Chapter 168: Sudden Change

Boom!!

Another violent explosion.

It blew directly through a hedge wall.

Krum withstood John's bombardment and rushed out directly along the gap.

On this road, they constantly fought, although John kept suppressing him, no one actually got any benefits.

Except for being a bit embarrassed, Krum had no major problems with his body.

And John chased Krum's figure all the way, and the spells in his hand never stopped.

Daring to use the Cruciatus Curse to sneak attack him.

Although it didn't cause him any substantial harm.

But this despicable behavior not only made him feel angry, but also made him identify Krum as a hidden danger that had to be eliminated.

They killed all the way to the center of the maze.

Harry, who followed at the very end, panted and walked through the gap that had just been blown open, and his eyes suddenly opened up.

He found that they had actually arrived at a circular open space.

And in the middle of the open space was a stone platform.

On the stone platform was the Triwizard Cup, which symbolized supreme honor, emitting dazzling light.

They actually fought all the way to the finish line.

Harry looked at the Triwizard Cup excitedly, desire flashing in his eyes.

And the other two didn't have any intention of grabbing the Triwizard Cup at all.

Krum might be because he was suppressed by John and couldn't spare his energy to win the cup.

John didn't care about that broken trophy at all, just wanted to blow up Krum to vent his anger.

But in fact.

John had already noticed something wrong.

This wrongness started when Krum stopped running and chose to stand on the spot and bombard him, and it became more and more obvious.

He was running at the very front just now, and had every opportunity to withstand his bombardment and go directly to lift the cup.

But he didn't, instead running to the side and bombarding him.

It was as if he was deliberately guiding himself to the vicinity of the Triwizard Cup.

And now, it seemed that John was suppressing Krum, but in fact, it was Krum who dragged John down.

John couldn't stop the output, because once he stopped, it meant handing over the initiative, and he would be more passive.

The corner of Krum's mouth secretly raised a hint of evil smile, looking like he had the victory in his grasp.

At this time, the corner of John's eye discovered Harry who had followed all the way.

A flash of inspiration appeared in his brain.

He suddenly shouted: "Harry, don't go over! This is a trap!"

Before the words fell, Krum withstood the bombardment of the spell and waved his wand toward the Triwizard Cup.

He saw that Triwizard Cup shoot toward Harry's direction immediately.

John's pupils shrank, instantly realizing that he had fallen into a trap.

The Triwizard Cup flew to Harry's front in an instant, he instinctively caught the cold cup handle, and the moment his fingertips touched it, the space twisted violently.

With a pop!

Harry and the Triwizard Cup disappeared on the spot instantly, leaving only twisted air and dead silence.

This is... a Portkey!?

The smile on the corner of Krum's mouth opened completely.

He did it!

He completed the task his master gave him!

John was shocked, realizing he had been used.

"Where did Harry go!"

He roared and questioned Krum.

"Hehehe, naturally to welcome the rebirth of my master..."

Krum's voice was cold and proud.

At this time, John's pupils shrank suddenly, because the Krum in front of him suddenly changed.

His physique, appearance, and even hair color started to deform gradually.

Finally, he turned into a man with skin as pale as paper, a gloomy expression, and golden hair.

John didn't know this man, but he felt a suffocating evil aura from that distorted face.

And those gray-blue eyes, just like the eyes of the black-robed man he saw under the Triwizard Cup before.

How is it possible...

John's brain crashed for a moment.

Could it be that Krum was the mole who had been lurking in Hogwarts?

He had been suspecting Old Barty before, but the chain of evidence was incomplete.

As a result, you tell me now that I suspected the wrong person?

And this strange man didn't take the opportunity to attack when John was distracted, but instead fled directly into the dark maze.

John came back to his senses, no matter what, he must take this person down first.

But just as he was about to chase, more than a dozen Acromantulas rushed from all directions.

As if they had been lying in ambush here, and only moved collectively after receiving some kind of signal.

The spider swarm hissed and rushed over, their fangs flashing with dark green cold light.

John was so angry he was about to explode.

He felt like a clown being played in the palm of someone's hand.

Rumble!!!

Another huge stone giant rose from the ground.

Started attacking everything around indiscriminately.

The Acromantulas were smashed like ants in front of the stone giant, and then the stone giant immediately chased in the direction the golden-haired man fled.

John stood on the shoulder of the stone giant, his nose already bleeding, but he couldn't care about wiping it, still driving the stone giant to chase with all his might.

