Unlike the competition arena, inside the outer medical tent it had remained eerily silent up to this moment.
This rather spacious tent at present only had five people sitting inside.
They were Fleur, Krum, Harry, as well as Hermione and Ron.
Among them, the three champions, Fleur and the others, were all injured during the match, which was why they had no choice but to come here and receive Madam Pomfrey's treatment.
As for Hermione and Ron, they simply couldn't stop worrying about Harry, so they rushed over to accompany him without even watching the rest of the competition.
Right now every one of them was silent, staring in shock at the faintly visible outer wall of the arena through the tent entrance.
The reason they had become like this was entirely because the medical tent was so close to the arena that Bagman's commentary voice carried here perfectly.
And Bagman, being a professional, had commentary skills that were nothing short of masterful.
This directly caused the people waiting in the medical tent to also experience perfectly the overwhelming strength and terrifying presence of Link's flawless battle and slaughter of the Hungarian Horntail.
———
"How could Link do that!?"
Hermione's shrill cry, pitched so high it was nearly off key, broke the silence. "That was a fire dragon! A Class One protected creature established by the International Confederation of Wizards!"
Startled, everyone turned their gaze toward Hermione.
Perhaps because she was overly agitated, her hair was all in a mess, her small face flushed bright red with anger, making her look a bit deranged.
"Yes, Link… he was far too cruel." Ron responded faintly to Hermione.
He didn't seem as agitated as Hermione, but he looked very sad.
Harry could completely understand Ron's feelings.
One of Ron's older brothers worked in Romania with dragons. Because of that, Ron had always liked dragons a great deal.
But truth be told, Harry at this moment had absolutely no intention of comforting them or siding with their words.
Because deep down, he never thought Link's actions were wrong.
He even felt that Hermione and Ron were just talking without understanding the reality.
That was a dragon.
Hermione and Ron, those who had never faced one before, had no idea how savage and terrifying dragons truly were.
Against that kind of monster, if Harry had the power, he too would not have hesitated to kill it.
After all, if he didn't do so, then the one who would have been killed was him.
Harry felt his own heart still pounding violently even after such a long rest, then turned his head to glance at Fleur and Krum.
Seeing that both of them also wore grim expressions and remained silent, he nodded.
He thought that Krum and Fleur must be thinking the same thing as him.
Unfortunately, Harry guessed wrong.
The reason Krum and Fleur were silent was entirely because they were shaken by Link's overwhelming strength that drove them to despair.
'That was a dragon!'
'How did this guy Link kill it single-handedly!?'
How was the Triwizard Tournament even supposed to go on now?
Inside, Fleur was screaming frantically.
Unlike poor Harry, who had been forced into the tournament, she and Krum were truly carefully chosen champions, the heroes meant to bring glory back to their schools.
But judging by the current situation, in front of Link they were nothing more than a pair of bumbling bears.
———
"Hey, my dear champions!"
Bagman suddenly burst into the medical tent. "It's so great to see you all safe! Now quickly, come with me to join Link, we're going to announce the information about the next task!"
With that, Bagman jogged back out of the tent.
It looked like he could hardly wait to meet Link.
Hermione's actions and intentions were exactly the same, she followed closely after Bagman.
The difference was that Bagman genuinely wanted to fawn on Link, the dragonslayer champion, while Hermione wanted to confront Link.
As for the other four, they trailed behind slowly like walking corpses.
———
"We're here!"
Bagman rubbed his hands excitedly, lifting the flap of a large tent. Then as if remembering something, he stopped Hermione. "Sorry, miss, you're not a champion. Best if you wait outside like the others."
Bagman pointed to a spot. There, John, Cedric, and the other Hufflepuffs were excitedly discussing the just-ended match.
"This isn't fair! If that's the case, then why is that woman Emily Victoria allowed inside?"
Hermione shouted back without giving an inch.
Just now when Bagman lifted the flap, she had caught a glimpse of Link and Emily inside. Although the time was too short to see what they were doing, Hermione could tell they were sitting very close together.
Bagman didn't answer, just gave Hermione an awkward yet polite smile.
Even without Legilimency, any person with normal social awareness could read the obvious meaning in that smile, 'Who is she, and who are you? Can you compare to her?'
Hermione was trembling all over with anger, but in the end, she was still shooed aside by Bagman.
———
"Your little Hermione seems to have been chased away."
Inside the tent, Emily leaned close to whisper in Link's ear. Just from the faint smile on her lips, one could see she was in a very good mood.
Link's mood had also improved quite a lot.
His earlier gloom had largely come from a brief moment of empathy upon watching a powerful creature die and its life extinguished.
As for Karkaroff, he was no problem at all.
No matter what plots that coward had, Link only needed to get Snape to test and pressure him a bit, and he'd know everything.
Worst case, just send Krell to kill him.
Now, hearing Emily bring up Hermione, Link casually glanced toward the entrance before smiling, "I don't like that girl. Her personality is too childish, doesn't match with me. I'd even bet with you, the only reason she was so desperate to come in was because I killed that dragon, she wants to scold me."
Emily smiled even more happily.
Clearly, she thought the same.
But after smiling, she didn't continue speaking. Instead, she subtly pulled her body away from leaning against Link, because Bagman had already brought the other three champions inside.
———
"Link! You're absolutely brilliant! I can hardly find the words to describe how outstanding you are!"
The moment he entered, Bagman began gushing over Link.
Unfortunately, Link only nodded perfunctorily.
