Harry returns from Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 269 Cassandra's Battle Plan! (8000 words)
The Hungarian wood bee has a very large and intimidating mouth.

As it roared, a burst of enthusiastic cheers rose from all around the arena.

Among the voices were many cheering for Harry and urging him to hurry up and stop dawdling.

Harry took a step forward, not rushing to grab the golden egg and complete the first task, but instead examining the Hungarian wood bee.

It should be said that this fire dragon is very strong, significantly stronger than the two fire dragons that Viktor and Fleur faced before.

The fire dragon faced away from the sun, and the sunlight shone on its body, outlining a breathtaking silhouette.

"The Hungarian Horned Beetle is known to be the most dangerous of all fire dragons. It is covered in black scales and looks like a lizard."

Mr. Bagman gave a brief introduction to the Hungarian Hornet from the podium: "As you can see, it has yellow eyes, bronze horns, and a long tail with a nearly bronze-colored spike protruding from it—the Hornet is one of the fire-breathing dragons that can breathe fire the farthest, and it has been measured to be up to fifty feet... What I want to say is that our warrior from Hogwarts is in trouble."

As if to echo Mr. Bagman's words, the Hungarian wood bee placed one claw on the rugged rock and roared to the sky.

“Harry is in danger,” Seamus said gravely. “Even the dark wizards wouldn’t dare face a raging Hungarian wasp alone…”

“I think you should trust Harry.” Hermione closed the book on her lap and pushed up her black-rimmed glasses. “It’s just a dragon. I don’t think Harry can’t handle it.”

These glasses were just a gift from Vivi; they're supposedly an alchemical artifact that can ward off one targeted curse each day.

What Lincoln Sphere?

Harry walked slowly forward, and the Hungarian hornet, as if facing a formidable enemy, stared intently at the small figure in front of him.

Although it didn't take this small creature seriously, it was now sitting on a nest of dragon eggs, so it couldn't afford to be careless.

The audience held their breath, wondering why Harry was so relaxed and not even in a hurry to retrieve the dragon egg.

Do you really think you can fool the dragon's eyes with this method and take the dragon egg right under its nose?

Just as Harry approached to within about thirty yards of the dragon, the Hungarian Hornet suddenly took a deep breath.

"Depulso (retreat the enemy three feet)!"

Harry's spell struck first, hitting the Hungarian hornet's chin.

The fire dragon was struck by the spell and suddenly leaned back, spewing all the flames it had been preparing to unleash into the sky.

"Beautiful!" Mr. Bagman exclaimed in praise: "The power of this spell is just right. It knocked the dragon's head off before it was about to breathe fire, thus avoiding being burned by the dragon's breath—a very clever choice."

Struck by the spell, the Hungarian hornet roared again, spread its two dragon wings, and pounced on Harry.

However, in the instant its movement changed, a huge rock slammed down on its head with tremendous force.

Even for a Hungarian wood bee of such a large size, being hit on the head by such a huge rock would be unpleasant.

Its body suddenly stopped, and it let out a miserable howl.

"Oh my, what kind of magic is this? I've never seen it before!" Mr. Bagman's tone was extremely excited—because he had bet on Harry to win. "Look, oh my Merlin, his choice is different from the previous two heroes; he's choosing to defeat this fire dragon head-on!"

"You know, even adult wizards can hardly defeat a dragon in a one-on-one duel, but I think everyone is seeing it now. This warrior from Hogwarts—Harry Potter—is about to make history by defeating an adult dragon as a fourth-year student!"

As Mr. Bagman provided commentary, a burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted from all around the venue.

"Well done, Harry!" Ron stood up and clapped his hands high. "Give it a good whack on the ass! Oh, that damned dragon!"

"Harry! Snap out of it!" Neville cheered from the sidelines.

Harry couldn't hear his friends cheering, but he could clearly hear the wailing of the Hungarian wood bee.

He didn't stop just because the fire dragon howled. He continued to use the energy of ancient magic to draw the scattered stones in the arena and hurl them at the Hungarian wood bees.

The Hungarian wood bee was unwilling to be suppressed by Harry. It seized an opening, endured the pain, and charged into the sky, then sped toward Harry.

What it didn't expect was that it suddenly felt like its body was out of control.

A collective gasp of air was heard from all around the venue.

In the eyes of the audience, the fire dragon looked as if it had been grabbed by the tail and was slammed to the ground.

As Harry's wand swung from side to side, the fire dragon was slammed into the ground repeatedly.

"Ow!"

It is a fire dragon after all; its vitality is much stronger than that of humans.

