In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter

Chapter 334: Forbidden Forest (2 in 1)

Time was up and all three, except Jon, subconsciously clenched their fingers into a fist.

And before entering the forbidden forest, Matthew stressed one rule at the end to them.

"Don't forget what I have emphasised before, you can attack each other, but you are not allowed to use fatal blows on each other during the tournament, at the end of the tournament, we will check the wands of each of you using the Priori Incantatem, once we find the violation, your results will be cancelled. And if you feel a threat to your life during the tournament, then you can launch a red spark into the sky, and we will have specialised personnel to rescue you from the forbidden forest, but it also means that the score for this round will be zero."

As he said this, he shot a distinct glance in the direction of where Jon stood, and it was clear that the one who would be most likely to break this rule of those present is Jon.

It wasn't just him, Emil and Draco were also sneaking glances at Jon, it was only when this rule came into play that they had less trepidation in proceeding through the tournament, after all, Jon, covered in blood that night, had made too much of an impression on everyone.

Just after Matthew had finished explaining all the rules, he suddenly spoke in a concise, matter-of-fact manner.

"Now then, the tournament begins!"

In front of Jon and the other champions, in the direction of the forbidden forest, there was a clear pale silver line in the grassy surface, and the mere act of stepping inside this line meant that this first task of the tournament would begin.

But at this point, neither Emil nor Draco moved, they were looking at Jon, obviously not daring to go in first and put their back in front of Jon's figure.

Jon, of course, saw what they were thinking and shrugged his shoulders, with his wand in his hand he said casually.

"Hey, since you're all being humble, let me go in first."

With that said, he didn't linger any longer and simply stepped forward and crossed the silver and white line.

As if not worried at all that he might suffer a sneak attack from someone behind him, he just sauntered into the forbidden forest and never looked back, all the way through a dense bush and completely disappeared from everyone's sight.

It was at this point that Emil and Draco breathed a sigh of relief, and together they turned their heads to look at Diane to find that she too was staring at them with a wary look on her face like she would fight back as soon as they showed any sign of making a direct move on Jon.

Draco glanced at her condescendingly and said nothing more, instead turned his head to his father and nodded, then walked inside the silver line as a second one.

Emil followed right behind him, the two had obviously agreed on something earlier and were now both walking together as they entered the forbidden forest.

After watching them both walk into the Forbidden Forest as well, Diane, with an alert look on her face, was the last to cross into the Forbidden Forest at last.

By now, all four champions had entered the tournament grounds, and they would be there for a minimum of three days until they decided to conclude the first task of the tournament themselves.

As he watched everyone enter the Forbidden Forest, the expression on Voldemort's face never changed significantly.

He hadn't stayed at Hogwarts Castle all these days but had come back specifically for the day of the tournament.

Dumbledore still looked at him with the same smile on his face but had no desire to engage in conversation with him. Then Voldemort turned to look at Snape and without lowering his voice, he said faintly.

"Keep an eye on the castle, you know I've always had high hopes for you."

Snape replied with his head bowed and a firm voice.

"I will."

Just as he was about to leave from the school, a sudden voice, abruptly interrupted the peace of this place!

"Petrificus Totalus!"

In the direction in which Jon had disappeared, a red spell shot out abruptly from behind the dense bushes!

And the spell was aimed in the very direction that Emil and Draco had left together!

The Full Body-Bind Curse instantly spanned a distance of close to a hundred metres, and then hit Draco with uncanny precision before he had half a second to react!

The next second, the boy, who is around the same age as Jon, froze completely in place, the last expression on his face remaining one of bewilderment and horror before his stiff body fell straight to the ground.

Emil was much more responsive than Draco, and before the Full Body-Bind Curse could hit Draco, he swiftly rolled on the grass to avoid the attack!

However, Jon's first target was not him, but a second spell shot out of the tip of his wand once more just as soon as the full body-bind curse took effect!

"Stupefy!"

Again a red light, Emil looked like he had got into an unavoidable situation, his initial misjudgement had left him with no way to twist his body and dodge at the first chance again.

But just as Jon's Stunning Spell was about to hit him, Emil suddenly pulled the already petrified Draco in front of him!

"Bang!"

The impact from the spell toppled Draco's body, and under the desperate look on his face, the stunning spell completely took effect, rendering his entire body unconscious.

And right after Emil managed to dodge this attack from Jon using Draco as a meat shield, he moved quickly and got up from the ground, turning around and running deeper towards the Forbidden Forest while casting a spell randomly back in the direction where Jon had been!

These attacks occurred in a matter of seconds, in a flash of lightning, and even the judges and Aurors on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest were frozen in their tracks!

No one had expected Jon to strike straight at the very beginning of the tournament, and to strike and knock out Draco straight away!

When Lucius saw this, his whole being instantly became overwhelmed with rage, and he pulled out his wand, however, the incantation that had been on his lips was swallowed back into his stomach after Matthew looked back at him.

Voldemort, who had planned to leave straight away, also stopped in his tracks, his face showing little to no expression, only looking straight at Jon.

Faced with his gaze, Jon didn't have much fear, he had no intention of going on after Emil, instead, he walked straight over to Draco, who had been hit by both the Full Body-Bind Curse and Stunning Spell in quick succession, and with a faint smile on his face, he looked at everyone present.

"If I manage to help him leave the Forbidden Forest, would that disqualify him from the tournament?"

There was silence in the place as the men of Voldemort's faction all raised their wands in their hands, and Lucius and the Aurors led by his men all stared ominously at Jon.

Pretty soon, Voldemort spoke calmly on his own.

