The third test: Crazy Labyrinth!

Time passed and there were only two notable events during April.

Mrs. Weasley sent a package of Easter eggs for all the Weasleys and Ginny shared some with Soisen and the rest of the house. It was a lot of chocolate and while it may sound a bit ugly since she gets it for free, the chocolate was not very good, probably made too much at one time and could not keep the quality consistent. A classic amateur mistake.

The second event was that with the ingredients he traded or bought from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students, he was able to almost finish recreating the potion to cure their mothers' squib condition.

He was only missing two key ingredients!

Once he could brew the potion, he would need a guinea pig to put it to the test and who better than the ill-tempered Filch, who also happened to be a squib.

Soisen was happy to ask for Snape's supervision as he carried out the preparation of the Felix Felicis, because he thought he succeeded during the first attempt and Snape proved otherwise by taking a drop of the finished potion and dropping it on a plant, causing it to burst into an instantaneous combustion that reduced the plant to ashes.

Apparently, it turned out that the onion went bad at the time of use and ruined everything.

It wasn't until the second preparation that he had a successfully finished product with no risk of death by fire. Good thing he didn't get carried away either by his pride or his talent in potions and sought advice from a true veteran, not like other people did, people who end up dying young.

Today is the day the champions must enter the labyrinth, passing all kinds of traps and creatures that will try to block their way until they reach the cup located in the heart of the labyrinth and take victory into their own hands.

In the original story, Fleur was attacked by Barty Crouch jr. and ended up unconscious in the labyrinth, where Harry found her and threw red sparks into the sky to rescue her while she continued with the ordeal. Krum was manipulated by the Imperius curse and tried to stop Cedric to no avail. Potter along with Cedric simultaneously took the cup after helping each other through the maze as a sign of respect, resulting in Cedric's death at the hands of Peter Pettigrew after his disappearance and the rebirth of the noseless Dark Lord.

Now Peter is gone, but surely Voldemort has some other coward to carry out the ritual, perhaps Bellatrix Lestrange's husband.

-Ladies and gentlemen, let's go over the rules one more time," Dumbledore took Bagman's place to try to encourage the champions, "You will enter the maze in order of points when called and spaced out for a fixed period of time. Remember that there are all sorts of tricks, traps and dangerous creatures in the maze, if the time comes when you find yourselves unable to continue, don't hesitate for a second to throw red sparks into the sky. Thanks to the surveillance shells at our disposal, a squad of Ministry Aurors will rush to your rescue in the shortest possible time. Eternal glory may be beautiful, but nothing is more precious than your own lives. Good luck.

The directors gave final words of encouragement and advice to their champions and Soisen was the first to enter the maze. He drank the Felix Felicis just five minutes before he was called for the test, so he should be lucky enough to avoid the worst part of the day to some extent.

He came upon the first crossroads and stopped while being watched by the den den mushi watching his steps. After a few moments of contemplation, following his feelings, he chose the path to the right and advanced along it. He encountered some devil's snares, an explosive-tailed scrying and several other obstacles that were not difficult to solve, glancing from time to time at the watch on his wrist to estimate when all the champions should be inside the labyrinth.

-Stop, wizard," a female voice startled him as he turned a corner.

There, a sphinx whose fur was the same as that of the desert sand gazed at him as she guarded the path behind her.

-Hmm, she's not as pretty as I imagined," Soisen thought.

-To go through this way... Did you just think of something rude? -The sphinx narrowed her eyes and looked him up and down.

Shit, she's also equipped with the feminine instinct, how scary!

-Not at all, may I know the riddle?

The sphinx looked at him for a few more seconds with distrust and shook her head, maybe it was just her imagination.

-To pass this way, you must answer my riddle correctly or I will devour you.

Soisen waved his hand in the air, giving her a gesture to expose the riddle.

-Well," the sphinx cleared her throat before stating her riddle, "If I did, I would tear you apart with my claws, but that will only happen if you don't get it. And the answer to this riddle is not easy, because it is far away, in lands of bonanza, where the region of the mountains of sand begins and that of the bulls, the blood, the sea and the verbena ends. And now answer, you who have come to play: which animal would you not like to kiss?

-Soosen felt lucky, it turned out to be the same riddle Potter had to answer in the book.

-You may come in," the depressed sphinx did not expect such a quick answer, as she tried hard to think of the riddle knowing that she was going to be here and expected to eat one of the champions.

-Thank you -Soisen walked past her without fear and before leaving, he turned to look at her- Would you like to hear a riddle from me?

The sphinx was surprised, but curiosity got the better of her and she nodded.

-This is a dog that is tied to a rope that is two meters long, and five meters away there is a bone, how will the dog bite the bone? -Soisen posed the riddle and took out a scroll from his tunic where he wrote something before putting the scroll on the floor, "Since I'm in the middle of the competition, I can not stay and wait for your answer, but think carefully and when you think you know the answer, open the scroll and you can see if you were right or not.

The sphinx stretched out her paw and picked up the parchment between her fingers, her gaze lost as she thought about the possible answer excitedly.

It was always her doing the riddles and never the other way around!

Soisen saw the state of the sphinx and waved her hand in farewell and went on her way. The spectators saw everything through the den den mushi and were discussing among themselves what could be the answer to the riddle she posed to the sphinx.

The answer would only be revealed later, when they opened the scroll and saw its written contents: The rope is not tied anywhere, so the dog just has to calmly approach the bone to bite it. It was a simple answer of logic that played with words. The dog had the rope tied, but that doesn't mean the other end is tied to anything, does it?

Countless people were embarrassed to see the answer and not realize such simple logic, especially after debating for hours whether the dog took some potion or was aided by some spell.

Soisen did not know that his riddle would prove to be so shocking, as he found it quite simple from the logic of an ordinary person. He came upon another intersection and as he was about to take the path to the right, he stopped when he saw a figure passing by at the end of the path, which fortunately for him, did not notice his presence and continued on his way.

-Did Hagrid also manage to replicate a Fallout Deathclaw? -he was impressed beyond words with Hagrid's skill in the field of breeding. He only mentioned them once!

He stood there and silently took the left path, praying that Fleur and Cedric wouldn't trip over that creature.