Chapter 256 The first game of the competition
After Ron kicked open the castle door, he didn't even bother to go to the auditorium to eat, so he grabbed Harry and Hermione and ran away.
He ran to the teaching area with two friends and found an abandoned and empty classroom.
"Ron...Ron, what on earth did you think of?" In the empty classroom, Harry held on to a dusty desk and said breathlessly, "Why did you say we don't need to go to the library?"
"Yes, Ron..." Hermione was so tired that she didn't care about the dust in the classroom. She lay directly on a desk and asked exhaustedly, "I finally asked Professor Dracula to borrow it. Why don’t you use the note banning books?”
"No, we really don't need to go to the library." Ron was also dressed roughly, but his eyes were bright. "We have been going in the wrong direction before. In fact, we don't need to deal with the fire dragon head-on!"
"But...how can I complete the game without dealing with the fire dragon?" Harry hesitated.
"Harry, let me ask you, do you really think you will be asked to defeat the fire dragon during the competition?" Ron stared at Harry with a wise face and a radiant face.
"Um...probably not. After all, Charlie and the other professional dragon trainers need seven or eight people to barely handle a fire dragon." Harry hesitated, "I guess...maybe let us find a way to get past the fire dragon. Go around?"
"Yes!" Ron slammed the table, startling Harry and Hermione, "Here's the crux of the problem!"
"Think about it carefully, if you want to get past the fire dragon's defense, is it really necessary to learn the magic that targets the fire dragon? Harry just needs to be fast enough and sensitive enough!"
"Ron, what did you think of?" Hermione's eyes also lit up.
"Harry, use what you are best at!" Ron said loudly, "Didn't Filch just mock that Quidditch is useless? Then prove it to him!"
Harry's eyes widened and he became excited.
"I got it, broomstick!" he shouted, "I can fly past the fire dragon on a broomstick!"
But then he became disappointed again, "But the rules of the competition are that warriors cannot carry any supplies except wands... I can't bring a broom into the arena."
"No, Harry, you just need to bring your wand." At this time, Hermione stood up with a smile and her tone was more relaxed than ever before, "There is a very simple spell, which is in the Charms class this semester. We've learned!"
Harry looked into her eyes, and a very basic spell appeared in his mind——
"Flying curse!"
…
At two o'clock in the morning, Harry stood by the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, with many things piled around him——
Books, quills, a few overturned chairs, an old wizard's chess set, and Neville's toad raffle.
Just now, Harry finally mastered the Flying Curse.
"Much better, Harry, you've made great progress." Hermione lay on the sofa tiredly, but her face looked very happy.
"Phew -" Harry breathed a long sigh of relief, "Great, at least now I know what to do next time I can't learn spells..."
The Flying Curse was originally a spell that fourth grade students were officially required to master in the next semester. He took several spells classes but failed to learn it. Now, he completely mastered this spell in one night.
Harry said, throwing a rune dictionary to Hermione so that he could try the flying spell again, "... threaten me with a fire dragon, yes!"
He raised his wand again -
"Accio Diary!"
The heavy dictionary flew into the air from Hermione's hand and flew to the other side of the room, where it was caught by Harry.
"Harry, I think you've really got it!" Hermione said happily.
"What? Did it succeed?" Ron looked up from a sofa in confusion, "Why did I fall asleep? Why didn't you call me?"
"It's okay, Ron, you don't actually need to stay with me so late..." Harry said.
"What are you talking about? We are the best brothers!" Ron jumped up from the sofa excitedly.
"I hope it can still succeed tomorrow," Harry smiled and nodded, "But the Firebolt is much further than the thing here. Tomorrow it will be in the castle, and I will be on the field outside..."
"As long as you really concentrate and concentrate, the magic will definitely succeed." Hermione comforted, "Harry, go back to the dormitory and sleep for a while...you need to rest."
"Relax, Harry," Ron patted Harry's shoulder very relaxedly, "I can secretly help you take the Firebolt outside the auditorium. If anyone asks, I will just say that I am watching Get ready to play Quidditch after your game."
…
By the next morning, the atmosphere throughout Hogwarts had become very tense and exciting.
After the morning class, Professor McGonagall announced in the auditorium that classes would be suspended for the afternoon, allowing all the students in the school to have time to go to the field where the dragon was circled below - of course, they did not know that they would see such an amazing fire dragon there. thing.
When Harry came out of the History of Magic classroom in the last period of the morning and came to the auditorium for dinner as if sleepwalking, Professor McGonagall hurried towards him from the professor's seat.
Many people stopped eating and turned their heads to look at them.
"Potter, now the warriors have to go to the competition venue... You must be ready to complete the first project." Professor McGonagall pursed her lips tightly and said to him.
"I see..." Harry said and stood up, not realizing that he dropped his fork on the ground, making a crisp sound.
"Good luck, Harry," Hermione whispered to him, "you'll make it!"
"That's right, Harry, don't forget your Firebolt then," Ron also whispered, "I will take it outside the auditorium."
"Yeah, I'll make it." Harry said drowsily, and his voice hardly sounded like his own.
He and Professor McGonagall left the auditorium together and walked toward the Forbidden Forest northeast of the castle. The five fire dragons were placed in that direction.
Professor McGonagall looked equally flustered.
In fact, she was almost as anxious as Harry, because she couldn't imagine how a fourth-year student like herself would cope with the extremely dangerous Four Wizard Tournament?
She accompanied Harry down the stone steps to the outdoors, and gently put her hand on his shoulder.