If it were a normal person, they would have died long ago after being thrown so many times, but the Hungarian wood bee was still able to struggle to stand up.

It truly lives up to its reputation as the most ferocious of all fire dragon species; its fierce nature alone makes it worthy of the name.

Even though it was covered in wounds, bleeding profusely, and even with its white bones protruding from its wounds, the fire dragon still relentlessly pounced on Harry.

“Oh my, this fire dragon is really tenacious.” Mr. Bagman’s commentary rang out at the right time. “It can be seen that its performance lives up to its name, but to be honest, it is not a wise choice.”

The audience was stunned. They had never seen such a violent scene before. Especially the wizard fighting the dragon, completely suppressing the dragon in the narrow arena. How could this not make their blood boil?

Some of the more passionate individuals even took off their shirts, waved them around, and cheered Harry on loudly.

Faced with the Hungarian hornet's tenacious counterattack, Harry did not choose to use any lethal magic. After all, he had no grudge against the dragon and there was no need to take its life.

Moreover, this is a dragon from a Romanian dragon farm. To take the life of a fire dragon just for participating in a trial would not only be against the rules, but would also leave a bad impression on the audience.

With that thought, Harry raised his wand and aimed it at the fire dragon.

"Stupefy!"

A red spell, as thick as a bucket, shot out from the tip of Harry's wand like a cannonball and landed squarely on the Hungarian Hornet's face.

The poor fire dragon didn't even have time to let out a scream before it fell into a deep, infant-like sleep.

It's good to be young, just fall asleep.

With that thought in mind, amidst the deafening cheers all around, Harry strolled leisurely to the dragon's nest and picked up the golden egg with both hands.

He held the golden egg high in his hand, and was greeted by shouts, screams, applause and cheers from the crowd, the sound deafening.

It's an intoxicating feeling to be the center of attention and receive cheers; few people could resist that feeling.

"Look!" Bagman shouted excitedly, "Look! Our youngest warrior got the golden egg in the fastest time! And he got it by facing the fire dragon head-on, using his own strength to complete the first task with an absolute crushing victory... I have to say, this was really exciting. Thank you, Mr. Porter, for bringing us such a thrilling competition. Let's thank him!"

Harry waved to the crowd, and the audience responded with applause.

"That was absolutely brilliant, Potter!"

As soon as he came down from the artificial hill, Professor McGonagall came up to him excitedly and said loudly—for her to say that was already a high compliment.

But judging from Professor McGonagall's reaction, she was extremely satisfied with Harry's performance.

At this moment, the dragon trainers rushed forward to check on the injuries of the poor Hungarian wood bee.

As Charlie examined the Hungarian hornet's wounds, he muttered, "So brutal, so incredibly brutal, my God..."

“Let’s go to that tent over there,” Professor McGonagall continued. “Mr. Krum and Ms. Delacour are receiving treatment from Mrs. Pomfrey inside. I suppose you’d like a hot cup of cocoa too?”

As she said this, Professor McGonagall smiled, seemingly pleased that Harry was unharmed.

This is not only the glory of Hogwarts, but also the glory of Gryffindor!

Since Mr. Potter enrolled, Gryffindor has been thriving...

The more the old lady looked at Harry, the more pleasing he seemed to her.

“I think I’m doing pretty well right now,” Harry replied with a smile, as Ron and Hermione ran over at the same time.

“That’s amazing, Harry, you’re amazing!” Hermione said excitedly.

“You did a great job, Harry.” Ron patted Harry on the shoulder as they walked together to the edge of the arena. “You know, you’re the best, nobody can compare to you. That girl named Fleur cast a spell, I think she was trying to put the dragon into a hypnotic state—and it almost worked, the dragon was drowsy for a moment, but then it started snoring and breathed out a really powerful flame, and Fleur’s dress caught fire—she conjured water from her wand and put it out. And Krum—you won’t believe it, he didn’t even think of flying! But he was great too, probably second only to you—he hit the dragon directly in the eye with a spell. Unfortunately, the dragon struggled painfully, stomping around and crushing half of the real eggs—the judges deducted a lot of points from him for damaging them.”

Ron took a deep breath as he and Harry reached the edge of the field.

The bees had been removed, and Harry could see where the five judges were sitting—right to his right, in raised gold chairs.

“No one can get a maximum score of ten,” Ron said. Harry squinted and looked out over the field, where he saw the first judge—Mrs. Maxim—raising her wand into the air.

A long, silver ribbon-like thing shot out from the wand, suddenly splitting into two in the air and turning into a huge "10".

