章 557: 0555 Meetings

Four massive, fierce-looking adult dragons were abruptly thrown into the sturdy wooden enclosure by Bryan. These magnificent beasts were notoriously difficult to tame, especially during their unique and sensitive egg-laying period when their powerful maternal instincts caused them to almost completely lose their natural aversion to danger.

Despite having just witnessed a humbling demonstration of their own relative powerlessness against Bryan, the dragons still boldly threw wild tantrums inside the confines of the enclosure, thrashing about with reckless abandon.

Bryan's unwelcome presence seemed to prevent the dragons from calming down, and the potent wards and enchantments woven into the boards of the enclosure rendered the dragons unable to unleash their trademark fire breath or take flight to escape.

However, the ill-tempered Hungarian Horntail, largest and most aggressive of the four, refused to stop seeking even the tiniest chance at breaking free from captivity. It repeatedly rammed its hide against the magically reinforced boards with thunderous force, only to be repelled each time by the faint but solid magical glow emanating from the wood. But the Horntail did not give up, and continued its futile assault, sending tremors through the ground with each ferocious impact.

The smaller but more agile Welsh Green dragon took a different approach, flexibly climbing the vertical boards of the enclosure, but to no avail - its razor-sharp claws, capable of tearing flesh from bone, could not hook in the unnaturally smooth and magically hardened wood.

The crafty Swedish Short-Snout, demonstrating the keen intellect representative of its species, instinctively sought to burrow deep into the earth and tunnel its way to freedom far beneath the walls that imprisoned it.

This clever tactic did not go unnoticed by Bryan, who quickly cast an additional strengthening enchantment upon the ground itself, rendering it as impenetrable as the boards above.

Only the Chinese Fireball, smallest of the four dragons, was calm. It protectively hid its egg beneath the crimson scales of its belly and simply observed the desperate escape attempts of its enraged companions with fiery eyes.

When the Fireball saw that no method was effective against their magical prison, it reluctantly lay down on the crammed earth, keeping its fierce, eyes pointed directly at Bryan with equal parts caution and resentment.

Though the immediate danger posed by the dragons' wrath had been temporarily quelled, the dragon handlers dared not let their guard down for even a moment. They focused their efforts on trying to pacify and soothe the three noisier dragons into a more subdued state.

"I strongly suggest you keep your distance from these dragons for the duration of the tournament, Bryan," Charlie warned between deep breaths as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He stared at Bryan with a look of deep displeasure - and for good reason.

Charlie's sincere love and respect for dragons was the driving force behind his decision to decline an offer to join a somewhat famous professional Quidditch team upon graduating Hogwarts. To Charlie, the thought of harming, let alone killing, an innocent wild dragon was utterly unthinkable and hateful.

"If you don't heed my advice, those poor Triwizard Champions are going to be in for a world of pain and misery when they face these mother dragons," Charlie said gravely.

"Doesn't that just make the First Task that much more exciting and challenging?" Bryan replied with a smile.

Charlie slowly shook his head in exasperation and disbelief. " I really don't understand what you're thinking. If your goal was simply to have the Champions tangle with some dragons, there was absolutely no need to deliberately seek out nesting mothers, of all things!"

Charlie's expression darkened as a new worry entered his mind. "I daren't even tell my mother what you have in store for the Champions, Bryan. Mum hasn't exactly been your biggest fan as of late, and if I were to let slip that you've brought up savage mother dragons for the First Task, she would definitely have even stronger opinions about you."

"By 'your mother,' I take it you mean Mrs. Weasley?" Bryan inquired, his piercing gaze shifting away from the dragon enclosure to focus on Charlie's freckled face as he processed this unexpected revelation. He felt a little strange about what Charlie said. "That's rather odd... what could I have possibly done to offend her to such a degree?"

Charlie gave Bryan a rueful smile tinged with a touch of sympathy. "Mum is outraged that you and Professor Dumbledore thought it was even remotely acceptable to allow Hermione to participate in the Triwizard Tournament. After she read Rita Skeeter's report in the Daily Prophet—!"

Charlie shifted his posture and voice, imitating his mother's indignant tone: "Oh for Merlin's sake, what in the world were Albus and Bryan thinking, letting poor Hermione represent the underage students? This isn't something that can be done just by having good grades!"

