Chapter 200: Dragon Nest

When that day truly arrived, Harry suddenly felt unconfident again, even though both he and Cedric had maintained their brooms in advance and practiced the Sectumsempra spell several times, and Harry also had his trump card in a magic pocket—the Seven Deadly Sins given to him by Donald. But just as the school was filled with a tense and excited atmosphere, and students were enthusiastically discussing the newly built paddock, Harry suddenly realized where that unease came from: fundamentally, he was still facing an adult dragon for the first time. This terrifying creature could easily kill an adult wizard, but Harry had previously been occupied by the blind confidence brought by the Chrono-Momentum and the Seven Deadly Sins. It wasn't until he noticed his hand holding the oatmeal bowl was trembling that he understood: he was still afraid of dragons.

Soon, a morning slipped away. When Harry finally calmed down, he was already sitting in the tent next to the paddock. Zhang Qiu was gripping his hand tightly, and Luo En was holding his broom for him.

"Now, I need to announce the content of the first task to you," Prince Mountbatten said slowly. "As you can see, there is a huge paddock here, and perhaps you have also heard some roars; yes, we call it the 'Dragon Nest'."

Harry looked around nervously. Fleur and Elena were sitting next to each other at this time, and Hermione was holding a small notebook, constantly emphasizing something to them; perhaps this kind of nagging language was their way of relieving tension. Renata and Krum were holding each other's hands tightly, their complexions not looking very good, or perhaps Renata's skin tone was already carrying a hint of paleness.

"There are ten dragons of various breeds in the Dragon Nest, and each of them is guarding a dragon egg," Prince Mountbatten's voice continued to sound. "Champions must approach the dragon egg, point their wands at the top of the egg, and then paint it the color you like; this way you can get six points, and ten eggs total sixty points."

Cedric sat upright; Harry knew this should be his content. In fact, although Harry could think of several ways to touch the dragon egg, how to change its color was still a problem worth studying.

"Beyond these sixty points, there are forty points given by five judges. They will give you a score each based on the magical level and skills you demonstrate, and finally, you will get a complete score," Prince Mountbatten explained the rules. "However, champions don't need to have too much pressure; as long as you can get over forty points, you can pass the first task. The height of the score will affect the completeness of the clues you get for the second task; this is something worth caring about."

Everyone nodded slightly; forty points was not a very difficult goal to achieve.

"One more thing," Prince Mountbatten added. "To avoid champions being timid, we have agreed in advance that injuring the dragons is allowed; the judges will not deduct points for this."

"Alright, now, champions, follow the agreed order to appear and sit in the waiting area!" he announced.

"Don't be too nervous, children," Madame Maxime said gently. "We have arranged for some people to watch from the side; if the situation is not good, someone will step forward to control the situation. You just need to fully exert your own abilities."

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Fleur stood up first, holding Elena's hand and walking out of the tent. Hermione waved at them and said loudly: "Just do as we agreed, it'll be fine; I'll be waiting for you in the auditorium!"

"Don't worry, we have kept every step firmly in mind," Elena responded to her with a smile.

When Harry and Cedric stood up together, Luo En said to him: "In that case, you two just play it by ear; we are sufficiently prepared."

"Thanks, we can handle it." Harry took his broom from his hand and then followed Cedric out of the tent.

When he walked up the stairs step by step and sat on the preparation seat at the front of the stands, he saw the full view of the Dragon Nest: the ground was covered with jagged rocks, and gray-white stone piles extended into the distance. The paddock was very large; at a glance, one could only see two or three dragons wandering in place. Harry looked closer and noticed the white dragon eggs placed under the dragons' bellies; perhaps those were not real dragon eggs, just magic props, because those dragons clearly didn't take them seriously.

"Let me see, these two are Welsh Green dragons," Cedric muttered. "This one is a Swedish Short-Snout."

"Can you recognize the breeds of dragons? Then take a look at the others?" Harry took out the small binoculars he bought when watching the game and handed them to Cedric; he was truly glad he brought them.

"Oh, that's right, that one there is also a Short-Snout; let me count, three in total," Cedric said. "There are also four Hungarian Horntails and one Chinese Fireball."

"In other words, because of the different breeds, their territories are actually separated," Harry said thoughtfully. "Lone ones, pairs, and four together; this actually provides us with quite a few options."

"Yes, most safely, we only need to deal with a single Fireball and two Greens, and we can get eighteen points; the professors won't be stingy about giving us the remaining twenty-two points," Cedric said with a forced smile.