“Very fair!” Ron said amidst the applause and cheers of the audience. “But I think she probably gave you ten points because you didn’t kill the dragon… I must say, it was a wise choice.”

Next up was Mr. Crouch. He also shot a "10" into the air.

"Looks like we've got it!" Hermione exclaimed happily. "We've got 20 points now!"

Next up was Dumbledore, who also gave Harry a perfect 10, given his impeccable performance.

The cheers from the audience grew even louder, because those ten points were well-deserved.

Ludo Bagman – 10 points.

"Forty points!" Ron shouted excitedly, as if he had gotten forty points himself. "Forty points! Harry! Krum and Delacour didn't get such a high score... You don't even need Headmaster Karkaroff's score to surpass both of them!"

At that moment, Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number—"7"—emerged from his wand.

A chorus of boos erupted from the audience. It was obvious to everyone that Karkarov was deliberately favoring his school's students and couldn't stand seeing other schools do well.

But they were helpless, because such a referee was clearly shameless, and they had no way to stop him.

"What?" Ron roared angrily. "Seven points? You wretched, biased bastard, you gave Krum a ten! In what way is Harry inferior to Krum! This is bias! Utter bias!"

However, it was no use. No matter how much he argued, he wouldn't change Karkarov's mind. Besides, Karkarov couldn't hear him anyway.

Just then, Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum walked over together.

Viktor's expression was somewhat gloomy, or rather, he always had that expression, and it wasn't for any particular reason.

Fleur's expression was rather subtle; she looked at Harry as if he were an invincible monster.

He participated in the Triwizard Tournament, where he was matched against Hogwarts' younger brother, who was as strong as a monster. Despite his best efforts, he could not defeat him.

“You’ve all done a great job!” said Ludo Bagman, leaping lightly into the tent with an air of elation, as if he himself had just defeated a fire-breathing dragon. “Alright, I only have a few words to say—the second project will begin at 9:30 a.m. on February 24th next year. You can rest for a long time before then—but we have some questions for you to consider! Look down at those golden eggs you’re holding, and you’ll find they can be opened… See the seam there? You must decipher the clues provided inside the eggs—that will tell you what the second project is. You can get ready! Got it? No questions? Alright, you can go now!”

Harry hadn't expected the second match to come so late...

In other words, I will be idle for about four months.

After the match, Harry didn't rush to leave. Instead, he walked through the cheering crowd to the VIP section.

"That's really nice," Vivi said with a slight smile after seeing him.

Harry cleared his throat and asked, "I really didn't expect you to come to my match. To be honest, when you said you didn't have time, I even thought you weren't coming at all."

“How could I miss your match?” Vivi said with a light smile. “Besides, I’m just an ordinary director; I don’t have much to worry about…”

As she spoke, Vivi suddenly smiled slyly, leaned closer to Harry, and whispered, "This time, I actually came to England to watch the Triwizard Tournament as the Director of the International Magical Exchange and Cooperation Department of the Greater German Ministry of Magic. Theoretically, it's on public funds... I just bought a few little toys outside, and the Ministry of Magic can reimburse me when I get back~"

After she finished speaking, Vivi had a 'praise me' look on her face, wanting Harry to praise her wit.

"You're so smart." Harry was a little speechless. It's not like you're broke, sister...

When you become Minister of Magic, will you also... oh, unlikely. Given Vivi's personality, she'll definitely treat all the Ministry of Magic's money as her own and be unwilling to spend a single penny... The old Viennese are terrified of poverty.

Harry imagined a scene like this: someone in the Ministry of Magic wanted to get reimbursed for travel expenses, and Vivi angrily slammed her hand on the table, yelling, "My money!"...

"What are you thinking about?" Vivi asked, waving her hand in front of him as he stared blankly into space.

"Oh, it's nothing," Harry said belatedly.

"He's thinking about your stinginess, Grindelwald."

Cassandra's voice rang out; she had appeared behind Harry without him noticing.

“I’m just trying to save some money for our little family, that’s all,” Vivi said, her face neither flushed nor pale. She even put her arm around Harry’s.

Cassandra's eyelids twitched violently at the sight of this shameless act.

"You're still the same as before, Grindelwald, completely disregarding your status—the Director of the Ministry of Magic, getting involved in such an ambiguous and tangled affair with a fourth-year student..."

"And there's also the passion for adultery," Vivi said cutely, blinking her eyes.

Cassandra took a deep breath.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?"

Pappy suddenly jumped over and grabbed Harry's other arm: "Are you trying to steal Harry? Then give me one of your arms!"

"You're going to dismember me, aren't you?" Harry said helplessly.

