With Rose's dragon egg hatching and the day of the race drawing closer, more and more dragons were emerging from their respective eggs. It's noticeable that, unlike in the original world of Harry Potter, dragons grow much faster here. Fast enough that, within a few days, most dragons could already be ridden, though they were not very fast due to their young age.
The largest dragon belonged to Asterion. Ancalagon was the size of three horses, appearing as a truly imposing and powerful dragon. In the future, he would honor his namesake from another universe. His crown of horns seemed particularly intimidating. No one could compare Ancalagon to the Hebridean Black, the breed of the dragon. They looked completely different.
Because they were dragons, all participants, along with their dragons, could not remain at Hogwarts. As a result, a small village was established at the foot of Hogwarts.
For those who managed to force the hatching of dragon eggs, they now faced a more difficult challenge: controlling a fast-growing dragon, ravenously hungry, especially thirsty for meat and blood.
At that moment, in the new village below Hogwarts, a young man could be seen running with all his strength, fear painting his face in an almost morbid pallor. Behind him, a dragon flew in pursuit, its beastly purple eyes filled with hunger and a ferocity worthy of one of the world's most powerful predators.
"Help!!!" the young man shouted loudly, barely dodging a charge from the dragon behind him. He didn't have his wand in hand, showing that he had fled in a rush, running from the dragon.
Despite his cries for help and the fact that the houses were all relatively close, no one came out to aid the young man being chased by the dragon.
"Another idiot who thought taming a dragon is like taming a dog with treats. Does he think he's some kind of Viking who likes dragons?" Asterion remarked through the window with a look of disgust. In his eyes, witches and wizards should be intelligent and studious. What's the difference between magical animals and wizards without knowledge? None!
Both are stupid animals in that case!
Although she didn't understand Asterion's last words, Daphne, dressed only in her fiancé's long shirt, sat beside him with a steaming cup of hot chocolate in her hands, sipping the warm liquid with a small, comfortable smile playing on her lips.
Knowing that Asterion would be living outside the castle for a period of time, as his legitimate fiancée, Daphne naturally went to live with him, and she admitted it was the best choice she had ever made.
The two lived alone in this cozy wooden house, which she had personally decorated down to the smallest details, with all the love she could muster. Although it wasn't a mansion full of opulence like she was used to, she felt strangely content every time she looked at the house she shared with Asterion.
This house was a world that belonged to her, Asterion, and another girl with white hair.
It was as if they were already husband and wife.
Unfortunately, this calm and peace were soon shattered by the agonizing scream of the young man outside. Daphne curiously looked out the window and saw a Hungarian Horntail dragon biting down on the young man with its monstrous mouth and teeth sharper than daggers.
Judging by the agonizing expression on his face, the pain was far from ordinary; otherwise, his scream wouldn't have resembled that of a pig being cruelly slaughtered.
"I give up," the young man screamed hysterically as he desperately tried to pull back, which was a terrible decision on his part, given that the dragon was still feasting on his arm. This made the young man's expression even more pained than before.
When the young man shouted that he was giving up on the competition, Asterion and Daphne watched as Professor McGonagall waved her hand. With a simple gesture, the dragon was bound in chains made of iron. Everything was done with such mastery and experience that no student could have achieved it.
With great care, she pried open the dragon's mouth and carefully removed the shredded, broken arm, with many parts chewed between the dragon's teeth. Shaking her head as she saw the tragic state of the arm, the Transfiguration Master helped the young man get to the Hogwarts infirmary.
As for the dragon, it was taken away by a team dressed in red, who seemed very skilled at handling the winged beasts. In less than five minutes, the dragon had been secured in a tough metal crate and disappeared from everyone's sight along with the wizards and witches.
"Dragon keepers in the Dragon Reserves are very professional. The dragon barely resisted, though that was largely thanks to Professor McGonagall's transfiguration," Daphne commented, observing the scene with great interest.
