Chapter 228: “Dragons Are Too Much”
Chapter 228: “Dragons Are Too Much”
Chapter 228: “Dragons Are Too Much”
Surrounding the stands, the stage for duels has begun to sink. The artificially arranged rockeries have begun to rise slowly. The most eye-catching thing in that area is the wooden box containing the golden eggs.
“All winners,” Grindelwald said in a loud voice, “the challenge level is about to start. Ten teams will enter the stage in turn, allowing each other to make a move on their own.”
“Last year, I saw good spells, amazing students, and great strategy. A year had passed by. Let me see those things again. Let me see if all of you could’ve done that better.”
“Now, let’s ‘welcome’ the cutie you’re about to face.”
The audience in the stands and the winners who were about to enter the stage all looked at the center of the stage in doubt. There are strange rocks there, and there is a raised hill under the wooden box and a dark hole at the bottom.
“A cutie? Are those guys going to face magical animals or high-level training dummies produced by alchemy?”
“Maybe magical animals. High-level training dummies are too rare, especially now that there are not many alchemists in the world.” The students in the stands started chatting and discussing.
“That makes sense. It hurts to break something that is hundreds of Galleons a piece.”
“What magical animal can it be?”
“I can’t say for sure. But it’s probably a magical animal rated by the Ministry of Magic with a rating of XXXX. A magical animal with a rating of XXXXX is too dangerous.”
“But that lair looks huge.”
“Mountain trolls, perhaps, or Professor Grindelwald made some kind of dragon?”
As soon as the voice landed, a deafening dragon’s roar resounded through the entire field.
The hole suddenly became brighter, and a flame surged out. In everyone’s shocked eyes, a black scale, yellow vertical pupil, and bronze barbs dragon appeared out of the hole.
“Merlin’s underpants, Professor Grindelwald really brought a dragon?!”
“It’s true! My God, I saw it in a book. It’s The Hungarian Horntail, the worst dragon of its kind!”
The students looked at the dragon in surprise and excitement. Only Sean was filled with shame. He didn’t even make the dragon roar just now.
He didn’t know what kind of magic Grindelwald had set up. When Sean came out, the dragon’s roar sounded automatically, and even the flame was made by him. It would consume a huge amount of magic power if he did that, and it’s a waste if he did it just for a grand entrance.
The dragon’s wide field of vision allows Sean to have a panoramic view of the entire stand. His eyesight allows him almost to see the expressions on the faces of the students.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the winning teams preparing on the side. Everyone’s faces were shocked, and their lips were tightly pressed together. Sean instinctively wants to sigh, but he is a dragon now.
“You have already promised me on this matter.” He understood what Grindelwald was trying to say based on his lips movement.
Sean could only sigh and then spread his wings. He roared at the teams, and even a few students couldn’t help but take a step back. Above the stands, the students all screamed while Hermione and Daisy looked at each other.
“Isn’t that Sean’s Animagus form?” Both of them saw the disbelief in each other’s eyes.
Could there ever be a Hungarian Horntail in the world that looks exactly like Sean’s Animagus? But isn’t Sean standing on the edge of the stage?
The two suddenly became confused.
“Look at this guy,” said Grindelwald in the stands, smiling and calm, “Your task is to defeat him and then go to get those golden eggs containing the gift I prepared for you. First come, first served.”
“Game, start!”
The contestants, who were still in shock, took a deep breath. They almost looked at their teammates with tragic eyes and then quickly entered the stage. Before the start of the game, many people wanted to get rid of the competitors first, but when the dragon came out, they had similar thoughts.
They must work together.
As the elite among the students, everyone here can already be called a good wizard. Because of this, they are more aware of the horror of dragons.
This creature has terrifying strength and keen senses. They can fly with wings and tear their prey with their claws. Most importantly, even the smallest Welsh and Opaleye dragons have amazing spell resistance.
The dragon in front of them is Hungarian Horntail, who has the worst emotions regarding prey and enemies. It is also the record holder for the highest number of humans killed in the wild.
The confidence and pride on the faces of the students were completely suppressed, and they stared at the dragon silently. Even with the protection of the professors, their safety couldn’t be guaranteed.
Sean flew to the highest place and pulled the wooden box with his claws.
“Let’s cooperate.” A boy from Nurmengard’s seventh grade calmly said to others.
Among the others, the seventh grade overpowers more than half of them. At the same time, the rest of them were mostly fifth and sixth grades. Of course, the only Hogwarts student was “Sean”.
In a group of senior students, he was a little shorter than the others, whether it was the Hogwarts uniform or the logo of the second grade. It made him stand out the most.
“Wallup,” the boy who spoke just now looked at Sean, “My name is Ravena, and you have seen the dragon we are about to face, right? Do you want to join hands?”
