Only Dumbledore's footsteps echoed in the spiral staircase, he smiled as he stepped onto the last step and found himself in front of a dark dome that resembled the outside of a Domain Extension.
"Merlin is a genius, even dead, his Domain Expansion still works by itself." Dumbledore commented with a truly sincere tone, looking at the huge black dome.
Suddenly, Dumbledore's eyes noticed a crack in the dome, not a big one, no more than two meters long. Since the dome was miles long, two meters really wasn't much.
The explosion of the Hogwarts core had damaged the seal, despite all the magical defenses.
Unfortunately, even a two-meter gap was enough for the Elder Dragon inside to exert some influence on the outside.
Worst of all, Dumbledore couldn't restore the seal to its perfect state, for the seal itself was an Extension of the Domain, and the holder of the Extension of the Domain was dead. It was impossible for him to restore the seal.
The only thing Dumbledore could do was to seal the entire area where the Dome was located, creating a double layered seal. But it certainly wouldn't be as effective as the seal Merlin himself had made.
Sensing something, Dumbledore raised his head and saw a giant golden eye staring directly at him.
Smiling softly, the old Hogwarts headmaster placed his hand on his chest and bowed gracefully. "Your Majesty, I see you're in very good health. It seems that sleep is doing you good, your scales are as bright as the light itself, a light that would put diamonds to shame."
A hint of anger flashed through his golden eyes at Dumbledore's sarcastic words. Vortigern could not understand why everyone he had met so far in this age had been wizards with sharp tongues.
Where are the honorable knights? Where is the honor of a strong man? Where are the good manners?
Vortigern suppressed the rage in his chest and spoke with his magical energy, or rather the minimal remnant he could mobilize at the moment.
"Human, what do you want? Rejuvenation? Power? To be king? Knowledge, perhaps? I can grant you any wish you desire." Vortigern spoke, his voice full of endless temptation and promises that would make anyone accept.
Unfortunately, it was Dumbledore who stood before him, a man who, though manipulative, loved his country above all else. If Vortigern were released, the headmaster of Hogwarts had no doubt that the Elder Dragon would destroy the entire island of Britain in his rage.
Still, Dumbledore couldn't help but give the old king of Camelot a strange look.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think Your Majesty had turned into a djinni." He continued with an amused laugh. "But my wish itself is very simple: could you die? It would save a lot of work for future successors to the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts."
If Vortigern had been angry before, he was furious now.
His huge body shook, threatening to rise at any moment and attack Dumbledore, but just as he was about to do so, Excalibur, still embedded in the white dragon's head, began to glow and Vortigern's body stopped moving.
A reluctant roar sounded in Dumbledore's mind before silence filled the room.
"It seems that although the seal is damaged, the core of the seal itself is Excalibur." Dumbledore thought, feeling the sacred aura still in the air, even the air seemed to be purified, making it extremely pure.
Knowing this, a weight fell from Dumbledore's shoulders, as long as Excalibur remained, the entire seal would still work perfectly, despite the damage to the barrier.
Shaking his head, Dumbledore began to create a barrier around the dome, using his own innate technique.
"Fried lizard, that must be delicious." Dumbledore commented with an amused smile on his lips, but if you looked into his eyes, you would see a cold, calm look.
He still couldn't understand how an organization could know a secret that only the Headmaster of Hogwarts knew. Before you become a Headmaster, you have to take an Unbreakable Vow, and not just any Unbreakable Vow, but one with extremely strict clauses.
Under no circumstances are you to divulge any information, whether in writing, speech, signs, or even by memory. If this is disobeyed, death is instantaneous!
Still, Organization R knew about Vortigern and planned to use it against him and young Asterion.
With one last look at the black dome, Dumbledore climbed the stairs and returned the place to its former silence.
...
In the Great Hall, Asterion stood next to Daphne while his friends talked to each other, all looking excited at the announcement of the second trial of the tournament, which would take place in a few minutes.
Looking around, Asterion could see his former rivals in the Game of Kings, all of whom looked very... healthy... some more than others.