But this time, he couldn't find the trace of the golden-haired man no matter what.

Tracking Spell, Point Me Spell, all failed.

The stone giant rampaged in the maze, destroying all obstacles along the way.

But still gained nothing.

In the spectator seats outside the maze, everyone saw the stone giant of John rampaging, and exclamations came one after another.

They were all very curious about what John had encountered that required such a big move.

At this time, with a swish.

A red spell signal rose from the first half of the maze.

That was a signal of giving up, and also a signal for help.

The nearby faculty members immediately went over.

But John was faster.

He directly controlled the stone giant to rush over.

He had to ensure that this person was not disguised by the golden-haired man just now.

When John arrived, he saw Fleur lying on the ground, her face pale, obviously suffering from some kind of torture.

John had no intention of pitying the fragrant and cherishing the jade.

Directly waved his wand.

"Transformation Reversal!"

After a transformation reversal spell, Fleur's body didn't change at all.

John then put down his wand, confirming that she was really injured and not disguised.

He squatted down, quickly checked Fleur's state, and found that she had no external injuries, but was mentally withered.

It looked like she had also been tortured by the Cruciatus Curse and fainted directly.

"Merrick!"

At this time, a cold drink sounded.

It was Professor Moody who arrived.

Moody's magic eye rotated rapidly, scanning the magic traces left around.

He grabbed John's collar and lifted him up, his voice low like thunder.

"What are you doing!"

John's state looked very bad now, plus he rushed over like crazy when he saw the red signal just now, as if his eyes were red from killing.

But in fact, he had calmed down a lot by now.

"Professor, she was hit by the Cruciatus Curse, hurry up and send her for treatment."

"Also, notify the Headmaster, seal Hogwarts, Harry was teleported away by a Portkey disguised as the Triwizard Cup, the murderer is a golden-haired man, he turned into Krum's appearance to participate in the competition, and he must not have escaped yet."

John patted Moody's hand away and said to himself, then waved his wand, and the stone giant behind him turned into rubble and fell.

When Professor Moody heard John's words, his pupils shrank suddenly, his magic eye fixed, staring at John's face.

He seemed to see that John was not lying.

Realizing the seriousness of the problem, Moody immediately took John and Fleur away from the maze.

When they arrived outside the maze, the people in the spectator seats were still discussing the situation in the maze.

Seeing John and Fleur appear at the same time, they were in an uproar.

John and Fleur were eliminated at the same time?

The crowd surged like a tide, their eyes looking back and forth between John's cold face and Fleur's pale face.

Durmstrang and Gryffindor cheered after reacting.

This meant that the champion would be produced between Krum and Harry.

Titus and the others, as well as Hermione and the others, looked at John with worry.

Because he was bleeding from below his nose now, and his face was very ugly.

But he didn't care at all, Dumbledore had already walked quickly to their front.

Moody immediately leaned over and whispered something.

Dumbledore's face instantly became extremely solemn, and then he looked at John.

"John, tell the original process of the matter."

Dumbledore said, waving his hand, and an invisible barrier descended, isolating the outside world.

John nodded and stated the whole story in the maze one by one.

Dumbledore and Moody were silent for a while, unlike Moody's ugly face, Dumbledore looked much calmer.

"Alastor, you immediately notify the professors to seal all exits of the castle, and carefully check all parts of the castle, be careful not to disturb the students."

Dumbledore ordered in a low voice, Moody nodded and left quickly, walking quickly toward the seats of Professor McGonagall and other professors with his cane.

"Headmaster, what about Harry?"

John saw that Dumbledore didn't try to find Harry's whereabouts, so he asked hurriedly.

"...... Harry, he will be fine."

Dumbledore was silent for a while, saying with some worry.

This made John frown again, how could he be so sure that Harry would be fine?

John looked to the other side, Professor Moody seemed to have conveyed the order, and Professor McGonagall and others left their seats quickly, leaving the Quidditch pitch.

Fleur had also been taken for treatment by Madam Pomfrey long ago.

Then he subconsciously looked at the spectator seats again, and he didn't know what he wanted to see.

It was just that there was a thought in his heart, as if the truth was in some corner.

At this time, Karkaroff walked over, he walked straight to Dumbledore, his expression a bit shocked and angry.

"Albus, what do you mean by this, why would Moody say that the Krum who participated in the competition is fake!?"

