Chapter 203: Dragon and Human

When Renata lined up a Treepeak Dragon in her sights, the 12. -millimeter round easily pierced the fire dragon's tough hide, spraying a visible burst of blood. Then, with the aid of the wheeled mount, Renata steadied the recoiling muzzle with her seemingly frail arms, landing successive rounds that quickly knocked the dragon off balance. Though the dragon's powerful muscles gripped the bullets tightly, preventing immediate death, the ensuing storm of metal soon severed its tendons, shredded its wings, and after several rounds struck its eye sockets, the blood-soaked dragon lost its ability to hover and tumbled uncontrollably downward.

As Harry watched this, he remained stunned, but reason gradually returned to him—he must have undergone extensive training in this, he thought; if she knew every dimension of every part of this machine gun—even the thickness of the ear lugs and the curvature of the bevels—then conjuring one with Transfiguration might not be entirely impossible. And her expert marksmanship confirmed this suspicion.

A thunderous crash echoed as the dragon she shot down slammed into the ground, its blood splattering the nearby dragon eggs with specks of crimson. Even though this was a magically resilient creature with thick hide and tenacious life, Harry believed this dragon had no chance of survival.

Renata, now in full rhythm, quickly riddled a Green Dragon with a burst of bullets. As the dragon's wings became riddled with holes and it was forced to slow its flight and descend, she delivered a precise series of single shots that nearly severed its neck entirely.

Harry noticed Dumbledore standing up, his face grim. Indeed, even Harry himself, who had just severed a dragon's tail with sword and blade, found this method excessively cruel. Though if Renata did not bring these dragons down, Krum's death in the air was merely a matter of time, Harry sincerely felt the later shots aimed at the necks were unnecessary.

As they simmered with discontent, Renata expressionlessly swung her barrel, and this cold, efficient killing machine continued spewing metal shards at 820 meters per second, slaughtering another Treepeak Dragon midair. Then, just as the Fireball Dragon finally realized the true enemy was on the ground and turned to face it, Renata immediately selected it as her next target. The incoming heavy-caliber rounds punched straight through its half-open maw, first piercing its throat, then shattering its skull, reducing its brain to pulp.

Krum darted sideways as a burst of bullets struck the Short-Nosed Dragon chasing him—a series of wounds along its wing root caused it to lose flight control and roll downward. Then, as Krum moved out of the gun's range, Renata precisely shot the last Short-Nosed Dragon in the eye, followed by a rapid volley that blew its skull apart. Even from afar, Harry saw white brain matter spraying through the sky, making him feel nauseous.

Krum hovered in midair. Harry guessed he was exhaling in relief—he had initially drawn the attention of six dragons at once. Now they only needed to continue coloring the dragon eggs, securing the full 60-point coloring score, and only deducting one point from Krum's broomstick. Harry thought the judges likely didn't recognize the ammunition belt Renata had produced, nor would they consider it part of a weapon.

But just as everyone relaxed and the previously silent audience began to stir, Renata did something horrifying. After gunning down the falling Short-Nosed Dragon, she leveled the anti-aircraft machine gun and opened fire on the dragons Harry had already crippled, lying helplessly on the ground. One already wounded Green Dragon had no escape—it was struck dozens of times in an instant, its blood spreading silently across the rocky ground.

"Enough!" Dumbledore shouted, but Renata ignored him, continuing to slaughter the Treepeak Dragon whose tail Harry had severed.

"I said enough!" Dumbledore finally drew his wand. Renata seemed to sense something—she swiftly swung her barrel and, with rough but unrelenting bursts, killed the wounded Short-Nosed Dragon where it lay, unable to fly.

Finally, as she aimed at the last remaining blind Treepeak Dragon, the bullets struck a transparent wall. Dumbledore had cast a strong Shield Charm to protect the fire dragon's life.

Renata ceased firing. The machine gun in her hands began to disintegrate—its parts fell to the ground and reverted to stone, while the barrel turned to sand, scattering in the winter wind.

"Why continue shooting after the fire dragons lost the ability to resist?" Dumbledore said in a stern tone Harry had only heard before when confronting old Malfoy—when blue flames still flickered faintly in his eyes.

