#217 - Section 217

The one that's not too big and has a black ridge on its back is the Peruvian Vipertooth.

If you encounter these three, choose them directly without hesitation.

If you're choosing which dragon to face like in the original story, knowing the appearance of these dragons will be a huge advantage.

Unexpectedly, I still chose the Welsh Green, just like in the original.

These three dragons are relatively easy to deal with. Actually, the Australian Opaleye is okay too, but without experience, you really can't tell just by feeling.

Other dragons have their own special skills, making them not so easy to deal with.

For example, the Ukrainian Ironbelly is slow, but its flames are strong, and its stamina, resistance, and strength are all very high. In contrast, speed isn't really that important. If they're restrained and can't fly, what's the point of speed?

Conversely, the Peruvian Vipertooth is the smallest and fastest dragon, but if it's restrained and can't fly, its greatest advantage is directly nullified.

Seeing Fleur choose the Welsh Green, the remaining two Beauxbatons girls rushed over, their sisterly affection from just now completely gone.

Having focused on books introducing dragons after learning they would face them, they naturally knew there were differences between dragons, and these differences were quite significant.

In the end, one of them drew the Hebridean Black, and the other the Romanian Longhorn.

The girl who drew the Hebridean Black's face changed. This dragon is notoriously aggressive and quite strong.

The former is number three, and the latter is number one.

Obviously, this number is the order in which they will enter the arena later.

After the Beauxbatons students finished drawing, the Durmstrang champion went straight forward, but Krum ruthlessly pushed away the two classmates who were about to step forward.

The two champions who were pushed away, despite their eyes filled with anger, didn't dare to speak out and could only make way for Krum to draw first.

Sure enough, he drew the best one. This is a bright red, long dragon, more like a snake than a dragon.

The number on its tag is 1.

The other two could only go up and each choose one, which were the Norwegian Ridgeback and the Peruvian Vipertooth, respectively.

Their numbers are two and three.

Finally, it was Hogwarts' turn.

Ron couldn't wait to run over when Ludo opened the bag, fearing someone would snatch it from him.

Ethan glanced at this, and Ron drew a dragon with very long claws and a big belly.

Ron's face changed when he saw the Ukrainian Ironbelly in his hand.

Since Harry told him he would face a dragon, although he hadn't found a way to deal with it, he had read some books on the subject, hoping to have a better chance of survival when the time came.

After Harry looked at Ethan, Ethan signaled him to draw first.

Anyway, he didn't care, but as for Ron, Ethan had indeed tampered with things a little.

And Harry still drew the Hungarian Horntail. It really is fate.

Ethan had no choice, and the last one left was the Australian Opaleye.

The order for the three of them is also one, two, and three.

Chapter 259: Facing the Dragons

After everyone had drawn their corresponding dragons, Ludo looked at the crowd and said:

"Alright, I'm going to leave you for a bit now because I have to commentate for the audience."

"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Krum, Miss Goldwin, you are the first group. When you hear the whistle, enter the arena, understood?"

The people who were called on immediately nodded to show they understood.

After reiterating it again, Ludo strode out of the tent.

Ron looked at the number one tag in his hand, clenching it even tighter. He had to go on first!

And he was facing the Ukrainian Ironbelly.

He had originally hoped to see how others dealt with the dragons so he could learn from them and increase his chances of winning.

Unexpectedly, he was the first to go on.

The little bit of peace he had felt under Professor McGonagall's comfort was stirred up again.

At the same time, he blamed Ethan again. If it weren't for him, he wouldn't have participated in the Triwizard Tournament and wouldn't have to face a dragon.

Just wait, sooner or later, he would get his revenge.

Time passed in silence, and the few didn't have to wait long before a sharp whistle sounded from afar.

Krum took a deep breath, didn't look at the others, and took the lead in lifting the curtain and walking out.

Ron and Hestia Goldwin followed closely behind.

The three walked along the path to the edge of the arena, arriving at a gap.

Ron stood there, feeling as if the whole world was spinning. Hundreds and thousands of faces were watching him from the stands above, including his parents, although he couldn't see where they were now.

Although Ron hadn't written home to tell them he had been chosen as the Hogwarts champion to participate in the Triwizard Tournament—after all, the process of participating was too shameful to mention, and anyone who knew would only despise him unless he could win the championship.

But after he was truly chosen, Ron had sobered up a bit and knew his chances of winning the championship were slim, so he naturally didn't dare to be proud of it.

At the other end of the enclosure, the three dragons stood tall.

The Ukrainian Ironbelly, the Chinese Fireball, and the Romanian Longhorn squatted low, guarding their nest of eggs, their wings half-folded, and their fierce yellow eyes staring at Harry.

Especially the Ukrainian Ironbelly, this dragon was particularly large, making the other two dragons seem quite small.

At this moment, it was violently twisting its spike-covered tail, leaving several meters of pitted marks on the hard ground, looking quite unapproachable.

The crowd in the stands erupted in deafening cheers when they saw the champions appear.