Karkaroff's voice trembled slightly, not knowing if it was fear or anger.

Dumbledore didn't even look at Karkaroff, saying slowly: "Igor, the Krum in the maze is indeed fake."

"Someone used his identity, and his real purpose is to abduct Harry."

"Do you have any way to find the real Krum? I estimate that the child is now trapped in some hidden place in the castle."

Hearing Dumbledore's words, Karkaroff's face changed drastically, his lips trembling slightly.

"This is impossible! He has clearly been within my line of sight! Except..."

Karkaroff's words stopped suddenly.

Dumbledore finally focused his gaze on Karkaroff.

"Except what?"

Dumbledore's voice was full of oppression, Karkaroff broke out in a cold sweat, and could only say slowly.

"Except last week, he snuck into the Forbidden Forest, saying he wanted to find magical creatures inside to practice..."

"After coming back.... he, became a bit different...."

Karkaroff also remembered this abnormal factor.

A few days ago, after Krum came back from the Forbidden Forest, he became a bit cold to him, even disgusted.

But he thought it was just Krum's rebellious period, so he didn't think much about it.

But now looking back, he really looked like a different person...

And John heard Karkaroff's words and immediately thought of something.

A few days ago, he went to the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid.

Met the siege of Acromantulas, according to the one named Aragog.

Someone was hunting Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest, and then another wizard stopped him.

But this confession was provided by a young spider with incomplete intelligence.

So the description should have a misunderstanding with the actual situation.

Perhaps the person who 'hunted' the Acromantulas was actually Krum who went to the Forbidden Forest to find magical creatures to practice.

And the person who 'stopped' Krum was actually not going to stop him at all, but to attack him.

The purpose was to be able to turn into his appearance and enter the maze to participate in the competition.

The real Krum was likely already imprisoned.

John immediately told Dumbledore this inference.

Dumbledore and Karkaroff were both stunned, Karkaroff looked shocked and angry, while Dumbledore's eyes condensed.

This person could turn into Krum's appearance and maintain it for at least a week.

This meant that he had a large amount of Polyjuice Potion available for use.

You know, the materials for this potion are very rare, and it takes a lot of financial resources to prepare such a large amount of Polyjuice Potion.

Moreover, being able to accurately know the timing of Krum's sneaking into the Forbidden Forest shows that this person knows his actions like the back of his hand.

Being able to master the whereabouts of the warriors and having enough resources to allocate Polyjuice Potion, this person's identity on the surface is definitely not an ordinary wizard.

Problems came one after another, but Dumbledore always had a calm expression.

And he didn't rush to give any analysis or evaluation.

Looking at the maze entrance, he didn't know what he was waiting for.

Karkaroff didn't continue to waste time, turned and left.

Maybe he went to find Krum.

"John, why don't you go and rest for a while."

Dumbledore looked at John and said slowly.

At this time, John looked quite scary.

His collar was covered in blood, his cuffs were torn, and there was an unhealed scar on his forehead.

John hesitated, but nodded.

It was useless to be here now, it was better to go and get some blood back first.

At this time, a person walked over slowly.

"Albus, what happened."

The person who came was Old Barty, he was not in the spectator seats just now, he came in from the outside.

As soon as he came over, he saw John, paused slightly, but didn't say anything, walking straight toward Dumbledore.

"There is something in the Ministry that needs me to handle, but Moody stopped me, heard that Potter had an accident?"

Old Barty came to Dumbledore's side and asked in a low voice.

Dumbledore nodded.

"Sorry Barty, might have to keep you for a while longer."

Old Barty didn't express dissatisfaction, but asked about Harry's situation with concern.

But Dumbledore didn't know Harry's situation either.

Seeing that he couldn't ask about Harry, Old Barty looked at John again, revealing a smile.

"Merrick, what about you, looks like your state is not very good, were you eliminated?"

It was gentle and with a hint of teasing, like an elder teasing a junior.

It was just that this tone made John feel an indescribable discomfort.

And his smile, made John feel very familiar.

But before John could speak.

Pop!

Suddenly a space twisted.

A figure fell on the open space in front of the maze entrance, it was Harry covered in blood.

He was still holding the Triwizard Cup in his hand.

The moment he saw him, the crowd cheered, and Dumbledore rushed forward immediately.

John was also stunned, but immediately looked at Old Barty on the side.

He saw his face, which had been smiling just now, turned into solidified astonishment. ===== CHAPTER 169 =====