A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

"Similarly, we can use 'Funny Funny' against Boggarts, 'Palmtops of the Eye' against Dementors, 'Silence' against Evil Witches or Silent Birds, and the Distraction Charm against Grindylows..."

"But more often than not, when faced with a situation where there is no fixed way to break the spell, we need to be flexible. If we want to remove some liquids, 'Cleanse' and 'Whirlwind' will both work; or if we want to repel some mosquitoes or small animals, the Repel Spell is more suitable, while the Cleanse Spell is barely acceptable unless you are facing a group of small spiders or mottled grounds. In addition, although it has not been verified, I guess the Happy Spell should also be good for treating the aftereffects of Dementors."

“Think a little bigger! In a duel, if you want to break through the Ironclad Curse's defense, the most effective strategy is actually to use the Weakness Curse... Of course, this refers to inexperienced beginners. But at any time, you can consider using Polymorph to distract your opponent, or create a stinking environment. Yes, I'm talking about dung bombs.”

Harry and Ron grinned.

Felix explained the characteristics of each spell in detail, captivating them. They rarely had the opportunity to compare different spells; in class, they learned them one by one.

Felix continued his explanation.

"Of course, spells can also be used in conjunction. Professor Flitwick's method is more advanced and requires a certain level of control over magic, but there is also a slightly simpler method that achieves a similar effect by rapidly chanting spells."

"For example, the Snowmaking Charm and the Slide Flat can be combined to create a very smooth area, or three people can cast the Trap Charm at the same time to create a trap in an instant... Don't forget, there are three of you."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances; they had unconsciously cooperated in this regard before.

In third grade, they simultaneously used a Stunning Charm to ambush Peter Pettigrew, knocking him unconscious. It took Peter Pettigrew's companions quite a while to wake him up, but he was still in poor condition after regaining consciousness, reacting much slower than usual. In the end, his accomplices escaped, while he was captured.

"Why does the Ministry of Magic think the difficulty should be increased for a trio? Just because there are two more people?" Felix looked at them, his expression serious. "Do you remember the three keywords Mr. Crouch mentioned?"

"Courage, cooperation, and fire."

“Every word is important. ‘Flame’ points you in the direction of danger—the fire dragon. ‘Courage’ is your biggest psychological obstacle in the early stages. I’m glad to see that you are in good spirits…” He glanced at Ron, whose mental fortitude was relatively poor, but he seemed to be doing well now.

"And 'collaboration' points to the key to your success in this project."

Each of the six warriors seemed lost in thought. In Felix's opinion, Cedric's group had gone further down the path of cooperation; at least they had a clear division of labor: Cedric's weather magic, Roger Davis's Blackthorn, and Collins's role was still uncertain, but he believed he would definitely take on a key task.

He didn't know much about Harry's group. But he'd find out soon enough.

"Think carefully about what you can do. This afternoon we'll go to classroom number seven to actually experience the fire dragon. Even though it's fake, it will still be very informative, and I'm sure you'll be amazed."

Felix spoke mysteriously, which made Cedric and the others very excited, but Harry and the others were a bit sickly, especially Ron, whose face was pale.

He shook his head inwardly; their mental fortitude was still lacking. He hoped they wouldn't be frightened.

Chapter 392 The Golden Thief

A sharp cry rang out from the golden flames, and a beautiful firebird poked its head out, a cluster of golden flames burning on its forehead, its long beak reflecting a dazzling light.

"Harry!"

Hermione shouted, holding her wand and left hand in front of her, struggling to control her magic—the dragon in Room 7 was fake, but their magic was real and had to be carefully controlled.

They had been taught a lesson before.

Harry, who was still fighting the dragon, immediately ran far away. Ron's bright orb, which he had been preparing for a long time, shot out a straight beam of light, which hit the dragon's wings at an angle. The light was then scattered by the smooth scales into finer rays, illuminating the dim space around them.

The spell went wrong!

