HP:BSG - Chapter 697: A Game World?

Wade turned his head sharply, and his pupils contracted.

The girl who had just managed to struggle to her feet suddenly collapsed again. She groaned in pain as her body began to shrink rapidly — in the blink of an eye, she was buried inside a pile of her own clothes, leaving only a glimpse of dusty, fine, curly hair visible.

“What’s happening?” Harry couldn’t help whispering, “She got… smaller!”

His face was full of disbelief, as though his entire view of the world had just been rewritten — yet he didn’t make the connection to himself at all.

At this point, Harry likely had no awareness of just how special he really was.

Then, suddenly, a dark green leopard appeared out of nowhere. It stared at the collapsed girl with what looked like shock or confusion in its expression.

Wade’s eyes widened as he stared at the creature —

Is there even such a leopard in nature?

And those markings on its body… the more he looked, the more they resembled tangled vines and leaves rather than fur patterns.

The leopard bared its teeth and with a menacing stance it crept toward the girl on the ground. Before it could get close, a blinding flash of light shot across the air and pierced straight through the animal’s abdomen!

The strange creature let out a sharp screech, and though it had been hit clean through, no blood flowed — only a pair of charred holes marked where the light had burned through.

Startled, the leopard leapt high into the air and bolted from the courtyard, vanishing with astonishing speed.

Moments later, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed through the ruins, along with two male voices.

“That was close — I can’t believe there’s still a contestant running around! Weren’t all the champions already taken out by that kid?”

“You idiot, clearly one slipped through the cracks!”

“Fine, fine — I thought that that leopard had finished her off. My bad.”

“Good thing there’s this mist— no matter how many wizards show up, they won’t pose a threat to us.”

“But the leopard got away. Be careful, it might come back.”

“So what if it does? Even if it’s a magic construct, it’s still just a beast. You and I aren’t afraid of some animal, are we?”

The two people didn’t bother lowering their voices as they stepped out from behind a stone pillar.

One of them was a slightly hunched man with a fierce scar running down his face — from his brow bone all the way to the corner of his mouth.

He held a strange-looking gun, something that almost resembled a toy water gun a child might play with — bright, colorful, and even adorned with a little dolphin charm at the tip, exuding a playful, almost innocent vibe.

Yet the beam of light that had just pierced through the leopard’s abdomen had come from this very “cute” water gun.

The other figure was a tattooed woman. Her appearance was rather ordinary — short hair, tanned skin, and a tough, feral edge to her expression that gave her plain features an oddly striking kind of allure.

She was covered in weapons from head to toe, looking for all the world like a walking human armory.

In her hand, she held a golden kettle. Standing far from the golden mist, she lifted her arm and tossed the kettle toward it.

The kettle landed upright with a soft clang. Suddenly, it began to behave as if the water inside were boiling — the lid jumped, a bubbling sound echoed (“glug-glug”), and the long, narrow spout pulsed in and out as though it were drinking something.

The golden mist condensed into a small whirlwind, spinning tighter and tighter until it was sucked entirely into the golden kettle. In moments, the mist that had filled the open space was gone, leaving the courtyard clear.

Wade crouched behind the stones, and stared fixedly at the kettle, memorizing every detail — every curve, every shimmer — burning it into his mind.

If that thing is what caused us to shrink… can it also be used to change us back?

He looked around again. The man and woman were standing exactly where they blocked any chance of escape — no one would believe it was coincidence.

They probably already knew Harry and Wade were hiding here. But like cats toying with mice, they weren’t in any hurry to drag them out.

Or perhaps…

They were wary of something — something that made them pretend not to care, holding off from taking any direct action against the two boys.

As that thought crossed Wade’s mind, he glanced sideways at Harry.

The boy was completely mesmerized by the golden kettle, staring at it with wide eyes and open mouth, full of awe. But his gaze still flicked now and then toward where the girl had fallen with a concern filled expression .

The shrunken girl lay motionless amid the pile of her clothes, only the dark red blood spreading slowly across the uneven stone floor showed that she was still alive. 

“Stop talking nonsense,” the scar-faced man said. “The livestream’s cut off, right?”

“Of course… but that method is incredible! Using just a tiny mirror to broadcast live.” The tattooed woman picked up the golden kettle, her tone full of admiration.

“And the trophy — get it back soon. We don’t want anyone tracing us through it.”

“Do you even need to say that? As soon as the little rabbit showed up, someone went to retrieve the trophy! By the way, those communication beans are seriously amazing.”

— Livestream? Communication beans? What on earth are they talking about?

Wade had thought he’d finally figured out what kind of world he was in — but now he was more confused than ever.

The child beside him had the name [Harry Potter] floating above his head. Maybe he was just a game character who happened to share the same name?

At least in the Harry Potter world Wade knew, there was no such thing as livestreaming.

The more he looked around, the less this world resembled a real magical world at all.

And the two people standing nearby — they don’t have any names hovering above them. Did that mean they are NPCs? Or maybe high-level players?

As Wade’s thoughts spiraled further and further away from reality, a sudden loud crash echoed through the courtyard.

Bang!

Wade held his breath and peered through the gap between two stone pillars.

A thin, gaunt man strode quickly across the courtyard, clutching a golden trophy in his hand.

He wore a tattered black robe, his messy hair plastered against his pale forehead. His eyes were sunken, his mouth was twitching occasionally — his entire expression radiated a sickly, fanatical madness.

Wade frowned. He’d always had an instinctive dislike for people who looked like that — the type with a clear streak of antisocial psychosis.

Unlike the other two, this man did have a name floating above his head — some text in English. But the distance made it hard to read.

Then an idea struck him. Wade pressed his thumb, index, and middle fingers together to form a small triangular frame, holding it up like a viewfinder as he squinted at the letters above the man’s head.

He muttered under his breath:

“Barty… Crouch… Jr.?”

His heart lurched violently — he nearly shouted aloud.

That appearance, that expression… there is only one person it could be!

“Oh, you’re back,” one of the earlier speakers said. Both the man and the woman turned their eyes toward the newcomer, their expressions somewhere between indifference and disgust.

“Heard you got caught, Crouch,” the scar-faced man said casually, looking up. “You alright?”

— It sounded like concern, but his tone and face clearly said something closer to: Why aren’t you dead yet?

“Cut the crap!” Barty Jr. rasped, his voice was hoarse and filled with venom. His cold eyes swept over the courtyard. “Where are they? We need to start the ritual immediately — before Dumbledore tracks us down.”

“Relax,” the tattooed woman said lazily. “Those two little rabbits couldn’t have gotten far. We’ve tested it over and over — no matter how powerful they were before, right now, both their minds and bodies are truly just children’s.”

She exchanged a glance with the scar-faced man, and together they turned their heads toward the spot where Wade and Harry were hiding.

Smiling, she said:

“Two kids, what — five, six years old at most? How could they possibly escape us?”

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