"I don't think so; we should be able to easily get these eighteen points, and then try two-on-three to deal with the Horntail group. If you are not sure about the last Short-Snout, I have a trump card," Harry said.

"Good, I hope your trump card works," Cedric's face turned slightly green.

Harry looked down at the seats in the preparation area; the staff arranging the scene had chosen the colors each of the three groups of champions liked, which were exactly the colors of the sofas they sat on when they were first interviewed. Fleur and Elena were light blue, he and Cedric were warm orange, and Renata and Krum were gray-brown.

"I say, how about we turn the dragon eggs orange later?" Harry said, pretending to be relaxed.

"No problem, I happen to be very proficient in this color-changing spell," Cedric squeezed a smile at him; Harry felt his partner might be a bit too nervous.

A few minutes later, just as Renata and Krum were also seated and the announcer finished the polite remarks, a voice announced loudly: the champions from Beauxbatons and Ilvermorny should begin their challenge.

Harry watched Fleur and Elena; they didn't bring anything, and their clothes were even a bit thin. In November, when the temperature was low, they didn't wear robes but instead wore autumn school uniforms with small jackets and short skirts, only changing into thicker pantyhose and high-top canvas shoes; those shoes seemed to be the same style as Barty's.

"It seems they intend to rely on the point of 'not bringing weapons' to get extra points," Harry said in a low voice.

"You're right," someone spoke to him; Cedric's tension also eased a bit. "But I think it's a bit strange; aren't they cold like this? Or is it to show that they really didn't bring weapons?"

"This shouldn't be just for the sake of beauty," Harry touched his chin. "We wear thick robes because it's cold when flying. Clothes like theirs should be very suitable for ground combat, tight and light, suitable for flexible movement."

"In that case," Cedric glanced at the two people beside him and said in a low voice, "Krum is wearing the same thick robes; he must also intend to fly."

"Renata is wearing cotton clothes suitable for the season; perhaps she doesn't intend to move, but these clothes are also not suitable for flying; what is she thinking?" Harry also said in a low voice.

The crowd's cheers erupted suddenly; Harry noticed that Fleur and Elena had already entered the competition field, so he stopped talking and instead observed the situation intently.

Fleur and Elena came to the side of the Fireball one after another; they lowered their bodies and approached it quietly. Suddenly, Elena stood up abruptly, ran quickly to the left, and cast a spell while running.

The Fireball was hit immediately; it looked a bit irritable and began to pace in place constantly, while Elena began to run toward the back again. Fleur walked slowly toward the dragon egg; miraculously, the Fireball seemed not to see her at all, only caring about spitting fire at Elena.

"This aim is too poor; what spell did she use?" Harry couldn't help but ask.

"Looking at it, it might be the Conjunctivitis Curse," Cedric marveled. "I thought this spell wouldn't work, but perhaps the Fireball just happened to be unable to defend against it."

Elena kept jumping left and right, and the audience also let out gasps from time to time. However, the Fireball hit by the Conjunctivitis Curse really couldn't aim at its target; one fireball after another fell harmlessly a few meters away from Elena's side. Until she was almost about to run out of range, a wave of overwhelming cheers erupted suddenly; Harry then noticed that Fleur had already quietly turned the dragon egg under the Fireball into a deep blue—this was also the color of Elena's eyes.

In the blink of an eye, the two girls darted out of the Fireball's territory like rabbits; Harry also couldn't help but cheer for their wit and courage. They completed the task smoothly without any conflict with the dragon, which was very different from Harry's thinking, but also very clever.

In front of the Welsh Green, it was Fleur's turn to be in front and Elena in the back; Harry guessed immediately that this time the one casting the spell would be Fleur. Sure enough, the dragon was affected by Fleur's spell and immediately fell into a drowsy state.

Both Green dragons showed a satisfied look, putting their ugly big heads on their claws and starting to snore. But just at this moment, a ridiculous accident happened: the dragon that fell asleep first spat a fierce flame from its nose, which hit the root of the other dragon's wing directly, causing it to wake up suddenly. Elena, who had already quietly walked to the side of the dragon egg, hurriedly lay on the ground, not moving at all. However, Fleur quickly added a spell, and the awakened dragon began to have its eyelids fight again. After it fell asleep, Elena easily touched the two dragon eggs.

After the two left the Green dragons' territory, they began to walk toward the Swedish Short-Snout. The audience, who had not dared to speak loudly for fear of waking the dragons, began to cheer. Harry also couldn't help but sit up straight, wanting to see how they were prepared to pass the three dragons. ===== CHAPTER 201 =====