Ron quickly adjusted the angle, and this time the beam of light finally exploded on the dragon's face. The bright light wasn't dazzling, but it still blocked most of its vision. This caused the dragon to pause briefly. It shook its head uneasily, its two strong claws gripping the brown rock tightly, like daggers, sparking a series of fireflies.

In the blink of an eye, the firebird covered a distance of over a hundred feet, its long, sharp beak aimed at the dragon's belly, where the scales had somehow been torn apart by an external force—

"laugh!"

Spots of blood were scattered.

The dragon roared in agony, shattering the firebird with a single blow, turning it into pure flames that clung to its body. It panted heavily, spewing out a blinding blue flame that instantly reduced vegetation to ashes and shattered rocks, engulfing Harry and his companions in a flash.

After everything fell silent, Harry licked his dry lips, his green eyes still reflecting the scene from just moments ago. Hermione and Ron walked over, pale-faced, and looked at Cedric, Ron, and the other two standing to the side, their mouths agape.

It was already afternoon when Felix led them to classroom number seven, intending to let them experience the power of the fire dragon for the 'first time'.

The result was that Cedric and his group of warriors were quite taken aback. Their previous performance was not perfect, but they had basically shown their individual characteristics, including Cedric's weather magic, Roger Davis's magical plants, and Collins's illusion spell and superb silent casting.

And Harry's group...

It's hard to describe in the right words, but they seemed to have a deep understanding of the dragon's attack methods, and many of their reactions were subconscious. This level of understanding cannot be learned from books or stories; it requires real-world practice and physical experience to memorize it.

This is also how dragon trainers are trained. Every dragon trainer will have some scars on their body during their first year or two of work, and some will even deliberately keep one or two as a testament to their courage.

"It still doesn't work... Fire is naturally at a disadvantage against dragons. Even Hermione's ancient magic can't penetrate the thick dragon skin..." Harry said, slightly out of breath.

“Only the most powerful spells can do that. Sirius’s suggestion is actually quite good—use the Eyesick Charm. But that requires exceptional dynamic vision and precise control. Of the three of us, I estimate only Harry has a chance of doing it, but you haven’t mastered the spell yet.” Hermione said, her chest heaving as she tried her best to remain calm.

Ron sat down on the ground, exhausted. "Luckily we encountered a Swedish short-nosed dragon. If we had run into a Ukrainian iron-bellied dragon or a Hungarian wood beetle..." He gave Cedric and the others a meaningful look, and unsurprisingly, their expressions were not very natural.

His mood improved considerably. Although he still looked shaken, he began to describe it with great enthusiasm: "The largest of the Ukrainian Iron Belly machines is sixty or seventy feet long, we've even encountered seventy feet. It only needs to charge over and stick out one foot... *smack*! You're done for. Of course, all you'll see is a gray shadow growing larger and larger in front of you..."

"And then there's the Hungarian Hornet, which is also a huge creature. It's not so bad if it breathes fire at you, but once I successfully cast the Ironclad Charm, and then I saw a long black tail covered in spikes, and you'd find your spell shattering like an eggshell..."

"The Peruvian Viperosaurus breathes poison and moves incredibly fast, making it very difficult to hit with spells..."

“Alright,” Felix said helplessly, interrupting Ron, who seemed to be complaining but was actually showing off. He looked at them with some surprise: “You have actually completed part of the work ahead of schedule. Although there are still some tactical problems, you have obviously adapted to the rhythm of the fire dragon’s attack and will not be so scared that you can’t cast spells… However, I have to impose some restrictions on you to prevent you from developing some kind of terrible inertia.”

"The more times you fail, the more the concept will be reinforced in your mind that everything in Room Seven is fake. You may confuse this false courage, but when the real competition begins, the surrounding audience, judges, and even the venue itself will remind you what is real. At that time, you will find that your courage is like a beautiful soap bubble, which bursts as soon as it is popped..."

