The towering hedges were now illuminated from the light radiating from the tip of Charlie's wand.
Charlie walked forward, being incredibly mindful of his surroundings, as Harry walked along side him about twenty feet to the left. After about fifty yards, they reached a fork in the road, and looked at each other.
"See you," Harry said, and he took the left one, while Charlie took the right.
It wasn't that long after when Charlie heard Bagman's whistle for the second time — Krum had now entered the maze, and naturally, Charlie sped up. His chosen path seemed completely deserted. He turned right, and hurried on, holding his wand high over his head, trying to see as far ahead as possible. Still, there was nothing in sight.
Bagman's whistle blew in the distance for the third time — all of the champions were now entrapped in the depths of the maze.
Charlie kept looking behind him. This odd feeling that he was being watched was upon him. The maze was growing darker with every passing minute as the sky overhead deepened to navy.
He continued running as fast as he could, turning corners rapidly, and moving through passageways as though his life depended on him.
Right.
Right.
Left.
Right.
Charlie kept his focus set on what was going on in front of him. However, at a certain point, a thick layer of fog surrounded him, making it hard to see. Squinting through the eyesight-corrupting area, the boy ran faster, trying to find his way to clarity.
Yet, when he took an abrupt turn around a corner, Charlie's body collided with that of a enormous and ill-tempered creature...
It was a ten-foot long beast that hovered low to the ground like Fire Crab, but weirdly enough, it resembled a giant scorpion with a stinger curved over its back like that of a Manticore. It was, of course, a Blast-Ended Skrewt like the ones that Hagrid had shown off in Care of Magical Creatures, but this one was fully grown, meaning it was incredibly dangerous and potentially lethal...
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Recalling what he knew from Hagrid's lesson, Charlie knew that the Blast-Ended Skrewt had armour-like skin that would deflect most spells. He had to think quickly though, especially as the Skrewt was now closing in on him, hissing angrily, flames igniting on the tip of its stinger.
In a matter of seconds, the Skrewt charged for Charlie, its legs clicking on the ground as it shot fire in his direction. All it took was one hit and the boy was on the floor, his left arm engulfed in flames, and right before he went to extinguish the fire, the Skrewt pounced on him, entrapping him beneath its large body, the stinger held over his face as if to taunt him.
