The French Ministry of Magic.
As the night approached, all the students present who intended to register for the selection of champions for the upcoming Triwizard Tournant had already thrown their nas into the goblet of fire.
At seven o'clock, the banquet began.
An hour later the selection would be over and at that ti the nas of the chosen champions would be singled out.
More and more people showed up, and almost all the magical governnts of the West dispatched people to witness the selection ceremony, though Dumbledore's side was much less crowded than Voldemort's.
But neither Dumbledore nor the students of Hogwarts seed to mind such a lack of enthusiasm; as Voldemort's ho court, it would have been surprising if they hadn't been treated as such.
What really disturbed the students was that even now Jon still hadn't shown up.
Neville frowned and looked at Dumbledore, who was sitting calmly in his chair, wanting to ask sothing but in the end, he paused, as the number of students was already constantly asking Dumbledore to make sure Jon would be here on ti tonight to throw his na into the Goblet of Fire.
And Dumbledore had responded seriously with a positive answer at all tis, but now there was less than an hour to go before registration closed, and the final selection was about to co out, but Jon still hadn't shown up.
This couldn't help but worry them.
Instead of asking Dumbledore again, Neville turned his head to McGonagall and asked worriedly.
"Can we put the note with Jon's na on that goblet of fire to help him sign up?"
McGonagall shook her head with a serious look on her face.
"That's not allowed by the rules, Longbottom, the application for entry to the Triwizard Tournant must co from the participant's own volition, no one can do that for anyone else."
Ron snapped from the sidelines at the right ti.
"Is this rule of the Goblet of Fire or is it a human-made rule? If it is human-made, then we can have a person secretly throw in a note with Jon's na on it."
"Regardless of whose rule it is, this cannot be allowed, Mr Weasley."
McGonagall lectured Ron sternly as she thrust her hand into the coat pocket of her robes and quietly grabbed the long-prepared note.
Ron looked disappointed like he wasn't very happy with McGonagall's inflexibility.
"Well, let's make so early preparations then. If Jon doesn't end up making it, then who of us will end up getting picked?"
He looked over to George, Fred, Neville, Hermione, and more of the others.
Every third to fifth year, except for the first and second years who weren't allowed to sign up by Dumbledore, all of them had thrown their nas in the Goblet of Fire.
While every one of them was convinced that if Jon could just get here on ti to throw his na in, that cup would definitely choose him, they weren't going to let that stop them from shouldering their fair share of responsibility.
If there is an accident, then no one will be daunted by it, no matter who the Goblet of Fire chooses.
But no one wanted to see such an accident, and only Jon being chosen as a champion would be the most certain outco.
Yet as the minutes ticked by, with less than thirty minutes to go until the end of the selection of the champion, McGonagall could no longer maintain the seriousness and calmness on her face.
She took a step forward and ca to Dumbledore's side, locking eyes with the old man who was still sitting comfortably still in his chair.
McGonagall gripped the note hidden in her pocket tightly and looked at Dumbledore, but her mouth suddenly called out the na of a second year who hadn't signed up.
"Colin!"
Colin, who was holding his chin up with an envious look at the caras in the hands of the magical press photographers, froze, then stood up nervously to look in the direction of McGonagall and Dumbledore.
Dumbledore, however, shook his head at McGonagall with a smile on his face.
McGonagall's face whitened a bit.
"It's up to us to hold on to the fruits of the victory we've gained now, Albus. We've lost a lot of n over this!"
"I believe I can understand better than anyone the dedication and hardship that has brought us to this mont." Dumbledore's voice was unmistakably serious, "So believe , the most important thing we need to do right now is to do nothing."
McGonagall stared into Dumbledore's blue eyes for a long mont before finally gritting her teeth and turning around, returning to her seat.
Colin, with a blank look on his face, stood still beside her and asked in a small voice.
"Do you need to get sothing done? Professor McGonagall."
McGonagall took a deep breath and her voice beca calm again.
"Nothing, child, sorry to have disturbed you."
Colin scratched his forehead in a bit of confusion.
"It's all right, Professor."
***
The portrait of Slytherin was easily removed from the wall by Jon.
Instead of putting the portrait straight away, he brought it with him to the bronze door at the entrance, and he held it with him in front of the door.
"Sir, do you have another way out here? I was chased in by your descendants' n, and they are probably still blocking outside the door."
There wasn't much hesitation in Slytherin's reply.
"There is only this one entrance, to go out you can only go back the way you ca, I can only help you open this door."
Jon looked at the bronze door in deep thought.
Regardless of Fawkes' current state at the mont, it is certain that as soon as he walks out through this door, he is bound to face a bunch of Death Eaters surrounding him.
But then again, he could only go out through this place, and facing such a situation, Jon really didn't have any too good ideas.
He thought for a long ti but could think of no other solution, and finally gritted his teeth and had to trust his defence to the almighty Nick.
With the help of the general counter-spell, Jon basically did not need to worry too much about the other spells, but he could not rely on the counter-spell to nullify the killing curse.
By now, Jon was a bit confused about whether Nick being petrified by the basilisk was sothing to be happy about or sad about.
If it hadn't been for the almighty Nick, he would have died under the killing curse who knows how many tis.
And at this point, it was only possible to rely on Nick's help again.
As he took Nick off his back, Jon ntally took out a five clover to accumulate so luck for himself in his mind, which was probably already negative and then held Nick in front of him like a huge shield.
But after staring at Nick's frozen, terrified face for a mont, Jon was a little uncomfortable, so he rolled Nick over so that he could only see the back of his head.
