The moment Sherlock, Harry, and Cedric rode their broomsticks into the air, the entire arena erupted. No one could have imagined that Hogwarts' champions would put on such a spectacular show.
Except for the few people who knew the inside story, almost everyone was stunned when they saw the dragon. They had instinctively assumed that the first task of the Triwizard Tournament would be a heroic battle against a dragon.
It wasn't until Ludo Bagman cast a Sonorus Charm on himself, praised Hogwarts' three champions, that he began explaining the competition to everyone.
"Look at this young man called Potter!" His exaggerated tone quickly captured everyone's attention.
"He's riding the finest broomstick in the world—the Firebolt! This is the very broomstick used by the entire Irish team that won the Quidditch World Cup not long ago. I had the honor of commentating that match, so I'm very familiar with its performance! I must say, the Hogwarts champions have come up with a brilliant idea! As for the champions' task, it's to retrieve that golden egg!"
Only then did the audience realize it wasn't about making the champions fight the dragon directly. They couldn't help but breathe secret sighs of relief.
However, Bagman seemed to know exactly what they were thinking and continued, "Don't think this is simple! What you see before you is a mother dragon! As everyone knows, mother dragons are extremely protective of their eggs. Getting the golden egg from her will be no easy feat! In fact, this is hardly different from fighting the dragon directly! Now let me introduce you to this Hungarian Horntail..."
As Bagman educated everyone about the Hungarian Horntail's terrifying nature, the three of them had already flown high into the air.
Sherlock glanced at Harry and called out, "You're looking good, mate!"
Harry's condition had indeed improved greatly. How to put it? When he shot upward at high speed, when the wind whipped through his hair, when the audience's faces below became tiny flesh-colored pinpricks, when the Hungarian Horntail shrank to the size of a dog—Harry realized something important.
He had left behind not just the ground, but his fear as well.
Just as Sherlock had said, once in the air, he had returned to his element.
"Sherlock, thank goodness you thought of this method!" Harry cried out excitedly.
To him, this was just an unconventional Quidditch match. The dragon? The Hungarian Horntail? Nothing but a difficult opposing team.
Cedric's performance was similar to Harry's, though not quite as obvious. But without doubt, it was now three against one, and they could fly. The advantage was theirs!
"Sherlock, what do you say? Go straight to Plan A?"
"Of course!" Sherlock looked down at the nest of dragon eggs, locating the golden egg among them. Even someone with Harry's poor static vision could see the gleaming object lying between the Hungarian Horntail's front legs.
"Then..."
"We..."
"Go!"
All three simultaneously split into three directions, diving down from above.
The Hungarian Horntail's massive head swayed left and right, moving back and forth to follow all three of them.
Cedric hadn't yet realized what it intended to do, but Sherlock and Harry, who had witnessed the Hungarian Horntail firsthand, cried out simultaneously:
"Fire!"
"Watch out!"
Cedric jumped in alarm, suddenly realizing he was already within twenty feet of the Hungarian Horntail. In other words, within its range.
All three made the same movement at the same moment—they sharply stopped their dive and shot upward.
"My God, it's the Wronski Feint!" In the audience stands, Ron couldn't help exclaiming when he saw this.
Hermione's hands were crossed on her knees, her eyes tightly following Sherlock and Harry's movements. Though she had known beforehand that they would face a dragon, only when she truly saw it did she feel the overwhelming sense of pressure.
She didn't understand Quidditch. But at that moment, she found this maneuver, which she had previously considered cheating, utterly endearing. Because the Hungarian Horntail had already blasted out a ball of flame. Yet all three Hogwarts champions had dodged to the side at the critical moment.
"Ow! Hermione, gentle!" Ginny couldn't help crying out in pain.
"Sorry... Ginny..." Only then did Hermione realize she had unconsciously grabbed Ginny's arm.
"It's okay..." Ginny understood Hermione's feelings, because if Hermione's action had been just a moment slower, she would have been the one grabbing Hermione's arm.
"If they hadn't dodged in time, they would have been hit directly!" Ginny said worriedly. "This is far too dangerous, Hermione..."
"Yes, extremely dangerous." Hermione took a deep breath. "But all we can do now is trust them. It'll be fine, it must be fine."
There were quite a few people in the arena worried for the three champions. However, the three themselves seemed very excited.
"Sherlock, Harry, how do you feel?" Cedric called out loudly.
"It's just dodging a Bludger!" Harry shouted back.
Sherlock's gaze remained locked on the Hungarian Horntail's head. After a moment, he said, "Harry, let's switch directions and go again!"
"Right on!"
He and Sherlock exchanged positions in the air, then dove down again. Just as they neared the Hungarian Horntail's range, they executed another Wronski Feint together.
"Heavens, they're absolutely outstanding!" Mr. Bagman exclaimed. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd hardly believe three people could execute such a difficult technical maneuver simultaneously! Don't think they're still far from the ground—being sprayed by the Hungarian Horntail's flames would be far worse than hitting the ground!"
All three dodged the flames once more and rose back into the air.
Sherlock noticed that as the three of them spiraled higher and higher, the Hungarian Horntail's gaze continued following them. Its head even rotated full circles on its long neck. Theoretically, if they kept rising like this, the dragon would surely become dizzy. But that was only in theory.
Looking at Harry and Cedric, who had fully entered their zone, Sherlock spoke again. "Cedric, this time you switch with me!"
"No problem!" Without a word, Cedric switched positions with Sherlock and dove down again.
The same routine as before—at the moment the Hungarian Horntail prepared to breathe fire, they turned their broomsticks, changing from dive to ascent.
