Stimulated by pain and growing even angrier, the Short-Snout Dragon launched an even more ferocious attack, but no matter what it did, none of its attacks could harm Ethan.
All sorts of spells were cast in succession as Ethan waved his wand, as if those spells that troubled many upper-year students and even some adult wizards were as common as cheap goods.
With a light clench of Ethan's empty left hand, the Short-Snout Dragon found the chains on its body tightening. Its range of movement shrank little by little. Eventually, its claws could no longer lift freely, and its wings and tail were restricted from attacking the enemy before it. In the end, it had to lower its body, relying only on the twisting of its neck and the flames from its mouth to attack.
When its neck was finally pressed to the ground, several vines suddenly burst from the earth and wrapped tightly around the dragon's neck, pinning it firmly to the ground.
"Roar~"
The enraged Short-Snout glared at Ethan, who stood within arm's reach, and finally spewed a ball of blue flame. At such close range, the intense heat radiating from the flames was unbearable for any ordinary human.
Still, it was useless. Ethan raised his wand, and the magic flowing from its tip completely blocked the blue flames and the scorching heat, preventing them from getting anywhere near him.
"Expecto Patronum."
Ethan stood there, holding his wand in one hand, casting Expecto Patronum as he slowly walked over to the golden egg and reached out to take it.
The moment the golden egg was in his hand, he gave a slight flick of his wand. The white light condensed by the Patronus suddenly erupted with a powerful force, dispersing all the fire the Short-Snout had breathed. Then, that white light, like a heavy hammer, slammed down hard on the dragon's head, knocking it unconscious.
Sitting in the stands, Dumbledore let out a sigh of relief when he saw Ethan knock the dragon out. He had truly worried that Ethan might lose control for a moment and kill the dragon in front of all those spectators.
Although fire dragons had a terrible reputation, killing one in front of a crowd was completely different from privately hunting or capturing one. Even though many spectators used wands with dragon heartstring cores, some would still consider killing a fire dragon on the spot a cruel and uncivilized act.
If Ethan had done that, Dumbledore would have had to find a way to manage the aftermath. But now, seeing that Ethan had considered Hogwarts' reputation and hadn't staged a bloody scene, he was relieved.
"This is truly astonishing. Is he really just a fourth-year student?"
Barty Crouch from the Ministry of Magic also exhaled, but unlike Dumbledore, he had been too shocked to even breathe properly from start to finish. Even now, watching Ethan knock out the dragon, he still found it hard to believe.
A fourth-year meant fourteen years old.
Thinking about what he could do at that age, Barty Crouch shook his head helplessly. At fourteen, he couldn't even dream of using a powerful spell. And Ethan had just used not one, but several. There was even the dark spell Sectumsempra, and the powerful Patronus Charm, Expecto Patronum.
Even from the very beginning, Ethan's use of Incendio had been far beyond his ability. He had effortlessly manipulated the dragon's fire. Even now, he wasn't sure he could pull that off.
And there were several other techniques Ethan had used that he couldn't even understand.
"Perhaps Mr. Ethan Arendelle could consider visiting the Ministry of Magic after this term ends?"
Barty Crouch wondered if he should try recruiting him early. Such a gifted talent should be secured as soon as possible.
"Let's wait until the end of term and hear what he wants. For now, let him focus on the tournament."
"You're right, the Triwizard Tournament is the most important thing right now."
Dumbledore knew Ethan wouldn't return after this term. Barty Crouch's recruitment attempt would ultimately be a wasted effort.
While Barty Crouch was shocked by Ethan's power, Mad-Eye Moody also stared grimly at the arena. He realized he might be in trouble. With such a powerful competitor, how was he supposed to help Harry win the tournament?
Aside from the ill-intentioned Death Eater, the other spectators were all stunned. Hogwarts had produced another super genius, and this one was even stronger than the last. Some people even felt that Dumbledore hadn't been this strong at the same age.
