage, had a gleam of eager anticipation in their eyes. Hermione was already quietly reciting the spells they might need, while Neville, pale-faced, had his round eyes darting around, hoping someone could offer some guidance. But everyone was in a state of anxiety, and no one could tell him exactly what to do.

The young wizards of Ravenclaw were much calmer than those of the other three houses. They were still trying to analyze whether the contract that Professor Blaine had produced was just a bluff and had no binding effect at all.

The young wizards of Hufflepuff are watching the winds, and their choices may be influenced by the decisions of the young wizards of the other three houses.

Some of the Slytherin wizards, masters of self-preservation, were already quietly slipping to the back of the crowd. But Malfoy seemed to have made his choice. His lips were dry; he glanced at Crabbe, then at Goyle. His previously disliked, bulky frame now seemed rather frail. Suddenly, something occurred to Malfoy. He raised his hand and asked loudly,

"Professor Blaine, if I decide to participate, will I be able to choose my own teammates?"

Harry and Ron were taken aback; Malfoy had indeed asked a good question this time.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy,"

Two minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Amostashi turned around with a smile, "In order to strengthen the interaction between the various colleges and enhance the understanding between the young wizards, I will arrange your team members according to my own ideas."

Harry shifted uncomfortably on his toes, suddenly remembering the dueling opponent Professor Snape had assigned him in Professor Lockhart's dueling class.

"So."

The corridor was completely silent, except for Amosta, who was speaking as he looked at the young wizards, each lost in their own thoughts, and opened his arms to embrace them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's make a decision!"

Chapter 62 Entering the Urn

The final results were in: out of the approximately 160-170 young wizards in the two grades, nearly half chose to give up. Hufflepuff and Slytherin had the most, followed by Ravenclaw, while Gryffindor had the fewest.

This result was not entirely unexpected. Amostah quickly divided the young wizards who had signed their names into teams and carefully counted them. There were ten groups of first-year students and more than twenty-one groups of second-year students.

Harry and Draco stood together with dark faces, sizing each other up with disgust.

"If you'd kneel down and beg me now, Potter, then when some monster stuffs your mouth later, I might have the mercy to pick up your pieces of flesh and return them to your mud, your stupid friend, so at least they'll have something to remember you by!"

Malfoy said with a smirk.

“That really surprises you, Malfoy,”

Harry, whose 'dream' had come true, stared defiantly into Malfoy's grey eyes.

"I thought you couldn't even walk properly without your two big henchmen!"

At this moment, Amosta, having finished organizing the groups, returned to the classroom door. "Time is precious, everyone, is there anyone willing to step forward and lead the way?"

No one spoke. The young wizards, having exhausted all their courage, stared at their toes, too afraid to look Professor Blaine in the eye.

"Since that's the case..."

Amosta, slightly disappointed after scanning the room twice without receiving a response, looked at Harry and Malfoy, who were exchanging glances, and smiled amiably.

"Then, let's have Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy demonstrate their dazzling courage and wisdom!"

When the moment finally arrived, Harry regretted his impulsive decision to sign the contract. He turned his head and saw Ron, Hermione, and Neville at the back of the line looking at him with concern. To avoid making them worry too much, Harry forced himself to give a smile that looked more like a wry one. Then, under everyone's gaze, he took a deep breath and reached for the doorknob.

Is that it?

Malfoy's sarcastic expression vanished; he looked at Amosta with rapid breathing, almost pleading, hoping for some hint.

Amosta ignored Malfoy's pleading look, only slightly raising his voice to look at Harry, who was turning the handle.

"Most creatures of the dark dislike light, Potter. The room might be a bit dark, so be careful not to slip and fall—"

If it weren't for Hermione and Ron's encouraging voices outside the door, and if Malfoy, who was slowly walking in behind him, hadn't completely closed the door, Harry wouldn't even be sure if he was still in the castle!

He stared blankly at the room in front of him, racking his brains to recall every spell he had ever learned or heard of, trying to figure out which spell could turn an ordinary classroom into a circular maze the size of a Quidditch pitch!

Click——

When Malfoy closed the door, the light and sound from outside were immediately cut off completely, and the classroom space instantly took on a dim and gloomy atmosphere, like a rainy day when the sun is about to set.

The air was thick with a cold mist and the stench of rotting flesh that Harry had smelled at Nick's death anniversary party. All around was quiet, with no sound of voices, except for the faint dripping sound of water droplets hitting the brown stone slabs.

In this situation, Harry's vision was greatly restricted. He dared not move forward rashly, and could only hold his wand tremblingly, pointing ahead and trying hard to open his eyes to see more.

Fear and the unknown made Malfoy temporarily put aside his hatred for Harry. Unconsciously, he took small steps to get close to Harry's side, and his tone of voice was no longer as arrogant as usual.

"What do you think awaits us ahead, Potter?"

“I know just as much as you do, Malfoy.” Harry’s tone was less aggressive now, and his gaze remained unwavering, trying to penetrate the thin mist that filled the air in front of him.

"Come here quickly, Draco—"

At that moment, a gloomy voice that they both recognized came from behind the fog. The appearance of this voice immediately brought Malfoy back to his senses, while Harry's uneasy heart sank to the bottom.

"And you, Potter, are you trying to drag out these ten minutes? Unfortunately, unless I announce a start and an end, you'll be stuck in this house forever!"

