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Harry and Fleur still looked at Krum in surprise and confusion, stunned by the development of the situation.
However, the Bulgarian boy didn't pay attention to their gazes, and didn't even wait for them to say or do anything before attacking the blonde girl again.
"{Diffindo}!" he cast a spell.
And his spell was once again contained by Fleur's shield, but he didn't even react to it, continuing his attack with a sequence of spells.
"{Confringo}! {Confractus}! {Reducto}!"
*Bam!*
*Bam!*
*Crack!*
Under Krum's fierce consecutive attack, Fleur's shield finally began to give way, with some cracks appearing on it.
And seeing the cracks appearing on her shield, Fleur knew that it would not resist any longer and that it would break with another blow.
'He really isn't holding back' she frowned.
The beautiful Veela then canceled her protective spell, before looking seriously at Krum as she pointed her wand at him, deciding not to be defensive any longer.
"{Incarcerous}!" she attacked.
And showing an agility that didn't match his robust body, Krum quickly dodged her spell.
"{Inflamare}!" he threw a fireball at her, and to defend herself from the fire and heat Fleur created a wall of earth in front of her.
The two then continued fighting, using all the experience, skills, and magical power they had.
And Harry, who was standing silently a few feet away from them, could only look at them with a strange look, realizing that he was being completely ignored by Fleur and Krum.
"Uh..." Harry looked at the fight happening in front of him with a confused and indecisive look.
'Do they still remember I'm here?' he asked himself with a grimace on his face, not knowing what to do in this situation.
He then began to wonder whether he should join Krum in the offensive against Fleur, but this idea was quickly discarded.
And he discarded that idea because he knew that as soon as they defeated Fleur, Krum would turn his attention to him... Of course, that's if the Bulgarian boy didn't decide to attack him during the fight between the three.
And besides that reason, Harry also didn't want to intimidate Fleur, who was his friend, in an unfair 2-on-1 fight, and he also didn't want to join forces with a guy who always showed displeasure or contempt for him.
'Maybe I should attack Krum together with Fleur...' he mused, before shaking his head, realizing that this option also had its risks.
'You know what? Why am I still thinking about joining this fight?' he asked himself, pursing his lips, 'Right now they're fully focused on fighting each other, so I should take this opportunity to get out of here and go back to looking for the cup.'
And realizing that the situation had become favorable for him, Harry made his decision, turning around and silently heading towards one of the paths in the maze.
And already on this path, Harry immediately started running, without looking back while ignoring the noise of the fight and the flashes of the spells, focused only on one objective, which was to reach the end of the maze and get the damn cup.
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-Some time later-
...
...
...
"Huff...Huff," Harry panted, turning into another path as he continued his search for the cup.
He had been running non-stop for at least 3 minutes, having moved away from the clash between his two rivals in the tournament.
And as he ran Harry tried not to think about the fact that he had abandoned the fight, running away while leaving Krum and Fleur to face each other alone.
But even though he tried not to think about it, he couldn't help but feel that he should have stayed there, and that there was something strange about the whole situation.
Harry felt a sense of distress... a nervousness... an uncomfortable feeling in his chest that told him something was happening, and that something was definitely not good.
'Come on Harry, just let it go. For now you just have to focus on finding the cup and winning this competition' Harry said mentally to himself, shaking his head.
However, his attempt to focus on something else didn't help much, and he couldn't shake the bad feeling he felt, a feeling that grew with every step he took away from the fight that was taking place between the two foreign champions.
'Damn, what's happening to me?' he asked himself as he mentally cursed, realizing that he couldn't continue his search like this.
And in a stressful moment like this, Harry immediately thought of one of the people he most admired and trusted, a person who always seemed to have an answer or a solution for practically everything.
'What would Ethan do in this situation?' he wondered.
And while trying to think about what Ethan would do if he were in his place, Harry unconsciously remembered the classes that he, Hermione, Ron and Fleur had with the crazy, genius boy.
And thinking about these classes, Harry remembered that his friend from Ravenclaw always told them that in a fight or in a serious situation they should always trust their instincts.
'Trust my instincts...' he repeated in his mind, 'I need to trust my instincts.'
And letting that sentence sink into his mind, Harry slowly stopped running, deciding to put his search for the cup aside for now.
Now, standing in the middle of the maze, the green-eyed boy took a deep breath to catch his breath, trying to calm down and control his emotions.
And after managing to calm down a little, he closed his eyes, ignoring everything around him and focusing on himself and only himself.
'And now, what do my instincts tell me?' he asked himself, trying to feel something inside him without even knowing what that something should be.
And after 30 seconds of standing still he couldn't help but frown, realizing that the only thing he felt was the uncomfortable and alarming sensation in the back of his mind.
"Why am I having this feeling? And why does it feel like my whole body is telling me to go back to that place?" he asked himself quietly, opening his eyes and looking down with a confused and frustrated expression.
Harry didn't understand what was happening to him, but he knew for sure that the reason for his distress had something to do with Fleur and Krum's fight.
And knowing that the answers to his questions were connected to this situation, he decided to reflect on everything that happened before he ran away from the fight.
'Let's see... First there was that weird tremor followed by those scary screams and roars, and after that I found Fleur and fought her briefly, before Krum showed up.'
'After Krum showed up he ignored me and started attacking Fleur, and then the two started fighting'
'And in the end I left them both fighting each other before leaving that place, starting my search for the cup again'
And remembering all these moments in his mind, Harry realized that there was something strange and abnormal about them.
'Wait... Why did Krum decide to attack only Fleur at that time?
'And actually, why did he attack her in the first place when the person he doesn't like is me?' he wondered, frowning.
Harry may not have known Krum very well, but from the little interaction he had with the Bulgarian champion he could easily tell that he was someone quite spiteful and angry.
Of course, it wasn't impossible that Krum decided to attack Fleur because of his strategy, wanting to eliminate the champion who represented the biggest threat to him at that moment.
But even if that was the reason, it still wouldn't explain why he ignored Harry completely, as if he wasn't even there.
"This doesn't make any sense... Something is very wrong with this," Harry muttered thoughtfully.
He then tried to think of a reason for Krum's actions, and as he thought about it he remembered the look on Krum's face when the Quidditch star had walked past him.
'That look... He didn't just look focused... Actually, it looked more like he was glazed over or completely hypnotized' he realized, remembering Krum's empty, cold eyes.
'Wait a minute, I've seen people with that look before...' and in Harry's mind he immediately thought of the first DADA classes with Professor Moody, where the ex-Auror taught the students about the Unforgivable Curses.
And between these classes, Professor Moody demonstrated in practical classes one of the curses that was the least lethal and most controllable, casting it on several students.
And these students, after being under the effect of this curse, had the same glazed and empty look as Krum.
'No... It can't be...' Harry thought, his eyes widening as the pieces fell into place in his mind, 'Krum... He's under the Imperius Curse!'
And reaching this conclusion he felt a shiver run through his body as he broke out in a cold sweat, with his breathing stopping for a moment.
And in his mind he could only think of one thing.
'Fleur is in danger!!'
End.
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