Once this was done and ready, Jon told Gabrielle to hold two candelabras tightly and hide behind himself, then held up the Slytherin portrait.
"Alright, sir, help open the door."
Slytherin's face looked a little strange at these 'defensive' asures of Jon's.
What had he not seen in his life? But even with all that knowledge, he had never heard of anyone using a ghost as a shield.
But Slytherin didn't say much about it, as long as Jon got him out of there, then he didn't care what ans were used.
Then the unpleasant "hiss" that had been uttered to Jon at the beginning ca back to his tongue.
At the password in Parseltongue heard, the bronze door opened slowly in front of Jon's face!
At the sa ti as the door opened with a crack, Jon heard a confusing sound coming from the door.
But he didn't have the energy to focus on what kind of chaotic sound it was, he just hovered five centitres off the ground after the doors had opened completely with a gap big enough to pass a man, and then dashed out with Nick in his hands as fast as he could!
The mont he brushed up against the two bronze doors, the sound of the killing curse incantation rang out directly in front of him!
"Avada Kedavra!"
A grim green glow that was all too familiar to Jon, but although it was still a killing curse, it was nowhere near what he had expected at first!
At least twelve Death Eaters were blocking the door, and there were bound to be others in the vicinity, and even if so of them had been dispatched to deal with Fawkes in the anti, there would have been no less than five blocking the door.
But there were only two shots of the curse that ca towards Jon!
Without any surprise, both of them hit the petrified Nick with a dull thud.
The next second Jon ca out from behind the door, he changed his position quickly and flew towards the only passage in the direction of the labyrinth.
This was also the ti when he finally saw exactly what all this commotion that was going on outside was about!
Polar bears!
There were polar bears everywhere!
Dozens of polar bears had broken into the open space deep in the labyrinth, and they were fighting the Death Eaters to the death!
If they were ordinary polar bears, even hundreds of them would be no match for these Death Eaters, but these dozens are clearly different.
They were incredibly athletic and sharp-witted, constantly dodging the killing curses shot from the Death Eaters' wands, while other spells were selectively parried.
The white fur-covered hide was obviously highly resistant to magic, and one or two hits from ranged magic spells like invisible sword curse and blasting curse were basically like scratching an itch!
Seeing these extraordinary polar bears, Jon instantly understood who was helping him.
Erik!
The young male wizard who ran the research institute in the Arctic for Grindelwald!
Jon didn't waste this opportunity, he flew even faster in the direction of the labyrinth, Fawkes wasn't here anymore, but he certainly wouldn't just abandon Jon and leave, then the biggest possibility was that he is still inside the labyrinth hiding from these Death Eaters by circling around the passage, and has not gone far away.
And by this ti, Jon got a good look at the one who had used the killing curse on him.
Bella had blood all over her face.
It wasn't hers, but that of a polar bear she had just killed with her Invisible sword curse.
She raised her head, and there was a mad grin all over her face!
After seeing that the first killing curse was blocked by Jon, she didn't hesitate to use the second one!
Bella's attack wasn't blind, Jon had Nick in front of him, but by now he was near the entrance to the labyrinth and his whole backside was empty!
But Jon was not unprepared, the mont he heard Bella recite the incantation, his whole body suddenly rose into the air again, his hair almost touched the ceiling, and the curse just grazed the bottom of his shoe.
It wasn't just Bella, Rodolphus also got rid of the two bears that were entangling him and with a cold face stepped in front of the path Jon is bound to take.
Knowing full well Jon's agility, he didn't use a killing curse, but simply recited the transfiguration spell!
The next mont, the ice beneath his feet suddenly grew and steeply turned into a huge rock, blocking Jon's path forward.
But Jon still didn't dodge or avoid it, he just slamd straight into the boulder.
Just as his body was less than twenty centitres from the uneven surface of the stone, the general counter-spell attached to his body ca into play!
Rodolphus' transfiguration spell instantly collapsed!
The huge block of stone reverted back to an ordinary block of ice on the ground, and Jon had already flown to Rodolphus' side by this ti, without the ti to cast the spell, with no hesitation, he kicked the Death Eater directly in the stomach!
Jon's own strength was not really that great, but the inertia of his flying speed increased the force of his kick.
Rodolphus took his second direct hit and his face turned bloodless as he flew through the air and then his back hit the ice hard!
After completing the kick, Jon dashed into the labyrinth without looking back as he casually fired back a killing curse in that direction.
His shot of the killing curse was less calculated and simply hit the wall of ice where Rodolphus had been smashed, while the man himself had fallen back to the ground.
Bella clawed her husband off the ground as she went beside him, her voice unmistakably shrill and manic at the sa ti.
"He has to be killed! Our Lord said no one could enter that door, and since he did, he must die!"
Rodolphus coughed heavily, then slapped down Bella's hand, but did not disobey her command, and joined her in chasing after Jon in the direction he had left by taking out his flying broom.
Yes, Jon had to die today.
It was not only because Jon had entered that door, but also because his lord had given him a death sentence!
By killing the boy, it would guarantee many arrangents of Voldemort's, be it here in the Arctic or France, or in Britain.
So Rodolphus knew very well that Voldemort was giving him only one choice.
Either the boy would die today or he would die!
Jon certainly didn't know exactly how determined Rodolphus and Bella were to kill him, but he understood better than anyone how dangerous the situation is right now.
This labyrinth was filled with Death Eaters and the only thing that could get him out of here today was one creature!
"Fawkes!!!"
Jon's shout, using an Amplifying Charm, echoed through the cold labyrinth.
----
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