Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 539 The Dragon's Resistance
"Extremely bold!"

Mr. Bagman exclaimed, "He showed extraordinary courage—ah—yes, he got the golden egg!"

The overwhelming applause shattered the winter air like broken glass.

Krum finally completed his mission, and his two teammates breathed a long sigh of relief and quickly left the field.

The dragon trainers returned to the field, acting like firefighters to calm the Chinese fireball.

“It will take them much longer than we have!” Ron said excitedly.

Dean nodded vigorously: "And those real eggs were also crushed, that definitely deserves a deduction!"

“That’s right,” Simon chimed in loudly, “This one’s in the bag!”

The audience in the stands applauded.

Just like in the Quidditch final, Krum earned everyone's respect through his own hard work.

"Look at Karkarov!"

Harry suddenly pointed to the referee's table and said to his friends.

When everyone looked up, they saw that Professor Karkaroff, the principal of Durmstrang, had a face that looked almost exactly like Krum's, so gloomy it could drip water.

His fingers gripped the chair armrests tightly, and the way he looked at Toby Tosen and Lucas Poliacco was like…

"His eyes look just like Snape's right now!"

Dean couldn't help but say, "Harry, this is the kind of look Snape always gives you."

Harry: "..."

Although it sounds unpleasant, it's really true.

Normally, Snape looked at him with the same disgust that Karkaroff looked at Toby Thorsen and Lucas Polyaco.

"Without teamwork," Sherlock succinctly remarked, "it would be even less time-consuming for him to work alone."

Harry and Cedric nodded in agreement.

They could clearly see that Krum had actually found several opportunities, but he gave them up in order to save his two teammates.

If he were fighting alone, he might actually be able to finish even faster.

Next comes the scoring process.

As everyone expected, when the Chinese fireball struggled after being cursed in the eye, it crushed nearly half of the dragon eggs.

The judges took this into account when scoring.

Ms. Maxim gave it a score of 6, Moody also gave it a score of 6, and Dumbledore gave it a score of 8.

The scores given by the three judges were entirely expected.

However, when it was Karkarov's turn, his actions once again provoked dissatisfaction from the audience.

Because he, like Mr. Bagman in the previous round, scored the only 10 points in this round.

Full score!

"Shadow!"

"Shameless!"

"Bastard!"

"Kakarov, I'll fuck your mother!"

Karkarov ignored the insults hurled at him from the audience.

However, this time Mr. Bagman spoke up, saying, "Igor, aren't you going a bit too far?"

"How did I go too far?" Karkaroff said shamelessly. "You can give your country's warriors a perfect score, so why can't I?"

Is this the problem?

Bagman was shocked by Karkaroff's shamelessness. "Your warriors failed to perform well and let the fire dragon trample half of the eggs!"
Even without mentioning that, they took several times longer than the Hogwarts team!
You just gave Hogwarts a score of 4, but gave your own school's team a score of 10. How do you explain that?

Karkaroff sneered: "So what?"
Although the three Hogwarts students took a short time, two of them were injured!
Although Durmstrang took a long time, everyone was unharmed!

"Kakarov, you—"

"Alright, Ludo."

Just then, Dumbledore stopped the two from arguing further, saying, "You should give the score. If this continues, the Beauxbatons' warriors might not be able to wait any longer."

Bagman gave Karkaroff a deep look, then raised his wand.

6 points!
He originally wanted to do what Karkaroff did and score 4 points in return.

However, based on the current ratings, there's no difference between giving myself a score of 4 or 6.

Since Hogwarts is in the lead anyway, it doesn't affect my plans.

In addition, Krum's performance was indeed outstanding, so giving him a score of 4 would be an insult to him.

Therefore, a score of 6 was ultimately given.

Karkaroff sneered and said no more.

Next up was Beauxbatons' team.

Their opponent was the Swedish short-nosed dragon.

Compared to Durmstrang's team, Beauxbatons' team had much better teamwork.

The three of them worked together to cast a spell that successfully put the Swedish short-nosed dragon into a drowsy state.

"not good!"

In the audience, Hermione and Ginny, the two girls, suddenly became nervous.

If Beauxbatons succeeds like this, then Hogwarts' ranking will drop to second.

“It’s not that easy,” Sherlock said quietly. “Think about what Professor Lupin said?”

Upon hearing Sherlock's words, Harry, Hermione, and Ron immediately recalled what had happened.

"Don't succumb to temptation and recite any spells that induce unconsciousness."

"The fire dragon is incredibly strong and possesses immense magical power; it's impossible for it to be defeated by a mere stun spell."

"It would take nearly ten adult wizards chanting spells simultaneously to subdue a dragon."

Sure enough, the Chinese fireball, which had been dozing off, suddenly snorted and snapped awake.

It roared angrily at the three humans who had almost put it to sleep, and then breathed out a stream of fire.

Fleur Delacour, as the team leader, reacted the fastest, shouting a warning as she dodged aside.

The young man, Loy Lefan, rolled on the ground; although the posture was awkward, it was very practical.

Whether Felicity LaVine was a beat too slow to react or too embarrassed to roll on the ground, her skirt caught fire.

Fortunately, no one was hurt.

After Roy Levan got up from the ground, he immediately conjured water from his wand to extinguish the fire.

Next, the three of them repeatedly split up and closed in, intending to use the Stunning Spell again.

Through their tireless efforts, they finally seized an opportunity and successfully stole the golden egg while the Swedish short-nosed dragon was half asleep.

The whole process was faster than Krum's, but it still took nearly seven minutes.

Unlike Durmstrang's disarray, their teamwork, though not perfect and with some tactical errors, exuded an elegance that remained calm under pressure.

