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Chapter 510: A Contest Between Headmasters
Chapter 510: A Contest Between Headmasters
Upon seeing the Fire Dragon, Hagrid's eyes glazed over with awe. He momentarily forgot about the other two beside him and stood there, transfixed, taking a couple of steps forward as if drawn to move closer.
"Stay put, Hagrid!" shouted a wizard standing by the fence, his short, reddish hair and muscular, dark-skinned physique identifying him as Charlie. "This Hungarian Horntail can spit fire up to forty feet. You'd best keep your distance!"
"Oh, isn't she beautiful," Hagrid murmured softly, his tone reminiscent of how he used to coax the young Cerberus, Fluffy.
A few more minutes passed as the dragon handlers finally managed to calm the agitated dragon with a Stunning Spell.
Hagrid inched forward again.
"So, Hagrid," Charlie panted as he approached, "it was quite a task to get these beasts here. Luckily there aren't many, or we might have needed more than twenty people."
"Oh, yeah..." Hagrid replied absentmindedly, his eyes darting behind Charlie.
Charlie, of course, understood what he was thinking and was about to say something when he noticed Maxime and Karkaroff beside him.
"I didn't expect you to bring them, Hagrid," Charlie said, frowning. "Technically, the champions shouldn't know what they're up against... She'll probably tell her students, won't she."
"Ah, I just thought they'd be keen to broaden their horizons," Hagrid said, his eyes still fixed on the Hungarian Horntail.
Charlie shook his head.
Now that they were here, and had seen what they had, sending them back would be pointless.
However, to ensure fairness in the competition, Charlie felt he ought to do something... like taking a stroll outside the Forbidden Forest tomorrow and casually letting Kyle catch a glimpse of him.
He wouldn't need to say anything; just letting Kyle see him would likely be enough for the boy to guess that the task involved dragons.
That way, he wouldn't be breaking any rules.
With this thought, Charlie stopped fretting about whether they should be here and instead greeted them.
"Professor Karkaroff, it's a pleasure to see you here," Charlie said, extending his hand in greeting.
"The pleasure is mine, young Mr. Weasley," Professor Karkaroff replied, shaking his hand.
"You know each other?" Hagrid asked in surprise. He had been about to introduce them to each other.
"Of course, we know each other," Charlie explained. "Professor Karkaroff was a great help to us at the Dragon Reserve a year ago."
A year ago... at the Dragon Reserve...
Upon hearing these two key pieces of information, Hagrid immediately caught on and asked, "Could it be during that dragon fracas?"
"Indeed," Professor Karkaroff sighed. "Dozens of different dragons in a massive brawl... That was truly a spectacular sight to behold."
"Oh..." Hagrid let out a wistful moan. When he looked at Professor Karkaroff again, his eyes held a hint of envy.
"You really should have invited me, Charlie," Hagrid couldn't help but complain.
"It wasn't up to me, Hagrid," Charlie shrugged. "The Romanian Ministry of Magic decides the guest list; we're just responsible for hosting them."
"I see," Hagrid sighed.
At that moment, he noticed a large crate in the shadows not far away.
"Is that another dragon in there?" he asked curiously. "Why is the crate sealed?"
"That..." Charlie turned to glance at the crate, then at Maxime and Professor Karkaroff beside him, before shaking his head. "Don't ask, Hagrid. I can't tell you, but I can assure you there's no dragon in there... After all, these creatures wouldn't sit idly in a crate."
As for there only being two dragons... they'll probably draw lots. Whoever gets lucky can skip the dragon challenge and win by default.
But mark my words, whoever draws the Hungarian Horntail won't have an easy time of it. It's the most dangerous of the bunch."
Unconsciously, Maxime glanced at the black Fire Dragon, her head lowered as if deep in thought.
"By the way, Hagrid," Charlie continued, "how's Kyle doing lately?"
"He's doing well..." Hagrid said, "He's preparing for the Triwizard Tournament, and he seems to be in good shape."
"That's good to hear." Charlie gazed at the enclosure where the Fire Dragons were being kept. "Even though I suspected Kyle might become a champion during the holidays, I was still surprised when I received the news.
My mom is delighted, but I dare not tell her about the first task, or she'll start worrying again. It's better that she doesn't know for now.
Never mind that... Hagrid, do you want to take a closer look? Just be careful not to wake them up."
"Oh, can I?" Hagrid's eyes lit up.
Though he asked, his body had already moved closer to the unconscious Hungarian Horntail of its own accord, examining it intently with an expression of reverence.
In the woods not far away, Kyle and Connor were about to leave.
Hagrid would likely stay there for a while longer; he certainly wouldn't want to leave before sunrise, and they had no intention of spending the entire night there.
Kyle and Connor turned to leave, making their way back along the path they had come.
However, as they reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they suddenly spotted a dark figure hurrying toward them.
Kyle sidestepped just in time to avoid a collision.
"It's Karkaroff," Connor whispered, "I recognize his goatee."
"He must have received some news," Kyle said. "While the tasks of the Triwizard Tournament are supposed to be confidential, they always seem to leak out... I suspect this part is related to the competition between the three headmasters."
The two made their way back to the castle, and Kyle glanced at the Marauder's Map.
Fortunately, Filch was still patrolling the fifth floor, so they slipped through a slightly open door and made their way back to the Gryffindor common room via the entrance hall.
The common room was deserted.
Connor took off her Invisibility Cloak, her brows furrowed as she said, "I can't believe the first task involves dragons. Isn't that a bit too dangerous?"
"To be precise, one of the three tasks involves dragons," Kyle said as he lifted the Disillusionment Charm, "As far as I know, there will be three challenges in the first task, representing the three schools. The dragon challenge is probably set up by Hogwarts."
"I bet those two headmasters have already informed their schools' champions about the tasks," Connor frowned.
"So, has Headmaster Dumbledore shared any information with you... like you mentioned, the headmasters always seem to find out about the tasks and help their champions," she added.
"Not yet," Kyle shook his head.
He hadn't even seen Dumbledore recently, so there was no way he could have received any inside information about the Triwizard Tournament.
When it came to cheating for their champions, Dumbledore was obviously not as proactive as Maxime and Karkaroff.
(End of Chapter)
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