HP:BSG - Chapter 683: The Gorilla and the Lizard

An invisible, transparent barrier appeared behind Natalia, blocking the force of the blow. With a thunderous crash, she spun around and her eyes widened in shock.

Thankfully, she only froze for a second before sprinting away — because a heartbeat later, the protective shield shattered, and the attacker slammed heavily to the ground, letting out an enraged roar.

“ROAARRR!!”

The shockwave blew Natalia’s messy hair back from her face. Stunned, she quickly retreated several more steps.

The attacker turned out to be a massive gorilla. Its shoulders were bulged with corded muscle, and its thick forearms were nearly dragging along the ground. The broad nostrils flared as it exhaled a guttural, rumbling growl.

During their earlier duel, the Lumos spell that had lit their surroundings had long since faded. Now, only thin rays of sunlight filtered through the gaps in the forest canopy, barely enough to make out shapes.

In the dim light, the gorilla’s eyes gleamed a faint yellow, while the rest of its body was pitch black — hulking, powerful, and menacing.

“Bombarda!”

Natalia’s wand flashed red — but the enormous creature rolled to the side with startling agility, dodging the blast as deftly as either of the duelists had earlier.

Natalia’s pupils constricted sharply.

—How could this wild animal know how to dodge wizarding spells?

But there was no time to think — the gorilla’s fist came crashing toward her with wind howling around it!

“Impedimenta!” Harry shouted.

The monster’s movements slowed noticeably. Natalia seized the chance to leap aside, her boots carved two deep grooves into the dirt.

But the brief respite vanished in an instant. The gorilla lunged again with his one massive palm slamming down!

Natalia rolled across the ground in a messy tumble, narrowly avoiding the blow.

As Harry ran toward them, he yelled spell after spell:

“Incarcerous! Tarantallegra! Levicorpus! Come fight me, you big idiot!”

But the beast was unnaturally fast — it dodged every spell with uncanny grace, as though it could predict the attacks. Worse, for some unknown reason, it had fixated entirely on Natalia, roaring and chasing her relentlessly.

“ROAR!”

The deep, thunderous growl rattled through the forest like a war drum. The giant creature dropped to all fours and charged like a living tank!

“BANG!”

This time, Natalia couldn’t dodge. The blow sent her flying through the air; her wand flew from her hand. Gritting her teeth through the pain, she yanked the dagger strapped to her thigh and thrust it backward with all her strength!

The blade sank smoothly into the gorilla’s chest — but the sight made Natalia’s eyes widen in horror.

A moment later, she was flung away like a rag doll, crashing hard into a nearby tree.

“Natalia!” Harry shouted, hurling a stunning spell at the beast.

“Stupefy!”

The spell hit squarely — but had no effect at all.

“ROAAARR!”

The gorilla let out a furious roar and slammed its fists down toward the girl beneath the tree.

“Fire!” Natalia gasped with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Struggling to lift herself up, she shouted toward Harry, “Use a fire spell!”

Harry, who had already rushed close, didn’t hesitate. With a flick of his wand, he shouted, “Incendio!”

A stream of fire burst from his wand, striking the gorilla — and with a whoosh, flames spread rapidly across its body. The creature let out a shrill screech, stumbling backward several steps while frantically patting at the fire.

The dancing firelight finally illuminated their brutal attacker — and when Harry saw it clearly, he froze. In contrast, Natalia’s eyes flashed with a glimmer of understanding.

She had already sensed something was wrong the moment her dagger struck; now, her suspicion was confirmed.

It wasn’t a black gorilla at all — its body was dark green, woven entirely from vines and branches twisted together. Tiny buds sprouted at its joints, and a small yellow flower bloomed right on top of its head.

Natalia took a deep breath, feeling a sharp pain from her ribs as she muttered, “So it really is… a magic doll…”

Harry’s eyes widened. “This thing… it’s one of Wade’s creations? He made it here in the Forbidden Forest?”

He remembered Wade’s alchemical scorpions from the first task — terrifying mostly because of their numbers and stealth. Facing just one or two hadn’t been that hard in actual combat.

But this gorilla doll— even with two skilled duelists working together — had nearly overwhelmed them.

