Hogwarts: Starting with full Unforgivable Curses

Chapter 348 The Challenge of Hogwarts

"As expected! I knew he wouldn't give up the flying broom!"

His voice, amplified by a megaphone spell, resounded throughout the arena, filled with excitement: "Look, everyone! Krum has summoned his signature flying broom! Judging from its appearance, it should be the latest model of the Firebolt! It seems he intends to use his flight advantage to break through the blockade of the two fire dragons and charge directly towards the golden egg! This is definitely the most adventurous and exciting tactic ever!"

Viktor Krum flipped himself onto the flying broom, and with a gentle push off the ground, the broom carried him straight into the sky.

The students in the stands all looked up, their eyes following his figure closely. Many Durmstrang students even held up signs that read "Krumm will win" and shouted their support.

"Beautiful! That acceleration is incredible!" Ludobagman stood up, leaned forward, and pointed at Krum in the air. "He's rapidly approaching the two fire dragons! But danger is also approaching—look, everyone! The Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon has raised its head! It's about to unleash its breath!"

As soon as Ludo finished speaking, a pillar of orange-red fire shot out from the Norwegian Ridgeback's mouth, soaring into the sky and heading towards Krum.

At this critical moment.

Krum remained incredibly focused. He keenly sensed the danger behind him, immediately lowered his body, gripped the broom handle tightly with his left hand, and gently pressed down on the end of the broom with his right.

The flying broomstick instantly executed a thrilling sideways dodge, the pillar of fire grazing his shoulder, the scorching air causing his hair to curl slightly.

"My God! That dodge was absolutely spectacular!" Ludobagman exclaimed, waving his arms excitedly, his voice hoarse. "Krum's reaction speed is simply astonishing! He perfectly dodged that sudden, fatal blow! And did you notice? He didn't even slow down! He's already soared above the two fire dragons and is preparing to dive down!"

As Ludo said, Krum immediately adjusted his direction after dodging and began to dive rapidly with his flying broom.

His body and broom were almost in a straight line, and like an arrow released from a bow, he flew towards the golden egg in the center of the arena.

"Look at that incredible speed of his dive! He's almost at the golden egg!" Ludo's voice was full of admiration. "He's like a shooting star streaking across the night sky! Is he charging so recklessly to prove his strength to the other warriors?"

Inside the tent.

Harry, Draco, and Cedric all instinctively felt that Ludo's words were hiding something.

After all, Dylan was the last to go on stage and had to face the toughest Fire Dragon combination.

The three glanced at Dylan beside them out of the corner of their eyes and saw that he was focused on the field and didn't seem to care about Ludo's commentary, so they secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as Krum was about to reach the golden egg, a swift black shadow suddenly darted out from behind the rocks at the edge of the arena.

It was the cat-leopard that had been hiding all along!

Its speed was astonishing, and its sharp claws gleamed coldly as it reached for Krum's calf.

Many spectators in the stands stood up and gasped, as if they could already see Krum injured.

But Krum once again demonstrated an amazing ability to react.

During his dive, he performed a difficult turn almost in place, spinning his body around the broom handle half a circle, barely avoiding the leopard's claws.

"He did it! He dodged the leopard's attack!" Ludobagman cheered excitedly. "Now he's just one step away from success! He only needs to reach out and grab the golden egg!"

Just then, a deep blue dragon breath suddenly spewed from the mouth of the Hebdiri Islands Black Dragon, landing on the ground in front of Krum and scorching a long, black mark.

Although it didn't hit him, it forced him to slow down and dodge, causing him to miss the best opportunity to grab the golden egg.

The situation in the arena has become tense once again.

The deep blue dragon breath gradually dissipated, leaving the charred marks in the center of the arena particularly glaring.

Ludobagman stood on the judges' table, staring at the scene before him, his mouth agape in astonishment. He almost dropped his wand and couldn't utter a single word.

In his many years in the industry, he had never seen such a bizarre situation.

In the brief few seconds that he was stunned, more than a dozen wizards in Ministry of Magic uniforms rushed out from the side passage of the stands and quickly jumped onto the arena.

They had a clear division of labor: some were responsible for using ropes and magic to restrain the movements of the two blind fire dragons, while others raised their wands and cast binding spells towards the cat and leopard.

The pale blue magic ropes instantly wrapped around the cat-leopard's limbs, firmly fixing it in place and preventing it from launching another attack.