"According to the rules of the tournament, as soon as he leaves the area marked out as Forbidden Forest, then he will be disqualified from this task, whether he volunteered or not."

Jon reached for the back of Draco's collar and, in front of everyone in the place, he hurled him out of the silver line without hesitation.

Lucius couldn't hold back any longer, he quickly walked over to his son and took Draco, who was covered in grass blades and mud, into his arms, and then he looked at Jon with a look of spite and hatred in his eyes.

Jon turned without a care in the world and headed back towards the depths of the forbidden forest while waving his hand with his back to him.

"No need to thank me, I'm actually helping him out here, Mr Malfoy."

Voldemort stared at his back, that gaze never averted, as he said in a voice that was not high but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I look forward to your performance in this task, Jon Green."

Jon's figure had disappeared into the bushes once again, leaving only his words in reply to Voldemort.

"Thank you for your expectations."

It had all happened so suddenly that only now did the people from the International Confederation of Wizards come back to their senses, even Matthew and the two wizards.

They looked at Draco, who was being treated by Lucius' using the counter-spells and couldn't help but look at each other, no one had expected to see a person to be eliminated less than five minutes into this tournament task.

Jon's two unexpected spell-casting shots were just too fast, not to mention Draco and Emil, even not many of these adult wizards outside were able to react.

A number of them gave a sympathetic look as they looked at Lucius, anyone could see that of the four champions that had been chosen, Draco was clearly not up to par with the other three, and it was only just the beginning of the first task of the tournament.

The smile on Dumbledore's face never changed as he watched Voldemort leave the school, and then turned to leave with Rosier.

The tournament process would be watched by someone from time to time, and they, the judges, who belonged to different schools, would just have to finalise the results and the fairness of the process, while the three of them, Matthew and the group, would be responsible for all the penalties and rules in between.

Draco soon woke up under Lucius' counter-spells, his face turned pale, and he hid his head in his top with his neck shrunk.

Lucius didn't blame him for anything, just patted him on the back and murmured softly.

"It is true that this isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as you are being safe."

***

Jon didn't go deeper immediately after entering the forbidden forest.

He was clear enough to understand that this tournament task wasn't going to be that simple to complete, not only did he have to come face to face with those dragons, but the golden snitches that played a part in the scoring itself aren't something that can just be caught.

In Quidditch, with a flying broom, it might have been possible to catch the Golden Snitch as long as one's eyes remained sharp and one's reflexes is a little quicker.

Whereas in the absence of a flying broom, even if one could cast a spell at it with a wand it wouldn't be that easy to hit, not to mention the interference and attacks from the dragon in the process.

So Jon wasn't the least bit worried about how quickly Emil who had escaped from him could accomplish the goal, and as far as Jon was concerned, his purpose in entering the Forbidden Forest is much more than simply winning this task.

After making sure that he had disappeared from the sight of those judges, Jon took off the old wooden tag from the pendant he is wearing around his neck.

Then just like that, he held that tag straight up and wandered around the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest.

It was something that Hagrid had given him, and those creatures in the Forbidden Forest were sensitive enough to easily recognise the wooden tag that Hagrid always carried close to him.

And by helping Hagrid look out for those magical creatures, Jon was also helping himself, as the natives of the Forbidden Forest certainly knew much more than he did about the territory in which those dragons currently cooped up in the Forbidden Forest.

The Forbidden Forest truly lived up to its name as the largest gathering place for magical creatures in the UK, and within a few moments of walking in Jon had already seen many magical creatures that he had not been able to see at all in the outside world before.

Bowtruckles were lying on the branches of trees, Fairies hiding amidst mushrooms, Thornbacks with long fangs, and even an ugly Dugbog.

Every time he met one of these magical creatures, Jon held up a wooden tag to see if he could get close to them, but none of them seemed to show him much goodwill, and they all scurried away when they saw him approach.

After two hours of wandering along the outskirts, Jon was beginning to think he might be approaching it all in the wrong way.

The forbidden forest is so big that even Hagrid, who has guarded this game ground for decades, might not recognise every creature, and wandering around with this wooden tag would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

And just as Jon was thinking about whether he should try a different approach, he suddenly noticed a gaze that was fixed directly on him.

Jon turned his head to meet the small thing lying on the trunk of the tree, and the Bowtruckle quickly averted its gaze timidly, as if it was afraid to meet his eyes directly.

But Jon didn't give up on this discovery, he could feel that this Bowtruckle's eyes were looking at this wooden tag he held.

He walked over to the tree, waved the wooden tag in his hand and asked.

"Do you recognise this thing?"

The Bowtruckle did not make a sound, but glanced at the wooden tag in Jon's hand, and then climbed down the trunk of the tree.

It marched forward on the grass, while not forgetting to glance back at Jon as it made its way.

Jon understood what it meant.

"You're asking me to follow you?"

The Bowtruckle made no response, just moved forward again and then looked back at him once more.

After just a moment's consideration, Jon followed the Bowtruckle and headed deeper into the forbidden forest.

This Bowtruckle must have known Hagrid even if it hadn't been his friend in the past, otherwise, a cautious and careful magical creature like it would not have taken the initiative to interact with a stranger.

Rather than searching for a needle in a haystack, Jon thought it would be better to follow it and see what might come out of it.

Although it might be small in stature, the Bowtruckle was not slow in its movements and Jon quickened his pace to keep up with it. Soon the little creature stopped ahead, and it climbed up a nearby tree while gesturing at Jon.

Jon stepped forward, and then he saw some patches of silvery liquid in a sunken crater in the ground.

----

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