Hogwarts: My Yorozuya has no taboos!

Chapter 42 Protect the Captain

Harry saw that as soon as Professor Delphinor announced the start of the competition, all the members of both teams immediately disappeared, as if an invisible eraser had wiped them away.

Along with them, the glowing cloaks, flying brooms, and specially made magic wands that floated above their heads also disappeared.

The faint red and blue glow in the valley attracted the attention of the young wizards. As Professor Delphinor had previously said, these contestants were distributed across the roughly rectangular Fog Valley, at opposite ends of its longest diagonal.

"The suspension bridge is also part of the competition venue. To get a better view of the competition, we need to change our location—"

Professor Delfino said with a smile.

A withered vine that was wrapped around the suspension bridge suddenly flew up and, as people watched, the vine stretched and coiled, forming a huge enclosed platform—like an octagonal cage used for fighting.

Bang—

The octagonal iron gate floating in the air opened, and a staircase automatically extended down from the entrance.

Professor Delphinor led the way up the stairs, followed by the young wizards.

After everyone entered the huge octagonal cage, the cage trembled slightly, passed over the air barriers on both sides of the suspension bridge, and floated steadily in mid-air.

This triggered some screams of panic, but the students quickly calmed down and huddled on the vine fence, looking down at the "Mist Valley".

So—

"There's an invisible wall here, we can't get over it—"

The academy team's respawn point is located below Fog Valley.

This was a large, irregularly shaped patch of land, about half the size of a Quidditch pitch. The ground was uneven, muddy, and damp, covered with puddles of water and overgrown with weeds.

Ernie rode his flying broomstick to one side of the open space and knocked on a wall that looked like it was filled with rising steam. On the other side of the wall was a sparse pine forest planted in the swamp.

"There's no need to care about that, we can't get over it anyway... You are, oh, Ernie—"

Ron studied the red, glowing cloak around his neck with great interest for a while, then said to Ernie.

He glanced at Neville—his cheeks glistening with sweat as Parvati comforted him, and he looked like he was about to faint—and Ron thought the captain's hat was indeed impressive, a crown-style hat, almost two feet tall.

"We need a tactic!"

Ernie flew back from the map wall. He flew higher to look at Slytherin [respawn point] diagonally opposite Mistvale—they hadn't started moving either; a group of little figures glowing blue were huddled together, their captain's movements obscured.

Ernie's gaze swept around again—there were three paths leading to them. One went up the hillside, leading to the suspension bridge they had just been on, high above. Another led to a canyon...the rest of the canyon was obscured.

The last path was a muddy road, about fifty or sixty feet wide, leading to another open area... This path was also bordered by swamp, but it was clearly outside the map.

On this open ground was a glowing silver-green flag, and the same flag was floating in the middle of the suspension bridge, blue... As for the last one, Ernie thought it should be behind the narrow bend—not visible for the time being.

The team members now have a general understanding of the top, mid, and bottom lanes.

"Alright, Longbottom, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

After trying to comfort Neville for a while, he still looked like he was about to faint, and Petil was losing her patience. She snapped,

"You're the captain, Longbottom. Just stay here. You're not needed for anything, whether it's dealing with the pig-like monsters or killing the Slytherin captain!"

"So that's how our tactics are?"

Terry Boot flew around the open ground with great interest, testing the broom's performance—he flew so-so, but at least he didn't wobble and stay still on the broom like Neville.

"Longbottom stays at our base—the respawn point. The rest of you go kill the Slytherin captain?"

"There definitely needs to be a group of people with Mandy to guard the area while she deals with the pig-like creatures, so that the Slytherins don't get there first."

"I think that's how it should be. Someone should accompany Brogher to deal with the dwarf pig monster, and someone should stay here to protect the captain."

Ron said.

Ron seemed to be the most skilled with the flying broomstick among the group, and Petil had obviously noticed this as well.

Although Petil was determined, it was clear that she was not a young wizard with leadership skills.

After hesitating for a while and discussing it with her teammates, she finally made up her mind.

"Ron, Terry, and Susan, you two go with Mandy to deal with the pig-like monsters under the green flag. Make sure they don't harass Mandy; get them before the Slytherins..."

I think the most important thing is to speed up the flying broomsticks. Ernie will guard Neville, and my sister and I will go to the enemy's respawn point to find Malfoy... Although the captain can withstand 10 hits of red light damage, while the other members can only withstand 5, I believe we can take down Malfoy!

And so, the operation began.

The Petit siblings took the route through the bend in the canyon—they didn't like the high suspension bridge; it was too narrow... Parvati thought that even if Malfoy were to escape, he was unlikely to choose that route.

Ernie stayed behind with Navee at the respawn point.

Ron's largest team has also set off.

The two men and two women took the lower path, heading towards another open area beyond the swamp waterway, intending to escort Mandy to take down the dwarf pig monster under the green glowing flag.

Almost as soon as they split up, the Slytherin team on the other side of Mist Valley also started moving, with three of them heading towards the open area below!

"They're here!"

Susan, with her baby face, spoke in a calm voice that belied her appearance.

"There are three people...and they fly faster than us!"

As soon as they set off, everyone noticed a fact—even though they were flying like broomsticks, some people flew faster and some flew slower... This was clearly related to individual flying skills.

"The blue captain's crown... Malfoy is coming this way too!"

Terry's shouts were filled with excitement.

"What do you mean... that Malfoy has mastered the Tripping Charm, and the other two are escorting him to steal the boar?!"

In his excessive excitement, Terry didn't notice that he even called the dwarf pig by the wrong name!

"I don't think that's right, Terry—"

With the confrontation imminent, Ron's cheeks lost their rosy hue and began to turn pale.

"Only two people are protecting the captain... that's too risky. If it were me, I would have everyone move together... Oh, the Petit sisters are going to have to run a lot more; they flew into the canyon, so I can't remind them that Malfoy has run out of the respawn point!"

Ron and his group continued to speed up their flight toward the green flag on the open ground, while Malfoy, with two others, approached at the same time, perpendicular to them... After nearly two minutes, they could see each other clearly by sight.

"quick!"

A vague unease lingered in the hearts of all members of the academy's joint team, the "Monster-Slaying Squad," but their tension clouded their thinking, and no one realized the problem.

Now that Malfoy is coming straight at us, is it possible to kill him here?

The thought did flash through Ron's mind.

However, he quickly dismissed his own opinion.

The captain can withstand 10 hits, while ordinary team members can only withstand 5... The captain's combat power should be stronger.

The most important thing is to help Mandy save the dwarf pig monster!

After a brief hesitation, Ron made up his mind.

"You've been tricked, Ron! Turn around!!!"

The valley was shrouded in an eerie mist that seemed to block out sound, so much so that Ron couldn't hear the warning at all.

"Turn around quickly, Ron!"

With his "God's-eye view," Harry was sweating profusely and screamed "heart-wrenchingly" at Ron below.

"Slytherin had no intention of fighting the pig-like creatures; they split into three groups to kill Neville!"