"Why stop shooting?" Renata countered. "If the competition permits killing fire dragons, why can't I?"

"Ah, it seems Kordovstritz didn't teach Care of Magical Creatures," Madame Maxime said lightly, as if trying to ease the tension.

"I never learned how to protect fire dragons. I only learned how to kill them," Renata replied coldly.

"But we are human. Humans must possess basic compassion," Dumbledore said, his tone softening slightly but remaining grave. "You cannot abuse your power to torment the weak. This is vital for wizards—especially those with talent."

"Talking like this is pointless. Let's just score," Karkaroff said. "The competition is over. I give her eight points—this Transfiguration was highly imaginative and extremely difficult, and Krum flew excellently."

"You, Dumbledore, can certainly give her zero points—for violating your moral code," Vaskov said slowly. "But the real world doesn't run on morality. By the rules, Renata and Krum have already earned at least sixty points. They've passed."

"You seem pleased, old man?" Donald retorted irritably. "We haven't even deducted points for carrying weapons yet. And each bullet from this machine gun—I believe each one counts as an independent weapon."

"I need to explain this Transfiguration to everyone," Donald stood, lifting his wand to his throat to amplify his voice. "Transfiguration can indeed conjure intricate, even functional mechanical structures—but what it creates cannot be transformed again. You cannot conjure food, nor can you kill an animal Transfigured from inorganic matter and eat it. The truth is, this machine gun—this Muggle weapon called a machine gun—does not function alone. Like a bow needs arrows, a machine gun requires ammunition. And ammunition is a Muggle artifact that Transfiguration cannot produce—or even if it could, it would be useless."

As the audience murmured, Donald shouted, "Therefore, I believe we must deduct points for the ammunition Renata carried—and since each bullet functions independently, we must deduct one point for every round fired."

The audience erupted. Vaskov began arguing with Donald, while Dumbledore watched them both in cold silence.

"Everyone, quiet," Madame Maxime called out. "Prince Montbatten has something to say."

"I believe, like arrows can be grouped together as a single quiver, Renata's ammunition should be considered as a single unit," he said. "For these bullets, I believe only one point should be deducted. However, since the falling fire dragon crushed one dragon egg, their coloring score must be reduced to fifty-four points."

"But then Harry's seven swords should also be counted as a single unit," Donald protested.

"No," Prince Montbatten explained slowly. "Each of Harry's swords is a sharp, enchanted blade—this is different from bullets. A single bullet cannot function as a weapon, but a single sword can. Therefore, Harry still loses seven points for weapons. Now, please cast your scores."

The scoring revealed a dramatic polarization: Dumbledore gave two points; Donald gave zero. Karkaroff and Vaskov awarded full eight points; Madame Maxime gave six—the same as what she gave Harry.

Harry thought Madame Maxime had done well. Excessive focus on morality or on results alone was wrong. A perfect outcome marred by immoral means was the only fair evaluation. Besides, fire dragons were inherently dangerous magical creatures. If the Triwizard Tournament allowed for the possibility of a champion's accidental death, there was no reason to guarantee the dragons' safety, Harry thought.

Thus, Renata and Krum's final score would be seventy-six, placing second. Harry felt a small relief: when the Seven Sins had stirred, eager to kill the dragons, his own innate kindness had prevented him from deploying such overwhelming weapons. Otherwise, he might have faced Dumbledore's criticism too.

"The scores from the first round confirm all teams have passed," Madame Maxime said. "But your ranking will determine the clarity of the clue you receive."

"For the first-place Phoenix Society team, I regret to inform you that to enhance spectacle and balance the champions' strength, you will receive only the bronze dragon egg—the one with the most ambiguous clue."

"For the second-place Soviet Advance team, you will receive the silver dragon egg—with a clear clue," she announced. "For the third-place Judas Covenant team, you will receive the gold dragon egg—with a detailed clue."

"Oh, so that's what you were waiting for," Cedric muttered.

【36】 "I get it now," Harry said, watching the sly smiles on Elena and Fleur's faces. "You could've passed the Treepeak Dragon—you were holding back for this."