Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 286, Section 285: Cedric Passes the Test and the Supervision of Karkaroff

From the audience's perspective, compared to the enormous and ferocious fire dragon, the person walking into the arena was incredibly small—like the difference between an adult and an ant, a stark contrast in size.

A gasp of surprise erupted from the stands. Not only the Muggles, but many wizards also doubted whether such a young child, who had not yet graduated from Hogwarts, a fifth-year student, could really defeat the fire dragon.

Even if it's just stealing an egg from a dragon's nest without destroying it—isn't that even more difficult?
"Do you think this child can succeed, Principal Potter?" Ms. Maxim asked with great interest. "It is said that this child is your apprentice."

“Cedric is a very good apprentice. He is very hardworking, especially when it comes to knowledge,” Harry thought for a moment and said, “So I think he is more likely to try to defeat the dragon than to steal an egg from it.”

“Defeat?!” Hack sat up straight in disbelief. “I just heard from that, well, the commentator, that it would take more than a dozen well-trained adult wizards to subdue a dragon like that.”

“Yes, Prime Minister Hark,” Dumbledore said cheerfully, “but that’s the beauty of magic. Age is often not a limitation… Oh? Look, Cedric has made his move.”

He did indeed make a move. Cedric stood away from the dragon, drew his wand, and then swung it sharply.

“Oh? Transfiguration?” Bagman’s voice was tinged with surprise. “Does Hogwarts’ first champion intend to use Transfiguration to distract this dragon? Transfiguration is indeed a very profound art, especially when you have to make the transformed creature look real.”

“No, no, no, Bagman, I don’t know any living thing that’s as round and straight as a barrel. It looks more like a wooden stake,” Ludo’s commentator partner retorted. “I know what it is. It’s a totem!”

“Yes, you’re not mistaken, David, that is indeed a totem, a shaman’s totem,” Bagman said with great interest. “So what we are about to see is brand new shamanic magic—and as an aside, even in the entire magical world, there are very few people who have mastered shamanic magic. I’m sure this child will play a vital role in the shamanic priesthood in the future.”

Praise is free, and Ludo is going to rave about it.

Cedric, as a shamanic apprentice, had already passed the initial stage, which meant that he didn't need to carve a totem on the spot. Instead, he directly created a totem using transmutation and then forcefully inserted it into the ground.

The next second, an earth elemental, as tall as two Cedric, emerged from the ground, its body made of hard stone.

“Aha! I know this!” Perrier, the French Prime Minister, slapped his thigh excitedly and said, “I’ve seen them in the garden, but not this big.”

He was glad that something he could understand and know what was in the competition finally appeared, so that he wouldn't look like a clueless idiot.

The French Minister of Magic stayed by his side, explaining things to him at any time.

In the arena, Cedric's summoned earth elemental, with its superior size, directly attracted the fire dragon's attention. The mother dragon roared restlessly, spewing hot sparks from its nostrils—then, amidst gasps of alarm, it suddenly left its lair and pounced on the earth elemental!

During the incubation period, the mother dragon will actively attack any moving creature that approaches her nest, ensuring that it becomes immobile.

We will never let go of even a moving clod of earth!
The fire dragon moved very quickly, even faster than Cedric had anticipated. In the blink of an eye, the behemoth charged over, its entire body pressing down on the earth elemental. Its huge mouth opened, spewing scorching flames at the earth elemental's small head!

boom! ! !
The scorching dragon breath melted the earth elemental's little head in just a few seconds. If it weren't for the fact that the true essence of elemental life is their elemental core, the earth elemental summoned by Cedric would probably have died on the spot.

“This is truly astonishing,” Dumbledore said, pushing up his glasses in surprise. “I’m quite certain that the breath of the Hehidari dragon shouldn’t possess such power.”

As an alchemist, Dumbledore had a thorough understanding of dragons and had contributed to the discovery of twelve uses for dragon blood. In his memory, the flames breathed by dragons should not have the power to melt stones in a matter of seconds.

“It’s obvious, Dumbledore,” Scrimgeour said gruffly, “your information is outdated. The elemental resurgence has also had unknown effects on these rugged magical creatures. Many of the Ministry’s best have been burned and sent to St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Arts because of this match.”

“Indeed…wonderful,” Dumbledore remarked after a moment of silence.

"Wait, I understand what you mean," Hack raised his hand like a student and said, "So, these fire dragons are more dangerous than before? What if that student down there, uh, has an accident?"

"He'll die," Karkarov scoffed. "You can just say it outright, he'll die a horrible death—but that's all allowed by the rules. If they die during the competition, it just means that's all they're capable of."

“Although Principal Karkaroff’s words may not be very pleasant, they are indeed true,” Ms. Maxim explained gently to Perrier. “Even though this Triwizard Tournament has extraordinary significance, this point remains unchanged.”

“This is just too much…” Hack opened his mouth, “Won’t the students’ parents have a problem with this? I mean—do you even have an organization like the PTA?”

"What is that?" Scrimgeour asked with a puzzled look. "Why would they object? Becoming a warrior is an extremely honorable thing, and facing death is normal. They should have been prepared when they signed up."

“Okay,” Huck said dryly, “this is definitely different from us… well, very different.”

At the very least, Hack couldn't imagine the commotion that would ensue if someone died in a Muggle school competition. From that perspective, wizarding society might be surprisingly barbaric.

Or perhaps...simple?
While the people on the stage were shocked by the dragon's powerful fire breath, Cedric in the arena was already scrambling away to escape – there was no doubt that the black dragon's powerful flames had also shocked him and even burned him.