Fortunately, the prosthetics of the Witch World were quite advanced in other countries, especially in Germany, which was the pinnacle of the modern world in healing spells and alchemical items. So after a few days of rest, Hans Weiss looked perfectly fine. But with a prosthesis instead of an arm.
Honestly, if his arm had been intact, he could have reattached it, but unfortunately either Rose's attack or Fiendfyre's were not kind to human tissue and destroyed his arm completely.
Another thing he noticed was that the French team was completely isolated. Fleur no longer had those lustful eyes on her, instead everyone looked at her with fear. Everyone saw how she had enslaved dozens of participants, including the Chinese and Japanese teams.
In particular, Matteo Roman, a member of the Italian team, looked completely terrified of the young Veela. Asterion couldn't blame the young man, the feeling of being enslaved would certainly not be pleasant.
"Ma sœur chérie." Gabriel stood beside Asterion and looked at his older sister with pity. She looked extremely pitiful, which made Theodore try everything to cheer up the source of his passion.
To Blaise and Daphne's extreme dismay, they both just wanted the French girl to disappear. Although they both wanted it for different reasons. Blaise wanted his friend back and Daphne wanted the French bitch away from her fiancé.
Asterion, on the other hand, didn't mind Gabriele's approach, although the girl seemed to be a nuisance, he discovered that the girl seemed to have a high EQ, which made even the most boring conversations pleasant.
Frankly, Asterion had the idea to kidnap Gabriele from France, the girl was born to be the foreign minister. Not only was she cunning like an old fox, but she also had an ability to control a conversation that would put any veteran politician to shame.
"Your sister is a strong woman, Lady Gabrielle." Raising the goblet to his lips, Asterion spoke in a calm tone, seeing Gabrielle's worried expression. He wasn't lying, if there was a strong woman in this world, it was Fleur Delacour.
Imagine being under the lustful eyes of men and women twenty-four hours a day. Fleur's mentality was definitely one of the strongest he knew.
In the future, he could even imagine Fleur becoming a Special Grade Witch, considering she hadn't even graduated yet and already had the strength of a Grade 1 Witch.
Gabrielle's eyes narrowed as she looked at Asterion, a smile playing on her red lips. She could feel that Asterion's attitude had changed. In the past he would have stayed away and even ignored her, but at this moment she felt that he wanted to befriend her. Although she was still confused as to why his attitude had changed.
However, she soon put these thoughts aside and thought that this was a great opportunity to get closer to her crush.
Gabrielle ignored Daphne's increasingly murderous stare and chatted happily with Asterion.
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Author's Thoughts: Help me choose the third trial, I'm as confused as you can imagine!!!!
Support me to write more and read chapters ahead of all regular readers!
P-atreon.com/HPSCB
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 184 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (2), Chapter 185 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (3), Chapter 186 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (4), Chapter 187 - Second Test of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (5), Chapter 188 - Asterion & Daphne (R-18), Chapter 189 - Asterion & Daphne, Chapter 190 - How to Train Your Dragon (1), Chapter 191 - How to Train Your Dragon (2), Chapter 192 - How to Train Your Dragon (3), Chapter 193 - How to Train Your Dragon (4), Chapter 194 - Dragon Race (1), Chapter 195 - Dragon Race (2), Chapter 196 - Dragon Race (3), Chapter 197 - Dragon Race (4), Chapter 198 - Dragon Race (5), Chapter 199 - Dragon Race (6).
As everyone chattered, Dumbledore rose from his seat, holding a goblet in his hand and tapping the golden goblet gently with a knife.
Timmm!!!
Suddenly, the room was silent, and all eyes were on the old man wearing a blue robe with silver threads. His long beard was so white and smooth that you'd wonder how many hours a day Dumbledore spent grooming his beautiful beard.
"First of all, I must say that the game of Kings was an event that we all enjoyed watching." He spoke in his genuinely happy voice. "Now, on to the second trial."
As his voice trailed off, the clapping sounded extremely loud, like a wave spreading forward. Dumbledore wasn't lying, they were all excited to see such bloody, cruel and emotionally charged fights. There was no doubt that they all wanted more and couldn't wait for the next trial of the tournament.