Snape spoke again in a tone of extreme disgust, but Harry was already used to it. In fact, in this unfamiliar environment where unknown dangers were lurking, he even found Snape's disgust somewhat endearing!

"Professor, are you here to guide me on how to defeat the dark creatures behind the walls?"

Malfoy ran to the entrance of the maze, looked at the professor who had been the kindest to him in the school, and asked with a beaming smile,

"Can you tell me what's locked inside, and what tricks I have to deal with it?"

"You'll have to rely on yourself, Draco. Professor Blaine also made me sign a magical contract, forbidding me from revealing any information."

Recalling how he was forced to sign the contract by the seemingly friendly Amosta, Snape's face darkened. His next words instantly wiped the joy off Malfoy's face.

"Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Blaine placed me here in order to minimize the casualty rate of this dangerous project."

Snape glanced at Harry, who was five feet away, nervously peering into the maze entrance, a wicked smile playing on his lips. He spoke in his usual light, airy tone,

"But you must understand, Draco, sometimes if danger strikes suddenly, I might not have enough time to snatch both of you back from the monster's jaws."

Harry knew that Snape was actually talking to him. If he and Malfoy were in danger at the same time, it was obvious who Snape would save first!

"professor--"

Harry pretended not to understand Snape's veiled meaning. He pointed his wand at a pool of viscous, brown liquid slowly dripping onto the floor on the wall near the right entrance to the maze, his voice so shrill that he didn't even realize it himself.

"That...could it be...blood?"

hiss!

Harry's pointing it out made Malfoy notice it too. He gasped and hurriedly turned to run towards the door, but Snape grabbed his shoulder.

"Professor Blaine's magical contract has very strong binding force; once signed, it cannot be broken. Draco, your father won't be happy to see you become a Squib."

In any case, once they stepped into this classroom, there was no turning back. No matter how scared they were, Harry and Draco, under Snape's stern gaze, each chose an entrance and hesitantly entered this maze that exuded an aura of ominousness and death. Their desolate and helpless figures quickly disappeared into the gloomy darkness that seemed to want to devour them.

Chapter 63 Excitement

Harry walked through a passageway that was about ten feet wide, with mottled walls on both sides that reached the ceiling.

It was even darker here than before, with only a sliver of light, barely enough to see one's own fingers. It was only after hitting the wall while turning that Harry remembered he could still create some light with his wand.

The surroundings were so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat. In the dark and seemingly endless passageway, wisps of shimmering white mist occasionally drifted by, looking somewhat like the fluorescent glow emanating from a ghost.

The maze resembled a magical relic buried deep underground for thousands of years. Water seeping from the walls nourished large patches of lush green moss growing in the corners, making the dark brown floor tiles incredibly slippery. To avoid falling, Harry shuffled sideways, taking one step at a time, looking as comical as a crab.

The path behind him quickly disappeared into the darkness, and the road ahead remained uncertain. With a pale face, Harry had to admit that this maze, which had an atmosphere similar to a tomb, was the most terrifying place he had ever seen in his life!

"Could it be that Professor Blaine personally explored this maze?"

The ethereal silence and panic made the passage of time difficult to fathom. Harry felt as if he had been wandering in this seemingly endless maze for an hour, but in reality, he had probably only been inside for less than two minutes.

"At the very least, we can't lose to Malfoy—"

Harry pursed his lips, suppressing the ever-burning urge to turn back and continue exploring.

The area bathed in the glow of the wand was a monotonous landscape, and it was precisely this dull and tedious scene that subtly stimulated one's imagination to the extreme regarding terrifying images. Harry couldn't imagine how Ron or Hermione would react after entering this maze, while Neville would probably just faint right there.

"Could it be that Professor Blaine deceived everyone by using this gloomy maze to scare them all?"

Harry gritted his teeth and walked forward for a while, but still couldn't encounter any breathing creatures. The thought popped into his head, but considering Professor Blaine's style of doing things, he felt that the chances of this happening were slim.

The surroundings became even more eerie. With the help of the wand's glow, Harry could see that every breath he exhaled formed a condensed, persistent mist in the air, making him feel as if he had stepped into a freezer.

Tick-tock, tick-tock--

The further they walked, the higher the humidity became, and countless fine water droplets clung to Harry's hair.

Finally, a different scene appeared on the road ahead. Harry's heart pounded. The only things that gave him a sense of security were his wand and the cold, hard wall.

"Phew, it was just a small river."

Harry finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw what was on the ground.

In the narrow passageway, a ten-foot-wide ditch lay across the ground, completely blocking Harry's path.

Why did Professor Blaine build a small canal here?

In the dim light, Harry stood on the embankment, cautiously observing the river whose surface was covered with dark green algae, with a large piece of rotten wood floating in the middle, and which smelled like a stinking ditch. Questions arose in his mind.

The path he had come from was still shrouded in darkness. Harry had a premonition that Snape was standing somewhere out of sight, waiting to see him make a fool of himself. If he took one step back, Snape would immediately jump out and, with that disgusting face, announce that he had already lost the 'courage contest' with Malfoy!

The Gryffindors, symbols of courage, lost to the Slytherin in a contest of courage, and Harry felt he would rather drown in the river in front of him than face such a 'horrible' ending.

call!