"How are you feeling, Harry?"

As they walked down the steps, Vid heard Bagman ask enthusiastically, "You didn’t forget to pack food, did you?"

"Of course not." Harry said briefly. Seeing Vid, he let out a breath of relief and immediately walked over.

Then Cedric also came out of the Great Hall and joined up directly with Vid and Harry, followed by the champions from the other schools.

Natalia looked at Vid, raised an eyebrow and smiled. Her blond hair was braided tightly and coiled up at the back of her head;

Clementine and Salem Academy’s Hope walked together. Both girls had small, delicate builds, and even in sleek protective gear they still looked a bit fragile.

Krum’s face was stiff, as if he were a little nervous, but that nervous expression on his features only made him look more menacing;

Uagadou’s Jabari, on the other hand, seemed relaxed. The forest could practically be called his comfort zone, but when he thought of all the terrifying legends about the Forbidden Forest, the boy’s brows furrowed again.

To cope with what awaited in the Forbidden Forest, everyone had swapped their loose, cumbersome Robes for more suitable gear, with a very sturdy backpack on their backs.

Vid was wearing a set of dark green Dragon Skin Armor, the trouser legs tightly bound to the tops of his boots to keep any dangerous insects from crawling in.

Harry was adjusting his sleeves as he walked. His clothes had been prepared personally by Sirius, almost identical to the set Lupin had made ready for Vid.

The Raiders who had once roamed freely through the Forbidden Forest had provided plenty of useful advice, including even a rough map marking the general activity ranges of the forest’s creatures.

The moment Vid saw the map, he understood that long before the third task’s location had been publicly announced as the Forbidden Forest, Lupin and Sirius had probably already guessed and snuck in to wander around who knew how many times.

Of course, similar cheating was going on under the table at every school, each trying everything they could to give their own Champion an edge. But how things turned out in the end would still come down to each individual’s ability.

So the night before, Lupin had still made a point of reminding Vid one more time—

"You must put distance between you and the others immediately... because if I were competing, I’d team up with everyone else to take out you—the biggest threat—first!"

"Look over there!" On the way to the venue, Cedric suddenly pointed at the main doors to the grounds. "The spectators are going in."

All the Champions turned to look and saw Wizards in foreign dress streaming towards the Quidditch Pitch under Hagrid’s guidance. Some were waving colourful flags, and some wore Cloaks that flashed like neon lights.

"Merlin!" Jabari muttered. "Good thing we don’t have to compete in the middle of the Pitch, or I might forget how to walk."

The others said nothing, but they all nodded in sympathetic agreement.

Soon the group neared the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Twenty-foot-high hedges completely encircled this section, leaving only a single gap in front of them.

Professor McGonagall stood at the entrance. Today she was wearing a dark red hunting outfit, and the pointed hat she normally wore on her head had been replaced by a soft, narrow-brimmed one. Harry almost didn’t recognize her at first glance.

Professor Flitwick, Professor Moody, and a dozen Aurors stood on either side of the entrance. When Vid looked over, Professor Flitwick secretly gave him a little wink, and Vid answered with a faint smile.

Nearby, three or four blue birds enchanted for filming were hovering in place. No one knew which feed was being shown on the big screen. Harry instinctively avoided looking at any of the blue birds, while Clementine turned a sweet smile on the lens.

"Champions."

Professor McGonagall said sternly, "We will be patrolling around the Forbidden Forest. If you run into trouble and want to summon help, send up red sparks. Someone will come to your aid. Is that understood?"

They all nodded together.

The patrollers mounted their Brooms and shot off in different directions, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

Bagman checked the time and said lightly, "Good, looks like everyone’s ready. Let’s begin, then."

He tapped his own throat with his Magic Wand and said, "Sonorus," and his Magic-amplified voice boomed out over the entire area:

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final showdown of the Magic School League!"

Beaming broadly, he swept into an exaggerated bow, and thunderous cheering and applause rolled over from the distant Quidditch Pitch.

"After two fierce rounds, the remaining Champions are about to clash in one of the most dangerous and most wondrous forests in the world! They’ll face not only dangerous Magical Plants and bloodthirsty Magical Creatures, but also each other’s rivalry and attacks!"

"There can only be one champion! And the rules are simple—"

Bagman’s Magic Wand sent a streak of red light into the sky, which formed a huge golden trophy overhead.

"The first Champion to touch the Goblet of Fire will win eternal glory for their school!"

Another cheer rose from the stands, sounding as if the spectators were more excited than the competitors themselves.

Bagman then lifted the Sonorus, turned back to the contestants and said with a grin:

"According to the rules, the first one to bring back a complete Compass may enter first, and then another Champion every two minutes—priority goes to those with intact Compasses."

"So you’ll be going in as follows: Vid Gray, Victor Krum, Natalia Petrova, Harry Potter. Then the Champions who collected part of a Compass—Clementine Durand, Cedric Digory, Jabari Viven, Hope Cruise."

Harry looked rather surprised. He had been the last one back to shore, and he hadn’t expected to be the fourth into the forest.

The others, however, visibly tensed up as soon as they heard that Vid would be going first.

Bagman cleared his throat twice and added:

"But once you enter the forest, you may not loiter. During the first half hour, Champions are forbidden to attack each other. Please follow the rules—and may Merlin bless you all!"

"All right, now... Vid Gray, on my whistle!" Bagman took out a whistle. "Three, two, one!"

With a short, sharp toot, Vid was the first to slip through the entrance, two blue birds flying close on his heels.

The instant he stepped into the forest, all sound from outside vanished at once. The surroundings became still and eerie, the light dim as if night had fallen.

The smells of all manner of plants rushed at him, but the Forbidden Forest before his eyes was utterly different from what he remembered—

Vid had no idea what Spell the Ministry of Magic had cast, but the gnarled trees had grown even taller, and the ground was covered in a layer of dark purple moss that could make your footing slip if you weren’t careful.

The vines twined around the branches writhed faintly like living things, and faint rustling noises came from all around, like some sort of ghostly muttering.

Between the trunks, twisted branches arched together into several natural doorways. Vid took out his Compass and watched as the red needle wobbled for a moment before fixing in one direction.

He looked along the direction of the needle. It pointed towards several trees clumped together, their thick trunks completely blocking the view.

Vid fell silent for a moment, flicked his Magic Wand to confirm those big trees weren’t an illusion conjured by Magic, then casually chose a nearby opening and walked in.