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After reflecting a bit on Barty Junior's questions I looked back at him, seeing that he had used this break in battle to recover a bit from his injury.
But I didn't worry too much about it, as there was a more important matter on my mind now.
"So you were the one behind these strange things happening in the maze," I said, not asking but stating a fact.
And laughing again Barty Junior nodded, "Of course... And all I needed to do to cause this little commotion with the magical creatures was a simple but potent solution made with animal pheromones, human blood, and some toxic plants."
'Solution?' I thought, feeling something click in my mind at the word.
And I didn't have to think about it for long, because soon after Barty Junior decided to answer my unspoken question.
"And well, as it happens, the leather bag you just destroyed contained all that was left of that solution, and the amount in it was enough to affect even an adult dragon."
"And unfortunately for you, by destroying the bag you ended up spreading the solution throughout this entire area of the maze, and now this place has become a large and attractive lure for all the crazed magical creatures in the region," he concluded, with a sparkle in his eyes as he smiled creepily at me.
And after hearing this information, I couldn't help but frown, before I began to look around carefully.
Looking at the area around me I saw that the fluorescent purple powder, which I now knew was some kind of 'deadly aphrodisiac', was spread all over the place, almost completely covering the ground and hedge walls.
And with my senses and my Magic Vision I could see the magic of this solution activating and starting to act now that it was in contact with the air.
The unpleasant and strong odor that I had felt before coming from this solution became even more noticeable and potent, and even though I wasn't a magical creature I could feel its effects trying to confuse and control my heightened senses.
'Fuck' I cursed mentally, a frown on my face.
And not wanting to be affected by the magic of this solution, I shook my head, before activating my Occlumency and letting my magic flow through my body, blocking and repelling its effects.
After properly protecting myself from this purple powder, I looked back at Barty Junior, seeing that he was calmly watching me, with emotions of mischief and satisfaction coming from him.
'He knew I would react and attack on instinct if I thought he was attacking me... He was waiting for me to destroy that bag' I narrowed my eyes.
'In the end, I fell for his ploy' I thought, realizing that I had been tricked by Barty Junior.
And I didn't have time to continue thinking about it anymore, as I had sensed that the furious and wild magical creatures had finally arrived at my location.
Looking at Barty Junior I saw that he was still staring at me intently, and this made me realize that he had no intention of running away when the creatures attacked us.
'So this is how it's going to be...' I thought, realizing now that he was going to stay here as another target just to lessen my chances of victory.
'Putting himself in danger just to complete his mission... He really is one of Noselessmort's most loyal servants,' I snorted.
*Roars!*
And with that last thought of mine the angry creatures finally arrived in this area of the maze.
There were many creatures of many species, and at a quick glance I counted at least 30 creatures around me, and all of them as soon as they arrived began to sniff the air or lick the powder that was on the floor and walls.
And not even a second after that I began to feel these creatures' emotions rapidly becoming more agitated and violent, and even their magic was becoming turbulent and volatile, as if it wanted to explode out of their bodies.
The crazed creatures then noticed my and Barty Junior's presence, and a bloodthirsty, predatory glint flashed in their eyes.
'It's starting' I realized with a serious look, preparing myself for the attack.
And out of the corner of my eye I noticed Barty Junior taking out his wand as he eyed me intently, clearly preparing for a sneak attack.
But I wouldn't give him that chance, nor would I allow those irrational creatures to corner me.
*ROARS!*
*HISS!*
*GROWLS!*
Then, after staring at us for a few moments, the magical creatures finally decided to attack us, running towards us without thinking about anything other than tearing us apart.
'Heh' I sneered, feeling my arrogance rise as my blood and magic boiled.
'I thought I had already made it clear...' I held my wand in both hands, raising them high.
'That the only predator...' I pointed the wand down, and Barty Junior seeing this became cautious.
'In this maze...' I gathered my magic, letting it compress into one point.
'IS ME!'
And with that I quickly knelt down, tapping the tip of my wand on the ground.
"{Tremor Eruptio}!" I exclaimed, feeling the compressed magic disperse from the tip of my wand and into the ground below us.
...
...
...
At first it seemed like the spell had failed, as nothing had happened.
However, this thought only lasted a few seconds, and soon after that, everyone could feel the ground tremble.
This tremor was weak at first, but with each passing second it became stronger and more violent, causing cracks to appear on the ground, giving the impression that the maze was collapsing.
"What did y--!!" Barty Junior began to ask, completely alarmed, but he didn't even manage to finish his sentence before disaster struck.
*Rumble!... Rumble!... RUMBLE!... BOOM!*
Then, after several consecutive rumbles and small explosions, the ground below us finally collapsed, as if a powerful bomb had exploded beneath it.
And with the collapse of the ground the tremor did not stop, in fact it became even more powerful and dangerous, with huge cracks appearing in the ground and swallowing some magical creatures, and earth and debris being thrown all over the place as if they were bullet projectiles being fired.
'It's now!' and seeing the calamity caused by my spell my eyes glowed predatorily.
As the creatures were in a difficult situation thanks to my spell, I took advantage of the moment to attack them, and then I began a massacre, reaping the lives of these dangerous and deadly magical creatures as if they were nothing.
And while all this bloody mess was happening, Barty Junior remained where he was, crouched down so as not to be affected by the tremor and with a powerful shield spell around him to protect him from the debris.
'He really is far above the other Hogwarts students... No, actually he's probably above even many adult witches and wizards' he thought, looking at me seriously.
And not even he could help but be impressed by my display of power.
But shaking his head, Barty Junior decided that it didn't matter to him, because even if I was someone powerful and dangerous he would still do his best to keep me here until his part of the mission was complete.
"{Bombarda Maxima}!"
"Eeeek!"
*BOOOOOM!*
...
...
...
Well, at least he would try...
'Urgh, I just hope my new toy is doing better than me while dealing with that veela girl' Barty Junior thought with a grimace.
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-Elsewhere in the Maze-
[POV – Third Person]
"Shit, I think I'm lost… again," Harry said, looking around with a frustrated and confused look.
He had been running through the maze since the moment he entered it, using the compass spell to guide himself around the place, trying to get to where the cup was.
However, even with the spell pointing the cup's direction to him, he still had to find and follow the right paths through the maze, which proved to be the most complicated part of the task, especially because the damned walls were alive and moving on their owm.
"I knew I should have learned a gardening spell," he clicked his tongue, tempted to cast an explosive spell at the nearest hedge wall.
And just when Harry began to wonder if destroying the walls was against the rules, he felt the ground shake slightly.
"Huh?" he blinked, looking down in confusion.
...
...
Harry then stared at the floor, trying to understand what happened, and after a few seconds without anything happening he began to think that maybe he was just being paranoid.
"Uh, I think the stress of this task is finally catching up with me," he muttered.
*Rumble!*
Then, just as he was about to continue his hunt for the cup, he felt the entire maze suddenly shake, as if an earthquake was occurring.
'Huh? What's that!?' Harry started looking around in fear, trying to keep his balance as the ground shook.
"ARGH!"
"HISS!"
Along with the tremor Harry heard hysterical and animalistic sounds, almost like wild screams of pain.
And slowly turning to look back he saw the dark and cloudy paths of the maze, which together with the strange sounds made the maze seem even more frightening and horrifying.
He then had the feeling that these sounds were coming from somewhere not far from his position, as the sounds were too loud to be coming from far away.
And realizing that he was close to what or who was causing these sounds and tremors, Harry didn't think twice before turning around and starting to run.
End.
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