#375 - Chapter 375 The Competition Ends

Amidst the deafening cheers of the audience, Harry and his team, clutching the golden eggs and filled with the joy of victory, strode towards the exit of the arena.

Madam Pomfrey and Mia were already waiting nearby, and upon seeing them, they hurried forward and, without a word, pulled the three towards the medical tent beside the exit.

The champions' teams from the other schools were also in the medical tent, and they looked at Harry and his team with expressions of admiration.

They too had faced the dragons head-on and knew the danger involved, so they understood that Harry's team's victory was not a fluke but the result of wisdom and strength.

The only ones wearing dark expressions were the three champions from Durmstrang, who stood silently to the side, their eyes filled with a hint of unwillingness and envy.

Helpless, without the golden eggs, they would undoubtedly be at the bottom in this round of the competition, and the mere thought of this outcome filled them with disappointment and frustration.

"You did really great!" Mia praised without reservation.

The battle just now had exceeded her expectations.

After tricking the dragon into being disabled, the decisive and clean battle was something that many adult wizards couldn't achieve.

She ruffled Harry's hair and then handed each of them a bottle of vigor potion.

"You must be tired, come and replenish your energy."

Madam Pomfrey was still worried, she pulled Cedric over and began to examine him.

"It's really too much, letting young wizards deal with dragons, I don't know what the Ministry of Magic is thinking."

"Don't move, Cedric, you were the one blocking the attacks just now, I need to make sure you're not injured."

Cedric couldn't refuse and had to stand there obediently, then gave Harry and Malfoy a helpless smile.

As they spoke, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the tent, and soon, a crowd of people squeezed into the tent.

"Cedric!" Cho Chang immediately spotted Cedric's figure upon entering, and she rushed over and threw herself into his arms.

Cedric stumbled from the impact, instinctively wrapping his arms around her.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the two hugged tightly, making Harry's throat tighten.

Harry forced himself to turn away and chatted with Ron and Hermione, who had come to congratulate him.

Mia noticed a hint of sadness in Harry's expression and sighed softly in her heart.

She had heard from Sebastian about Harry's feelings for Cho Chang, but she couldn't interfere too much in matters of the heart.

Moreover, Cho Chang and Cedric's relationship was harmonious, and they were clearly a couple that everyone looked favorably upon.

Mia understood that she couldn't persuade Harry to let go of these feelings and could only silently hope that he could find his own balance and answer.

Malfoy also noticed Harry's strangeness, but as soon as he glanced at Harry, he was pulled into his mother's arms.

"Oh, Mom, I'm so old now," Malfoy said, struggling out of Narcissa's embrace, his face flushed.

"So what if you're old? You're still my son!" Narcissa said, her eyes filled with lingering fear, grabbing Malfoy and looking him up and down.

"You were too reckless just now! How could you provoke the dragon like that? What would you have done if it had broken the chains?"

The more Narcissa spoke, the angrier she became, scolding Malfoy, heaven knows how worried she had been in the audience just now.

Malfoy didn't care, he raised his head and said proudly, "Mom, even if it broke free of the chains, we had a plan to deal with it."

"Besides, subduing the fire dragon is nothing difficult for us, see, I'm not hurt at all."

Looking at Malfoy's tidy clothes, Lucius stood aside with his cane, unable to suppress the upward curve of his lips.

Truly his son, the Malfoy family had a successor!

Just as the tent was becoming more lively, a piercing whistle suddenly sounded outside, interrupting everyone's conversation.

Immediately afterward, Bagman's loud voice echoed outside the arena: "Champions, please return to the arena! Now is the time for us to announce the scores!"

Hearing this, everyone in the tent rushed out, not wanting to miss such an important moment.

"Now we will begin the scoring, with a maximum score of ten from each judge."

Bagman cleared his throat at the judges' table and glanced at all the champions.

"Once the scores are in, we will remove the highest and lowest scores, and then add up the remaining scores. The total score obtained will be the final score the champions receive in the first round of the competition."

Hearing this, Karkaroff's face darkened again. He had protested this scoring rule before because it prevented him from lowering the scores of other schools.

However, the other headmasters all agreed to this fair scoring model, so Karkaroff's opposition was useless.

"First up is number one, the champions from Beauxbatons, who successfully obtained one golden egg! Please, judges, give your fair scores."

As he spoke, he gave his score - 7 points.

Crouch also gave his score - 7 points.

Dumbledore waved his wand, drawing an 8 in the sky.

Egbert and Aginbald both gave 8 points.

Madam Maxime didn't hesitate; she raised her wand, and a long ribbon emerged, forming the number 9 in the air.

"Their strategy was not a problem. If there was enough time, I believe they could have hypnotized the dragon and slowly selected the golden egg."

"Also, if they weren't so unlucky, they should have gotten more than one real golden egg."

"So I think they deserve 9 points."

Finally, it was Karkaroff's turn. He slowly raised his wand and gave a score of 7 points.

"Removing the highest and lowest scores," Bagman's voice rang out, "the Beauxbatons champions' team score is - 38 points!"

Amid the cheers of the audience, Bagman began to introduce the next team of champions.

Ilvermorny, who snatched a golden egg from the dragon, scored 34 points.

Durmstrang was more miserable because they didn't get a single golden egg, their total score added up to only 30 points.

Karkaroff was very dissatisfied with this because the 10 points he gave were not included in the total score.

The performance of Uagadou was obvious to all. They skillfully used Transfiguration to maneuver with the dragon and obtained two golden eggs. So they got a high score of 42 points.

"Finally, our fifth team of champions, the Hogwarts champions' team," Bagman's voice was full of excitement.

He wasn't in a hurry to start scoring but instead stirred up the emotions of the crowd.

"The performance of the Hogwarts champions' team in the competition is obvious to all. They are the only contestants who defeated the dragon and obtained three golden eggs."

"They are truly worthy champions, let us cheer for them!"

The atmosphere in the arena instantly boiled, and everyone's eyes focused on Harry and his team.

The young wizards stood up one after another, waving the flags in their hands and shouting their names, cheers and screams rising and falling, turning into a fiery wave that enveloped the entire arena.

When the cheers subsided slightly, Bagman continued to shout, "Now, please, judges, give your fairest scores."

"I give them 10 points for their brilliant performance!"

Crouch also gave 10 points without hesitation, with a smile on his face, his eyes falling on Harry, making it impossible to see anything unusual.

As the host, Dumbledore considered it for a moment and still gave 9 points. Hogwarts' performance was already excellent enough, and he had to consider the international impact.

Madam Maxime, Egbert, and Aginbald all gave 9 points as well.

Their reasons were completely consistent, that Malfoy's behavior of provoking the dragon was too dangerous, so one point needed to be deducted.

Karkaroff only gave 7 points, but no one cared about him because his score was not included in the total score.

"Very good!" Bagman cheered, "The Hogwarts team has scored a high score of 46 points, currently in first place."

"To make a long story short, the second task will be held on February 24th next year. Therefore, the champions have plenty of time to prepare."

"As for the clues, they are hidden in the three golden eggs, each golden egg has a clue, that's all I can say, see you later."

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