Yes, fragments of a legendary wizard, who wouldn't want to collect them?
“How could that be!” Papiyas retorted. “How could I be so bad? I think the one who would most like to dismember you is that Karkaroff. I think he’s very jealous of you, don’t you think?”

“Everyone has likes and dislikes, that’s normal.” Harry didn’t take it seriously. Forty-seven points or fifty points, it was still a peak that Viktor could never catch up to.

He's long past the age where he needs external validation.

“So where are we going to celebrate?” Pappy hooked her other arm around Cassandra’s. “Come on, let’s celebrate together, let’s go to the Hogwarts kitchen… I know the house-elves very well.”

"I won't be going," Vivi said regretfully. "The Ministry of Magic has a lot of work waiting for me to do. You know, the merger of the two Ministries of Magic is a huge undertaking. It's already the limit that I can come out to watch Harry's match..."

“Then I won’t keep you any longer.” Harry reached out and grabbed Vivi’s thigh twice. “When I have my vacation, I’ll come to Vienna to visit you.”

"Then I'll wait for you." Vivi smiled and ruffled Harry's hair before Apparating away.

After Vivi left, Harry looked at Cassandra: "What about you? Aren't you coming to celebrate with me?"

Cassandra raised her head, looking extremely arrogant.

"so I……"

Before she could finish speaking, Harry grabbed her little hand.

"Let's go together... Hmm... Let me think... How about we go to the Gryffindor common room? I heard they're having a really lively celebration tonight. I think we can go together. What do you think?"

“Heh.” Cassandra smirked, but the curve was upward.

Harry, who knew Cassandra well, knew this meant tacit approval. He turned to Pappy and asked, "And what about you?"

“Me?” Papiyas chuckled. “Hehehe, sure, I’ll go with you guys—but will the Gryffindor common room welcome us?”

“Definitely!” Harry patted his chest and said, “The Gryffindor kids are the most enthusiastic.”

Sure enough, when they entered the Gryffindor common room, cheers and commotion erupted once again.

The tables and chairs were piled high with cakes, along with jugs of pumpkin juice and butterbeer.

Lee Jordan set off some hard-fire fireworks, and the air was filled with sparks and flecks.

Dean Thomas, a skilled painter, hung up several eye-catching new banners, all depicting scenes of Ha using magic to repel Hungarian wood bees and smashing fire dragons with stones.

In the common room, not only were there members of Gryffindor, but Cedric from Hufflepuff and his gang of badgers were also sitting not far away, cheering for Harry; and Draco from Slytherin was not to be outdone, cheering along with his two henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle.

However, these two lackeys... look rather simple-minded.

Are we doing alright? Of course!
Luna of Ravenclaw sat in the corner, wearing strange glasses that looked like two little hands.

The ghosts of Gryffindor also gathered together; such a once-in-a-century event was certainly something to celebrate.

This included Sebastian, the ghost of Slytherin, and Orminus, who was hanging nearby; they were all applauding and celebrating for Harry.

"Good heavens, it feels quite heavy, doesn't it?" Lee Jordan said, picking up the golden egg Harry had placed on the table and weighing it in his hands. "Open it, Harry! Let's see what's inside!"

"He should solve the clues himself," said Hermione hastily. "The rules of the Tournament stipulate that ..."

“Rules are rigid, but people are flexible,” Harry said with a smile. “As the saying goes, brainstorming is the best policy, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing to involve everyone.”

"Okay, come on, Harry, open it!" several people responded.

Lee handed the golden egg to Harry, who used his fingernails to pry it open by digging into the grooves around the egg.

It was empty inside—but the moment Harry opened it, a terrifying, piercing scream filled the entire room.

Harry had only heard a noise like it before, at Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party, when a ghost band played a musical saw.

"Close it!" Fred shouted, covering his ears with his hands.

Harry slammed the golden egg shut.

“What was that?” Seamus Finnigan asked, staring at the golden egg. “It sounded like a ghost… Harry, you might have to walk past a ghost next time!”

“It sounds like someone is being tortured!” Neville said—his face was ashen, and he scattered sausage meat all over the floor. “You’re dealing with the Cruciatus Curse!”

“Don’t talk nonsense, Neville, that’s illegal,” George said. “They can’t cast the Crucifixion on a champion—I think it sounds a bit like Percy singing…you might as well attack him while he’s showering, Harry.”

“Would Hermione like a jam pie?” he asked again.

Hermione looked at the plate he handed her with suspicion.

Fred grinned.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “I didn’t do anything to them. You need to watch out for the egg and milk cookies—”

Neville had just taken a bite of the egg and milk biscuit when he heard this, and he choked and spat it out.