Viktor Krum also stopped his charge, riding his flying broomstick and slowly circling in mid-air.

His previously tense expression turned extremely ugly, his brows furrowed tightly, and his gaze fixed on the center of the arena.

Where the golden egg had originally been placed, only a pile of charred ashes remained, clearly indicating that the golden egg had been completely burned by the dragon's breath.

"Oh...oh! Ladies and gentlemen!" Ludobagman finally came to his senses. He cleared his throat and tried to make his voice sound steady. "Something completely unexpected just happened—judging from the situation on the ground, the dragon breath spewed by the Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon accidentally hit the golden egg placed in the center. Our target golden egg...has been completely burned."

As soon as he finished speaking, the circular stands erupted in an uproar.

The students whispered among themselves, their faces filled with disbelief.

No one expected that such an accident would occur when success was just one step away.

The Durmstrang students were visibly disappointed, with many shouting "Replay!" towards the field, hoping the refereeing panel could provide a reasonable solution. Looking at the chaotic stands, Ludobagman stammered, "Given the current situation, the refereeing panel needs to hold an emergency meeting to determine the next steps. Please remain calm."

Inside the tent.

Harry looked at the chaotic scene and said with a hint of regret, "Do you think the referees will arrange a rematch? Krum was just one step away, but the golden egg was burned by the dragon's breath. It's such a pity."

“Yes, this situation is truly unbelievable.” Cedric nodded in agreement, his eyes filled with emotion. “Although the previous Beauxbatons incident was a close call, at least the target wasn’t destroyed.”

“This isn’t unusual. Didn’t Dylan simulate a similar ‘target damage’ scenario during training?” Draco shrugged nonchalantly, his tone confident. “I don’t think there will be a rematch. Think about it, even if Durmstrang’s Karkaroff insists on a rematch, the other principals won’t agree.”

“Ultimately, Durmstrang’s own tactics were flawed,” Harry said with some emotion. “Their choice to use the Eye-Blinding Charm to blind the dragon was inherently risky—a blind dragon will attack indiscriminately, and no one knows what it will hit. But it’s a real shame about Viktor Krum; his operation was already perfect, just missing the last step.”

Draco's tone held a hint of anticipation as he turned to Harry and Cedric: "As you've seen, the Eye Disease Curse is more dangerous than we imagined. Who can say for sure that the Hungarian Horned Beetle and the Norwegian Spinosaurus we're about to face won't go berserk like this one and destroy the golden egg with their breath?"

“We definitely need to reconsider our tactics.” Cedric nodded seriously. “If we really get to the last step and are about to get the golden egg, only to have it destroyed by dragon breath, that feeling would be devastating. Rather than taking that risk, we should stick to the magical plant plan we prepared earlier, which at least provides a more reliable way to restrict the fire dragon’s movements.”

Harry nodded, his tone carrying a hint of agreement: "I have no objection. Although the magical plant plan is costly, it's reliable. The Durmstrang example we just saw is enough; let's not take any risks."

Just as Draco and his friends had predicted, the triad's discussion did not last long.

When Ludobagman reappeared at the commentary booth, he did not offer any explanation for the "destruction of the golden egg" and directly announced: "Next, we will proceed to the judging panel's scoring phase, where each school's warriors will be scored based on their tactical performance, teamwork, and risk management."

Not long after, the tent flap was gently lifted, and a Ministry of Magic employee poked his head in and said respectfully, "Mr. Harry Potter, Mr. Draco Malfoy, Mr. Cedric Diggory, it's your turn to go on stage. Please follow me to the arena."

Harry, his two friends, and their companions exchanged a glance, took a deep breath, picked up their wands, and followed the staff out of the tent.

When Harry, Draco, and Cedric walked out of the arena entrance, wands in hand, a burst of enthusiastic cheers immediately erupted from the stands.

Especially when he saw the three of them raise their wands at the same time, three flashes of silver light, and three flying brooms flying from afar and landing steadily in front of them, Ludobagman's voice instantly became exceptionally cheerful. The amplification charm made his excitement spread throughout the entire hall: "Look what this is! Of course, it's three brand-new flying brooms! The heroes of Hogwarts have certainly not disappointed us!"