At this, Bryan couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh in spite of the direness of the situation.

After a few more minutes of conversation, Charlie told that in order to keep the dragons sufficiently calm during the long journey to Hogwarts, he and his fellow handlers were forced to feed them with large amounts of sleeping potion on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, they had underestimated how much potion would be required, and as a result, they had no choice but to make the dragons travel day and night without rest to avoid the risk of the dragons awakening in a crowded area. This necessary rush was the reason they arrived at the school earlier than Bryan had anticipated.

Despite the dragon handlers' heroic efforts and years of experience, they simply could not calm the agitated dragons. Abandoning their ultimately futile attempts, the handlers settled for glaring resentfully at Bryan, silently blaming him for their distress - not that any of them had the nerve to tell the renowned Bryan Watson to leave.

Thankfully, Bryan was sensible enough to realize that his presence was less than welcome, by human and dragon both.

"I think it's safe to say these magnificent beasts won't be going anywhere, Charlie," Bryan said with an easy smile. "What do you say to joining me for a drink back at the castle? Think of it as an official 'welcome to Hogwarts' from yours truly!"

"I appreciate the offer, Bryan, I really do," Charlie began, clearly tempted by the thought of a drink, "but I'm afraid I have to decline. My team and I need to do everything we can to help the dragons adapt to their new environment as quickly as possible. I'm afraid it's going to be a long camping trip for us out here in the forest until the First Task officially begins."

Charlie thought for a moment, then added, "I actually sent an owl to Hagrid a while back about our arrival. We're counting on him to keep us well supplied while we're out here. Although, come to think of it..."

Charlie warily scanned the shadowy tree line that marked the boundary of the Forbidden Forest before continuing in a hushed tone, "I was so certain that Hagrid would have been the first friendly face to greet us when we got here. You know as well as I do how much Hagrid adores dragons - the man even entrusted me with caring for an infant dragon he'd been secretly raising before sending it off to the preserve!"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about Hagrid," Bryan said with a knowing grin, turning to face a particularly dense patch of bushes. "He's been here for quite some time, actually."

Rustle—

As if on cue, the lush bush behind Bryan rustled and shifted as something truly enormous forced its way into the clearing.

"Yeh always were a sharp one, Professor Watson," chuckled the unmistakable voice of Hagrid as he emerged from the bushes with Fang trotting along beside him.

"Hagrid, it's great to see you!" Charlie exclaimed, his eyes wide with pleased surprise. His brows then furrowed as he took in the sight of the frightened house elf accompanying Hagrid, trembling like a leaf before the dragons.

"Hang on a second... Hagrid, you brought a Hogwarts house elf out here with you? You know full well we're under strict orders to keep the Tournament tasks completely under wraps," Charlie said, his voice colored with disapproval as he shot a meaningful glance at Bryan.

"Aw c'mon Charlie, wha's the harm? The little fella's been a huge help ter me, and it ain't like I could jus' refuse when he asked ter tag along! B'sides, who wouldn't want ter get a look at these beauties?" Hagrid said dismissively, walking over to the sturdy fence of the enclosure and gazing lovingly at the four captive dragons.

"Magnificent creatures," Hagrid murmured, "simply magnificent..."

Charlie shook his head, equal parts amused and exasperated by Hagrid's attitude and characteristic dragon obsession. Changing tactics, Charlie fixed Hagrid with a serious stare and asked, "At the very least, please tell me no one else followed you here?"

Hagrid abruptly tore his captivated gaze away from the dragons and began to fidget, his massive frame shifting guiltily. With eyes fixed upon the dragons, Hagrid mumbled, "O' course not Charlie, I was real careful the whole way 'ere, yeh got my word on that."

"Yes, I'm sure you were as stealthy as a half-giant could possibly be," Bryan murmured wryly, the corner of his mouth twitching as he resisted the urge to laugh.

Bryan knew full well that there were two other trespassers lurking behind the very bushes Hagrid had just bumbled through. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for Madame Maxime, Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy and Hagrid's not-so-secret companion.

She was currently twisted into what appeared to be a very uncomfortable position as she attempted to conceal her towering body behind the inadequate cover of the waist-high bushes.