Upon seeing this, Fred burst into laughter.

"I was just joking, Neville..."

Hermione picked up a jam tart and said, "Did you take all this from the kitchen, Fred?"

"Yes," said Fred, grinning at her. He tried to imitate a house-elf in a high-pitched, raspy voice: "'We can prepare anything for you, sir, anything!' They're so kind... if I say I'm a little hungry, they'll roast an ox for me."

“But they’re unlikely to roast a whole cow for you,” Ron said, grimacing. “They’re hardworking, but they wouldn’t waste food like that on you.”

“No, they won’t roast it for you,” Fred retorted, “because they know you can’t eat much—but I can, Fred and I can easily eat a whole cow.”

Ron rolled his eyes; he couldn't be bothered to refute Fred's words.

"What do you think?" Harry looked up and asked Pappy, but when he looked up, he couldn't see Pappy's face at all.

What has blinded me?
“I think…” Papiyas thought for a moment, then suddenly revealed a wise expression, “They want you to sing to the golden egg… Ouch!”

Before he could finish speaking, Cassandra slapped him on the head with a chop to the head.

Papi stuck out his tongue and didn't say anything more.

"Perhaps it's related to some kind of magical creature?" Cassandra asked, resting her chin on her hand. "Think about it, such a strange sound might just be the sound of some magical creature—"

“What kind of legitimate magical creature would make such a sound…” Neville muttered to himself.

"What kind of sounds would those quirky magical creatures make?" Fred and George chuckled. "Just imagine, what sounds would they make?"

No one paid any attention to the two clowns when Luna's ethereal voice suddenly rang out.

“Perhaps we can try a different approach,” she said, almost as if chanting. “I think maybe we’re approaching it the wrong way.”

"Is this the wrong way to do it?" Harry asked, bewildered. "Is there some other way? Or should I try a different approach..."

Papi looked up, feeling like she had thought of something, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

“No rush,” Ron said, chewing on his pie. “There’s still plenty of time. It’s only early November, and the second project doesn’t start until February 24th of next year. There’s no need for us to be in such a hurry to find the right way to open this golden egg, is there?”

“You’re right.” Harry accepted Ron’s suggestion, put the golden egg back in his purse, and grinned as he raised his butterbeer: “Keep the music playing, keep the fun going!”

Just then, Neville suddenly transformed into a large canary, attracting everyone's attention.

“Hey—sorry, Neville!” Fred called out amidst the laughter, “I forgot—this is our enchanted eggnog—”

Fortunately, Neville shed his feathers in less than a minute, and once all the feathers were gone, he looked completely normal again.

He even laughed along with the others.

"Canary Cookies!" Fred shouted to the excited crowd. "Invented by George and me—seven silver biscuits a piece, very cheap!"

"I want ten!" Pappy raised his hand high. "What an interesting invention! I think I should buy ten..."

"You want to become a big fat bird?"

As she said this, Cassandra glanced enviously at Papiyas's grandeur.

“Oh, no, I just find it funny.” Papi chuckled. “Just imagine what it would be like if Vivi ate one of these cookies?”

Upon hearing Papiyas's words, Cassandra involuntarily began to imagine that scene...

Vivi ate the canary cookies she had prepared, and with a "poof," she transformed into a giant canary...

“I’ll buy them all,” Cassandra said resolutely.

“Oh, Your Excellency Miss Malfoy.” The twins looked at each other as if they were looking at God: “You are so generous, so incredibly generous… Your generosity could light up the entire Hogwarts Castle!”

As they spoke, they pulled a bunch of canary cookies from their wallets: "We made two hundred in total, used four today, Miss Sweetine ordered ten, so we have one hundred and eighty-six left... Let me calculate how much it costs..."

He took out paper and pen, scratched his cheek, and began to do the math.

It's important to know that the currency in the wizarding world is rather peculiar: one Galleon is equal to seventeen Silver Sickles, which makes calculations extremely complicated...

“No need to count,” Hermione said. “It’s seventy-six Galleons plus ten Sickles.”

“Alright.” The twins chuckled as they stood up and said to Cassandra, “Then, Your Excellency Malfoy… we’ll round down the ten Sickles, making it a total of seventy-six Galleons, yours sincerely.”

Cassandra said nothing, simply pulled out her wallet, paid, and then put all the cookies away.

She planned to give Vivi a good makeover, using these cookies...

Thinking of this, a fierce flame ignited in her eyes.

That woman must be turned into a canary!

(End of this chapter)