"Okay, don't be nervous," she said, not knowing whether she was comforting Harry or herself, "Keep a calm head... Professor Dracula, as a safety officer, will be watching you from the side of the field. If things go wrong, he will Will step forward to control the situation..."
"Although you are the youngest warrior, as long as you give full play to your abilities, no one will think you are inferior to others... Do you understand what I mean?"
"I understand, Professor," Harry heard himself say.
Professor McGonagall led him around the edge of the Forbidden Forest and towards the place where the fire dragon was.
As they approached the patch of trees from which they could have a clear view of the site, Harry discovered that a tent had been erected there to block the fire dragons, with the entrance of the tent facing them.
"You must go in with several other warriors." Professor McGonagall's voice also became a little trembling. "You have to wait in the tent for a while, Potter. Mr. Bagman is also inside, and he will tell you the steps one by one. You... wish you good luck."
"Thanks……"
Harry thanked him in a monotonous, drifting voice, then moved his legs and moved himself into the tent.
Not only Harry, but all the warriors present looked very nervous.
Fleur Delacour sat on a low wooden stool in the corner of the tent. She was not at all as calm as usual, her face looked very pale and sickly; Viktor Krum looked gloomier than usual, and the veins on his forehead jumped from time to time; Cedric didn't Stopping and pacing back and forth...
Only John Kowalski looked relaxed, sitting in a chair with his eyes closed and meditating.
"Harry! That's great!" Bagman seemed relieved when he saw the last warrior coming in, as if he was afraid that Harry would escape. "Come in, come in, relax, just like at home." !”
Bagman put on the old Hornets uniform again and stood among several pale warriors, looking like a big cartoon character.
"Okay, now everyone is here - it's time to introduce the situation to you!" Bagman said happily, "After the audience gathers, I will pass this bag to each of you in turn."
He held up a purple silk bag and waved it at them.
"You need to pick out the small model of the thing you are going to face! There are different types of them. In addition, I have one more thing to tell you... Your task in this game is to pick up the golden eggs!"
…
On the other side, a huge platform has been built on the site.
This platform had not appeared a few days ago. It was temporarily built with magic. The purpose was to hide the content of the competition events and give the audience and warriors a "surprise".
At this time, the stadium was already crowded with people, and countless shouts came from the audience seats in all directions.
This spectacular scene could only be seen at the finals of the Quidditch match every year at Hogwarts. This time, the crowd around the stadium was even larger than during the Quidditch match.
This is because there are always people who are not interested in the Quidditch game, but no one wants to miss this semifinal tournament that has not happened in hundreds of years!
Dracula was lying lazily on a broom, dangling in mid-air over the arena, occasionally glancing at the enthusiastic students around the auditorium.
He saw many little wizards waving flags with the names of the warriors they supported and cheering them loudly——
As the home ground of Hogwarts, there are naturally the most flags with the words "Support Cedric".
However, what surprised Dracula was that, looking at the past, there were no fewer flags with Klum's name on them than Cedric's, which shows the huge influence of this Quidditch star.
At the same time, there are also many students who support Fleur. Most of them are boys who have become Fleur's fans in just one month. They are shouting Fleur's name with blushing faces, which is no better than those loyal girls of Krum. The powder has poor combat effectiveness.
In comparison, Harry and John's supporters seemed less numerous.
As a Yinfa Mori warrior with little fan base and seemingly no advantage in appearance, John had no one to support him except for a few students from Yin Fa Mori who came to Hogwarts.
Although Harry is a "local" of Hogwarts, his becoming a warrior is not recognized by many people. Hufflepuff, the largest school, even thinks that he has stolen Cedric's honor.
As a result, except for Hermione and a few Gryffindor friends, few people were willing to cheer for him.
In contrast, there were many people on the Slytherin side holding flags with Harry's name on them——
Of course, it says "Potter Stinks"...
Then, Dracula looked away from the audience and looked outside the entrance to the arena.
There was a little red-haired wizard who was secretly holding a broom and carefully hiding it behind a thick willow tree.
"They can actually think of using broomsticks to cope with the competition. They are the only ones." Dracula looked at Ron's sneaky behavior from a distance, with a playful smile on his lips.
At this moment, a helpless call came from below.
Dracula looked away from Ron and frowned at the place where the sound came from.
"Professor Dracula, could you please be a little more serious?" I saw Ludo Bagman standing on the long table in the commentary box with a helpless face, shouting to Dracula, "Karkaroff The principal and Ms. Maxim protested against you..."
"They felt you were not vigilant enough and asked the game to change the safety officer," he said.
"I'm so dedicated, why do they think I'm not vigilant?" Dracula lowered the height of his broom and said innocently, "I'm already serious, okay?"
Bagman couldn't help but fell into deep thought as he watched Dracula lying on the broomstick with his graceful movements.
Do you have any misunderstanding about the word serious?
"I really don't understand how Hogwarts could find such an irresponsible person as a safety officer." Ms. Maxim's stern voice sounded from the referee's seat next to her. "I seriously doubt that when an accident occurs during the game, There is no way he can save our warriors from the fire dragon in time!"
"I'm also a little doubtful... Can this posture really control the broomstick?" Karkaroff also echoed, "If something happens to Krum, the consequences are not what Hogwarts can afford. .”
Dracula looked in the direction of the referee's box, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.
"Tsk, there's really nothing you can do about it..." He chuckled softly, "You doubt that I can control the broomstick well, right?"
Under the gaze of all the judges, Dracula stretched out his hand and held it on the broom handle behind his back.
The next moment, he suddenly threw the broom on the referee's bench.
But his figure was still suspended in mid-air, swaying leisurely.
…
…
