Chapter 201

Facing three Swedish Short-Snout dragons in a group, Fleur and Elina did not move rashly. Harry had briefly reviewed the information on dragons; Short-Snouts possessed immense magical power, and most spells had little effect on them. Moreover, these dragons were not only fiercely territorial but also had extremely acute senses—stealth or silent movement could hardly deceive them.

Yet Fleur and Elina employed a uniquely creative method, earning loud cheers from the audience, and Harry had to admit it was a brilliant idea: they transformed stones on the ground into hounds to draw the dragons' attention.

The two girls crouched quietly near the eggs, while the Newfoundland hounds they had transfigured boldly taunted the dragons in front of them. These long-haired, long-nosed animals easily enraged one Short-Snout, which chased the hound while breathing fire—and accidentally crashed into another dragon's territory.

With this tactic, the two girls only needed to hide nearby and control the hounds, causing the three dragons to turn hostile toward one another. After a brief standoff, they began attacking each other—the very outcome the champions hoped for—sending a wave of joyful cheers through the stands.

As the three eggs guarded by the Swedish Short-Snouts turned blue, Fleur raised her hand high and shouted to the judges' stand: "We have no viable way to pass the remaining dragons. We request to terminate here."

"It's fine—you've done very well," Madame Maxime said gently, then turned to the other judges. "For students, courage in facing powerful opponents is precious, but recognizing one's limits is even more important. We'd rather see children seek help from their mentors than recklessly plunge themselves into danger, wouldn't we?"

"Besides," Donald reminded them, "they carried no weapons at all—only their wands."

"But we never forbade them from bringing any," Karkaroff retorted maliciously.

Ultimately, the five judges awarded their scores: Fleur and Elina received a total of 74 points. Harry noticed Dumbledore had given them a 7—only deducting one point—indicating he clearly admired their performance.

"Let's go," Cedric stood up. "It's our turn."

"Should we bring our brooms?" Harry asked. "Or summon them later with a Summoning Charm?"

"Uh, bring them," Cedric said awkwardly. "My broom was borrowed for me by Donna—I'm not very familiar with it."

Cedric carried a "Snow Dragon 1080," a French broom model. Though slightly inferior to the Firebolt, it was roughly equal to the Nimbus 2001—more than sufficient for what they were about to do.

Harry walked through the passage into the dragon's nest, littered with broken stones. He took a deep breath, swung his leg over the broom, pushed off the ground, and soared into the air.

"It's just another match," Cedric's confident voice came to him. Harry watched the crowd below shrink, felt the wind whipping through his hair, and realized he was back in his element—the tension and fear vanished instantly. Cedric must have felt the same.

"Let's take the Fireball first," Harry shouted. "I'll lure it; you knock it down."

"Must we knock it down?" Cedric called back. "I could just color the egg."

"We need to put on a good show!" Harry said, flipping upside-down to warm up. "We brought brooms; Fleur carried nothing. We must achieve more."

"Alright," Cedric replied. The moment his voice ended, Harry dove without hesitation.

The Fireball had been watching them from the ground, but Harry shot straight toward its face, startling it. He then cast a Spark Charm at it.

The Spark Charm served no purpose other than to anger the dragon—but Harry only needed to provoke it, and the Spark Charm consumed the least magic. In fact, had spectacle not mattered, he'd have thrown stones.

The Fireball instinctively breathed fire at Harry, but he was ready—a perfect barrel roll to the side, then pulled up again. He deliberately flew toward the sun; the afternoon light indeed disrupted the dragon's vision, making its aim poor—perhaps also due to Elina's Blinding Curse.

As Harry spiraled upward, he watched the dragon's movements through his newly installed mirror. It rose to chase him, but Cedric clung to its tail, preparing to strike from a favorable angle. Soon, as Harry dodged another fireball, Cedric struck the dragon's tail with a spell.

A deep, bone-exposing wound appeared on the Fireball's tail. In pain, its flight posture twisted instantly. Harry didn't miss the chance—he climbed sharply, then executed a tight turn back onto his original path, now directly facing the dragon's neck. He raised his wand without hesitation and began chanting.

