Chapter 469: What Fire Dragon? I Don't Know Anything About It
Chapter 469: What Fire Dragon? I Don't Know Anything About It
Mr. Weasley did not join the crowd around the Dark Mark but returned to his original tent with the others.
Fortunately, their tent, situated at the edge of the camp, had escaped the riotous mob, remaining intact.
Percy poked his head out of the tent, his tension easing when he saw it was Mr. Weasley. However, his arm was wrapped in a bedsheet, blood seeping through, indicating a severe injury.
"Where were you just now...?" Mr. Weasley asked anxiously as he strode over. "Are you alright? How bad is it?"
"I'm fine," Percy insisted, gritting his teeth from the pain, his expression oddly excited. "I was injured in front of Mr. Crouch. He must have seen... my valiant effort against the Death Eaters."
"Yeah, yeah..." Charlie glanced at him. "Maybe he'll promote you to his deputy at the Department of International Magical Cooperation tomorrow, valiant Percy Weasley."
He was clearly irritated, his tone sharp.
They had just been surrounded by Malfoy's gang and nearly died... if not for Kyle's timely appearance, who knew what would have become of them.
But one thing was certain—even if they had somehow survived, they would have been tortured with the Cruciatus Curse.
Kyle had been concerned for Mr. Weasley's safety and had come to help, but what about Percy? He had run off to show off his bravery in front of Crouch.
If it weren't for the others present, he would have loved to give Percy a good thrashing.
Next to him, Bill's face wore a similar displeased expression.
But Percy, oblivious to all this, was still preening.
"You're joking again. That's impossible," Percy said, not seeming to mind that Charlie had deliberately mispronounced his name, or that Fred and George had been calling him that for days, and he had gotten used to it. "I just hope that Mr. Crouch will assign me more meaningful work from now on... The work I'm doing now is a bit too simple for me."
"Heh..." Charlie let out a cold laugh, not bothering to reply.
To calm himself down and avoid losing control and hitting Percy, he took a simple sip of water, intending to go out with Mr. Weasley to look for Harry, Ron, and the others.
However, just as they reached the tent entrance, a group of people walked in from outside.
Leading the way was Cedric, followed by Autumn, Connor, Harry... with Fred and George bringing up the rear.
Everyone was accounted for, and they had all returned safely.
But their faces were pale, their expressions ones of extreme shock.
"Wonderful, you're all safe," Mr. Weasley said happily. "I'm sure you were terrified, but it's over now. Come in and have some water, and we'll head home soon."
None of them spoke, their gazes instead falling on Kyle, who had just entered the tent with them.
They had indeed been terrified, but it had nothing to do with the riot; it was because of Kyle's box.
At first, when they discovered a tiny room inside the box, everyone was surprised, their nervousness even dissipating a little.
Until Ron, driven by curiosity, opened the door... and they saw it—a fire dragon, nearly fifty feet tall.
The fire dragon was perched right at the doorway, and in that instant they opened the door, they could feel the scorching breath from its nostrils.
To open the door and come face-to-face with a fire dragon... who could understand that feeling?
Anyway, Ron, who was closest to the dragon, fainted on the spot.
And so, the group stood there, staring at the fire dragon with wide eyes... No one knew how long it lasted, maybe a minute, maybe half an hour, before Connor plucked up the courage to walk over and close the door.
They endured this way until just a moment ago when Kyle came to fetch them.
"Tell me it's not real," Cedric demanded through gritted teeth, taking advantage of the moment when Mr. Weasley had gone to fetch some water.
"What?" Kyle asked, not quite understanding his meaning.
"The fire dragon!" Ron mumbled from the side, his face flushed as if he had been struck.
"Oh, you mean Norbert," Kyle realized. "Yes, it's a fake. There's no dragon in the box at all; you must have imagined it!"
In an instant, everyone's expressions turned even grimmer.
This explanation was just too far-fetched... Don't assume they didn't hear; Kyle had even blurted out the dragon's name earlier.
And even if one person had misseen, how could they all have made the same mistake... This was obviously impossible.
And that name, Norbert...
In the crowd, Hermione lowered her head in thought, feeling like she had heard that name somewhere before.
Oh, that's right...
She suddenly recalled that in their first year, the Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon that Hagrid had hatched was named something similar.
Moreover, Kyle had been present at the time, and that dragon had mysteriously disappeared afterward, with no one knowing its whereabouts. When asked, Hagrid refused to say anything about it.
Could it be...
Hermione glanced at the box once more, and this time, she finally understood what Hagrid had meant by his "solution."
"Believe me, you must have seen it wrong," Kyle insisted.
On the other side, Kyle continued to assure them, "How could I not know about my own trunk? If you don't believe me, I can take you there again. There's truly nothing inside."
"What are you all talking about..." At that moment, Mr. Weasley returned with some water and bread. "Dad, about Kyle's..." Ron began to say something but suddenly noticed Kyle giving him a peculiar look.
In an instant, Ron's heart tightened, and then, as if enlightenment struck, his mind became exceptionally clear.
"It's nothing, Dad," he instinctively changed his statement. "We were just scared out of our wits. Those guys were terrifying, and they even impersonated Ministry officials and tried to kill Harry..."
"What?! " Mr. Weasley was horrified. He rushed to grab Harry and examined him closely, only letting go when he was certain Harry was unharmed.
Mr. Weasley patted his chest, still shaken. "Tell me, what happened earlier?"
"It's like this, Mr. Weasley..." Before Ron could speak, Cedric took the initiative and recounted what had transpired.
Perhaps because Kyle had deliberately chosen to release them outside the tent earlier, he made no mention of the box, only saying that they had hidden in a safe enough place.
As they spoke, Connor stood by, her eyes fixed on Kyle.
Kyle felt a little uncomfortable under her intense gaze and shrugged. "Well, if you're interested, would you like to take a look inside my trunk? I can be your guide.
"But it might be too late now. How about after the school term starts?"
"Okay." Connor smiled.
As soon as she finished speaking, the tent flap was pushed open again... It was Kreacher, the house-elf who had come with Connor, sobbing uncontrollably and running in with snot and tears streaming down his face.
...
(End of Chapter)
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