#365 - Chapter 365: The Tradition of the Tournament

Trouble?

What trouble could there be now......

Malfoy isn't just being alarmist, is he?

Ron and Hermione, who had followed out of curiosity, exchanged glances, both showing disbelief.

Before they could say a word, they heard Malfoy lower his voice and say, "It's important information, related to the first task."

"There are too many people here," Malfoy looked around the library. "Let's get Cedric and find a quiet room to talk properly."

Information related to the first task was indeed important.

The Malfoy family had extensive connections; they might actually be able to find out something.

"Wait a moment," Hermione said. "The two of you going to find Cedric together will be too conspicuous."

Ron chimed in, "Why don't you two find an empty classroom, and we'll go get Cedric."

"Weasley... are you being this nice?"

Ron raised his eyebrows. "We're not helping you, Malfoy; we're helping Harry, for Hogwarts' victory."

"Alright, then I'll leave it to you two," Harry said decisively, to prevent them from arguing further.

"After you find Cedric, have him come to the Muggle Studies classroom to find us."

The group split up, and soon Harry and Malfoy were waiting for Cedric in the empty Muggle Studies classroom.

Seeing that only Cedric entered, without Cho Chang by his side, Harry breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Harry, Malfoy, I heard you were looking for me. Are we discussing the upcoming training?"

Malfoy pointed his wand at the door and cast a Muffliato charm before turning to face them.

"I found out what we'll be facing in the first task—dragons!"

"Wh-what?" Cedric almost bit his tongue. "You're not joking, are you?!"

Dragons?

Are you kidding me!

What was the Ministry of Magic thinking, letting students face dragons?

They weren't afraid of something going wrong.

Harry also widened his eyes; the answer was beyond his expectations: "Malfoy, how did you find out?"

"Don't forget the three points Crouch reminded us of last night: courage, cooperation, and the crucial flame," Malfoy said confidently, raising his head.

"I thought of dragons when Crouch mentioned flame."

You should know that the only things related to flame could be the environment, dangerous fire magic, or magical creatures related to fire.

Considering that Crouch said the first task was very difficult and required the cooperation of three people to pass, the range of suspicion narrowed a lot.

In addition, since wanting to sign up for the Triwizard Tournament, Malfoy had researched cases from previous tournaments.

He found that previous tournaments liked to have champions face dangerous magical creatures, like the Streeler, the Erkling, the Re'em, and the Runespoor were very common.

The most famous one was in the 1792 Triwizard Tournament, where a Cockatrice rampaged, and all three headmasters were injured.

Magical creatures, flame, the possibility of three people cooperating to pass—these three conditions combined made Malfoy immediately think of dragons.

Listening to Malfoy slowly explain his reasoning, Harry said uncertainly, "That doesn't necessarily mean it's dragons, right......"

"No, Harry," Cedric reminded him, "there aren't many magical creatures related to fire."

"The most famous ones are dragons, Salamanders, Fire Crabs, and Fire Lizards."

"Among them, the only one that poses a threat to us and requires us to cooperate to deal with is a dragon."

"Malfoy," Cedric said, "your reasoning is very useful, but we can't completely abandon the possibility that 'flame' refers to dangerous fire magic."

"No!" Malfoy said definitively, "I'm sure that the first task we face is definitely dragons."

"Why are you so sure?" Cedric looked puzzled.

"Our family has a certain share in the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary," Malfoy said softly. "During the day, I called my father and asked him to help check some information."

"My father just replied that a few days ago, five dragons were transported away from the dragon sanctuary by dragon handlers, and according to the records, the destination was Hogwarts."

Good heavens!

That's solid proof.

Harry was a little numb. Although he believed he was capable, he wasn't arrogant enough to think he could deal with a monster like a dragon.

You should know that Ron's brother Charlie was a dragon handler, and he had heard Ron tell stories about his brother dealing with dragons in the dormitory.

Subduing a dragon often required a team of dragon handlers to act at the same time. Was it a bit too much to let the three of them deal with a dragon?

"Dragons are a big problem that the three of us need to face together," Malfoy said with a serious tone.

"Fortunately, we know this news now and can make good use of the next three weeks to study how to deal with dragons."

"I think we can directly ask a professor for advice."

Ask a professor for advice?

"W-wouldn't that be considered cheating?" Cedric, the goody-two-shoes, couldn't accept the suggestion for a moment.

"Cheating?" Malfoy shook his head slightly. "How can that be considered cheating? We don't know the specific content of the competition."

"We're just asking the professor to give us a refresher course related to dragons."

"To put it another way," Malfoy's tone became meaningful, "do you think the other four schools won't cheat?"

"My father said that a tacit tradition of the Triwizard Tournament is cheating; before the competition, all the schools will try their best to get inside information."

"This morning, I saw Beauxbatons' Madame Maxime invite Hagrid over. How long do you think Hagrid can hold out under her?"

Hagrid......

Harry knew that Hagrid had liked Madame Maxime for several years, so it was hard to say.

"Durmstrang and Ilvermorny are also doing different things to fit in."

"The headmaster of Ilvermorny is hosting a dinner, while the professor from Uagadou has been鑽ing into the Forbidden Forest."

Malfoy continued, "Not to mention Durmstrang's headmaster, Karkaroff. My father said that guy's character isn't very good; he will definitely do some small tricks."

Cedric and Harry exchanged glances, both seeing a speechless expression in each other's eyes.

Alas!

The adult world is too complicated.

"Since that's the case," Cedric asked, "which professor should we ask for advice? Hagrid or Professor Scamander?"

"No! Although they both know a lot about magical creatures, they are not the most suitable candidates."

Malfoy pointed to the room they were in.

"We'll go find Professor Slughorn tomorrow."

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