Harry's spell severed a major blood vessel on the dragon's neck. Scalding dragon blood gushed out. The Fireball shrieked and flew off into the distance. Thanks to the dragon's robust physiology, the bleeding soon stopped and the wound began to scab—but for now, it dared not return to trouble Harry and Cedric.

The crowd erupted in wave after wave of cheers. To dispatch a dragon two-on-one so cleanly, while displaying superb flying skills, was truly spectacular.

"Now for the Green Dragons," Harry said. "They look like they just woke up."

"One each," Cedric said. "Then suddenly switch targets before they react."

"Good idea," Harry kicked off his broom and dove again. He could clearly see the Green Dragons' snarling heads—their large, yellow eyes still dazed. This reminded Harry of a clever idea. He raised his wand and chanted: "Aguamenti!"

The Green Dragon was drenched head-on with cold water, momentarily disoriented. It blinked stupidly, shaking its head, while the crowd burst into laughter. But Harry had no time to mock it—he pulled up sharply in a loop. Sure enough, the awakened Green Dragon flew into a rage, instantly lunging after him, locking onto his tail.

Harry accelerated into the howling wind, but he thought he heard Cedric shouting. He tried to look back, but a jet of flame passed beside him, forcing him to focus entirely. When he glanced at the mirror, he suddenly understood why Cedric was yelling: two Green Dragons were charging at him from left and right.

Not hard, Harry thought silently. Pretend we're two clumsy Beaters. He yanked the broom handle sharply upward. As the broom tilted slightly, he stopped accelerating and let inertia carry the turn. For two or three seconds, Harry hovered nearly motionless in midair. The two dragons, flying at full speed, were about to swallow him whole in an instant.

But then, the broom—no longer powered—plummeted toward the ground under gravity. The Green Dragons missed him completely. As Harry lifted his head again, he easily saw their soft undersides.

Harry hesitated for a moment. He worried that if the Sectumsempra spell pierced the Green Dragon's belly while it was flying fast, its internal organs might be flung out.

In that instant of hesitation, his spell only struck the dragon's hind leg—this only enraged it further. But Cedric launched a perfect flank attack, his spell slicing through the membrane of the other dragon's wing. One Shikongde Green Dragon inevitably crashed into its companion. As they struggled to regain control amid the chaos, both boys fired their spells again.

The second round of attacks were devastating: Harry hit the base of one dragon's wing, while Cedric severed the tail of the other. The wing-injured dragon could barely fly, flapping desperately with its remaining wing to slow its fall; the tailless dragon, unable to balance, tumbled erratically toward the ground.

After landing, neither Green Dragon had the will to return to its territory. They simply lay still, waiting for their wounds to heal. Cedric calmly flew to the eggs, amid rising waves of crowd cheers, and turned them a faintly glowing orange.

Harry felt weary. He realized Sectumsempra consumed considerable magic. He estimated he could cast three or four more spells—few, but likely enough for three Swedish Short-Snouts. He hoped to accomplish as much as possible on his own.

"I'll go first. Watch my pigeons," Cedric shouted, then accelerated toward the Short-Snout nest. Harry immediately understood his plan: since Short-Snouts were drawn to hounds, releasing a flock of pigeons via Transfiguration in the air would effectively distract them, giving Harry an opening.

Cedric zipped past two Short-Snouts and flew toward the third. Luck favored them: one dragon's fireball, fired during pursuit, struck the third dragon resting on the ground. The three dragons, already having fought once, immediately turned on each other again.

While two dragons were locked in combat, Cedric quickly scattered bread crumbs from his pocket and transfigured them into fluttering white pigeons. Seizing the moment, Harry cast two spells in rapid succession, slicing through both wings' membranes of the Short-Snout, robbing it of lift. It could only glide angrily, searching for a place to land.

Freed from pursuit, Cedric glanced at the two remaining dragons tangled in midair, then turned and flew straight toward the eggs without looking back. Harry understood his reasoning: returning to color the eggs was now the wiser move. Besides, casting Sectumsempra twice had left him dizzy. He slowly flew his broom toward a distant egg, taking the chance to rest.