Harry moved cautiously through the dark passage, the glow at the tip of his wand casting wavering shadows across the damp stone walls.
Suddenly, from a narrow crack off to the side, he heard a faint groan. Harry immediately tensed.
At first, he intended to walk straight past, but as he drew closer, the sound struck him as familiar.
Harry hesitated, then lowered his voice and asked, "Cedric?"
The groaning stopped abruptly. A moment later, a weak voice called out: "Harry?"
Harry's chest tightened. He hurried through the narrow gap into a small stone chamber, where he saw Cedric half trapped in a staircase. His arms and legs seemed glued down by some substance, leaving him completely immobile.
A few inch-long little pixies crowded around him, shrieking and chattering. They poked at his nose, yanked his ears, tugged at his hair—more annoying than harmful, but enough to drive someone mad.
Harry quickly drove the creatures away with a Banishing Charm, then crouched down and asked, "What happened?"
"It was the Salem Institute students," Cedric coughed twice and warned, "Be careful, there are three of them."
"All three champions from the same school teamed up?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Yeah." Cedric gave a bitter smile. "They were lucky."
He had thought the dragon was the biggest challenge, but once inside the chamber's passages, he realized the true danger lay here.
The narrow corridors, with almost no forks or branches, meant that if the champions ahead didn't leave in time, they would inevitably run into those coming after them.
The ones who entered first had to disarm traps, probe for hidden dangers, and deal with magical creatures in the passages. Searching for the golden eggs could never go smoothly; any delay meant that enemies would arrive behind you in groups.
Early arrivals could set ambushes in the corridors—that was their advantage. But latecomers could also lay traps along the return path. Whenever two sides met, trust was nearly impossible.
Worse still, the champions couldn't hear the commentary outside. They didn't know how many had already left with golden eggs, how many eggs remained, or who else might be in each passage.
It was as if they were all trapped inside a black box. Since no one knew how many eggs were left, whenever there was a chance, they would do everything possible to eliminate a rival in front of them and seize the clearest, nearest opportunity for themselves.
The Salem Institute students had understood the peril of the task early on. Cedric, however, had still clung to a naïve belief that half of them would advance anyway, so they could help each other while searching for the eggs.
Or at least, he thought they could talk things out first and then decide whether to fight—just like he had done earlier with Ryan and the others.
But the Salem students were far more aggressive than he had expected. The moment they heard footsteps, the three of them silently set an ambush. As soon as Cedric appeared, they disarmed him and then threw him into this trap that was nearly impossible to escape.
"Hold on, I'll get you out." Harry stood up, took a deep breath, pointed his wand at the stone beside Cedric, and said: "Diffindo!"
A crack split open in the stone with a sharp snap. Cedric's shoulder shifted slightly, but his arms still couldn't move.
"It's no use," he said gloomily. "It feels like I'm stuck in a giant barrel of glue that's hardened around me… Maybe you should just go. I don't know how to undo this magic either."
Harry grew anxious. He glanced toward the depths of the passage, worried that all the golden eggs might be taken by others. But when he looked back at Cedric, trapped helplessly in the stone steps, he couldn't bring himself to leave him behind.
"If I go, what will you do?" Harry asked. "You couldn't even fend off a few little pixies—what if you run into something worse, like Red Caps or something…"
Cedric looked at him and said rationally, "Dumbledore must have set up effective safety measures. At worst, I'll just be stuck here—it won't be life-threatening. But if you—"
Before he could finish, Cedric suddenly thought he saw a streak of golden light flash at the edge of his vision. He quickly turned his head, but saw nothing.
Frowning, Cedric asked in confusion, "Did something just run past?"
Harry turned his head a beat late, still asking, "…What?"
"I think I saw a streak of golden light…" Cedric began.
"Stop! Put down the golden egg, you thief!"
An enraged voice rang out in the corridor. Harry and Cedric stared in astonishment as three Salem Institute students sprinted past the passage, moving as fast as galloping horses.
Harry didn't understand, but Cedric—who often attended classes with them—knew well that Salem students were normally gloomy and taciturn. It was rare to see them looking so… full of energy.
After a pause, Cedric said to Harry, "Looks like someone just stole the golden egg they found. What about you? Will you chase the thief, or keep exploring?"
He didn't offer options like "Try to rescue me" or "Stay here with me."
Harry froze on the spot, glancing at Cedric and then toward the golden egg and its pursuers disappearing into the darkness.
The moment Cedric spoke, he realized his earlier worry had been unnecessary—Dumbledore wouldn't allow competitors to be killed by the creatures in the task while they were defenseless.
Staying here… there really wasn't much else he could do.
Harry gripped his wand and stood. "I'll keep exploring… Maybe I can still find another golden egg?"
Squeezing back out through the crack, he found the corridor quiet again. Advancing further, he came upon shattered stone slabs, a burned scarecrow, and several unconscious Hinkypunks.
A little farther on, a brilliant flower drooped its head, releasing a strong stench. Beside it lay a round pedestal.
—This must have been a place where a golden egg was hidden. It probably tested Herbology skills…
Harry thought to himself, Looks like the egg's already been taken. I wonder how many are left ahead.
Soon after, he spotted a hole in the stone wall. A dozen vines had been broken, revealing an empty hollow within.
—That looked like another golden egg hiding spot… Hopefully there's still one left for me.
Feeling anxious, Harry quickened his pace deeper into the corridor—only to suddenly hear a faint rustling nearby.
Turning toward the sound, he saw a strange crab-shaped magic doll scuttling along the wall with a golden egg balanced on its back.
Harry: "…?"
Crab: "…!!"
Harry opened his mouth, just about to say something, when several of the crab doll's legs abruptly twisted. It swiftly lifted the egg off its back and desperately tried to stuff it into the tangle of branches protruding from its belly.
Harry: "…?"
It didn't fit—because its crudely made body was solid.
The crab doll froze for a moment, then reluctantly shoved the golden egg toward Harry's feet before scuttling away with a clack-clack-clack.
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⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- 200+ Chapters
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