Perhaps seeing the eager eyes of the young wizards and witches, Dumbledore cleared his throat and spoke. "After a great deal of indecision, the Hogwarts team and I have decided what the Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be."
"The Second Trial will be simple, we're calling it 'How to Train Your Dragon.'"
When his voice stopped, everyone's eyes widened in shock. It was common knowledge that dragons couldn't be tamed, the only report was that Newt Scamander, the famous magizoologist, had tamed one.
Ignoring the murmurs that erupted from the crowd of students and representatives from other countries, Dumbledore continued. "The Second Test will be in two phases. The first phase is the selection of the egg, which will be randomly assigned to the four members of each team. Those who fail to hatch the dragons from their eggs will be deemed disqualified from proceeding to the second phase." Everyone held their breath as they listened to Dumbledore's words; if before he had only had everyone's attention, now he had the attention of all the students and representatives of other wizarding schools.
"The second phase is the next and final one, for the teams that have managed to hatch their dragons from the eggs, these dragons will be ridden and used in a very challenging obstacle course. At the end of the race, points will be awarded based on skill and strategy. Those with the most points are, of course, the champions.
Before any students raised their hands to ask questions, Dumbledore continued. "I know most of you are confused about how to tame dragons, but as we all know, dragons aren't usually very friendly."
As Dumbledore said this, he couldn't help but think of the sleeping Elder Dragon and smiled as he remembered his words.
"But while taming may not be possible, we can always use our imagination and knowledge to control a dragon, even against its will. Remember, your only limitation is your knowledge." As he finished, Dumbledore looked into motivational eyes and nodded in satisfaction at his words. Young people needed motivation and ambition to keep going.
The Russian Minister of Magic, Dmitri Ivanov, muttered to himself. "I wish I had that ability. Fortunately, even if I don't have such skills and charisma, I have the strength to keep everyone in their place and obey."
Benjamin, President of MACUSA, looked at his old rival and spoke sarcastically. "Do you think you'll be able to control these rebels for long? If I were you, I'd live on a mountain for fear of being murdered in my sleep."
Showing no weakness, Dmitri retorted. "If I remember correctly, you're not too popular in the fifty states. I think there's a woman named Elizabeth Olsen who's gaining a lot of popularity with her liberal promises. If I were you, I'd go back to you country and take care of her first, or maybe you won't be able to sit next to me next year."
Benjamin's face couldn't help but darken as he listened to his rival's words. The worst thing was that every word Dmitri said wasn't a lie, he knew that very well.
At the thought of standing with the other Senators and looking up to where Dmitri would be standing with the new President, shaking hands, the MACUSA President's face grew even darker.
Dmitri felt like he was on cloud nine at that moment, even though he hadn't won Benjamin's Island in the previous wager, and seeing his grim face brightened his day.
"In the afternoon, all eggs will be distributed, all team representatives must be present at that time." Rolling his eyes at the two middle-aged men bickering like teenagers, Dumbledore kindly added to all the students.
At the Slytherin table, Theodore felt his hair stand on end with excitement; the mere thought of flying on a dragon and winning in front of hundreds of thousands of wizards and witches made the fourteen-year-old grin like an idiot.
"Not only is he a silly idiot in love, he's also become a real idiot, forgetting that he's not part of the Hogwarts team." Blaise muttered to himself, seeing the state of his friend. Although he, like any teenage wizard, wanted to fly on a dragon, the Italian wizard knew it was impossible.
"What are you going to do to control your dragon, Asterion?" Ophelia asked with a mouthful of toast, earning an annoyed look from Astoria and Gina.
The girl seemed to have recovered from the cruel words she'd heard from Bellatrix, though maybe that wasn't a very believable truth.
Asterion thought for a moment before answering. "A cursed spirit in the form of a parasite, capable of controlling the dragon. If it were in a human, this wouldn't happen, but since a dragon is much stronger than a human sorcerer, it can withstand it without being melted by the negative magical energy."
