The Return to Hogwarts

Hermione Granger (Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry) -- Chinese Fireball;

"A fire dragon! It's a fire dragon! That's so cool! How dare they do something like that!"

The competition was a closely guarded secret. Neither the invited guests nor the Hogwarts students knew what the warriors were going to do. But when the screen displayed several lines of text in different colors, the noisy arena became instantly quiet. A few seconds later, a thunderous roar erupted from the edge of the arena, from where the young wizards were seated, and swept across the entire arena almost instantly!

In the Gryffindor contingent, Seamus was shouting at the top of his lungs, his face flushed with excitement. He jumped up from his seat and bumped into the pumpkin juice on the table, yelling desperately at the big screen! The other young wizards were basically doing the same thing, each of them shouting wildly to release their excitement and exhilaration.

Of course, there are exceptions.

Neville, who missed the World Cup during summer vacation, was enjoying the cheerful atmosphere of watching the game with his classmates. But when he saw a few striking lines of text on the big screen, he froze as if electrocuted. Ron, whose hair was drenched in pumpkin juice, reacted even more violently. He stared blankly at the screen, then suddenly jumped up.

"Get out of the way, Colin, I need to go out and see what's going on, get out of the way!"

He didn't mishear that night; the tournament organizers really wanted the warriors to deal with the Fire Dragon!

Ron desperately shoved his classmates who were blocking his way, but everyone was on edge, and no one paid him any attention or made way for him. Just as Ron was feeling hopeless, he suddenly caught sight of Harry, who was also staring at the big screen with a grim expression, in the passageway separating the viewing area.

“Harry!” Ron roared, “Harry, what! Did you hear that? How is Hermione now? Has the Ministry of Magic gone mad? They actually sent her to fight a dragon!”

Professor Blaine instructed the physical education students to maintain order at the game, as they had to be constantly alert to any extreme behavior from the emotionally charged spectators, given the large number of students and prominent figures from the wizarding world present. However, when Hermione's name appeared on the screen, Harry's expression still darkened uncontrollably.

Amidst the surging roar, Harry vaguely heard someone calling him. He looked around and suddenly caught sight of a furry, dark shadow peeking at him from the platform below, its claws pawing at him.

Harry's eye twitched violently. He almost thought he had seen it, but after rubbing his eyes, the dark shadow did not disappear; he could see it even more clearly now.

An uncontrollable surge of excitement welled up from the bottom of his heart. Harry immediately ignored the faint voice and forgot the rules, rushing down the stairs. The dark figure, knowing it had successfully attracted Harry's attention, grinned, flicked its tail, and withdrew its head.

A large dog trotted happily through the passageway, running all the way to the edge of the arena. Only after seeing that no one was around did it stop and turn to wait for Harry to catch up.

"Sirius!"

Harry caught up, panting heavily. The huge temperature difference between the arena and the outside made him shiver, but he didn't care. Instead, he stared in astonishment at the large black dog in front of him, which was almost as big as him.

"How did you end up here? And why are you using Animagus!"

After a blur of light and shadow, the big black dog shed its black fur and canine appearance, and Sirius Black appeared before Harry with a beaming smile.

"Of course I'm here to watch the game—"

Sirius Black cautiously peered over Harry's head into the passageway.

"Fudge has received a lot of leave requests lately, all wanting to go to Diagon Alley to watch the game. Oh, you probably don't know, the fairies have set up a venue in Diagon Alley, and for just 20 Galleons you can walk in and watch the game live. Because there are so many people asking for leave, Fudge threw the later leave requests into the trash can."

I figured it was better to come in person than to watch from Diagon Alley, so I told Scrimgeour I had a mission and sneaked over. Of course, I couldn't show myself in front of Ms. Burns, Barty, and Ludo, or I'd be exposed!

Sirius's face beamed with excitement, just like a young wizard who had successfully skipped school, and Harry grinned from ear to ear as well.

"The warriors are going to fight a fire dragon, right?"

Sirius shook the hair that had fallen across his forehead and leaned against a steel pillar.

"So, Hermione, are you ready?"