Harry opened his mouth, wanting to argue. But then he thought there was some truth to it. After experiencing dozens of different ways to "die," they seemed genuinely indifferent to injuries. Participating in the competition with this mindset might lead to better performance, but it was more likely to result in habitually making reckless moves.

For example, he once tried to buy Hermione time with a completely ineffective spell, only to be slapped to death.

“Next, we will conduct targeted training. Each of you in your group has huge room for improvement... What I need to do is help you find your strengths, because you will soon find that there is simply not enough time.”

……

After leaving classroom number seven, Harry and his friends put on thick cloaks, walked out of the castle, and followed the path to Hagrid's place.

In the pumpkin patch behind Hagrid's hut, a large black dog was running around wildly, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione grinned.

Upon seeing them, the large black dog ran over and transformed into a man before them. Sirius's hair was neatly trimmed short, and his cheeks were fair, making him appear even younger.

“Sirius—” Harry hugged him. “You don’t have to come every day.”

Sirius grinned. "It's my responsibility, and I'm just bored!"

“Remus suggests you find a job; you should get back to a normal life,” Harry said, an uncontrollable smile spreading across his face.

Sirius scratched his chin absentmindedly, looking somewhat distracted. "That kind of thing isn't urgent, I never get interested... Anyway, how about it, was Felix surprised?"

These past few days, he's been guiding the three of them, including how to cooperate. But he's not a Hogwarts official and can't enter the castle. His loitering around Hagrid's hut is only because Dumbledore turns a blind eye.

Harry reluctantly recounted the story. Sirius rubbed his chin, sitting on a giant pumpkin, while Hagrid's hound, Tooth, sniffed his shoes and wagged its tail at him.

"Go away, go away, Tooth!" He expertly tossed Tooth a dog biscuit, thought seriously for a moment, and said, "He makes sense. You might indeed confuse reality with illusion, but we've achieved our goal—you've personally experienced the various attack methods of the fire dragon, which is very important!"

He said with a hint of schadenfreude, "I saw the warriors of Vagado running around in the Forbidden Forest, they're probably having a headache."

As the host, the Hogwarts warriors did have a certain advantage, specifically in having a vast amount of school resources supporting them. Although Hogwarts opened its library and some resources to other schools, it did not have the crucial Room 7.

"But don't get too cocky. I saw some new faces at those schools. They must be professors from those schools, here to give the Warriors special training."

Sirius quickly moved on from the topic.

"Alright, let's begin today's practice: Eye-Bleeding Charm, Extinguishing Charm, Softening Charm. If we have time, we can also try the Disguise Charm and Polymorph, but that might be too difficult for you, and I'm not good at Polymorph..."

Harry hesitated and said, "I don't think the Eye-Brain Curse works as well as we thought. Most of the fire dragon heads we've seen are surrounded by thick scales, and there are protruding bones and spikes, making it very difficult for us to hit them."

Ron, with a whimsical idea, said, "What do you guys think of the Bat Charm? I heard Ginny mention it; this spell can turn boogers into bats. Imagine a swarm of bats flying out of a dragon's nose, making its nose bulge out..."

Sirius coughed twice. "The idea is good, but no one has tried it. After all, the Eye Disease Curse is a tested spell."

He looked at the three of them and said, "Regarding the accuracy of the spell, there is only one way: a lot of practice." Seeing their expressions fall, he continued, "Of course, a good method will be more effective, and you will need some handy tools."

"Did you bring it, Harry?" he asked.

Harry pulled the Golden Snitch out of his pocket with a puzzled look. Sirius Black had asked him to bring the Golden Snitch over through the two-way mirror last night, but he hadn't understood why. He asked in the mirror, but Sirius wouldn't tell him and instead changed the subject to keep him in suspense.

Sirius's hand brushed across the Golden Snitch's wings, and a row of alchemical symbols lit up on the golden wings. "The gift I gave you has two hidden functions. One is that its interior has been expanded by the Unseen Stretch Charm so it can hold things. The other is that it has a 'follow' function."

