Chapter 139
A large group of dragon care staff entered the arena. They spent a lot of effort calming the frightened and shocked Swedish Short-snout Dragon and moved it away. The team leader exchanged a knowing glance with Soren.
Next, staff from the Ministry of Magic entered to repair the scene.
Once everything was ready, the venue was restored to its original state, and a Welsh Green Dragon that had been caged was moved into the arena. After the cage was removed, Bagman blew his whistle again.
The second to enter the arena was Katalin.
She walked slowly out of the tent and stood on the field, sunlight shining on her, reflecting a dazzling cold light as if mirrored by a smooth surface, making her figure hard to discern.
Opposite her, the Welsh Green Dragon crouched low, guarding its clutch of eggs, its fierce gaze fixed on the girl before it, occasionally letting out a low growl that sounded like a warning.
Katalin parted her delicate lips and clearly pronounced, "Shatter!"
She used a Cutting Curse!
However, unlike ordinary Cutting Curses, this one, glowing with a faint white light, not only stirred the air but also emitted a hissing sound as the air was sliced. The curse accurately struck the dragon's body, causing a spray of deep red blood to erupt from under its neck.
At the same time, the dragon was violently thrown back by the impact of the curse!
Katalin took advantage of the situation and quickly ran forward while softly murmuring a long incantation. Then, she waved her wand again in a complex pattern, sending forth a beam of white light. At this point, the Welsh Green Dragon had not yet regained its footing from the fall, let alone mount any meaningful resistance. The white light accurately struck the wound on the dragon's body, erupting a long column of deep red water like a large fountain, splattering blood everywhere.
Soren furrowed his brow; the second spell was not a Cutting Curse, nor was it a combat spell—it was a Bleeding Spell from healing magic!
The combination of Cutting Curse and Bleeding Spell, was indeed tricky!
The Welsh Green Dragon let out a mournful cry and collapsed helplessly to the ground, and the dragon care staff rushed onto the scene to provide first aid to the dragon. At this moment, Katalin walked gracefully to the golden egg and lifted it up.
Katalin's displayed strength successfully captivated the audience's hearts, and they generously applauded her, matching the applause given to Soren.
The third to enter the arena was Eleanor.
Compared to the previous two warriors, Eleanor's performance was less like that of a fighter and more like that of a priestess conducting a magical ritual. She walked back and forth around the arena, chanting softly, while the Chinese Fireball Dragon glared at her fiercely, its head turning with her movements, occasionally shooting small fireballs filled with smoke from its nostrils.
As if suddenly finding a specific position, Eleanor abruptly stood still, pointed her wand at the ground, and shouted, "Dragon Sealing Spell!"
A deep and resonant rumble echoed from beneath the earth, and the ground of the entire arena suddenly lit up with intersecting crimson magical patterns—followed by a terrifying, earth-shattering scream from the Chinese Fireball Dragon. It thrashed in agony as if ensnared by an invisible net.
The Chinese Fireball Dragon was inherently fierce; it roared and howled, its claws digging a large pit in the ground, yet it still could not break free from the invisible restraint. It tried to breathe fire, opening its mouth to reveal sharp fangs, but only saliva sprayed everywhere, with no flames in sight.
It was in despair.
It closed its eyes and lay limply on the ground, giving up the struggle.
Soren immediately understood—this was a sealing technique aimed at dragons, or rather, all with dragon blood, capable of sealing their innate abilities, such as strength and fire-breathing.
Eleanor walked up to the Chinese Fireball Dragon, ignoring its gaze that seemed ready to devour her. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, she raised the golden egg!
Although Eleanor's battle process was far less exciting than the first two warriors, this magic that could firmly restrain the powerful dragon still amazed the young wizards, who applauded her in admiration.
The outstanding performances of the three warriors are like jewels, while Harry's performance can only be described as lackluster.
Even before he knew the task was a dragon, he was already terrified, but he still held onto a glimmer of hope—he was the last to go, and as long as the previous warriors took a bit of time, he could quickly think of a way during that gap.
What he didn't expect was that each warrior finished the task in less than five minutes and obtained the golden egg!
When the whistle blew, his mind went blank. What to do? He hadn't figured out a solution!
He trembled as he walked, like a soulless zombie, keeping his head down and looking at the ground as he exited the tent.
The sunlight slanted onto his face, half of which was hidden in shadow, giving it a somewhat mysterious and eerie appearance.
The Hungarian Horntail crouched at the far end of the arena, its fierce yellow eyes fixed on Harry, violently twisting its spiky tail, leaving several meters of pockmarked scars on the hard ground.
Harry stood frozen on the field, thinking for a full ten minutes, and was loudly booed by the Slytherin students. Of course, this had no effect on him, because at that moment, all he could hear was a chaotic noise.