Bagman was nothing more than a hopeless gambling addict. Back during the Quidditch World Cup, he had even organized a betting ring and ended up drowning in debt from mismanagement.
That guy hinting before about offering Link help most likely wasn't out of goodwill, but because he had another gambling scheme and wanted to influence the match results by cheating.
The fact that he was this happy now probably meant he'd won a lot this time.
Link had no intention of giving such a rotten man any good face.
Not that Bagman cared. He arranged the champions to sit and then loudly announced,
"All right, I've only a few things to say! The second task will be held on the morning of February 14th next year at nine-thirty."
"Before then, you'll have quite a long time to rest. Of course, Link, you're a bit unlucky. With your O.W.L. exams, I think you'd best spend this time revising."
British humor was always strange, and British wizards were no exception.
Bagman must have thought he'd told a great joke, laughing nonstop.
But everyone else in the tent only gave him cold looks, making his laughter turn into an odd, awkward cackle before fading away.
"Er… well, all right then. Regarding the second task, we've left you a little puzzle to ponder. Look down at the golden egg in your hands. See those seams? Yes, it can be opened! The information about the second task is hidden inside. Got it? Then dismissed!"
Bagman left in a hurry.
Link too quickly pulled Emily along to leave, because they noticed that Krum had already grown impatient and was about to open his egg.
Still, Link and Emily weren't fast enough.
Just as they reached the entrance, with a loud crack Krum's golden egg was opened.
At once, a horrifying screech erupted from inside, filling the tent.
Harry and Fleur couldn't help but cover their ears, while Link remained calm, leading Emily out of the tent.
Shortly after hearing the screech, he cast a Muffliato spell on himself and Emily.
———
"That was mermaid song. If you put the egg into water before opening it, the screeches will turn into normal sound!"
No sooner had they left the tent than Emily eagerly canceled the muffling spell and whispered this into Link's ear.
Link only nodded calmly. Since childhood, Emily had been forced by her father to study all sorts of miscellaneous knowledge; being able to immediately see through the egg's secret was hardly surprising.
Seeing this, Emily said nothing further, returning to her usual manner, because Cedric and John and the others had already gathered around again, excitedly shouting about holding a celebration party. John even swore to Emily that this time there would absolutely be no alcohol.
After all, last time Link ended up hospitalized from a drunken incident.
"All right, then let's have a party," Emily finally said under everyone's expectant gazes. "But I'm coming too, to supervise you."
At these words, everyone cheered.
Even Emily and Link couldn't help smiling joyfully.
Today was indeed a good day.
———
Unfortunately, just as the group was laughing and preparing to leave, Hermione appeared in front of them, blocking the way with a twisted expression.
Behind her was Ron, dragged along unwillingly, clearly forced to come.
"Link, I want to talk to you!" Hermione shouted darkly.
Honestly, at that moment Link actually felt a bit pleased.
Because the little girl had at least learned to give people some face, she wanted to pull him aside to speak privately.
She's really grown up.
Link shook his head with a hint of sentiment.
"This girl probably wants to question you about why you killed that dragon," Cedric leaned over to remind him. "She was saying it to us outside just now, even quarreled with us."
"Hm? Quarreled?"
"Yeah, and fiercely too. Look, they're at it again."
Following Cedric's finger, Link saw John had already rushed forward, roaring at Hermione, "What do you know? You didn't even watch the match, and you come here making a scene?"
"Ridiculous! That dragon broke free of the chain, pretended to be dead, and then launched a final attack on Link! In that situation, Link couldn't have held back!"
Hermione's face turned red at visible speed.
This was the first time today she had heard this version of events. Thinking carefully, it really did make sense.
But her strong pride still drove her to stubbornly stand her ground.
She wanted to hear Link explain it himself.
John grew more agitated.
He was a staunch believer in gender equality, so he didn't care that Hermione was a girl, he reached out to drag her away so she wouldn't keep interfering with their party.
But Link stopped him.
By this point, Link had already thought it through.
At the very least, he needed to give a public explanation for killing the dragon.
Because it wasn't his fault in the first place.
What's more, dragons were highly popular in the wizarding world. If he didn't explain, many people would surely think him cruel.
For example, among the Hufflepuff students who had come along, quite a few were already looking at him differently.
He didn't care what they thought.
But if Dumbledore also came to believe it and, with the idea of "helping the child mend his ways," decided to make trouble for him, that would be bad.
Link sighed and, instead of speaking only to Hermione, addressed everyone present, "I'm sure you've all used spot-remover potion and oven cleaner before, right?"
People didn't understand why Link suddenly jumped so far off topic, but those from wizarding families still nodded.
Those two items were household staples.
"I can tell you very clearly, the main ingredient of both is dragon blood."
"In addition, dragon blood can treat warts. Dragon meat can be used as a painkiller. Dragon hide and scales can be made into protective gear and building materials. Dragon eyes are the most precious gems… In short, every part of a dragon is valuable!"
"The economic benefits they bring are astonishing, and they're an important foundation of our wizarding society!"
"But in contrast, the number of dragons has always been scarce. So long ago the International Confederation of Wizards listed all species of dragons as Class One protected creatures, forbidding any wizard from hunting them unless their own life was in danger."
"Originally, bound by this protection law, dragon materials should have been extremely rare, with dragon products fetching outrageously high prices."
"Yet, what prices are the dragon products you're using now? A bottle of spot-remover potion costs just one silver sickle, right? As for dragon-hide gloves, they cost no more than a single gold galleon, don't they?"
"Haven't you ever wondered, why are these things so cheap?"
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