Chapter 201
Albert found Fleur Delacour sitting on a small wooden chair, and she was in a state unlike what he usually saw her in; she was pale and nervous.
As for Viktor Krum, he looked more confident than before.
As soon as Bagman saw him, he said, "Welcome... welcome, Albert... come forward," then he raised a small crimson silk bag in front of them, saying, "We are complete now, and as soon as the audience gathers outside, I will present this bag to each of you, and from it, each of you will choose a miniature model of what you will face. There are differences, as you see, and... there is something I must tell you... Your task is only to retrieve the golden egg!!"
None of the three champions uttered a single word, and in a very short time, hundreds and hundreds of students gathered to watch the matter until they took their places. Bagman opened the crimson bag, then pointed towards Fleur Delacour, saying, "Ladies first!"
Her trembling hand reached into the bag to pull out a miniature model of a dragon. It was the Common Welsh Green dragon, and the number (1) was wrapped around its neck. Albert noticed that no surprise appeared on Fleur's face, so he immediately understood that Madame Maxime had told her everything.
And of course, this was the same for Krum, who picked up the Chinese Fireball dragon, and its number (2) was also tied around its neck.
And of course, Albert knew what was left, so he reached into the bag to pull out a model of the Hungarian Horntail dragon, and the number (3) was around its neck. Bagman shouted, "Well... each of you has chosen the dragon you will face, and these numbers indicate the order of entering the arena upon hearing the whistle, and... you, Albert... I want a word with you... outside."
Albert stood up and walked behind Bagman towards the trees until the latter turned to face him, and a fatherly smile was drawn on his face as he said, "Are you alright, Albert? Do you want anything?"
Albert said in surprise, "What? I... no... nothing!"
Bagman leaned towards him, asking, "Do you have a plan?" Then he lowered his voice, saying, "The two champions in the competition with their schools expect you to lose... Can I help you with anything?"
Bagman returned to saying, winking at him, "No one will know, Albert."
But Albert told him, "No... I will be fine, don't worry about me, sir!"
A whistle blew from somewhere, and Bagman shouted as he hurried, "Oh my God... I must go immediately."
Albert walked behind him to see Fleur Delacour looking extremely scared as she left the tent and headed towards the arena to face the dragon that her hand had chosen.
The matter was worse than Fleur thought... Sitting there and hearing the shouting, screaming, and panting of everyone while each champion performed their task was not a pleasant matter. He looked at Krum and found him looking at the ground... As for Albert, he was following Fleur's footsteps... And Bagman's commentary made the matter worse: "Aaah... a narrow space here... very narrow, what an adventure... a skillful move, but unfortunately it didn't succeed!!"
And after about fifteen minutes, Albert heard a shout that almost deafened him. Fleur Delacour had managed to pass behind the dragon and grabbed the golden egg, and Bagman shouted, "Wonderful... truly wonderful... And now..., she got the golden egg in exactly five minutes... it's the judges' turn to give the scores!!"
The judges raised their scoreboards towards the audience, and he said again, "One is finished, and two remain... Well, Mr. Viktor Krum... please proceed."
Indeed, Krum stood up, leaving Albert alone until Albert heard Bagman's commentary, saying, "What audacity... he is putting on a strong show indeed and... here he gets the egg!!... Truly wonderful... He got the golden egg in two minutes and fifty seconds!! A record so far!!"
The applause this time was unprecedented, and Krum had finished his task, and it was Albert's turn. He stood up and waited until he heard the whistle, then left the tent towards the arena until he saw everything in front of him like a dream. Hundreds and hundreds of faces were looking at him from high stands that had just been erected before the task, and there, inside the arena, the female Hungarian Horntail stood, its small wings moving slowly around its neck, and its yellow eyes staring at him... and at the end of the arena, the golden egg was resting, and the noise of the audience was high.
Albert heard the voices of the crowd from his school, Hogwarts, saying, "Hogwarts Champion!!... Hogwarts Champion!!... Hogwarts Champion!!"