A few sparks danced around him. The intense heat made it impossible for Cedric to stand near the earth elemental for long, let alone fight alongside it to defeat the fire dragon. All of this was completely different from what Cedric had anticipated before the battle.

He wasn't unfamiliar with fire dragons; he had even visited a dragon farm in Romania with his father, where he had come into close contact with them—but Cedric didn't recall fire dragons possessing such power! Melting rocks in the blink of an eye.

The only saving grace was that the earth element's true core remained unharmed. Even though the rock that appeared to be its head had melted, it didn't affect its ability to perceive the outside world. On the contrary, it faithfully carried out the pact it had made with Cedric, its two rock-made arms encircling the fire dragon's body from bottom to top, and then it rolled over!

The audience's gasps grew even louder; they loved seeing this!

Monsters vs. monsters!!
This is way more exciting than King Kong or Godzilla, because it's real! A real-world monster battle!!
That's awesome!

Even many wizards were excited about this grand spectacle, since they rarely saw fire dragons.

The earth elemental rolled around in the center of the arena, carrying the fire dragon. In an instant, the river changed course, the forest collapsed, and Cedric—after extinguishing the flames on his robes—rushed towards the dragon's nest and retrieved a golden egg from within.

He passed.

As for the initial idea of ​​defeating the fire dragon... let's put that aside for now.

"Perfect! The first warrior to appear at Hogwarts has successfully obtained the golden egg!" Bagman was already shouting excitedly. "It's clear that the black dragon's blazing flames exceeded his expectations, which is one of the unpredictable aspects of this match."

"I am telling you all very seriously that, after confirmation by several Masters of Fantastic Beasts, including Newt Scamander, and many dragon breeders, we have been surprised to find that many magical creatures in this world, including fire dragons, are becoming more powerful with the resurgence of the elements, such as the fire breath of this Hehidari Black Dragon."

"Now, let our professional dragon breeders calm this irritable beast, and most importantly—let our judges score the warrior Cedric Diggory!"

"I must remind everyone to strictly control your scores, because we have a total of eighteen warriors going out today—you can't give a perfect score to a young warrior just because he successfully faced the fire dragon, haha."

Bagman burst out laughing.

A dozen or so dragon tamers riding flying brooms flew directly into the arena while Bagman was speaking. One of them even yelled at Cedric as he passed by, telling him to recall the earth element. Soon the black dragon realized that it had no opponents, and was instead surrounded by those annoying little bugs that always swarmed around it.

The dragon herders tossed out large quantities of blood-stained, uh, live cows from their pockets. These fresh, moving, and delicious foods attracted the panting, irritable fire dragons. The delicious smell of blood made its eyes fixed on the running cows, and then it pounced on them to begin its hunt.

This cooperative action relieved the dragon breeders somewhat. There was no doubt that these cattle had been drugged. Before long, the fire dragon fell into a deep sleep and was then taken off the field by the dragon breeders.

"Wow, this is really exciting!" Hack watched the scene with great interest. To be honest, in his eyes, this scene of a fire dragon hunting its prey was no less exciting than the young warrior's attempt to break through the fire dragon earlier. "So at least that many people are needed to control a fire dragon? That little warrior was quite impressive."

“That’s different, Prime Minister Hark,” Harry said, shaking his head slightly. “All the student warriors need to do is take the golden egg from beside the dragon, not kill or defeat it. This has greatly reduced the difficulty.”

"So, the competition for the Professor Warriors is to defeat or kill a fire dragon head-on?" Humphrey asked with interest. "Isn't it said that it takes more than a dozen adult wizards to control a fire dragon?"

“It’s obvious, sir, that there are always people whose magical abilities surpass those of ordinary people,” Scrimgeour grinned. “Take our Headmaster Potter, for example.”

“Yes, I understand,” Humphrey nodded and said, “The elite decide everything, which makes sense.”

"Excuse my bluntness, everyone, have you reached a score yet?" Bagman rushed over and said, "The next warrior is about to take the stage, and I need your scores."

“Right away, Bagman,” Dumbledore said cheerfully, raising his wand. A long, silver ribbon-like substance shot from the tip of the wand, twisting and forming a large number—8—high above the judges' table.
On a scale of 10, Dumbledore gave it an 8.

“I’m sorry, Harry, Cedric was burned by the black dragon’s flames, so I can’t give him a higher score,” Dumbledore said with a shrug.

“That makes sense,” Harry nodded slightly. “Even if the dragon’s power has increased due to the elemental resurgence, his reaction time is too slow.”

Mrs. Maxim also gave it eight points, while Karkarov—

"Given certain generally accepted facts, I must remind you, Headmaster Karkaroff," Harry suddenly narrowed his eyes and reminded Karkaroff when it was Karkaroff's turn to score, "If a judge's score is clearly unfair or unjust, to the point that it causes strong opposition from the audience, then we will, at our discretion, disqualify that judge, reclaim any scores they have given in the past, and replace them with a sufficiently fair judge."

"What do you mean?! Principal Potter!" Karkaroff's nose looked like it was about to twist out of shape with anger. "What are you implying?!"

“I think that makes perfect sense,” Scrimgeour suddenly said. “After all, this Triwizard Tournament is of great significance. We can’t allow some judges to leave a bad impression on the outside world. That would be a denial of the hard work of the Ministry of Magic staff of both countries over the past few months…right, Principal Karkaroff?”

Scrimgeour's attitude was very tough. He stared intently at Karkaroff, after all, no one knew Karkaroff better than him, a former Auror office chief.

(End of this chapter)