As if it somehow recognized the name of its creator, the gorilla suddenly turned its head toward Harry. Its yellow eyes flickered faintly.

Just as Harry tensed, ready to defend himself, the doll unexpectedly turned away. With a heavy thud, it dashed into the trees, climbed up a thick trunk in a few swift movements, and vanished into the forest canopy.

Only then did the two of them finally relax a little. Natalia slid down the tree trunk and sat on the ground, breathing hard. With a weary smile, she uncorked a potion bottle and drank deeply.

“That thing… just one of his creations, and it almost got me eliminated,” she muttered.

The searing potion burned down her throat into her stomach. Her injuries began to heal rapidly — but the sensation was so intense that she couldn’t help but frown and let out a soft groan.

Harry kept his wand raised, scanning their surroundings. Every rustle of leaves in the wind made his shoulders tighten.

Hearing her groan, he turned his head slightly with concern in his eyes as he asked, “Are you all right?”

His tone carried both genuine worry — and a faint note of caution.

He hadn’t forgotten: they were still rivals in this final competition.

“I’ll live,” Natalia said, wiping the blood from her lips. Gritting her teeth, she added, “Be careful. It could come back any time.”

Harry nodded, keeping his focus on the forest around them.

Natalia’s gaze lingered on his back, her expression unreadable. In her heart, she silently questioned the person who wasn’t here:

Why didn’t it attack Harry? Just because you’re from the same school? But this is the final round — everyone’s a competitor now…

After a long silence, she took several deep breaths. The pain in her chest had mostly faded. Leaning against the tree, she slowly stood and retrieved her wand from where it had fallen.

Harry turned to face her and the muscles in his arm tightened slightly as he asked, “Do we keep fighting?”

“Why did you save me just now?” Natalia asked, holding her wand in one hand as she kicked aside a charred tree branch at her feet. “If you hadn’t intervened, I’d already be eliminated.”

“Huh?”

Harry froze for a second, then said awkwardly, “I… I didn’t really think about it…”

Now that the adrenaline had faded, a wave of frustration welled up inside him. He suddenly realized how foolish his actions had been.

Right… we’re supposed to be competitors.

And besides, Dumbledore would never allow a contestant to die — there were probably invisible Aurors hidden nearby, ready to step in if anything went wrong. There had been no need for him to play the hero.

If he ended up getting defeated and eliminated by Natalia because of this, he could already imagine how people would laugh at him—

“Potter the Idiot! The fool who only knows how to play hero!”

“Thanks.”

Natalia’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Harry blinked in surprise and asked instinctively, “What did you say?”

She gave a small snort, but the hostility in her eyes had completely faded. Pushing her messy hair back from her face, she said seriously:

“You did help me this time, but if we meet again, I won’t hold back. I’ll fight with everything I have — for Koldovstoretz’s honor and the championship title! From here on out, it’s every competitor for themselves. Let’s see who makes it to the end.”

Harry nodded. “All right. Every man — or woman — for themselves.”

“Goodbye.”

With that, Natalia turned and chose a random fork in the path, disappearing into the forest. Harry waited a few moments before heading down the opposite trail.

They were both champions of their schools, each with their eyes set on the same prize — the sole championship title. Neither of them considered forming an alliance, not even after facing the terrifying magic doll.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, Clementine and Hope — who had decided to work together from the very start — were sitting back-to-back on the ground, panting heavily.

They had just endured a fierce battle. Seven or eight hobgoblins had come charging out of the bushes with drool dripping from their sharp fangs, clearly intending to make a meal out of the two girls.

After fending off the monsters and dismantling a magical trap, both of them were utterly exhausted and had to stop to rest.

“I wonder how far the others have gotten… Let’s eat something,” Clementine said, taking out a sandwich and offering a piece to Hope.

Hope shook her head and declined, unscrewing her water bottle to take a sip. The clear water trickled down her dust-streaked chin.

“It’s better if we don’t run into anyone,” she muttered. “In our condition, we probably couldn’t handle another fight.”

“Hah! Maybe we’re better off than the others,” Clementine said optimistically. “They’re all on their own — who knows, they might be worse off than us!”

Not far from them, about ten meters away, a lizard crept silently along a tree trunk. Its throat bulged slightly, and from its nostrils drifted a faint puff of spores.

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