Of course, Hermione wasn't faring much better in her own hiding spot. Though she had the foresight to don the invisibility cloak before sneaking out to the forbidden forest, her nerves were threatening to give her away. Even at a distance of thirty feet, Bryan swore he could hear the poor girl's heart beating like a frightened rabbit's. She was probably on the verge of a breakdown from anxiety.

Needless to say, Karkaroff, who was farther away and had even climbed a tree to get a clear view of what was happening inside, was no better.

As he took in the laughable sight of supposedly respected academic authority figures lurking like naughty schoolchildren, Bryan had to admit that the Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang certainly couldn't be accused of not doing everything in their power to give their respective Champions an edge in the Triwizard Tournament. And of course, Hagrid's contribution was indispensable.

Coming back to the moment at hand, Bryan heard Charlie repeat to Hagrid the vital importance of having enough meat on hand to keep the irritable dragons well fed before sunrise, since they had spent the majority of their journey in a charmed sleep and would surely be hungry upon waking.

Bryan, keenly aware that his continued presence would only make an already absurd situation even more awkward for certain parties, made his own polite excuses and turned to leave. As he did, Bryan just managed to glimpse Hermione, still concealed beneath her invisibility cloak, carefully removing herself from her hiding place as quiet as a mouse.

From what little Bryan knew of Hermione's character, and given her close friendship with Hagrid, Bryan guessed that Hermione had also assumed - quite correctly - that Hagrid would likely be spending the night with his beloved dragons.

But Hermione still remembered that Harry was waiting for her in the common room. And so, after desperately taking one last look at the behemoths in the enclosure, Hermione didn't disturb the focused Madame Maxime and quietly retreated—

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章 558: 0556 Strategies

Ever since that Halloween night when Hermione's name had emerged from the Goblet of Fire, declaring her as Hogwarts' unprecedented second Triwizard Champion, a suffocating sense of panic, unease, and anxiety had been steadily building within her like a toxic miasma.

Now, crouched behind a tangle of bushes deep in the heart of the Forbidden Forest and face to face with the terrifying reality of her daunting First Task, those dark emotions finally reached a crescendo, crashing over Hermione like a tidal wave as she stared in horror at the restless "behemoths." If it weren't for Madame Maxime crouching just a few steps away, she might have screamed until she fainted.

After Professor Watson left, Hermione quickly departed as well. With Harry anxiously awaiting her return in the Gryffindor common room and the possibility of an awkward encounter with Professor Watson in the Entrance Hall urging her on, Hermione bolted through the path Hagrid had led her at a frantic pace.

In this mad dash, Hermione was immensely grateful for the countless grueling hours she'd spent training in Professor Watson's physical education classes as they allowed her to overcome the vines and potholes along the way.

As she emerged from the Forbidden Forest at the edge of the school grounds, Hermione donned the invisibility cloak once more. It was then that she realized her robes had been drenched by the dew during her trek through the forest. Outside the woods, the wind felt more real, and Hermione felt as if countless small knives were slicing through her body, cold and painful.

It would have been the simplest thing for her to cast a quick Hot-Air Charm and dry herself off, a feat she could have accomplished with ease as early as her second year. However, Hermione chose to keep her clothes damp, allowing herself to suffer a little. She didn't know why she did this; perhaps the pain made her feel real.

With every step that brought her closer to the welcoming torchlight spilling from the castle's many windows, the fog of terror and adrenaline that had enveloped Hermione's mind began to dissipate.

The world came into sharper focus, no longer the hazy, unreal dreamscape it had been when she first laid eyes on the nightmarish dragons and subsequently fled through the forest. It was only then, as she climbed the staircases leading up from the Entrance Hall, that Hermione's thoughts drifted back to Hagrid for some reason.

After her close encounter with fully grown, nesting dragons, Hermione found herself marveling again at Hagrid's seemingly insane desire to raise one of those deadly creatures as a pet. But even as she inwardly questioned his sanity and survival instincts, Hermione couldn't help the swell of gratitude she felt toward Hagrid for the immense personal risk he'd taken in smuggling her and Madame Maxime out to the enclosure.

She shuddered to think what might have happened if she'd been forced to confront the dragons for the first time on the day of the First Task, with no prior warning or mind makeup. Hermione was almost certain she would have fainted on the spot.

