Chapter 887: Traditional Skills
Chapter 887: Traditional Skills
"It seems Albert has seen right through us."
In the room, Janine, who was playing Wizard's Chess with Fleur, glanced at the tall figure outside the window and murmured to her opponent, "As expected, Madam Maxime will do whatever it takes to find out the content of the first task."
"Did you come here in the middle of the night, instead of sleeping, just to chat with me about this nonsense?" Fleur frowned deeply, her gaze involuntarily falling on the well-dressed Madam Maxime. She wondered what was so attractive about her that the gamekeeper of Hogwarts would agree to this invitation.
"Of course not," Janine replied. "I came to gather some information."
"What kind of information?" Fleur asked.
"Information about Albert," Janine admitted. After seeing Isabelle in Hogsmeade, she realized how little she actually knew about Albert.
"I don't know much more than you do. I really don't understand why you like him so much. Is it just because he's handsome?" Fleur couldn't comprehend Janine's obsession with Albert.
She acknowledged that Albert was handsome, talented, and well-known, but Janine herself was no less exceptional and perhaps even more advantaged.
"Your taste in men is questionable," Janine retorted.
"Even if it is, it's still better than you fixating on someone else's man," Fleur shot back.
Fleur was a bit dejected, but she had to admit that Janine's family had good taste. It was just that some of their behaviors left much to be desired.
"Get to the point. What do you want?" Janine asked.
"I haven't decided yet, but I'll let you know when the time comes," Fleur said, unable to hide her schadenfreude. "But I don't think you have a chance with him. There are probably a dozen other girls like you, secretly pining for him." She went on to recount her first encounter with Albert, how her father had mentioned him in a letter, suggesting that they become pen pals. She recalled her surprise, as her father's friends were usually around his age, and the idea of introducing her to one of them seemed odd.
"The first time I met him was after an International Wizard's Chess tournament. Albert Anderson had just won the championship, and that's when I realized that the friend my father mentioned, Anderson, was around my age," Fleur continued. "However, my cousin, Louise, knows him and likes him too. They are pen pals, often exchanging letters. As for how they met, it might have been through my uncle's introduction. Who knows?"
"Then, not long ago, I saw him again at my cousin's wedding. Anderson was there with a woman named Isabelle," Fleur added after a moment's thought. "At the wedding, he was mingling with a group of famous wizards. They seemed to know each other and had a good relationship."
"Oh, and last summer, I ran into him again. He was with his girlfriend at the time, and I heard they were engaged," Fleur said, her face filled with schadenfreude. "They were wearing engagement rings, and my cousin Louise was heartbroken for a long time because of it."
"Engaged?" Janine's expression froze, and she asked in disbelief, "But he just came of age this year, didn't he?"
"I'm sure they're engaged. They have no reason to lie about it," Fleur said, satisfied by the impact of this revelation on Janine. "So, you have no chance. There are probably a dozen other girls like you, pining for him in secret." She didn't hold back her mockery and intended to use this to strike at Janine.
It took a moment for Janine to recover, and when she noticed the schadenfreude on Fleur's face, she calmly said, "I'm not vying for the position of his wife."
"Yes, you just want to be his mistress. I really can't understand what your family is thinking," Fleur retorted.
"That's none of your concern. Madam Maxime should be back soon. I think she'll tell you what the first task is, so you can start planning how to get through it," Janine said as she moved her chess piece, checkmating Fleur and ending the half-hour game.
Not long after Janine left to get some rest, Madam Maxime returned and approached Fleur to discuss the first task.
"Have a seat," Madam Maxime said, getting straight to the point. "I just found out what the first task of the Triwizard Tournament is."
At that moment, Fleur's heart sank. She had believed that Madam Maxime wouldn't help her cheat, but it seemed Albert had been right—cheating was commonplace in the Triwizard Tournament.
Fleur waited quietly for Madam Maxime to reveal the details of the first task.