Asterion, beside her, agreed with his fiancée's words. They were truly professionals at what they did. This wasn't the first time they had seen these experts at work; the young man who had been attacked by the dragon wasn't the first—there had been two others before him. Fools who thought they could earn the respect and love of dragons as if they were docile dogs.
As for how other wizards and witches were managing to control their dragons, Asterion didn't know. It was a secret no participant could share, so as not to help their enemies.
However, according to Luna, some used potions with hallucinogenic or confusion effects, and some even used Amortentia.
When Asterion heard that someone had used the strongest love potion in existence on a dragon, his expression turned strange. The image was so disturbing that he wanted to rip his brain out.
As for Luna herself, she had used an ancient ritual that existed in her family, and with her own blood as the primary material, she created a bond that allowed her to connect mentally with the dragon, making them practically one, which greatly increased the dragon's loyalty.
However, an ancient and outdated ritual like this had some rather serious flaws. Imagine sharing a mind with a dragon—definitely, strange scenarios would occur during the process, and that's exactly what happened.
The dragon's personality became somewhat similar to Luna's. Since Luna was a vegetarian, the dragon also developed a dislike for meat, giving birth to the world's first vegetarian dragon...
When Asterion heard Luna's words, he glanced at the sleepy dragon beside her and contorted his lips at such... unreal news.
Asterion was certain that Luna had done the entire ritual on purpose. It was her little revenge, retaliating for the torture she had suffered at the hands of Albion, who was still sealed away. He could already imagine the expression on the ancient dragon's face when it heard about the vegetarian dragon.
There would be fury, anger, and even more fury in the eyes of the dragon that had terrorized Britain thousands of years ago—something Asterion wanted to witness from the front row.
After all, Albion was his pig on a silver platter, served to him to complete his plan.
Just as Daphne was about to speak, the door to the house opened, and Rose, with her head held high in triumph, walked in with a proud expression.
"Dear husband and beloved wife, I'm back from work," Rose said in a playful tone, a smile dancing on her lips. "That damned supervisor made me work overtime!"
She complained loudly while pretending to hang a coat in the closet, her voice dripping with hatred and anger toward her work supervisor.
Asterion and Daphne rolled their eyes at Rose's obvious act, as she appeared to be playing the role of the husband who had come home exhausted from a long day of work.
"What are you two up to?" Rose asked as she sprawled inelegantly on the couch, resting her head on Asterion's lap.
"Watching another idiot almost get killed by a dragon," Daphne responded with almost visible pleasure in her voice, referring to the pain the fools had suffered when they were nearly killed by their own arrogance and stupidity.
Rose nodded. She had initially considered going down that path, but after seeing her dragon's temper, she quickly abandoned those innocent thoughts and taught her dragon hatchling the true fist of love.
In her words to the dragon:
It was Submission or Death.
The death part was an exaggeration, but how could a not-so-intelligent dragon hatchling know that?
Rose soon realized that dragons were, above all else, proud creatures. Even after dozens of beatings—which would have infuriated any animal rights organization, and rightly so—the dragon hatchling still seemed proud and didn't appear to be giving in anytime soon.
This led Rose to take drastic measures: she had to teach the hatchling the true fist of love.
After hours of beatings... ahem... training, Rose managed to establish a master-subordinate relationship.
Suddenly, Rose felt a hand stroking her hair and couldn't help but let out a contented sigh. She looked up and saw Asterion gently running his fingers through her hair while focusing on reading a book.
Rose had to admit, their relationship wasn't the most orthodox in the world, but she liked it just the way it was. Little by little, she was becoming part of this family.
A family that consisted of just the three of them, and no one else.
---
Author's Thoughts:
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 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), Chapter 202 - Dragon Race (8), Chapter 203 - Golden Path (1), Chapter 204 - Golden Path (2), Chapter 205 - Golden Path (3), Chapter 206 - Battle in Desert City (1), Chapter 207 - Battle in Desert City (2), Chapter 208 - On the Night of the Storm (1), Chapter 209 - On the Night of the Storm (2), Chapter 210 - On the Night of the Storm (3).