Albert turned towards the crowd, watching his friends also cheering for him, including Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny too!!
As soon as he entered the arena, the cheering of the crowd began to decrease until everyone fell silent!!
The Hungarian Horntail roared after seeing Albert advancing towards it, pointing his magic wand in its direction!!
And everyone in the stands was anticipating what Albert would do in the next moment!!
But as soon as the Hungarian Horntail began running towards Albert and the hot flames that melt even steel came out of its mouth, it saw that Albert had disappeared from his place!!
Albert cast the spell from his magic wand, and he Apparated instantly, so his body was distorted in space as if it had been compressed, and this state occurs when Apparating instantly, as time and space combine, which compresses the body and makes it look distorted!!
Everyone was surprised, including the judges, by Albert's plan.
Both Fleur and Krum had faced their dragons with spells, but they had not thought of a plan from the beginning about not facing the dragon itself, a plan that would make them reach their goal but without facing danger!!
Everyone, including the Hungarian Horntail, turned towards the place where Albert stood, only to find him carrying the golden egg in his right hand and raising both his hands up high (Albert here raised his hands up like the moment the Night King did in Game of Thrones, as you see in this picture) he raised his hands up high as a sign that he won easily, which increased his prestige and grandeur.
Bagman did not know what to say, because what he was watching now truly surprised him, but he composed himself to emerge from his shock, saying, "Oh my God.... 13 seconds!!.... It is truly 13 seconds.... It only took him 13 seconds to complete his task perfectly, people!!"
As soon as Bagman finished his commentary on the microphone, he began to hear the screaming of the crowds in the stands loudly!
"Albert!!... Albert!!..... Albert!!.... Albert!!"
Hermione was in the stands, clapping for Albert happily, and she had almost died of fear and worry for Albert before he began his turn!!
Ron turned to Hermione, saying, "Is this skill that Albert used available in the Restricted Section of the library?!!"
Hermione was not focused on what Ron said. She was only watching Albert's momentous victory, whose name everyone was shouting loudly!!
On the judges' seats, Professor Karkaroff felt extreme anger as he watched how quickly Albert completed this task, so he stopped and said angrily, "This is illogical!!... How can a boy who is not 15 years old possess Apparition?! I demand his license to learn this skill from the Ministry of Magic. If he does not possess it!! This means he has lost this round!!"
Karkaroff turned towards Dumbledore to say something and answer his question, but Dumbledore said, "Are you waiting for me to answer you?? I am not the Minister of Magic, go ask Minister Fudge, it is none of my business." After Dumbledore finished his words, he gave Karkaroff a smile!!
Everyone knew well that you must take an exam within the Ministry of Magic and pass it in order to be legally allowed to use Apparition. According to the constitution of the Ministry of Magic, any person caught using this skill without a license from the Ministry stating that they passed the exam for this skill will be fined 890 Gold Galleons with solitary confinement for two months!!
But what Minister Fudge said surprised Professor Karkaroff and Professor McGonagall.
Fudge spoke, who was still looking at Albert, who was inside the arena casting a Stupefy spell on the dragon to make it lose consciousness.
Fudge, "... In the summer holiday that ended three months ago, Mr. Albert Black passed the Apparition skill exam, and he has a license for it, so Mr. Karkaroff, this accusation of yours is very serious!! If the victim hears you, you might be imprisoned!!"
After Karkaroff heard Fudge's response, which was undoubtedly correct, he forcefully got up from his chair to descend from the judges' seats, heading towards the castle!!
Professor McGonagall and Professor Hagrid descended from the audience stands, heading towards Albert. McGonagall said, "This is wonderful, Albert... more than wonderful... Your performance was distinguished and unexpected!!"
As for Hagrid, he said in a hoarse voice, "You did it, Harry... you did it against the Hungarian Horntail!!"
To be continued...
(Well. And now we start the chapters that will be full of romance. Well, to tell the truth, I am really bad at romance, so God willing, I will succeed in that. I hope you like today's chapter 🥰)