He paused, then added deliberately, "As far as I know, these three champions have one thing in common—they are all the main Seekers for their respective houses' Quidditch teams! Harry Potter is from Gryffindor, Draco Malfoy is from Slytherin, and Cedric Diggory is from Hufflepuff! Seekers excel at agile flight and quick reflexes, and I'm already looking forward to their performance!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ludo's eyes suddenly lit up, and he turned his gaze to the sky: "Wait! There's more! It seems the Hogwarts warriors are quite well prepared. Besides the flying brooms, other items are flying into the arena one after another! What could they be? Are they props to assist magic, or special equipment to deal with fire dragons? Let's wait and see; I believe they will bring us unexpected surprises!"

As he explained, the situation on the field gradually became clear.

Harry and Draco were the first to flip themselves onto their flying brooms, and with a gentle push off the ground, the brooms carried them slowly into the air.

Cedric, however, did not take off immediately. He held his flying broom upright in front of him, one hand holding the broom handle, and the other hand raising his wand, the fingertips flashing with a pale green light, clearly casting some kind of magic.

The soil on the ground began to tremble slightly, as if something was about to break through the earth.

"Look, everyone! Potter and Malfoy have taken to the skies, only Diggory is still standing!" Ludobagman's voice was full of curiosity. "He's propping himself up on his flying broomstick, intently waving his wand. Is he preparing some kind of ground magic? This isn't quite the 'all-out aerial assault' tactic we had in mind!"

What's even more surprising is the altitude at which Harry and Draco flew.

Instead of ascending to higher altitudes to avoid the fire dragon's attack, they maintained a low altitude of less than five meters above the ground, flying at a slow but exceptionally agile speed.

Ludo watched this scene with a mixture of surprise and worry: "Wow! It seems they're quite confident in their flying skills! They're flying so low! At this altitude, if they're hit by the fire dragon's breath, they'll have almost no time to dodge! Aren't they afraid of being hurt by the dragon's breath?"

Sure enough, the two fire dragons quickly noticed the two "provocative individuals".

The black dragon of the Hebdiri Islands roared first, turning its massive head toward Draco and opening its mouth to spew dragon breath.

The ordinary Welsh green dragon was not to be outdone, and swung its tail toward Harry, trying to knock him off the broom.

"Watch out!" Ludo's shout had barely faded when Harry ducked low, his flying broomstick skimming the ground as he narrowly dodged the green dragon's tail.

Its tail swept across the ground, raising a cloud of dust; its power was astonishing.

Draco swiftly pulled the broom handle, executing a graceful sideways maneuver in mid-air. Deep blue dragon breath grazed his ankles, landing on a distant rock and sparking.

"Beautiful! Such agile turn!" Ludobagman clapped his hands excitedly in praise. "Porter's concentration is excellent. That dodge was perfectly timed! He successfully dodged the deadly tail whip of the ordinary Welsh green dragon!"

He changed the subject, his tone becoming somewhat teasing: "But I must say, those two young warriors, Potter and Malfoy, are incredibly brave! Everyone knows that the common Welsh green dragon is the most docile of all fire dragons; it rarely attacks unless provoked. But now? Even it has been angered by these two, which shows just how 'daring' their flight path is!"

After the banter, Ludo turned his gaze to Draco, his tone becoming serious: "In comparison, Malfoy seems to be facing a lot more pressure. The Hebrides Black Dragon he's dealing with is a whole size larger than a regular Welsh Green Dragon! And the Black Dragon's reaction speed is also much faster, so it will definitely be much more difficult to continuously dodge its attacks at low altitude!"

Just then, a new change occurred in the arena.

Harry and Draco seemed to have reached a tacit understanding through their eyes, and almost simultaneously changed direction, switching their opponents.

Harry flew toward the Hebdiri Black Dragon, while Draco turned toward the ordinary Welsh Green Dragon.

Ludo immediately caught this detail and exclaimed, "Oh! They've switched opponents! Now Potter is fighting the larger Hebrides Black Dragon, while Malfoy is fighting the relatively gentle Welsh Green Dragon! Is this to share the burden, or is there some other tactical consideration? It seems the Hogwarts warriors are constantly adjusting their strategies even in flight!"

During a break in the commentary, Ludo suddenly slapped his forehead, as if remembering something important: "Speaking of which, we seem to have forgotten a hero! We were so focused on Potter and Malfoy's flight that we almost overlooked Diggory, who was left on the ground! So what is our Mr. Diggory doing now? How is his magic preparation going? Could the anomalies on the ground be the key to turning the tide?"

(End of this chapter)