"The champions will have to face a dragon," Madam Maxime said, not mincing her words as she described the danger that awaited Fleur. "I saw a group of dragon tamers bringing four dragons into the woods earlier."
"Do we have to fight the dragons?" Fleur asked, her eyes wide.
Fleur stared at Madam Maxime, recalling how she had dismissed Albert's claims about taming a dragon in the pub. But now, she wondered if she herself could defeat a dragon.
Obviously not.
"Of course not," Madam Maxime reassured her. "You'll need to get past the dragons and retrieve a golden egg from their nests. Only those who retrieve the golden egg will be considered to have passed the first task. Don't worry, you don't need to defeat the dragon. Just look for an opportunity to steal the egg, and I'll help you figure out a way to do it."
"That won't be easy," Fleur said, her heart filled with anxiety and tension like never before. She even doubted if she would be reduced to ashes by the dragon's flame before she could get close to its nest.
"Dragons have weaknesses," Madam Maxime said. "If we target those—"
"You mean their eyes? But I don't think angering a dragon is a good idea," Fleur interrupted, remembering Albert's mention of the dragon's weakness. She immediately understood what Madam Maxime was suggesting, but she didn't want to use the Stunning Spell. Even if she succeeded, she would still have to face an enraged dragon.
"No, I'm not talking about the Stunning Spell. That would be a reckless move," Madam Maxime said, having been pondering how to deal with the dragon since she found out about the task. "I think you should play to your strengths."
"My strengths?"
"You're very skilled in enchantment magic, aren't you?" Madam Maxime said.
"But will enchantment magic work on a dragon?" Fleur asked skeptically.
"Not that kind of enchantment," Madam Maxime clarified. "I'm talking about a powerful sleep spell. Your talent and wand are well-suited for it. If you cast it, you can definitely put the dragon into a trance. Then, when the dragon is drowsy, you can sneak in and steal the golden egg. Confronting the dragon head-on is foolish. As you know, it takes at least eight dragon tamers to control a dragon." She was well aware that the key to the first task was not defeating the dragon but obtaining the golden egg, which would test the champions' courage and wisdom.
And indeed, in the past, it was very likely that the task would involve taming a Hungarian Horntail. There was a reason why the Triwizard Tournament was criticized for being extremely dangerous.
"We'll start training tonight," Madame Maxime said. "As for the Stunning Spell you mentioned, let's keep it as a backup plan. To be frank, we don't have much of an advantage. Karkaroff will likely sneak out tonight to find out the content of the first task, and I suspect he'll have his champion use the Stunning Spell on the dragon." Madame Maxime had no illusions about Karkaroff's scruples. "As for Harry Potter and Albert Anderson, they probably also know about the dragon since they are both close to Hagrid. I'm sure Hagrid will leak the information to them."
Fleur fell silent again as she recalled Albert's words in the pub: All the champions are cheating. The whole tournament is a joke.
Wasn't that exactly the situation they were in now?
Madame Maxime had misunderstood Hagrid, though. Hagrid hadn't yet told Albert and Harry about the dragon. In fact, Hagrid had considered doing so, but Madame Maxime's romantic date and his own excitement about seeing the dragon had pushed all other thoughts from his mind.
With no reminder or urging from Barty, an excited Hagrid tended to forget about others. Perhaps he would remember tomorrow and tell Harry and Albert, but who knew what tomorrow would bring?
As for Barty, he had completely given up on helping Harry win and thus had less time to deal with Harry's foolishness, especially since Dumbledore had started suspecting him. Any action on his part would be unwise. Moreover, with Black and Lupin's help, Harry was unlikely to die easily. If Harry did perish in the Triwizard Tournament, it might even be a good thing for the Dark Lord, as it would prove that the so-called savior wasn't qualified to stand against him.
Harry Potter, of course, was completely unaware of this. Thanks to Albert, he had already learned about the dragon and made thorough preparations, making him the most confident champion besides Albert.
However, the next day, something extremely bizarre happened. Someone actually came to inform Albert about facing the dragon in the first task.