“I don’t know—” Harry said heavily. “Hagrid helped us get the information in advance, and we made preparations, but we don’t know if something unexpected will happen. I followed Professor Blaine’s orders and went to Hogsmeade Station early this morning to carry out my mission. I didn’t see Hermione. Did you see her when you came in?”

"I just saw a house-elf running over from over there in a panic—"

Sirius said thoughtfully,

"Maybe it's over there, we can go take a look—"

Before Harry could speak, a deafening roar erupted in the arena, followed by Ludo Bagman's excited voice echoing throughout.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the moment everyone has been waiting for has finally arrived! Let us cheer for Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

Chapter 620 Cedric and the Dog

2023-11-27

"Oh, that's Charlie!"

When Charlie Weasley and his companions led the Swedish short-nosed dragon, which was several stories tall and had beautiful silver-blue scales, the stands immediately erupted in a collective gasp. People looked at this ferocious-looking fire dragon with a mixture of fear and anticipation.

Amidst the buzzing of voices, Fred grumbled in dissatisfaction.

"He knew all along that the first project was the fire dragon, but he didn't tell us!"

"Hopefully he can hold out for ten minutes!" George said excitedly, craning his neck. "But his handsome face is definitely going to suffer!"

Taking advantage of the dragon's last few minutes of delirium, Charlie checked the chain around the Swedish short-nosed dragon's neck one last time. After confirming that there would be no problems, he took the golden egg from his companion, nimbly placed it together with the real dragon egg, and then quickly called to his companion to escape.

This scene was clearly projected onto the big screen, and many people found the way the dragon trainer escaped quite amusing, chuckling softly.

For safety reasons, the stadium was surrounded by thick blue stone slabs, and the viewing platform was built quite high. People found that it was much more convenient to watch the footage captured by those amazing monitoring mirrors directly than to crane their necks and look down.

On the big screen, the Swedish short-nosed dragon's hazy eyes gradually cleared. As it slowly stood up, it snorted and unconsciously spewed out blue flames that ignited a rock a dozen feet away. Under the scorching heat of the flames, the hard rock softened rapidly like a candle, and molten rock dripped to the ground.

The studio gave a close-up of the rock, and now, everyone who didn't know anything about fire dragons finally had a direct sense of how terrifying they were!

"Don't worry, Pomona, everything will be alright. We all know how outstanding that child is!"

Professor McGonagall noticed that Professor Sprout's shoulders were trembling slightly and her expression was filled with terror, so she patted her back to comfort her. However, she did not notice that her own voice was also shrill and terrifying.

The Swedish dragon finally discovered the thousands of humans surrounding it. Its wings flapped rapidly, kicking up clouds of dust as it tried to escape. However, the chains around its neck bound its movements. Realizing it couldn't escape, the Swedish short-nosed dragon emitted thick smoke from its nostrils, then, like a bat, folded its wings, enveloping itself and the dragon eggs beneath its feet.

If it weren't for Bagman's reminder, people might not have noticed that the first warrior had already arrived on the scene.

"--Let's give a warm cheer to Mr. Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts, and hope he completes his mission brilliantly!"

Bagman's voice drew everyone's attention away from the fire dragon, and they subconsciously searched for Cedric's figure on the wide, rocky arena. However, compared to the fire dragon, Cedric was really inconspicuous. From his high vantage point, people could only see Cedric standing there, no bigger than a matchstick, and couldn't make out any details.

Several surveillance cameras flew over quickly, and people were finally able to see Cedric's facial expression at that moment, which was exactly what many people found interesting.

The dragon was placed at the foot of a huge artificial hill in the center of the arena, the highest point in the entire arena. Cedric stood at the foot of the gentle slope, his wand tightly gripped in his hand, as still as a statue.

He saw the fire dragon beneath the giant rock atop the mountain, the largest and most terrifying creature he had ever seen in his life. Even from over a thousand feet away, he could feel a surging, powerful aura assaulting his face. It wasn't hard to imagine that if he made a mistake, this fire dragon could easily tear him to shreds!

When the match actually started, the arena fell silent as people stared wide-eyed at Cedric, who stood there, anticipating his brilliant performance.

Cedric felt a dense buzzing in his head, making it impossible for him to think clearly and calm down. He had only learned what he was going to face four days ago, and since then, he had spent most of his time in doubt and fear, with very little time to think clearly about how to deal with the crisis.

