Homecoming from Hogwarts

After a brutal battle, only Viktor Krum is left in Durmstrang, and only Fleur Delacour is left in Beauxbatons.

The two teams at Hogwarts are well-organized.

However, after the fierce battle with the Slytherin team, Cedric and the other two were exhausted.

Although their physical strength had recovered, their magic power needed a deep rest before it could recover from the exhausted state. Moreover, the three of them were still suffering from injuries.

If they were to compete directly with students from three other colleges next, it could be said that Cedric's team would no longer be of much use.

Hermione and the other two are in the best condition, but this is only relative.

If they were to engage in duels or other competitions, they would also be crushed.

"let's go."

Watching the other three teams walk into their respective doors, Hermione took a deep breath, suppressed the uneasiness in her heart, exchanged encouraging glances with Harry and Ron, and then walked into the stone door as well.

Darkness arrived as expected.

Hermione and the other two thought that Professor Brain was going to use the same trick again, and they would have to grope blindly in the darkness for a long time before they could get out. But to their surprise, after they walked into the door and took only one step, the light came back again.

call--

A breeze blowing towards them made Hermione and the other two subconsciously close their eyes. When they opened their eyes again, everything they saw made them fall into incomparable shock and astonishment!
They emerged onto a platform made of wooden planks, about thirty feet long and wide.

The platform was suspended in the air, and above their heads was a magnificent galaxy with an endless black background.

From time to time, two meteors fell from the brilliant starry sky, streaking across the lonely and vast space, and finally disappearing into the surging darkness beneath their feet.

There were not only the three of them on the platform, but also Cedric's group, who had just 'parted ways' with them, as well as Fleur and Victor, who also appeared on this fairly spacious platform, staring around with confused eyes.

"it's dark?"

Ron had a funny dull expression on his face, his lips slightly parted, and he said something ridiculous.

"It's obviously magic, Ron, but -"

Hermione looked at the magnificent galaxy above her head in confusion, unable to identify which star region it was.

"hiss--"

Harry suddenly gasped and pulled back from the edge of the platform.

"What's wrong, Harry?"

Hermione demanded immediately.

"We'd better be careful, Hermione, Ron. I have a feeling if we fall down there, it'll be the end of us."

Harry said palely.

His reminder immediately aroused the curiosity of Hermione and Ron. The two of them supported each other's arms and carefully leaned half of their heads to look down like Harry. At first glance, their scalps went numb.

The fact that there was an unfathomable dark abyss below was not a big deal. When the first game started, they also stayed in complete darkness for quite a while.

But the darkness beneath them now was not static like the dark space before.

The darkness below the platform was flowing in a mysterious way, like the surging waves and terrifying whirlpools in a raging sea during violent weather!
Although they knew that everything around them was magic, just like the ceiling of the castle's great hall, Harry and the others were still in deep awe of everything around them.

"But what should we do?"

Harry circled around and saw three other teams occupying one side of the platform. He cast a cautious look down into the abyss and asked in confusion,
"Are Fred and George hiding around and preparing to push us off the stage?"

"If they dare to do this, I will never forgive them in my life!"

Ron's face tightened and his voice was sharp.

"I think you guys should come see this!"

Suddenly, Furong's beautiful voice lingered in the vast space, attracting their attention.

Harry and the other two looked at each other and immediately rushed over.

"Oh, that's--"

Neville squinted his eyes and looked at the space outside the platform on the side occupied by Fleur. Against the quasi-universe background, an indistinct shape was radiating flowing white light.

Harry also saw the glowing object. However, without a reference point, he had no idea how far away the glowing object was.
"I think you should pay more attention to this." Everyone's eyes were attracted by the glowing object, so Furong reminded again. She raised her hand and extended her index finger, pointing below the edge of the platform.

About three or four feet below the edge of the platform, there were two pieces of transparent glass placed side by side, about two feet wide and only wide enough for one person to stand. Against the dark background, the glass was almost invisible. If it weren't for the glass surface reflecting the light of the meteors streaking across the sky, they would not have been able to find them at all.

Then, the two pieces of glass floating on the dark sea did not exist alone. In front of them, there were two pieces of glass side by side with a gap of about one foot between them. They could not see clearly what was further away.

The contestants who were squatting on the edge of the platform and leaning their heads out looked at each other in silence.

"Does anyone want to make any comments?"

Ron looked at the glass plate above the abyss, then looked at the glowing object in the distance, and asked with a grim smile.

"obviously--"

Hermione exchanged glances with Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur.

"We need to get that glowing thing through the glass plank below."

"That doesn't sound too difficult, does it?"

Neville's tone was quite relaxed. He looked at the glass plate.
"This level seems to be a test of courage, but we all know that even if we lose our balance and fall off the glass, we won't die. As long as we know this, there is nothing to be afraid of."

"It seems so."

Furong frowned slightly, she stared at the darkness around her,
"But if, like in the last round of tests, your classmates hide nearby and attack us while we are walking on the glass bridge, we will be powerless to fight back."

You won’t die if you fall from under the glass bridge into the dark ocean, but you will definitely be out of the competition.

"What do you think, Hermione?"

Harry looked at Hermione.

"Oh, about the same as Furong."

Hermione pursed her lips and looked at the glass plate worriedly.
"If we just go through the glass path and get the glowing thing, it's a bit too easy, isn't it? We just need to overcome the fear in our hearts, so--"

Hermione looked around cautiously.
"Maybe they are hiding nearby in some way, and will attack us once we step onto the plank road."

"Then we have no chance of winning at all?"

Ron said,
"It's too easy to drive anyone off this kind of plank road. I mean, if we go up there, we can only move forward or backward."

Ron's doubts were indeed very reasonable.

In this kind of passage, they have to walk very carefully and cannot be as agile as on flat ground. In this situation, it is easy for the professionally trained physical education students to drive them off.

The group of people fell silent, all thinking about how they should respond if they encountered the situation they imagined.

Viktor and Fleur looked at each other. Their two teams were all on their own. They had no cost of trial and error, so they could only hope that the two Hogwarts teams could find a feasible way first.

"If we attack together, use the Armor Charm."

Harry said thoughtfully, but shook his head as soon as he finished speaking.

When they become targets, the Armor Spell can only help them hold on for a few more seconds.

Time passed minute by minute, and some contestants sat cross-legged on the platform with sad faces, squinting their eyes and staring at the darkness under the brilliant starry sky, as if this would be able to find the hidden enemies.

Hermione and Cedric kept whispering to each other. They both knew that Fleur and Viktor would not lead the charge, and they had to charge first.

But after discussing for a while, neither of them had a reliable way to stop a student from a certain college in such an unfavorable situation.

Neville was bored and counting the shooting stars in the sky, listening to Hermione and Cedric's discussion.
Suddenly, Neville stood up from his cross-legged position, passed by Luna, and stood on the edge of the platform.
"I'm going to give it a try."

Neville said with a smile, looking at the two small glass panels on the raging sea.

Cedric was stunned for a moment, then quickly stood up, and Harry and others also stood up one after another.

"The situation is unclear right now, Neville, and it would be unwise to try blindly."

Cedric said, frowning.

“But if we don’t try, the situation will remain unclear, won’t it?”

Neville smiled meaninglessly and said something that left everyone speechless. (End of this chapter)