But this time the Hungarian Horntail had learned. It seemed to understand that these three puny humans were toying with it. So this time, besides breathing out flames, it simultaneously lashed its tail at all three of them.
Normally such an action would be uncoordinated. But the Hungarian Horntail's body was simply too massive. Whether the flames it breathed or its lashing tail, the area they covered was far too wide.
Sherlock and Harry fared somewhat better—their positions happened to be farther from the Hungarian Horntail's tail. Cedric was less fortunate. After switching positions with Sherlock, he was already closest to the Hungarian Horntail's tail, and his Cleansweep Seven was the worst-performing of the three broomsticks.
The result was that he dodged the flames, but when he turned left, one of the long spikes on the Hungarian Horntail's tail pierced his shoulder, directly tearing his robes.
"Hisss—" Cedric immediately gasped, a sharp pain spreading from the wound, while cries of alarm rose from the audience stands.
"Heavens, Cedric, are you all right!" After returning to high altitude, Harry quickly flew over.
"I'm fine, the wound isn't very deep..."
Sherlock also flew over. His gaze swept over Cedric's torn robes and bleeding arm, and he drew his wand.
"Episkey!"
Unfortunately, the wound didn't heal, though the bleeding visibly slowed.
"The spell isn't working. We'll deal with it after the competition ends," Sherlock said concisely. "Cedric, can you still use magic?"
"Silver lining—it's my left arm... shall we continue with Plan A?"
"Exactly." Sherlock nodded. "I've observed its attack patterns thoroughly enough. If you directly transfigure a stone into a dog, it might chase initially, but will ultimately focus on us three. So we need to distract its vision—I'll handle that. Harry—" Sherlock turned to Harry. "The most crucial step still falls to you."
Harry nodded emphatically.
"Most unfortunate, they were just about to succeed—I think that's what happened..." Mr. Bagman continued his commentary. "Cedric fully demonstrated the responsibility of a captain—but he paid the price for it! What will they do next? The three are still circling at altitude. Clearly they seem to be discussing tactics... Oh dear, the Hungarian Horntail seems to be getting impatient. They'd better hurry. When this big fellow goes berserk, no tricks will work..."
Just then, all three dove down again. But this time, they raised the difficulty level. During the dive, Sherlock and Cedric suddenly flew in the same direction, bringing them together.
The Hungarian Horntail's eyes immediately shifted to the two of them. Clearly, two people were far more attractive than one. Its head swayed left and right, watching them through vertical pupils, all its fangs exposed.
"Is this a feint, drawing the tiger from the mountain?" Mr. Bagman spoke again. "But haven't they forgotten that the Hungarian Horntail's tail is no joke!"
Just then, Cedric drew his wand and transfigured the stone closest to the Hungarian Horntail into a Newfoundland dog. Without doubt, it was an excellent Transfiguration spell.
The dog raised its head and fearlessly opened its mouth toward the Hungarian Horntail:
"Woof—!"
The scene seemed somewhat comical at that moment.
The Hungarian Horntail paused, then swiped a claw at it. However, the dog barked once and turned to run.
The Hungarian Horntail pursued without hesitation.
"Now!" Sherlock and Cedric simultaneously plunged straight down toward the nest of dragon eggs.
"ROAR!" Just as Sherlock had predicted, seeing their movement, the Hungarian Horntail immediately changed its mind, abandoning the Newfoundland and turning to lunge at them.
Both were prepared. Cedric rode his broomstick far away. "Sherlock, what are you doing?"
But to his surprise, Sherlock didn't leave with him as per Plan A. Instead, he drew his wand and cast a spell.
"Serpensortia!"
His wand tip exploded, and a long black snake suddenly shot out, slamming directly onto the Hungarian Horntail's head.
In the front row of Slytherin students in the stands, Snape's mouth twitched.
"ROAR—!" The Hungarian Horntail roared again. A searing orange-red fireball shot straight at Sherlock.
Since Sherlock had willingly taken the risk, he had naturally anticipated this outcome. He jerked his broom upward, shooting skyward instantly. The flames grazed the broomtail, singeing a corner of his robes.
The audience stands immediately erupted in gasps.
Meanwhile, the black snake that had shot from his wand actually slithered onto the dragon's eye. The dragon's eyes were its most vulnerable organs. A powerful spell would be enough to harm them. Unfortunately, this snake wasn't quite that formidable. But when its fangs bit toward the Hungarian Horntail, it still created a distraction.
That single moment of chaos was enough for an excellent Quidditch player.
At that moment, the Hungarian Horntail's neck was fully extended, swaying left and right like a snake dancing before a snake charmer. When it shook off the snake's interference, it unconsciously reared up, its rough massive wings fully spread like a small aircraft.
Earlier, when Sherlock and Cedric had combined forces, Harry's condition had already reached optimal status. Now, seeing the opportunity, he didn't hesitate for a moment.
He gripped the Firebolt tightly with both hands, leaning forward, shooting down from high altitude like an arrow from a bow.
The Firebolt's excellent performance showed fully at that moment. The acceleration produced a sharp whistle through the wind, instantly cutting through the Hungarian Horntail's agitated blind spot.
At that moment, all the audience's hearts leaped to their throats. Those closely connected to the competing champions were tense to the extreme.
Hermione gripped Ginny's hand tightly. Ron's eyes were locked on the three flying figures in the air. Cho Chang held Lucy and Alicia's hands on either side. Gemma from the dragon handler team watched calmly. Luna beside Ginny seemed to have a blank expression, but her slightly trembling body revealed that her heart was anything but calm.
Even Mr. Bagman, who had been excitedly commentating all along, fell silent.
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