Heart still pounding from her dash through the forest and subsequent crisis of emotion, Hermione found herself standing before the portrait of the Fat Lady far sooner than she'd anticipated. Taking a steadying breath, she tugged the invisibility cloak from her head and whispered the password.

"Balderdash!"

Even to her own ears, Hermione's voice sounded choked, tight with barely suppressed nerves and exhaustion.

For her part, the Fat Lady didn't even bother to open her eyes, plainly used to being woken up at odd hours by unruly Gryffindors.

"If you say so..." she mumbled drowsily. With those words, the portrait swung open, revealing the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

Hermione climbed in, looking around, and then—

"Over here—" Harry leaped up from the sofa in front of the fireplace, waving at her.

The saying that pain makes one feel real was quite accurate. As she neared the fireplace with its small flames, Hermione realized just how frozen she had been. She touched her face, feeling as though she could no longer control her expressions, and her long lashes were covered in frost.

Upon reaching the fireside and seeing the worrying state of Hermione, Harry wasted no time in grabbing the nearest bit of firewood - a bundle of dry pine branches stacked against the stone hearth - and tossing it into the flames. The wood immediately sent a riot of orange sparks gushing up the chimney, but the sudden influx of fuel also assisted to temporarily oppress the pre-existing fire.

Clearly impatient for the blaze to build back up to a proper heat, Harry drew his wand and conjured a dancing ball of blue-bell flames. These he directed into the fireplace with a flick of his wrist. By the time the fireplace was burning vigorously, Harry turned around to find that Hermione had already used her wand to dry herself.

"Hermione," Harry began, fighting to keep the nervous tremor from his voice. "Tell me, what did you see out there? What are they going to make you face?"

Harry barely restrained himself from physically grabbing Hermione's shoulders and giving her a shake. After all, Hagrid had come to them only yesterday, secretly informing them that he would be taking them to see 'something' tonight, and asked them to bring the invisibility cloak. However, considering that it would be more convenient for one person to move around while wearing the cloak, Harry had voluntarily given up the chance.

Judging from Hermione's expression, he could guess that what they would face in the first task definitely wouldn't be something simply disgusting like Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts. He asked urgently.

So, Hermione recounted everything she had seen tonight. She told Harry that Hagrid had not only taken her but also brought Madame Maxime. They had traversed the Forbidden Forest together, reaching a place far from the castle. There, she saw Professor Watson, Charlie, and—

"Dragons." Hermione shivered slightly. Even though the fireplace was releasing waves of warmth, her fingertips remained pale and trembling.

"There were four of them: A Welsh Green, a Swedish Short-Snout, a Chinese Fireball, and a Hungarian Horntail. I heard Charlie say their names when Hagrid asked."

Harry was stunned as a suffocating silence suddenly descended.

Ever since Krum had reminded them in the library that they could find inspiration from the tasks of past Triwizard Tournaments, Harry had accompanied Hermione in sifting through numerous materials in the library. Privately, they had also discussed the possible dangerous magical creatures and dark creatures that might appear.

Hermione, in particular, had suspended all her advanced studies during this period, focusing all her energy on searching for information.

Harry particularly recalled Hermione mentioning dragons in passing several times over the course of their long hours of research. As she had pointed out, Dragons were far from the most mysterious of magical creatures, frequently cropping up in texts on everything from dragonhide gloves to the founding of Gringotts.

At the time, Harry had mentally dismissed the possibility of dragons appearing in the tournament, unable to consider that any responsible adult would willingly put schoolchildren against these notoriously deadly creatures.

But now, Harry and Hermione sat on the sofa by the fireplace, staring at each other in a heavy atmosphere.

"They..." Harry's throat tightened, and he felt his head buzzing. Thus, it wasn't difficult for him to imagine Hermione's current state of mind.

"What do they expect you to do?" He spitted out. "What do they plan to make the champions do? Fight the dragons and then either dismember the dragons or be dismembered by them?"

Harry wanted to make a joke to help Hermione relax, but his joke was undoubtedly terrible because Hermione was one of the few people about to be dismembered.

"Hagrid...he asked Charlie the same thing," Hermione wasn't sure if she had caught a cold from being so chilled, but her head was starting to throb painfully, making her mind less sharp than usual.

"Charlie doesn't know either. The Ministry of Magic might not announce it until the start of the competition. But Charlie said all the dragons brought in are nesting mothers—"

Harry pressed his lips tightly together, his face flushed and looking as if he were suffocating.