Asterion's words drew surprised looks from everyone around. They thought it would be difficult, but when Asterion spoke simply, they understood that House Black's innate technique was very favorable for this kind of task.
"Fleur should charm the dragon with Veela's Charm?" Blaise spoke uncertainly, could dragons find other races attractive?
"The Veela Charm doesn't work that way. The target has to have a preference for the person and gender, so a gay man can't be attracted to Fleur." Gabrielle shook her head and explained to everyone, she was also curious how her sister would control the dragon.
Maybe with her voice? She wondered, but didn't tell anyone. Gabrielle was no fool, in this first phase she wouldn't be surprised if other teams tried to disrupt or sabotage each other. After all, in any sport, eliminating one's competitors was a huge advantage.
So Gabriele kept her mouth shut about her sister's potential trump cards, because she didn't know how many ears and eyes were glued to the table, secretly listening.
"I hope we win the four Antipodean Opaleye eggs." Astoria spoke in a tone full of desire for one of the most beautiful dragons in the world. Unfortunately, even a noble house couldn't raise dragons, the territory a dragon needed to be raised in was too large.
"That would make things easier, these are the most docile and least aggressive dragons." Gina added her friend's words in a somewhat shy voice, still a little embarrassed to speak in front of so many people.
Asterion nodded, this breed of dragon was indeed more docile, technically the easiest to control, something he wanted, not for himself, but for Rose, Cedric and Luna, who would have a hard time controlling a dragon.
Especially Rose and Luna would suffer a lot, because both of their innate techniques had nothing to do with magical animals. Which made things quite complicated.
"Still, I'd rather have a Chinese Fireball, they're just beautiful." Draco, who had been silent, spoke like a fanboy, his expression showing a lot of envy as he looked at Asterion.
He discovered that even though he was the patriarch of a noble house, he couldn't do everything he wanted, which included acquiring a dragon. Unfortunately, even with his financial resources, it was impossible to secretly smuggle a dragon egg.
Dragons were too powerful to be bred at home; Draco wasn't the first person to have similar thoughts, and he wouldn't be the last. It was quite normal to want a dragon in the wizarding world.
"A Ukrainian Ironbelly, it's also very beautiful." Dorea, Draco's sister, also showed a rare envy on her face. She seemed to share her brother's love for dragons.
Seeing both siblings acting like this, Asterion rolled his eyes. Dragons were nothing like they were in the Harry Potter movies, they were much bigger and more powerful than in the books and movies. They really were big creatures that could easily burn down a small town.
But there was still a doubt in Asterion's mind, the choice of the dragon theme seemed very suspicious with an Elder Dragon sealed beneath Hogwarts.
Could Dumbledore be up to something?
Don't blame Asterion for being too paranoid about Dumbledore, the whole situation was very suspicious!
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Author's Thoughts: Chapter 200... Wow, I really have no idea how I managed to write a fanfic to this point. 300,000 words written and an incredible feeling of accomplishment.
I can only thank you for your support, your kind comments, your criticism (particularly harsh, but it's made me grow and improve, although some words still hurt a lot...). You really don't know how much you've helped me and I ask that you continue to help me, as I still plan to write and finish this fanfic.
Thoughts from the author: Support me to write more and read chapters ahead of all regular readers!
P-atreon.com/HPSCB
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 186 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (4), Chapter 187 - Second Test of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (5), Chapter 188 - Asterion & Daphne (R-18), Chapter 189 - Asterion & Daphne, Chapter 190 - How to Train Your Dragon (1), Chapter 191 - How to Train Your Dragon (2), Chapter 192 - How to Train Your Dragon (3), Chapter 193 - How to Train Your Dragon (4), Chapter 194 - How to Train Your Dragon (5), Chapter 195 - Dragon Race (1), Chapter 196 - Dragon Race (2), Chapter 197 - Dragon Race (3), Chapter 198 - Dragon Race (4), Chapter 199 - Dragon Race (5), Chapter 200 - Dragon Race (6), Chapter 201 - Dragon Race (7).
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