For some reason, amidst the noise, he could hear a vague voice whispering in his ear, "Use your strengths..."
Strengths? I have no strengths other than Quidditch! Wait, Quidditch?
Could it be...
Just as Harry found inspiration, it seemed that voice gently said again in his ear: "Use a spell to obtain what you need..."
Harry raised his head, his eyes shining with brilliance. He pushed aside all distractions and shouted, "Accio Firebolt!"
He summoned the Firebolt from the castle just like in the original story, then rode the Firebolt to obtain the golden egg, despite sustaining a minor injury on his shoulder.
Next came the scoring segment.
Soren's performance was undoubtedly the best and most impressive of the entire event. Dumbledore, Crouch, and Bagman all unhesitatingly gave him a perfect score of 10. Although Madame Maxime hesitated for a moment, she also gave him a perfect score of 10. However, Karkaroff shockingly only gave him a 4!
In the original story, Harry also received this treatment, but that coward Harry didn't dare to react to such unfairness. However, Soren was not Harry; he was not so easily bullied.
Soren's expression darkened as he walked toward the judges' table and spoke loudly with the amplification spell: "Dear Headmaster Karkaroff, I would like to ask what mistake I made in this competition that caused your deduction of points?"
The audience was taken aback by this turn of events, and the scene fell silent.
Dumbledore and Snape remained expressionless, while Professor McGonagall looked at Karkaroff with a hint of schadenfreude.
Karkaroff's expression changed, and he said sternly: "Your performance was too fake; reciting a few incomprehensible spells in a theatrical manner is not a respectable tactic..." As he spoke, he seemed to hint at something, casting an almost explicit look toward Dumbledore, and then said, "Letting the dragon lie down, I have never heard of a dragon being tamed!"
Soren replied loudly: "Since our esteemed guest—the headmaster from Durmstrang—has doubts about my performance, then to prove myself and uphold the reputation of Hogwarts, I hereby formally challenge you to a fair one-on-one duel, may I ask—are you willing to come down and fight me!"
The audience was shocked.
Such a challenge had never occurred in the history of the magical world.
It is well known that a wizard's magical power generally increases with age. As a headmaster, Karkaroff was at least at the level of an elite Auror, not much weaker than McGonagall or Snape. A fourth-year student challenging an elite Auror was equivalent to crossing four levels to issue a challenge!
Soren was already familiar with Karkaroff's character from the original work; he absolutely dared not accept the challenge because he had not figured out Soren's background, and he could not afford to lose. Once he lost, he would be utterly disgraced.
That being said, even if he really did accept the challenge, Soren would not be afraid at all. After all, Dumbledore was there, and he would definitely not be in any danger. Moreover, his magical power was that of an adult.The level of the wizard, combined with tactics and hidden spells, makes it possible to achieve a counter-kill beyond one's level.
As expected by Soren, Karkaroff's backed down, changing the score to a full 10 points.
Soren scored 50 points—full marks!
Katalin's spell was too rough; the gusts generated during the process of knocking the fire dragon away caused varying degrees of damage to each fire dragon egg, resulting in her receiving 45 points.
Eleanor's approach did not demonstrate the courage and fighting spirit expected of a warrior, and she also had the longest preparation time, so she lost some points and received 45 points, tying for second place with Katalin.
Soren refrained from commenting on this scoring method, as it was the same in the original work. After all, the Triwizard Tournament is a competition showcasing ancient beast-fighting warriors, so the entertainment value brought by the warriors' methods of overcoming challenges is also an important scoring factor. In the original work, Furong's method of overcoming challenges was clearly the most effective—she took the golden egg while the fire dragon was asleep, without harming any other dragon eggs, yet her ranking was the lowest.
This is also why Soren had to think hard two days ago to come up with the most dazzling way to overcome challenges. He not only wanted to win the competition but also to win people's hearts!
Harry's score was slightly lower than in the original work because he spent a lot of time thinking during the competition, resulting in a score of 38 points.
The rankings of the competition results are as follows: Soren first, Katalin and Eleanor tied for second, Harry third.
Very good, this is exactly the result Soren wanted!
Soren secretly chuckled; this was no longer just a child's game in the original world. Little Barty helping Harry turn the tide for victory would no longer be so easy.
After announcing the competition results, the first event of the Triwizard Cup officially came to an end.
The second event of the competition will be held on February 24, three months later, during which the warriors need to uncover the secrets of the golden egg. However, Soren already knew the method to crack it, so he became free again.
****
Want to read more of this fanfic [125+ chapters], and support me :- Patreon.com/Theuntamed0 [Character's arts are uploaded there, you can check them out if you like.]