Volume 4: The Sea and the Ship Heading North Chapter 301: Life and Death
French Ministry of Magic.
As night fell, all the students who were planning to sign up for the Triwizard Tournament had thrown their names into the Goblet of Fire.
At seven o'clock, a banquet began.
An hour later, the selection will be over, and at that time, the names of the selected warriors will be chosen.
There were more people at the scene. Almost all the magical governments in the West had sent people to witness this selection ceremony. However, compared to the bustling crowd where Voldemort was, Dumbledore's side was much quieter.
But in fact, neither Dumbledore nor the students of Hogwarts cared about such desertion. As Voldemort's home ground, it would be surprising if they did not receive such treatment.
What really disturbed the students was that even now Jon had not shown up.
Neville frowned and looked at Dumbledore who was sitting in the chair calmly, wanting to say something but stopping himself. Many students had already asked Dumbledore whether John would be here on time tonight to throw his name into the Goblet of Fire.
Dumbledore had always given a serious affirmative answer, but now there was less than an hour left before the registration ended and the final candidate was announced, but Jon still hadn't shown up...
This has to make them worried.
Neville didn't ask Dumbledore again, but turned to look at McGonagall and said worriedly.
"Can we put the note with Jon's name on it back into the Goblet of Fire and sign him up?"
Mag shook his head seriously.
"This is not allowed by the rules, Longbottom. Registration for the Triwizard Tournament must be voluntary on the part of the contestant. No one can do this on behalf of others."
Ron asked at the right time.
"Is this rule the rule of the Goblet of Fire or a rule made by humans? If it is made by humans, then we can have someone secretly throw a note with Jon's name on it..."
"No matter whose rules it is, this cannot be allowed, Mr. Weasley."
While McGonagall was sternly lecturing Ron, she put her hand into the pocket of her robe and quietly grabbed the note that had been prepared long ago.
Ron looked disappointed, as if he was not very happy about McGonagall's sticking to the old ways.
"Well, let's make some preparations first. If Jon doesn't make it in the end, who among us will be chosen in the end?"
He looked at George, Fred, Neville, Hermione, and many more.
Except for the first and second years who were not allowed by Dumbledore to register, all the other students from third to fifth years threw their names into the Goblet of Fire.
Although each of them firmly believed that as long as Jon could come here on time and throw his name in, the cup would definitely choose him, they would not refuse to shoulder the responsibilities that they should bear.
If something unexpected happens, no matter who the Goblet of Fire chooses, no one will be afraid to move forward.
But no one wants to see such an accident, and the safest outcome is that Jon is selected as a warrior.
However, as time passed, and when there were less than thirty minutes left before the end of the warrior selection, Mag could no longer maintain the seriousness and calmness on his face.
She walked forward and came to Dumbledore's side, and looked at the old man who was still sitting in the chair very steadily.
McGonagall tightly grasped the note hidden in her pocket, looked at Dumbledore, and suddenly called out the name of a second-year student who had not registered.
"Colin!"
Colin, who was holding his chin with envy and looking at the cameras in the hands of the photographers from the magic newspaper, was stunned at first, then stood up nervously and looked in the direction of McGonagall and Dumbledore.
However, Dumbledore smiled and shook his head at McGonagall.
Mag's face turned pale.
"This determines whether we can keep the fruits of our victory, Albus... We have lost many people for this!"
"I believe I should understand better than anyone the effort and hardship it took for us to get to this point." Dumbledore said in a very serious voice, "So believe me, what we need to do most now is to do nothing."
McGonagall stared into Dumbledore's blue eyes for a long time, finally gritted her teeth, turned around and returned to her seat.
Colin asked quietly, still looking at her blankly.
"Is there anything I can do for you, Professor McGonagall?"
Mag took a deep breath and her voice became calm again.
"Nothing, kid, sorry to bother you."
Colin scratched his forehead in confusion.
"It's okay, Professor."
…
Jon easily took the portrait of Slytherin down from the wall.
He did not put the painting away directly, but took it with him to the bronze door at the entrance of the passage.
"Sir, do you have any other way out? I was chased by your juniors and escaped here. They are probably still blocking me outside the door."
There was not much hesitation in Slytherin's answer.
"There is only one entrance. If you want to get out, you can only go back the way you came. I can only help you open the door."
Jon looked at the bronze door and fell into deep thought.
Regardless of Fawkes' current condition, it is certain that as long as he walks out of this door, he will be surrounded by a group of Death Eaters.
But he had to get out of here. Faced with such a situation, Jon really had no better solution.
He thought about it for a long time but couldn't think of any other solution. Finally, he gritted his teeth and could only rely on the almighty Nick for defense.
With the help of universal antidotes, John basically doesn't have to worry too much about other spells. The only thing is the killing curse, which cannot be counteracted by the antidote.
Until now, Jon was a little unsure whether Nick being petrified by the basilisk was a happy or sad thing.
If it weren't for the omnipotent Nick, he would have died countless times under the Killing Curse.
And now, I can only rely on Nick's help.
While taking Nick off his back, Jon knocked the wooden fish twice in his heart to accumulate merit for himself, which was probably already negative. Then he held Nick in front of him as if he was holding a huge shield.
But after staring at Nick's frozen face of fear for a while, Jon felt a little reluctant, so he helped Nick turn over so that he could only see the back of his head.