Ultimately, the five judges gave relatively fair scores, resulting in Beauxbatons' score falling between the Hogwarts team and Durmstrang's team.

After the five judges finished scoring, Bagman finally picked up the microphone again.

His voice was hoarse, yet still resonant:

"ladies and gentlemen!

A dramatic match has come to an end!
All three schools demonstrated their wisdom and courage! We witnessed truly legendary teamwork—from Hogwarts!
We also witnessed an indomitable will and powerful personal magic—from Durmstrang!

We also witnessed elegant adaptability and teamwork – from Beauxbatons!
History is repeating itself at this moment!
The flames of the three-way battle for supremacy have been reignited!

Let us cheer for all the warriors once again!

Applause and cheers filled the arena, and Hogwarts students and teachers embraced one another.

Only Ron was still talking about Karkaroff's 4 points.

However, just as they were about to return to school, Charlie Weasley hurriedly caught up with them.

"Well done, Harry!"

He was so excited that his face was almost as red as his hair.

"You got off to a great start, leaving Durmstrang and Beauxbatons far behind!"
Listen, I have to run now. I'm going to send an owl to deliver a message to my mother. I swear I'll tell her everything.

Oh, it's unbelievable!

"You didn't just tell us this one thing, did you, Charlie?"

Sherlock looked at the Weasley.

"Oh, you reminded me, I almost forgot about the important matter!"

Charlie slapped his forehead. "They told me to tell the three of you that you'll have to stay here for a few more minutes..."

Bagman has a few words to say, right there in that warrior's tent you just visited.

Sherlock, Harry, and Cedric entered the tent for the second time.

Harry didn't know what the others thought, but this time he felt the tent gave off a completely different feeling:

It became more intimate and warm.

He recalled how they had just dodged the tree bee attack, and compared that feeling to the long wait he had just endured while waiting for the judges to score him…

The pain of waiting is unbearable and incomparable.

After a while, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's warriors also entered one after another.

Surprisingly, Krum took the initiative to strike up a conversation with them.

"You guys did a great job."

His gaze moved back and forth between Sherlock, Harry, and Cedric, finally settling on Cedric, the captain.

"Thanks to your inspiration, I came up with this idea."

Cedric was somewhat surprised, but still smiled at him:

"You're pretty good too, you fly much better than me."

Krum shook his head and said nothing more.

"You all did a great job!"

Ludo Bagman said he hopped lightly into the tent.

Sherlock's gaze swept over him, noticing his overjoyed expression, as if he himself had just successfully traversed a fire dragon.

"Alright, considering everyone's waiting to celebrate, I'll keep it short:"

The second project will begin at 9:30 a.m. on February 24th next year.

Before that, you can rest for a long time—but we need to leave you with some questions to consider!

If you look down at the golden eggs you're holding, you'll find that they can be opened...

Do you see the seam there?
You must unravel the clues provided in the egg—that will tell you what the second project is, so get ready!

Is everything clear now?
Is everything alright?

Alright, you can go now!

After saying this, Bagman left in a hurry, as if something was waiting for him.

Sherlock, Harry, and Cedric walked out of the tent together, and the three of them started talking about Bagman.

“Cedric, shall I keep the golden egg for now?” Sherlock asked Cedric.

"I think so too, even without you saying it!"

Cedric said with a look of relief, "I didn't expect this golden egg to be related to a clue for the second project. Now I'm not worried at all, because we have you."

Harry nodded repeatedly.

This kind of thing that requires thinking is no challenge for Sherlock.

"The long timeframe between the two projects has given us ample time to prepare."

Cedric added, "Sherlock, this is a good thing for us."

The only question is whether Durmstrang and Beauxbatons' men can unravel the secret before that time.

Sherlock remained silent.

Cedric looked over curiously and saw Sherlock staring at a clump of trees to their side.

"What's wrong, Sherlock?"

Harry noticed Sherlock's gaze and followed it, momentarily startled.

He remembered clearly that it was behind these bushes in the early hours of last Sunday morning that Sherlock and he first heard the roar of the fire dragon.

So, is Sherlock... being moved by the scene?

Just then, Sherlock suddenly spoke up, "If you don't come out soon, we're leaving."

Harry was taken aback.

Cedric was even more baffled: "Sherlock, who are you talking to?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a witch suddenly jumped out from behind the bushes.

It was Rita Skeeter, who had previously caused Harry a great deal of trouble.

Today she was wearing a bright green robe and holding a long, almost dazzling green quill pen, which matched the color of the robe perfectly.

"Congratulations, heroes of Hogwarts!"

She looked at the three of them with a smile on her face—but mainly at Harry:

"As the youngest warrior, I wonder if you can say a word to me?"

How do you feel when you face a fire dragon?
How are you feeling right now?
Do you think the judges' scoring was fair?

Harry was initially taken aback, but then a nameless anger rose within him.

This damned woman caused me a lot of trouble in my life.

I never expected that things would still be so entangled like this.
For a moment, Harry even felt a little regretful for not agreeing to let Sirius use that special method to deal with her.

He looked at Sherlock, only to see the latter nod slightly at him, so he took a deep breath:

"Okay, I can say something to you."

Under Rita Skeeter's expectant gaze, Harry said crisply and decisively:

"goodbye!"

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the castle without looking back.

Goodbye, Miss Skeeter.

Cedric smiled slightly at Rita Skeeter, then took off to catch up with Harry.

Sherlock gave Rita Skeeter a deep look, then spoke:
“Miss Skeeter, you have disrupted my friend’s normal life.”

"So what are you trying to say to me, the youngest warrior after Harry?"

(End of this chapter)