Along with Asterion, Daphne, Rose - Luna and Cedric were present at his house.
Daphne served two cups of tea and a plate with some snacks to eat to both guests, who accepted after thanking her. The weather was getting colder and colder as Christmas approached.
The Hufflepuff representative clearly had a melancholy expression. The reason for the melancholy was in the young man's arms - a Dragon Egg.
It was the last day of the first phase of the Second Trial of the Tournament and Cedric's dragon egg hadn't hatched, and even if it did, a dragon cub couldn't be ridden.
"Although my house didn't say anything, even supported me, the other houses don't think the same way." Cedric commented with a helpless expression on his face. It was the first time in his life that he had suffered such looks and words from his own schoolmates.
Since Cedric hadn't managed to make the dragon egg hatch successfully even at the last moment, he had practically become something to be criticized in the eyes of the other three Hogwarts houses.
This made him see for the first time how different people were in the face of a different reality.
"You don't have to worry about talking to those people Cedric, just ignore them and hold your head up high with pride, you're in the Tournament and they're not. It's just jealousy and they're taking advantage of the moment to criticize you." Rose said, comforting her friend with an expression of understanding. She knew how horrible people could be when something they didn't like came up in front of them.
Asterion and Daphne also gave her looks of silent comfort.
"What are we going to do? We're one down, the other teams are probably thanking the gods for it." Luna asked with an expression of disinterest. Not that she was indifferent to her friend's torments. But she saw something like this as necessary to make Cedric mature in the future.
Although being a boy with a heart of gold was a very good thing, good people die early, something she didn't want for her new friend. It was better for Cedric to suffer a little at this point and become a more mature man, rather than lose his life for someone else in a time of need.
"How many teams managed to hatch dragon eggs?" Looking away from the despondent Cedric, Rose asked Asterion. She knew that her cunning cousin was secretly watching all the teams.
"Of the twelve magic schools that took part in the Tournament, only Greece and Italy failed to hatch any of the four eggs they received. They were the first to be disqualified from the Second Trial." Asterion answered without hesitation, his calm voice causing even Cedric, who was nervous, to relax unconsciously. Almost as if he believed that, as long as he was there, the sky might fall and he would be holding it up.
"As for the number of dragons, all ten of the remaining nations, such as France, Russia, the United States, Germany, Austria, Brazil, Japan, China, Sweden and Spain managed to hatch dragons." Asterion goes on to say what he discovered: "We're not in first place in terms of the number of dragons, that place went to Brazil with four dragons, then France, Russia and the United States with three dragons."
No one was surprised by his words; if Castelobruxo, the largest magical school focused on breeding and trading magical animals, hadn't been in first place in terms of numbers, they would have suspected something was wrong.
"Still, I'm surprised by France, Russia and the United States, all three of which aren't exactly known for being very good at breeding magical animals." Cedric commented with a surprised tone upon hearing the situation of the three enemy teams. Durmstrang in particular was the complete opposite of the Witch Castle.
Don't say three dragons, even one would surprise most people, Russia has never really been a powerhouse in terms of the domestication and trade of magical animals.
"Did they cheat?" Daphne frowned and asked with an uncertain expression, her voice tinged with suspicion for the three dragons on the Russian team. It wouldn't be the first time this had happened, it was quite normal for Russia to cheat in international events.
[Note: If you're Russian and you're reading this, bear in mind that I didn't mean to offend you with my words in this chapter. it's just the reality for most teams].
Of course, it wasn't just Russia that cheated, there were always other countries cheating. Everyone wanted to have an advantage against their enemies. It was quite normal for them to try to cheat in the face of benefits and perhaps pressure from their own country.