After making all these preparations, Jon asked Gabrielle to hold the two candlesticks and hide behind him, and then held up the portrait of Slytherin.
"Okay, sir, open the door for me."
Slytherin looked at John's "defensive" measures with a strange expression on his face.
What had he not seen in his life? But even with all his experience, he had never heard of anyone using a ghost as a shield.
But Slytherin didn't say much about it. As long as Jon took him out, he didn't care what means were used.
Then, he remembered the ugly "hissing" sound that he had said to Jon at the beginning.
Under the command of the snake language, the bronze door slowly opened in front of Jon!
At the same time the door was opened a crack, Jon heard a chaotic sound coming from inside.
But he didn't have the energy to pay attention to what the chaotic noise was. After the door was completely opened to create a gap big enough for a person to pass through, he hung five centimeters off the ground and rushed out at a rapid speed holding Nick!
The moment he brushed past the two bronze doors, the sound of the killing curse rang out right in front of him!
"Avada Kedavra!"
Jon was already very familiar with that pale green light, but although it was still a killing curse, it was far different from what he had expected at first!
There were at least twelve Death Eaters blocking him outside the door before, and there would definitely be other Death Eaters nearby rushing over. Even if some people were assigned to deal with Fawkes during this period, there would definitely be no less than five people blocking the door.
But there were only two killing curses shot at John!
As expected, both killing curses hit the petrified Nick, making a dull sound.
The next second after Jon came out from behind the door, he quickly changed his position and flew towards the only passage in the direction of the maze.
At this time, he finally saw what the riot outside was all about!
Polar bear!
Polar bears are everywhere!
Dozens of polar bears have broken into the open space deep in the maze, and they are fighting the Death Eaters fearlessly!
If it were ordinary polar bears, even if there were hundreds or thousands of them, they would not be a match for these Death Eaters, but the dozens of them in front of them were obviously different.
They were extremely agile and had exceptionally sharp minds. They clearly dodged the killing curses shot from the Death Eaters' wands, while selectively taking on other spells.
The skin covered with white hair obviously has a strong resistance to magic. One or two rounds of magic damage such as the Shadowless Spell and the Explosive Spell hitting them is basically the same as tickling!
When Jon saw these special polar bears, he immediately understood who was helping him.
Eric!
The young wizard who ran the research institute in the Arctic for Grindelwald!
Jon did not waste this opportunity. He flew towards the maze even faster. Fawkes was no longer there, but it certainly would not just abandon Jon and leave. The most likely possibility was that it was still in the maze, avoiding these Death Eaters and dealing with them, and had not gone far away.
At this time, Jon also saw clearly the person who used the killing curse on him.
Bella's face was covered in blood.
That wasn't hers, but belonged to a polar bear that she had just killed with her sharp sword.
She raised her head, her face full of a crazy grin!
"Avada Kedavra!"
After seeing that the first killing curse was blocked by John, she used the second one without hesitation!
Bella's attack was not blind. There was Nick to block in front of Jon, but at this time he was already close to the entrance of the maze, and his entire side was empty!
But Jon was not unprepared. The moment he heard Bella chant the Killing Curse, he suddenly rose into the air again, his hair almost touching the ceiling, and the Killing Curse flew past the sole of his shoe.
Not only Bella, Rodolphus also got rid of the two bears that were entangled with him, and stood in Jon's path with a cold face.
He knew John's flexibility very well, so he did not use the killing curse, but directly recited the transfiguration spell!
The next moment, the ice under his feet suddenly grew and suddenly turned into a huge stone, blocking Jon's way forward.
But Jon still didn't dodge or evade, he just ran straight towards the stone.
Just when his body was less than twenty centimeters away from the uneven surface of the stone, the universal antidote attached to him took effect!
Rodolphus's transformation spell failed instantly!
The originally huge stone turned back into ordinary ice on the ground, and John had already flown to Rodolphus' side. He had no time to cast a spell, but he kicked the Death Eater in the stomach without hesitation!
Jon himself didn't actually have much strength, but the inertia of flying increased the force of his kick.
Rodolphus suffered direct damage from him for the second time. His face turned pale the moment he flew into the air, and then his back hit the ice heavily!
After completing this kick, John cast another killing curse without looking back and rushed into the maze.
His killing curse lacked some prediction and only hit the ice wall where Rodolphus was hit, and he himself fell back to the ground.
Bella grabbed her husband from the ground. Her voice was extremely sharp and crazy.
"He must be killed! The master said that no one can enter that door. Since he went in, he must die!"
Rodolphus coughed heavily a few times, then patted Bella's hand, but did not disobey her command. He took out the flying broom with her and chased in the direction Jon left.
Yes, Jon had to die today.
This is not only because Jon entered that door, but also because his master gave him a death sentence!
As long as this boy was killed, many of Voldemort's arrangements would be guaranteed, whether it was the arrangements here in the Arctic, the arrangements in France, or the arrangements in the UK.
So Rodolphus knew Voldemort only gave him one choice.
Either the boy dies today, or he dies!
Of course, Jon didn't know how determined Rodolphus and Bella were to kill him, but he understood better than anyone how dangerous the current situation was.
This maze is full of Death Eaters, and now the only one who can get him out of here is a living creature!
“Fox!!!”
Jon's shout, using the amplification spell, echoed in the cold maze.