“Thank you for your invitation, but I’m only a junior student. I’m just going to watch you guys how to approach it.” He shrugged, “Just pretend I don’t exist.”
Ravena glanced at him and didn’t continue to force him to join. In the end, except for “Sean” the remaining nine others formed three teams.
They started separately and began to advance towards the center slowly. Behind a rock, Ravena signaled the students behind him to stop, and he became the leader of his temporary team.
“That guy doesn’t seem to have that strong desire to attack?” Ravena poked his head out and carefully looked at the dragon lying on the hill in the distance.
“Maybe he was not provoked?” A sixth-grade student said uncertainly.
“It’s possible,” Ravena nodded, “That guy’s size is not as large as an adult Hungarian Horntail, so he should only be in the teen stage?”
“Like us?” A tall seventh-grade girl joked.
Ravena curled his lips, “Professor Grindelwald knows our abilities. If it is an adult Hungarian Horntail, we may not even have the chance to defeat it.”
“But our goal is not to kill him. As long as we can steal those golden eggs, just like the Goblet of Fire before.” Another one said.
“It’s going to be hard,” Ravena shook his head, “The area is too open. The golden egg is at the top, and the dragon can see all of us. Our main goal is to avoid a head-on confrontation with the dragon because it’s something only a fool would do.”
“Is that Hardy and the others?” The sixth-grader who had been observing the surroundings said.
Ravena followed the direction pointed by his teammates, and sure enough, he saw two people sneaking towards the center.
He also knew those two people. Matts Campbell and Hardy Knox in the seventh grade were the top students in the seventh grade. Strong strength often means self-confidence. Pena held his breath, watching the movements of the two, wondering what they were up to.
In the bushes, Matts and Hardy stopped.
“First come, first served.” Matts licked his lips. He had already cast a spell on himself, and the two moved silently.
Knox looked around and whispered, “They are too scared for a dragon like this. Matts, let’s do our plan. I will turn the last few rocks into dogs, and then you will use the Disillusionment Charm to become invisible. Once we get the golden eggs, we will run away immediately.”
“No problem.” Matts nodded and looked back, “But those cowards are still there. If we succeed, they will definitely stop us.”
“Then we’ll directly provoke the dragon. Just a few Conjunctivitis Charms will do. They have more people than us and are more likely to be targeted.”
After discussing the plans, Matts whispered a spell, and his figure disappeared into the air.
Hardy waited on the spot while counting the time silently. As long as Matts was in position, he would use his Transfiguration Charm to attract the attention of the dragon.
“Ten, nine, eight, seven…”
Sean was crouching on the highest point and yawned. Grindelwald had already thought about it beforehand. With the environment around him, it was clear that he didn’t want the students to have any chance to sneak around.
Sean had already seen the three teams lurking in various places.
Of the two closest to him, one is waiting with a wand, and the other has used the Disillusionment Charm.
Sean’s vertical pupils contracted, and he saw a small piece of grass suddenly stop, and it never moved again.
“Two, one!” Hardy counted to the last number. He quietly stretched out half of his body and pointed his wand at the rocks farthest within his incantation range.
Four brown and black dogs appeared in the field.
“That’s clever. The animal transformed by the Transfiguration Charm attracts the dragon’s attention!” The students who had been nervously waiting for this scene saw this, and many of them cheered.
Dragons are very territorial. They only allow their own food to live around them. Even small animals that are not worth mentioning will be killed immediately at such a short distance.
The dogs barked at Sean. However, something unexpected happened. In everyone’s expectation, the dragon peak should have swooped down the dogs. However, the dragon just raised its lower eyelids lazily and didn’t intend to move at all.
Hardy was hiding behind a rock, and Matt was dumbfounded. He was a bit upset that things did not go as planned, and the dragon acted differently from the book he read.
The dogs were jumping up and down at the foot of the hill, and Hardy even conjured other animals. But the dragon didn’t even open its wings.
“Damn it…” Knox frowned, waved his wand, and the animals ran straight toward the dragon.
The animals ran to the highest point, where they barked just a few feet away from the dragon, and even a dog lunged towards the dragon.
It jumped toward Sean, opened its mouth, and took a hard bite.
The dog was still trying to bite. Sean raised his claw and attacked the dog. The magic of the Transfiguration Charm dissipated.
Sean stood up and let out a deafening roar. He spread his wings and flew straight towards the other animals.
Hardy, Matts, and the audience in the stands lit up.
The animals fled in all directions, and the dragon seemed to be keeping a close eye on the other dogs who were moving toward him. When moving to the foot of the mountain, something unexpected happened to everyone.
The dragon’s tail, which was used to balance its body, flicked suddenly and then violently moved toward an empty area.
Matts felt something, and his heart started to skip a beat.