Daphne's words made everyone around her think, the news of three dragons on the Russian side was indeed suspicious, but it wasn't to the point where everyone began to suspect that Durmstrang was cheating.
After all, it was the first International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and being caught cheating in something so historic wasn't exactly an image a country wanted for itself.
"Without proof we have nothing to do against Durmstrang, but if there is any cheating, an old fox like Dumbledore will be able to see if there is anything wrong with the Russian team. The man is known for his research into the twelve uses of dragon's blood." Asterion broke the silence, making everyone around him feel satisfied with his words.
As Asterion had said, Dumbledore really wouldn't let anyone cheat on a subject that he himself was an expert in.
"Let's not talk about that, let's talk about the battle formation we'll be using while we're in the air." Rose commented with an extremely bright gaze. Although she could fly on her own, flying on a dragon had a completely different symbolism.
Rose's words caught everyone's attention, apparently it wasn't just Rose who was excited, Luna was equally cheerful at the moment. A stark contrast to Cedric, who was visibly more melancholy. After all, the poor boy wouldn't be riding the dream of every English boy.
"As for training, I think we can use Luna as bait." Asterion's words surprised everyone, including Luna herself, who showed a false expression of discontent.
Seeing everyone's eyes focused on him, Asterion spoke calmly. "It doesn't matter whether we use Luna or not, we will be attacked at the weakest link in the chain, namely Luna herself. So instead of waiting to be attacked, it's better to use a trap to take out one or two competitors at the start."
Even though she knew Asterion's words were true, no one liked being called weak, especially not Luna, who had one of the most powerful Gifts in the Wizarding World.
Rose frowned, but not because of Asterion's proposal, but because of something else. "We don't know anything about the race, which means that even if we set up a battle formation now, everything could change when the race track appears."
"Instead of a combat formation, why don't you three stand together at the start of the match in a triangle position defending from all sides?" Cedric, who had been silent until now, proposed in a serious voice.
He continued. "When the three of you get together, you'll be able to take on all the teams head-on without too much difficulty, especially with Asterion's Ancalagon, which is a monster that no one alone has ever dared to attack."
His words won everyone's approval. With Ancalagon, even a fool would avoid attacking the biggest dragon in the competition. A relaxed atmosphere hung in the air as everyone seemed more comfortable with their decisions.
"So, how's married life?" Luna asked looking curiously at the trio, her expert eyes strangely brightened by the question asked.
Cedric's face flushed with embarrassment at Luna's sudden question, he looked at his companion with a shocked look for asking something so intimate.
If Cedric's face was ashamed, Rose's face was dark. Only those who know what she's been through know how irritating the nights in the room next to hers were.Daphne seemed to purposely moan loudly every night. It made the nights rather unpleasant for the white-haired girl.
Daphne didn't look shy and answered calmly and elegantly. "Better than expected, I can't wait to get married for real."
An uninterested look flashed across Luna's face, she expected to see the embarrassed expression of the legendary Slytherin ice queen, but Daphne was very calm.
----------------------
Author's thoughts: Tomorrow I'm going for an X-Ray at the hospital and I'll probably spend the whole day on it, there may be no updates, but I'll try to write even doped up after the surgery. Yes, I'm going to have surgery, but it's nothing serious, just my wisdom teeth had the pleasure of appearing after twenty-three years of my life. And I have to say, waking up with an agonizing pain in my tooth is one of the worst pains I've ever experienced in my life
Wish me luck.
Prince.
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 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), Chapter 202 - Dragon Race (8), Chapter 203 - Golden Path (1), Chapter 204 - Golden Path (2), Chapter 205 - Golden Path (3), Chapter 206 - Battle in Desert City (1), Chapter 207 - Battle in Desert City (2), Chapter 208 - On the Night of the Storm (1), Chapter 209 - On the Night of the Storm (2), Chapter 210 - On the Night of the Storm (3), Chapter 211 - On the Night of the Storm (4).
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