But at this moment, none of the three were in the mood to respond.

After the three of them walked into the gap, they found it was a narrow passage that was twenty or thirty meters long.

Walking in it, Ron's mind was spinning rapidly, quickly searching for a way to break the situation.

"Krum, I'm your fan. I even have your autographed jersey at home. Can we cooperate in this competition?"

Ron said quickly to Krum beside him.

Ludo had just said in the tent that cooperation was not prohibited in this competition.

Cooperation is definitely better than going it alone, especially with Krum, who has such strength in Quidditch, and his spellcasting ability must not be weak.

If he could cooperate with him, it would definitely be extremely beneficial to himself.

Glancing at Ron, Krum grinned with a disdainful smile, and then walked forward without even turning his head.

Karkaroff had already given all the treatment to himself for the few who were also champions with him.

Except for Ethan, there was no one worthy of his attention.

This Ron was one of the worst of the bunch, a cannon fodder among cannon fodder.

He knew exactly how he participated in the competition. If it weren't for him, the situation wouldn't have deteriorated to this point.

If he weren't a member of the Quidditch national team and had this public identity, Krum wouldn't mind cooperating with them, and then secretly plotting to eliminate all of these people. It would be even better if he could let them feed the dragons.

But to maintain his image, he couldn't do that.

After all, in the wizarding world, Quidditch is considered a positive, active, and progressive sport.

Once he leaves people with the impression of being insidious, cunning, and backstabbing teammates, his Quidditch career would probably be over.

Therefore, from the moment he heard Ludo say that cooperation was possible, Krum had decided that he would go it alone.

After all, except for Ethan, no one else could compare to him. He didn't need to perform very well, just be better than the people in his group, right?

Even if he was in the same group as Ethan, he didn't believe Ethan would cooperate with him. Either way, it was just going it alone.

Ron naturally noticed the mockery on Krum's face and immediately fell silent.

The other party clearly looked down on him and had no interest in teaming up with him at all.

He originally thought that he would agree if he brought up his status as a fan.

The Krum he had seen in the newspapers in the past was not like this!

However, Ron did not give up. He immediately trotted two steps and came to Hestia Godwin.

"Miss Godwin, can we…"

"Get out of the way!"

Ron, who hadn't finished speaking, was immediately stunned by Hestia Godwin's cold eyes and couldn't help but step back.

Hestia Godwin didn't want to pay attention to Ron at all.

She didn't want to be backstabbed by Ron. Like Krum, Hestia Godwin also knew the information of all the participants.

According to Ron's information, although this person is from Gryffindor, he is not trustworthy at all. He can even kill his best friends, so who knows if he will stab you in the back.

She didn't want to face the dragon and also have to guard against her teammates behind her.

It's better not to have it than to be like this.

Anyway, with this little devil around, she can't possibly be the last one in this group, right!

Ron, who was pushed aside, clenched his fists tightly, his eyes flashing with resentment, but he quickly let go.

Even if they look down on him, what can he do?

At this time, Ron began to miss the diary he had obtained in his second year. If the diary was still there, he would definitely not be like this.

Maybe he would have already surpassed Ethan and become the true champion of Hogwarts, instead of being in this awkward state now.

Ethan must have destroyed the diary by any means because he discovered this.

This also ruined him.

Arriving at the end of the tunnel, the three found that the gate here was still closed.

The three of them did not communicate with each other, but just stood here quietly waiting to enter.

Before long, they heard Ludo's voice from above.

"I believe everyone is looking forward to today's competition. Now, please welcome our first group to the stage."

"From Hogwarts, Ron Weasley!"

"From Durmstrang, Viktor Krum!"

"And from Beauxbatons, Hestia Godwin!"

Accompanying Ludo's voice was a roar of cheers from the audience.

It was unclear whether it was cheers for the three champions who were about to appear, or cheers for the competition that was about to begin.

The gate in front of the three slowly opened, revealing a venue similar to a large colosseum.

"Krum!"

"Godwin!"

"Weasley!"

With the appearance of the three champions, the atmosphere at the scene directly reached its peak.

Even some of the Gryffindor wizards, due to the atmosphere at the scene, cheered for Ron. After all, this person is also from their own academy. If there were only cheers for the other two players and none from their side, it would be embarrassing.

They had to know that this competition was not only for the little wizards to watch, but also for many of the champions' families.

In addition, wizards from the outside world who were interested could participate, and no tickets were required, as long as they followed the rules of Hogwarts.

As a result, quite a few wizards from Europe chose to come and join in the fun, after all, this was a competition that had been suspended for two hundred years and was now reopened.

Here, once you lose face, you lose face to the outside world.

"Oh, the dragons have noticed them."

Ludo roared loudly on the commentary platform.

The three of them were stared at by the dragons as soon as they entered the venue.

The dragons participating this time were all dragons that had just laid eggs and were in a period of extreme sensitivity and irritability.

Under the influence of magic, these dragons thought that these golden eggs were laid by themselves, and they were quite sensitive to the outside world.