'Was there even a need to guess? Stealing the dragon eggs from these mother dragons was most likely what the champions would have to do!'

Harry had never seen what a nesting dragon would be like, but dragons themselves were already enough to make one feel despair.

For a moment, Harry was forcibly reminded of the summer before his first year at Hogwarts. He had been present when his cousin Dudley's best friend Piers brought over his new pet dog, a yappy little terrier that had recently given birth to a litter of pups.

Dudley, in his typical pigheaded fashion, had ignored all warnings opposing and tried to take one of the puppies from its mother, resulting in him being bitten hard by the usually docile dog. Dudley had to get several stitches because of it.

If that was how a thoroughly domesticated dog reacted to a seeming threat to its child, Harry shuddered to imagine the sheer murderous rage of a provoked mother dragon.

Harry pulled his spiraling thoughts back to the present. Wallowing in dread would do nothing to help Hermione, he told himself firmly. The only way out was through, and the best thing he could do was buckle down and support her in any way he could.

And so, over the next several days, Harry and Hermione practically took up residence in the library, leaving it only to attend classes and snatch a few precious hours of restless sleep. They dragged stacks of obscure tomes and books back to the common room, working by the light of the fire long into the night as they searched for any scrap of information that might give Hermione an edge against the dragon she would soon face.

Late Wednesday evening found them once again fixed in their favorite overstuffed armchairs by the hearth, a disorganized pile of discarded books littering the rug at their feet.

"How to Clip a Dragon's Claws," Harry read the discarded book's title with a sarcastic snort. "Yeah, because clearly your biggest problem is going to be overgrown toenails. Merlin's pants, who writes this stuff?"

"Listen to this," He said frustrated, exhaustion tinging his tone as he read another from the chipped leather cover. "'Dragon Keeping: A Guide for the Dedicated Enthusiast.' It's got loads of details also on trimming their claws, treating scale rot, all sorts of mad rubbish. Brilliant if you're Hagrid and trying to keep your pet dragon fit and healthy enough to bite your head off, but not exactly useful for staying alive against one."

Harry tossed aside the book "'Dragon Keeping" he was holding, stuck his fingers under his eyes, and rubbed hard. Then, he picked up another book from the sofa, "One Hundred Spells for Facing Crises."

"I've read that one. It's useless, Harry—" Hermione flipped through the pages with a rustling sound. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the book Harry was picking up and commented. Then, she muttered anxiously, "Right, there's also the Switching Spell... But what use is switching? Unless you can turn its fangs into wine gums or something to make it less dangerous... The problem is, as the book says, few things can penetrate a dragon's hide... Or should we transfigure it?

But you definitely won't succeed in transfiguring such a huge creature. I doubt even Professor McGonagall could... Of course, if we had Professor Watson or Professor Dumbledore's magical power... Oh, don't dream about it, Hermione. You can't do it!"

Tonight, was even more exhausting than the previous nights, not only because of the accumulated fatigue but also because Professor Watson had put them through the training as usual during tonight's physical education class.

Moreover, perhaps because they had made progress recently, Professor Watson's methods had become increasingly brutal. He was simply merciless. Tonight, Harry had been impaled through the shoulder blade by a stone spear conjured by Professor Watson. Perhaps he had developed a greater tolerance for pain, so he didn't pass out from it, but Professor Watson immediately followed up with a Stunning Spell.

Harry wondered if Professor Watson's spear could pierce a dragon's hide. He sat on the floor, looking up at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and this absurd thought popped into his mind. Then—

"Ah!" Harry leaped up from the floor, panting heavily, his green eyes flashing with excitement as he stared intently at Hermione, who was stunned by his bizarre behavior.

"Remember, Hermione, what Professor Watson told us!" Harry said, trying to contain his excitement.

"What?" Hermione was still confused.

"Dragons!" Harry grinned. "Professor Watson taught us how to deal with dragons in physical education class. What did he say back then? I can't remember clearly, but you definitely remember, right?"

Gradually, the bewildered and resigned look in Hermione's eyes brightened.

'Dealing with dragons.'

The boy hiding behind the wall on the boys' spiral staircase heard these words, and the gloomy face in the shadows finally showed a hint of terror.

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