The Admiral of Hogwarts

Obviously, Karkaroff's escape was truly beyond everyone's expectations, especially those of the Durmstrang students. According to what everyone discovered, he most likely ran away after dinner yesterday.

Moreover, in order to hide his tracks, he set up a magical trap in his room before fleeing, which would activate upon knocking. Therefore, the students who came to greet him in the morning naturally didn't realize that Karkaroff behind the door had already disappeared.

Because of Karkaroff's extreme attitude at the school in the past, when they heard him say he wasn't feeling well from behind the door in the morning, no one dared to disturb him for the entire day.

It wasn't until it was time to assemble that the Durmstrang students, realizing that only that one sentence was coming from inside the door, noticed that something was amiss. They mustered their courage to enter the room and discovered that their headmaster had run away.

Naturally, as the headmaster of one of the three schools in the Triwizard Tournament and a member of the judging panel, Karkaroff's escape brought about a series of problems.

This is why the headmasters and Ministry of Magic officials needed to hold a closed-door meeting.

For them, the Durmstrang headmaster's escape was not just a problem for Durmstrang itself, but also involved all aspects of the Triwizard Tournament, so they had to discuss a resolution.

A few minutes later, the two headmasters and Ministry of Magic personnel emerged from the office with grim expressions, especially Fudge, who looked the most troubled.

Regardless, the disappearance of a school's headmaster before the competition looked like a scandal no matter how you looked at it. Even without any conspiracy theories, it was a very bad thing for everyone.

More importantly, for Fudge, who had entered the Ministry of Magic immediately after graduating, he knew many things and could vaguely guess why Karkaroff had run away.

So, for Fudge, Karkaroff's escape was equivalent to uncovering a secret he had been hiding all along, which was precisely what he was trying to avoid.

Especially during the discussion just now, Madam Maxime had been insisting on canceling the competition. She felt that the death of one of her students followed by the disappearance of the Durmstrang headmaster had made her lose confidence in the competition.

But for Fudge, the Triwizard Tournament was the last fig leaf for him and the British Ministry of Magic after all these problems had arisen, so it couldn't be stopped now.

As a result, the few of them fell into an argument, until finally both sides reached a compromise: the competition would proceed as planned, but Fudge would need to mobilize Aurors to resolve any potential security issues.

Here, it must be said that wizards can indeed mobilize quickly. While everyone was having dinner, Fudge brought in most of the Aurors currently on duty from London to Hogwarts at the fastest speed.

Then, with the cooperation of these professional Aurors, the Hit Wizards who were already stationed here conducted a comprehensive inspection of the entire competition venue and eliminated some potential hazards.

In addition, these Hit Wizards and Aurors were divided into small teams, patrolling the maze on broomsticks or on foot.

Of course, at this time, everyone in the Great Hall had turned their attention back to dinner. Although the Durmstrang team's lateness and the headmasters' discussion had made everyone a little nervous at first, seeing the professors' calm expressions, everyone relaxed.

But then again, today's dinner was indeed delicious, and everyone ate a lot. As the enchanted ceiling turned from blue to a dark purple dusk, Dumbledore stood up at the staff table, and everyone quieted down.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes, I shall ask you to proceed to the Quidditch stadium, where you will be able to watch the final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman to the stadium now."

Veneto and Harry stood up, and the Hogwarts students applauded them together, wishing them all the best in the competition. After waving to everyone, they and the two contestants from the other two schools walked out of the hall together amidst applause.

Bagman even tried to pull Harry aside to say a few words, seemingly having bet on Harry, but now it seems that his chances of making money from the bet are not very high.

Soon after the contestants left for the Quidditch stadium, Hugo and the other spectators entered the stands around the competition venue under the guidance of the professors.

It was completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge surrounded the edge of the field. In front of them was a gap, which was the entrance to the great maze. The passages inside were dark and a little scary.

Under the guidance of the prefects, student presidents, and professors, hundreds of students filed into their seats, the air filled with excited voices and hurried footsteps. The sky was now a clear, deep blue, and the stars were beginning to appear.

Because they were sitting relatively close to the front, Hugo and the others could clearly see several professors fully armed as they came to the contestants and gave them instructions.

"We are going to patrol the perimeter of the maze," Professor McGonagall told the champions, "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send up red sparks, and we will come and get you, do you understand?"

The champions nodded together.

"Right then, off you go!" Bagman said cheerfully to the four contestants.

So the four of them walked off in different directions, dispersing around the maze. At this time, Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and said "Sonorus", and his magically amplified voice echoed in the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me announce the starting order, based on their previous scores. Entering the field in order will be Veneto Vittorio, Harry Potter, Fleur Delacour, and Viktor Krum."

"Now... Veneto, listen for my whistle!" Bagman said, "Three — two — one —"

As the whistle sounded, Veneto was the first to rush into the entrance in front of him, and soon disappeared into the dark bushes. Then, five minutes later, Harry rushed into the maze with another whistle.

The tall hedges cast black shadows on the path. Whether it was because the hedges were tall and dense, or because of the magic cast on them, the audience's voices could not be heard as soon as Harry entered the maze.

The darkness in the maze made people feel a little uneasy, but soon Harry found a hole in the hedge in front of him, with branches and leaves scattered all over the ground.

Harry smiled and crawled through the hole. Obviously, the only one who could open a big hole in this magically enhanced hedge by physical means would be Veneto.

Sure enough, as he carefully crawled through the shrinking hole, he saw a shadow that didn't seem small on the opposite side of the hole.

At first, Harry was startled by the outstretched limbs, but later he realized that the Acromantula, which looked like a calf, was already dead.

One of the Acromantula's legs had been forcibly torn from its body and deeply inserted into the space between its eyes on its head. Judging from the scene, this unlucky spider was obviously killed in one encounter.