"It seems you already know," Janine noted, seeing Albert's calm expression. She knew he was aware of the dragon, but she had come to tell him anyway, as currying favor was necessary. As for how she knew, it was, of course, from Fleur.
"Aren't you worried that students from Beauxbatons will see you as a traitor?" Albert asked with a quirky expression.
He naturally knew where the information about Beauxbatons had come from, but hearing it directly from a student of the academy still made him feel strange.
"I think that gamekeeper, Hagrid, will probably tell you. Aren't you two close?" Janine asked. "So why are you here to tell me this?" Albert inquired with a smile.
"I just feel that he's not very reliable. Maybe he got too excited about his date with Madame Maxime and forgot about it," Janine replied.
Albert fell silent because Hagrid had indeed not told them about the dragon yet. At least, Janine was right about one thing: Hagrid was too excited about his date with Madame Maxime, causing him to forget.
Or perhaps he was too thrilled about seeing the dragon.
Who knew?
He probably forgot.
In any case, Hagrid had always been rather unreliable in Albert's opinion.
What truly disappointed Albert was the possibility of failing in the task of "finding out the content of the first Triwizard Tournament task."
However, the most embarrassing part of this incident wasn't Albert's reaction but what happened shortly after Janine left. Albert shared the news with Hermione, who then informed Harry. To Harry's astonishment, he learned about the dragon from a student of Beauxbatons.
Although they had already heard about the dragon from Albert, the trio was perplexed by Hagrid's apparent defection.
"I think Hagrid must have been charmed by Madame Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons," Hermione concluded.
Perhaps, when Hagrid came down from his excitement, he would remember to tell them about the dragon.
"Maybe he'll only recall it on the 24th," Ron added, finding the situation ironically amusing.
"I suddenly realize how sharp and correct Albert's words are," Harry said. He wasn't too concerned about the competition anymore, just as Albert had said: Everyone is cheating. The whole tournament is a joke. What a joke about the honor of the champions.
"The fact is that everyone except Dumbledore lacks such noble character," Ron scoffed, "as evidenced by what happened during the Quidditch Cup this year." Ron now felt that winning the Triwizard Tournament was less important than ensuring Harry's safety.
As for the dragon, on their way back to school after consolidating their basics with the help of Sirius and Remus, they encountered Hagrid, who seemed to be waiting for them.
"Harry, I have something important to tell you," Hagrid said mysteriously.
"We already know about the dragon," Hermione reassured him.
"You know?" Hagrid was surprised.
"Albert told us. This morning, a student from Beauxbatons informed Albert, and he then told Harry," Hermione explained.
The trio noticed the embarrassed expression on Hagrid's face because the news about the dragon hadn't come directly from him or through a letter. Instead, it had reached them via a student from Beauxbatons.
"Don't worry about Hagrid," Hermione comforted him. "You forgot to tell us, but it's alright because Albert can predict the future, and he knew about the dragon a long time ago. So, Harry has been preparing with that in mind."
"Oh, good luck, Harry. And as for Albert, I never thought he'd be someone we need to worry about," Hagrid said awkwardly.
"You shouldn't have said that earlier," Ron chided Hermione as they walked away. "He even forgot about Harry and Albert."
"He didn't mean to. You probably wouldn't understand how he feels!" Hermione retorted.
"I don't understand, but if Harry had faced the dragon without any prior knowledge, what do you think would have happened?" Ron now understood why cheating had become a tradition in the Triwizard Tournament.
If they had only learned about the dragon on the day of the task, perhaps only Albert would have remained calm while the others would have been intimidated. Not to mention coming up with a plan to deal with the dangerous creature in a short time.
All that talk about testing the champions' magical abilities, advantages, courage, theory, reasoning, and ability to overcome danger was nonsense. Even if a thirty-year-old wizard were placed in front of a dragon, he'd be lucky to escape with his life without wetting his pants in fear.
(End of Chapter)
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