On the passageway, Qiu Zhang, who was on duty to maintain order, covered his eyes in distress. Not far from Diagon Alley shopping street, in a temporary building on an open space, Amos and his wife held each other's hands tightly, their eyes filled with worry.

“It seems we need to give Mr. Diggory some time to adjust—”

Bagman's voice suddenly rang out in the arena. He spoke in a tone that seemed to find it very amusing, but as soon as he finished speaking, Cedric, who had been standing frozen for several minutes, finally moved.

His movements were still stiff, like an uncoordinated puppet struggling to climb a slope, but at least Cedric didn't forget to hide himself. He crouched down, avoided the rocks blocking his way, and stumbled uphill.

The arena was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. No one laughed at Cedric's clumsy appearance; he had at least overcome his fear and was ready to take some action.

"Alright, Mr. Diggory seems to have overcome his mental block, and he's trying to get closer to the dragon!"

Bagman shouted excitedly.

"Let's wait and see what Mr. Diggory will do!"

Over a thousand feet, nearly a quarter of a mile, is a distance roughly the same as the distance they practiced dodging dung balls in gym class. Cedric can now excel at dodging dung balls, but this stretch of road leading to the fire dragon feels many times more difficult than the distance he had to traverse in gym class.

By the time he was two hundred feet away from the fire dragon, he was already drenched in sweat.

He lay crouching behind a rock, cautiously peeking out half his head to observe the situation. He immediately spotted the dragon egg, which was also under the fire dragon's belly and was shimmering with a golden luster. Moreover, he also noticed the chain around the fire dragon's neck.

This was both good news and bad news for him.

The chains bound the dragon's movements, which meant that as long as he kept his distance, he would be safe. The bad news was that the dragon wouldn't stray too far from his egg; he had to get close enough.

So Cedric approached the dragon more cautiously. The closer he got to the center, the fewer large rocks there were to provide cover. He had to seize the opportunity when the Swedish short-nosed dragon looked around and approached little by little.

Two hundred feet, one hundred and fifty feet, one hundred feet --

At this distance, Cedric could clearly feel the dragon's majestic and powerful body; he could even see the ferocious fangs bared in the dragon's mouth!

“Now, it’s time to make a decision, Mr. Diggory!”

Bagman, adept at seizing opportunities, spoke up again.

Cedric eventually stopped sixty feet from the Swedish short-nosed dragon. Everyone knew why he stopped there, because there were no rocks large enough for him to hide on, except for the tower-shaped stone pillar he had taken refuge in.

So far, the amount of exercise hasn't been too strenuous, but Cedric is already drenched in sweat and panting heavily. Leaning against the rock, he quietly turns his head to observe his surroundings. "Unless you possess overwhelming strength, never forget to familiarize yourself with your surroundings," Professor Blaine taught.

The terrain at the top of the slope is relatively simple. Apart from the huge artificial mountain protruding from the ground, the other three sides are yellow soil dotted with small rocks. Perhaps to make it easier for the warrior to approach the fire dragon, the slope on his side is gentler, while the slope on the opposite side is much steeper.

There was only one chance. Cedric, being a warrior, knew very well that if he waited until the dragon realized that someone wanted to steal its egg, he would have no more chances!

He was judging the distance, completely absorbed, forgetting that he was being watched by thousands of wizards!

Time seemed to stand still in the arena, everyone waiting for Cedric to make his move. Perhaps influenced by this strange aura, the Swedish short-nosed dragon surveyed its surroundings with increasing agility, spewing thick, sulfurous smoke from its nostrils!

Under the watchful eyes of the world, Cedric finally took action.

His wand emerged from behind the rock, aimed at a rock a dozen feet away, and with a sudden gust of wind blowing, the rock underwent complex shape changes. Finally, a Newfoundland hound appeared on the screen!

Chapter 621 Hufflepuff's Courage and Wisdom

2023-11-28

"Oh!"

Professor McGonagall was trembling with excitement.

"Cross-genre transformation, an absolutely perfect advanced transformation technique. If this were in class, I would definitely give Cedric an extra twenty points!"

"Aha, what a clever little trick!"