"Follow function?" Harry asked, puzzled.

“That’s right. It will fly around you within a certain range, and this range is adjustable. I originally wanted it to help you practice Quidditch, but you don’t seem to have noticed.”

Harry felt a little ashamed and explained in a low voice, "I was afraid it would run away, so I didn't bring it outside."

Sirius didn't dwell on this minor issue: "Besides practicing Quidditch, it can also help you practice your spell accuracy—next, I'll have it fly around you at a height of twenty to fifty feet. You'll need to hit it with the Eyesick Charm. Of course, you don't know that spell yet, that's okay! You can try other spells first!"

Harry and the others got excited, but Hermione asked with some concern, "Aren't we going to break it?"

“No,” Sirius said nonchalantly. “It was enchanted with powerful protective magic. I told Felix that this gift was to be passed on to Harry’s children.”

Harry blushed and rolled his eyes angrily.

Chapter 393 Approaching

"Whoosh~"

The Golden Snitch spread its long, narrow wings in Harry's hand and vanished in a flash before their very eyes.

The three of them frantically looked around. "There!" Harry said, pointing above Ron's head. A disarming spell flew out, but missed. Hermione and Ron hurriedly followed suit, chanting the spell, and two red lights disappeared into the sky.

"You guys are still a long way off," Sirius said smugly, arms crossed.

Harry looked at his godfather with displeasure. "Then you give it a try."

Sirius silently flicked his wand, and seven or eight pumpkin vine leaves flew out like swords, causing the Golden Snitch to tremble slightly as it dodged. Sirius pouted, feeling quite embarrassed.

"I refuse to believe it—"

He joined the trio. They occupied the four corners, heads tilted back, casting spells into the sky. The golden snitch remained fixed in a small area, dodging constantly like a nimble ghost. Occasionally, it would get hit by luck, and a palm-sized transparent shield would suddenly appear on its surface, refracting colorful patterns in the pale sky and blocking the spells.

The four of them played in high spirits for half a day until they saw three tall figures emerging from the Forbidden Forest in the distance. They were the warriors of Vagadu.

They pointed at Harry and his two companions, speaking in an awkward but loud voice, and gradually some of the words "cheating... fake warriors..." could be heard, which made them feel even worse.

“Ignore them. Once you beat them on the first project, they’ll learn what it means to shut up,” Sirius said irritably.

Harry felt that Sirius was convincing himself that he actually wanted to rush up and teach them a lesson.

As the days passed, on the last class of the new week, all the warriors underwent a pre-match wand test. Mr. Ollivander personally came over and gave his evaluation of the condition of each warrior's wand.

Bagman and several headmasters were present. Harry sized up the champions from the other schools. Krum seemed even more silent, his face grim, as if he had forgotten how to speak. Byers, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, also appeared. He was much darker than before. Every time he passed the Quidditch pitch, he could hear the sounds of group training, but there were always two goblins standing at the entrance, so he didn't go over.

Fleur of Beauxbatons stood proudly in the corner, with the other two warriors standing on either side of her.

The three warriors of Vargadu hadn't changed much, except they looked even more robust, leading more than one person to question how they trained. Ollivander wasn't pleased when the guy who resembled a wall pulled out something that looked more like a stick than a wand.

"The magic wand of Africa... is too extreme, even more unconventional than that of Germany and the United States... I can't give it a proper evaluation; sometimes, it might even be the key to victory..."

Harry guessed that they had struck the dragon's toes when it wasn't looking, and he found the idea strange, turning his head away dramatically. The leopard-like Vagado witch, Nona Ripper, said, "That's because we're better at hand gestures!"

A minor incident occurred during the wand testing. Harry refused an interview with Rita Skeeter, whom he had disliked since his second year of high school for her gossipy reporting on Dumbledore.