Because most people were still reeling from the shock, the arena remained unusually quiet. Even Hermione, who had been full of worry and hoped Ethan wouldn't get hurt, was slow to react to the sudden reversal.
It wasn't until Ethan approached the stands holding the golden egg that Hermione finally snapped out of it.
"You defeated a fire dragon?"
"Yes."
"Defeated it head-on?"
"Although it was restrained with reinforced chains, I suppose it still counts as head-on..."
Ethan hadn't dodged or hidden. He had remained within the dragon's range from start to finish. So, it should count.
In fact, against a large, not-very-intelligent lizard that relied only on instincts and its teeth, claws, and fire, Ethan could have crushed it into pulp with a single thought.
But he couldn't do that, not in front of a full audience. Dumbledore had treated him well these past two years, so Ethan didn't mind being considerate in return.
He hadn't used heavy force. The most serious injury the dragon suffered was the gashes on its claw from Sectumsempra. And that spell had a counter-curse, so it could be reversed.
In other words, aside from being frustrated, tightly chained, and knocked out by a Patronus, the Swedish Short-Snout had suffered no serious damage.
Of course, whether this dragon would now doubt its existence and fall into depression was out of Ethan's hands.
He had originally planned to draw the fight out longer and use more spells to show restraint, but had he still overdone it?
Looking at the surrounding reactions, which were very different from when Harry had held the golden egg earlier, although the crowd eventually cheered and applauded, the mixture of awe and wariness in their eyes was unpleasant.
Still, he didn't want to pretend to be weak and come out of it covered in dirt.
After thinking it over, he was going to leave anyway. Let them think he was a monster. That might even scare off those with ill intentions—like a certain reporter out for revenge.
Because the impact of Ethan's performance was too great, it took a while before the judges recovered enough to announce the results.
Unsurprisingly, Ethan won first place in this round.
Fleur and Harry also completed the task successfully. Viktor, whose egg had been damaged, ranked last.
Though the Triwizard Tournament still had two more tasks, everyone had now seen Ethan's strength, which was clearly far above the others.
This put a great deal of psychological pressure on the other schools. Fleur had said she would come ask about wandless magic, but she disappeared after the task.
Viktor also left immediately. Ranking last in the first round and facing a competitor like Ethan weighed heavily on him.
The happiest students, naturally, were those from Hogwarts. After this round, Slytherin students strutted through the halls with their heads high.
Considering the long interval before the next task, they would be proud for quite some time.
On the other hand, after that task, Hermione began avoiding Ethan. Every time they crossed paths, she walked with her head down.
One day, they bumped into each other head-on. Ethan looked at Hermione, who had her head lowered like she was counting ants, and this time he didn't pretend not to notice.
"Is there money on the ground?"
"No, I just feel like an idiot."
It wasn't until after that task that she truly realized how strong Ethan was.
He had faced a fire dragon alone and defeated it with ease. Even if she hadn't realized it during the match, she understood afterward how relaxed he had been. From the moment he entered the arena, the dragon hadn't even scratched him. It had been a completely one-sided fight. Even after it was knocked out and Ethan took the golden egg, his robes were spotless, and his hair wasn't even slightly mussed.
In comparison, her previous worries now seemed laughable. She had even thought that while the gap between them wasn't small, it wasn't impossible to close. She had secretly viewed Ethan as a goal to catch up to...
It was this conflict between illusion and reality that made her start avoiding him.
"How could worrying about a friend make you feel like an idiot?"
"But you weren't in any danger at all."
"Nobody would have thought so before yesterday."
Ethan mentally excluded Scáthach, Illya, Leah, Rin, Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Snape... and those no longer in this world, like Logan up in heaven.
"I'm actually really happy that you worried about me."
"Really?"
"It means you think of me as a friend."
"You are my friend, of course."
Hermione finally looked up and met Ethan's eyes, her tone firm.
"But... do you think of me as a friend?"
(To be continued.)
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