Chapter 739 - 289: Voldemort! You’re Not in Little Hangleton at All!
Chapter 739: Chapter 289: Voldemort! You’re Not in Little Hangleton at All!
It’s such a familiar scent...
Harry had encountered such mechanisms more than once, but this was the first time since his return a century ago.
Dealing with such statues might be tricky for others, but for Harry, it was already second nature.
"Expelliarmus!"
The weapon of the foremost statue abruptly slipped from its grasp, then at a bizarre angle, the weapon sliced off the statue’s head.
"Bombarda Maxima!" "Impedimenta!" "Leviosa!"
Rays of magic in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple shot out from Harry’s Magic Wand.
Humans inherently possess destructive urges; indeed, these eighteen statues fully satisfied Harry’s desire for destruction.
With the last statue shattered by the fourfold breaking spell, only the final giant statue remained standing in the arena.
The giant statue didn’t seem keen to attack right away, as if it waited for Harry to deal with the smaller statues first. As its minions collapsed, its eyes glowed even redder, and it pulled up a spear inserted in the ground, lumbering step by step toward Harry.
Harry pointed his wand at it.
A silver-white beam swiftly sliced into the pitch-black hall, illuminating the surroundings brightly.
A thick bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking the giant statue.
Before it could react, a dark purple glow burst forth from its chest area, followed by a loud boom, reducing the statue and the weapon in its hand to fragments by the Ancient Magic Spell named "Implosion."
Not bad, mediocre strength, perhaps due to considering the abilities of other warriors, Vivi didn’t enhance these statues’ defenses.
If the warriors were truly skewered here, it wouldn’t look very good indeed.
After the giant statue was defeated, a silver-white vortex lit up in the center of the hall.
Harry walked over, passed through the vortex, and found himself back in the maze.
"Hello."
A familiar voice came from above, and Harry looked up to see someone he recognized.
Oh... perhaps "friend" is not the right word, as the entity before him counts as a Magical Creature.
Its body resembled an enormous lion: massive paws, a long yellow tail with a tuft of fur at the end, yet it bore a woman’s head—none other than the Sphinx guarding Gryffindor College’s entrance.
"Oh, it’s you, Sphinx." Harry greeted her, "Seems you’ve been reassigned to the maze, right?"
"Yes, I figured it would be you." Sphinx said.
"So what now? Follow protocol or fight directly?" Harry asked tentatively.
"No," Sphinx began pacing, "unless you answer my riddle correctly in one try—I’ll let you pass; otherwise, I’ll pretend you got it right; if you don’t answer—I’ll tell you to walk away without harming you."
Harry: ...
Really, lady?
"Why would you pretend I got it right if I didn’t?" Harry asked in confusion.
Sphinx gave him a disdainful glance and said, "Did you expect we’d fight to the death? Although I’ve lived long enough, longer than Hogwarts itself, I still feel I haven’t lived enough..."
"By the way," she continued, "I need to remind you that the road behind me leads closest to your target."
"Then I’d like to hear the riddle you’ve prepared for me." Harry said with a smile.
"Alright then." Sphinx cleared her throat, settled on her haunches, blocking the central path, and recited:
"Think first about who always wears a mask,
acts mysteriously, and lies constantly.
Then tell me what always gets patched up,
the middle of the middle, the end of the end?
Lastly, tell me what word is often said when you can’t think of anything,
Now put them together, answer me,
What animal would you never want to kiss?"
"Spider." Harry answered without hesitation, "I’ve heard this riddle before, so I’m glad we don’t have to fight, congratulations."
"Indeed, that’s worth congratulating." Sphinx cheerfully stepped aside, "Of course, I need to remind you... um, as a friendly free tip, your riddle’s answer awaits ahead."
My riddle’s answer awaits me ahead?
Harry patted his chest, looking somewhat alarmed.
"What’s the matter?" Sphinx asked with concern; she was genuinely curious—logic suggests that a wizard like Mr. Potter shouldn’t be afraid of spiders, right?
"I’m worried on behalf of Ron—oh, Ron is the red-haired boy who often returns to the common room with me and a bushy-haired girl." Harry clicked his tongue, "If he were in the Triwizard Tournament and learned there’s a spider ready to ambush him here, I suspect he’d immediately point his wand at the sky to fire a distress signal."
"Why?" Sphinx asked in confusion, "Even if afraid of spiders, it wouldn’t be to such an extent, would it?"
"That’s because you don’t know, arachnophobia is one of the world’s top eight phobias." Harry said with a shrug.
Without much delay, after a brief chat with Sphinx, Harry proceeded ahead.
However, he found a giant spider cocoon ahead, with something wriggling inside, seemingly trying to break free from the spider cocoon’s confines.
Harry immediately used a spell to open the spider cocoon, and to his surprise, emerging from it was Durmstrang’s warrior, Victor Krum.