Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 325 Some people start plotting how to kill you the moment they meet.
Professor McGonagall gave them her blessings before leading them inside.

Harry nervously exchanged a glance with Cohen and swallowed hard.

Upon entering the tent, one can see that the other warriors have already arrived.

Furong sat on a low wooden stool in the corner, her face pale, her fingers unconsciously tapping her cheeks.

Krum stared grimly at the tent poles, as if rehearsing how he would deal with a fire dragon.

Cedric paced nervously back and forth in the tent, giving Cohen and Harry a faint smile as they entered.

Seeing how nervous the other four people were, Cohen felt that his calm demeanor was somewhat abnormal...

"Great, everyone's here."

Mr. Crouch strode in from outside the tent and quickly glanced at the number of warriors.

Following closely behind him were three principals and several photographers with cameras.

“Once the audience has gathered, I will pass this bag to you one by one,” Mr. Crouch said meticulously, holding up a purple silk bag and showing it to the five warriors surrounding him. “Inside are models of the opponents you will face in the first project. You will need to choose one from them, as they come in different varieties.”

"And your ultimate task is to seize a golden egg under its protection."

No one asked why it was a golden egg, nor did anyone ask what size or shape it would be.

Before long, more and more people began to pour into the huge tent, surrounding them and Mr. Crouch.

“You start, Miss Delacour.” Crouch handed the bag to Fleur first.

With trembling hands, she reached into her cloth bag and pulled out a small, extremely realistic dragon model, bright green and still flapping its wings energetically.

Furong drew the Welsh Green Dragon, and the little dragon had a number tied around its neck—number two.

“Then it’s Mr. Krum.” Crouch held out the bag clockwise to Krum.

Krum drew number three, the Chinese Fireball.

Next up was Cedric, who drew number one, the Swedish short-nosed dinosaur—which displeased Cohen somewhat, as this silver-blue one was one Cohen favored because of its beautiful scale color.

Harry was ahead of Cohen in line, and he drew number four, the Hungarian Hornet—meaning Cohen could only draw number five, the Norwegian Spinosaurus.

If they are the same type of dragon, it would be easier to match the hatchlings with Norber—but Cohen's box might end up with a lot more monotonous black dragons.

"A little disappointed," Cohen whispered to Harry after receiving the dragon model.

“If I could, I really would like to change it…” Harry said dejectedly—his little dragon looked very intimidating from the model alone, because the Hungarian Horned Bee was almost entirely covered in spikes, “It looks like a flying hedgehog.”

“You’re not allowed to talk like that, Mummies.” Cohen held up one finger.

“What is a sheep?” Harry frowned.

"A legendary ancient dragon that's willing to walk with you to the ends of the earth," Cohen sighed. "I can't help but think—if only I had a katana..."

"Alright." Mr. Crouch checked the model tags in everyone's hands and continued, "You have all drawn the dragons you will face. The numbers around your necks indicate the order in which you will confront the dragons. Understand?"

After everyone said they understood, Mr. Crouch nodded and, together with the three principals, walked through the tent to the arena—they needed to take their seats in the referee's box to watch the game.

"boom!"

Shortly after most of the people in the tents had left, a cannon shot rang out outside.

"Digory!" Moody's urging voice rang out from outside the tent.

Cedric looked a little green, but he still walked out of the tent with his back straight. "Bagman has been suspended, and Fudge doesn't look like he's here either..." Cohen thought to himself, "So there are only four referees left?"

“Four people and five people shouldn’t make much difference, right?” Harry said absentmindedly. “They might both give me a zero—or worse…”

“It’s very important.” Cohen shook his head. “The total score looks a bit lower, but when the three projects are finished and the total score is calculated, the maximum score will drop from 150 to 120. When it’s reported in the newspaper, it won’t have that ‘wow, he’s so amazing’ feeling.”

Actually, no—

"How dangerous—Cedric Diggory actually used that kind of move!"

A commentator's voice came from afar; it sounded somewhat familiar, like a Quidditch match commentator.

"Li?" Harry pricked up his ears to listen to the match.

The commentator's voice sounds like Lee Jordan from Gryffindor.

“A very clever method—he was almost there—no! He failed!” Lee’s explanation made Harry even more nervous.

"Will Cedric be alright?" Harry asked Cohen anxiously.

“No,” Cohen said. “I didn’t hear any screams of terror.”

As soon as Cohen finished speaking, a cheer erupted outside.

This means Cedric got the golden egg.

"Excellent! Now, please have the five judges score us!" Li shouted.

"Five?" Harry was now curious too. "Did Fudge still come?"

Cohen shook his head, secretly released his soul out of the tent, and glanced outside—

There were indeed five people sitting in the judges' box: three principals, Mr. Crouch, and a woman Cohen had never seen before, but could spot at a glance—wearing a pink sweater and looking like a toad.

Dolores Umbridge.

Cohen's soul returned.

“That’s a shame,” Cohen said.

“What?” Harry raised his eyebrows.

“What I mean is that my score this round might not be very high,” Cohen sighed.

This toad will most likely not give Cohen a high score—because what she hates most is half-human, half-human.

Harry was a little confused, but Fleur and Krum were still in the tent, so he didn't press Cohen about what he had discovered.

"One's gone, four more left!" Li shouted after the judges raised their scoring boards. "Next up is Miss Delacour!"

Hibiscus, head held high and wand clutched tightly in her hand, hurriedly left the tent.

Now only Cohen, Harry, and Krum were left in the tent.

Cohen noticed that Harry and Krum seemed to be avoiding each other's gaze.

Harry was embarrassed, but Krum didn't seem to be—Cohen saw something strange in Krum's emotions; it wasn't hostility or shyness.

(End of this chapter)