On the other side, Kael, who was still in the maze, had no idea what the audience outside was thinking.
With all the hedges blocking the view gone, he, too, saw the trophy at the end of the flames.
In the next second, Kael rushed forward immediately.
A Sphinx Beast was curled up at the edge of the flames. Its original job was to stop the Champion and ask questions. But as Kael passed, it suddenly got very interested in a stone on the ground, lowering its head and pretending like it hadn't seen anything at all.
Kael easily reached the trophy, and without any hesitation, grabbed the gleaming handle.
But Kael didn't lift the trophy,
He felt as if his whole body was yanked by someone, and along with a massive pull, his feet left the ground.
It really was a Portkey. Kael was delighted, and didn't resist, allowing the trophy to drag him, flying forward in a whirl of wind and spinning colors.
...
Who knows how long passed—it might've been a minute, or just a moment—Kael felt himself back on solid ground.
This was definitely no longer Hogwarts. All around was pitch black, and he could see a cluster of pointed rooftops, seemingly on a hillside.
"Quick, run… run!"
Kael hadn't even gotten a good look when a breathless shriek reached him… The voice was a bit familiar.
Kael looked up—Harry was lying on the ground, his leg apparently injured, struggling to crawl towards him using his arms.
"It's Voldemort…" Harry yelled painfully, "He's back, and Death Eaters, they're…"
Well, honestly, Kael didn't even need Harry's warning. The moment he appeared, he was already surrounded by several people wearing black hoods and masks.
"Oh, look who we've got here…" A raspy voice came from behind.
The hooded figures immediately parted, dutifully making way like servants.
From the crowd, another figure in a matching black cloak—though without a mask—stepped forward.
Tall and skinny, paler than a skeleton, with eyes glowing red.
And he had no nose—just two thin slits like a snake's… This feature was unmistakable.
Voldemort.
"My student, is that the attitude you show when meeting a professor?" Voldemort said lazily, clearly in a good mood. "I thought you'd be screaming for joy."
"Come off it, you're certainly not my professor." Kael retorted immediately.
Harry was still beside him—no way he wanted to be stuck with that reputation.
"How cold-hearted." Voldemort looked at him, "When you asked me about immortality back then, you certainly didn't act like this."
"What immortality? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Not admitting it? No problem." Voldemort toyed with a wand between his fingers.
"I'm sure you're all curious…" he said to the Death Eaters around him:
"A few years ago, I returned to Hogwarts with Quirrell's help. That was a humiliating time—I had to live like a parasite, attached to that fool's head, because the people I trusted most… you lot, not one of you tried to find me."
He seemed to be smiling, but his tone was cold as ice.
The Death Eaters instantly lowered their heads, crawling and kneeling on the ground, babbling explanations, begging for Voldemort's forgiveness.
Except for one—a man with a broken arm, pale skin, and freckles—who held his head high.
"Back then, a boy was the first to discover me."
Without looking at the others kneeling, Voldemort continued, "That clever boy caused me plenty of trouble—he seemed to know a lot and had the guts to threaten the Dark Lord…"
Voldemort's eyes locked on Kael.
"I always thought it'd be a while before I saw you again, my student… Didn't expect you to show up so fast—here to celebrate my rebirth?"
"If so, I quite like this gift!"
"It's me, Master, it's me…"
A Death Eater crawled over, still kneeling. "I made the Triwizard Cup a Portkey… That's how I brought him here, he's one of the Champions."
"Oh, Karkaroff." Voldemort gave him a glance. "I always thought you, a cowardly, feeble traitor, would flee the instant you heard I was back."
"Master, I would never betray you." Karkaroff pressed his head lower, practically plastered to the ground.
"I was only lying in wait, ready to welcome you at any moment… Oh, and that Harry Potter—I'm the one who captured him."
"Oh?" Voldemort looked at the only person not on the ground. "Barty, hmm?"
"He was simply terrified—that's the only reason he agreed to help." Barty Crouch Jr sneered.
As snide as that was, it still indirectly gave Karkaroff some credit.
Very strange…
Kael frowned; it was Karkaroff who exposed Barty Crouch Jr's identity as a Death Eater, but now he was actually speaking up for him…
Are Death Eaters really this generous?
But Kael didn't have time to ponder it.
"Grab him…" Voldemort barked suddenly, "I want him alive!"
The Death Eaters sprang into action, but Kael was even faster.
A roaring Fire Dragon shot from his wand, swallowing the fastest Death Eater in the blink of an eye.
The screams lasted barely a second before silence.
"That's Fiendfyre!" someone screeched.
The other Death Eaters instinctively backed up—even with masks on, their confusion was clear.
Isn't this a student?
Shouldn't he be using Reductor or Disarming Charms or something?
What kind of student throws out Fiendfyre on a whim—and such a skilled Fiendfyre Curse besides!
Everyone stared at the lifelike Fire Dragon ravaging the sky, suddenly recalling Voldemort's first words when he saw Kael.
"...My student."
Well, okay, now it all made sense.
"Idiots!" Voldemort shrieked.
He merely lifted his wand, and instantly extinguished the Fire Dragon made of Fiendfyre.
But that was all the time Kael needed.
When the Death Eaters looked at Kael again, they noticed that he somehow had a golden feather and a nondescript bead in his hand.
Almost instinctively, Voldemort felt a wave of panic.
"Quick, stop him—"
"Crack!"
Before he could finish, Kael crushed both items in his palm simultaneously.
In the next second, thick fog enveloped the hilltop.
The mist blocked everyone's sight, and Death Eaters lunging for Kael ended up crashing into each other as they lost their target.
"Bang…"
"What's going on…"
"I got him, master… I got him!"
The Death Eaters were in chaos—one even grabbed Voldemort himself in the confusion and pinched where his nose should be…
"Avada…"
Next moment, a flash of green shot through the fog.
"Useless, idiots!" Voldemort was livid.
But the mist had appeared so suddenly that even he didn't have time to react.