Cassandra's Battle Plan!

The Hungarian Horntail dragon has a very large and intimidating mouth.

Accompanied by its roar, a burst of enthusiastic cheers rose from all around the arena.

Among the voices were many cheering for Harry and urging Harry 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 Horntail dragon.

It should be said that this Fire Dragon is very strong, significantly stronger than the two Fire Dragon that Viktor and Phoebe faced before.

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

"The Hungarian Horntail dragon is known to be the most dangerous of all Fire Dragon Fire Dragon. It is covered in black scales and looks like a lizard."

Mr. Bagman gave a brief introduction to the Hungarian Horntail dragon 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 Tree Bee is one of the fire-breathing Fire Dragon that can breathe fire the farthest, measured to be up to fifty feet. What I want to say is that our Hogwarts Champion is in trouble."

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

"Harry is in danger," Seamus said gravely. "Even the Dark Wizard wouldn't dare face a raging Hungarian Horntail dragon 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 Fire Dragon. I don't think Harry can't handle it."

These glasses were just a gift from Veratia; 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 Horntail dragon, 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 Fire 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 Fire Dragon, the Hungarian Horntail dragon suddenly took a deep breath.

"Depulso (Pushing Charm)!"

Harry's Charms struck first, hitting the Hungarian Horntail dragon's chin.

The Fire Dragon was struck by the Charms 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 Charms was just right. It knocked the Fire Dragon's head off before it could breathe Charms, thus avoiding being burned by its breath—a very clever choice."

Struck by the Charms, the Hungarian Horntail dragon 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 Hungarian Horntail dragon 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 anything like it before!" Mr. Bagman's tone was extremely excited—because he had bet on Harry to win. "Look, my Merlin, he's made a different choice from the previous two heroes; he's choosing to defeat this Fire Dragon head-on!"

"You know, even adult wizards almost never manage to defeat a Fire Dragon in a one-on-one duel, but I think you've all seen it now—this Hogwarts Champion, Harry Potter, is about to make history by defeating an adult Fire Dragon as a fourth-year student!"

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

"Well done, Harry!" Ron stood up and clapped his hands high. "The wolf pounded its ass with a stone! Oh, that damned Fire Dragon!"

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

Harry couldn't hear his friends cheering, but he could clearly hear the mournful cry of the Hungarian Horntail dragon.

He didn't stop just because the Fire Dragon roared. He continued to use the energy of Ancient Magic to pull the scattered stones in the arena and hurled them at the Hungarian Horntail dragon.

The Hungarian Horntail dragon was unwilling to be suppressed by Harry. It seized an opening, endured the pain, and charged into the sky, then sped towards 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 swung his wand from side to side, the fire Fire Dragon was slammed into the ground repeatedly.

"Roar!"

It is Fire Dragon after all; its Life Force 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 Horntail dragon was still able to struggle to stand up.

It truly lives up to its reputation as the most temperamental of all the Fire Dragon species; just look at its ferocity!

They fully deserve this title.

Even though his body was covered in wounds, blood was gushing out, and even white bones were protruding from the wounds,

But the Fire Dragon continued its relentless attack on Harry, defying all fear.

"Wow, this Fire Dragon is really tenacious," Mr. Bagman's commentary rang out at the right moment. "It's clear that its performance lives up to its name, but frankly, it's not a wise choice."

The audience was stunned. They had never seen such a violent scene before. Especially the wizard fighting the Fire Dragon, completely suppressing the Fire 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 Horntail dragon's tenacious counterattack, Harry did not choose to use any lethal magic. After all, he had no grudge against the Fire Dragon and there was no need to take its life.

Moreover, this is a dragon from Romanian Dragon Reserve. 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 (Stunning Spell)!"

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

Being young is great; you can fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow.

With that thought in mind, Harry strolled leisurely to the dragon's lair amidst the deafening cheers all around him.

He held the Golden Egg in 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 Golden Egg the fastest! And he got it by directly confronting the Fire Dragon, using his own strength to absolutely crush it and complete the First Task. I have to say, that was truly amazing!"

Thank you, Mr. Potter, for giving us such a thrilling game! We thank him!

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

"That was fantastic, 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 Keeper rushed forward to check on the injuries of the poor Hungarian Horntail dragon.

As Charlie examined the Hungarian Horntail dragon's wounds, he muttered, "Too brutal, absolutely too brutal."

Oh my god—

"Let's go to that tent over there," Professor McGonagall continued. "Mr. Krum and Miss Delacour are receiving treatment from Madam 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," Harry replied with a smile, as Ron and Hermione ran over at the same time.

"That's amazing, Harry! You're amazing!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly.

"You did a great job, Harry." Ron patted Harry on the shoulder, and they walked together to the edge of the arena. "You know, you're the best, nobody can compare to you. That girl named Phoebe cast a spell, I think she probably wanted to put the Fire Dragon into a hypnotic state—well, it almost succeeded, the Fire Dragon was drowsy for a moment, but then it started snoring and breathed out a really powerful flame, Phoebe's dress caught fire—she conjured water from her wand and put out the fire. 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 Fire Dragon directly in the eye with a Charms. Unfortunately, the Fire Dragon struggled painfully, stomping around and crushing half of the real eggs—the judges deducted a lot of points from him for destroying those eggs."

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

The Tree Bee had been removed, and Harry could see the five judges sitting on their raised golden chairs Fang Yi his right.

"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 —Madame Maxime— raise her wand into the air.

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

"Very fair!" Ron Shen said amidst the applause and cheers of the audience. "But I think she probably gave you points because you didn't kill the Fire Dragon —I have to 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 in the bag!" Hermione exclaimed happily. "Shen already has 20 points!"

Next was Dumbledore, who also gave Harry a perfect score of 10, after all, Harry's performance was impeccable.

The cheers from the audience grew even louder, because these randomly assigned winners were all truly deserving.

Luya Bagman - 10 points.

"Four points!" Ron shouted excitedly, as if he himself had gotten the four points. "Four points! Harry! Neither Krum nor Delacour got such a high score—you don't even need Headmaster Karkaroff's score to beat both of them!"

At that moment, Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then the number "7" shot out of his wand.

A chorus of boos erupted from the audience. It was obvious to everyone that Karkaroff was deliberately favoring students from their school because Shen couldn't stand seeing other schools doing well.

But they were helpless, because such a blatant act of shamelessness was blatant, and they had no way to stop it.

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

However, it was no use. No matter how much he made noise, it wouldn't change Karkaroff's mind. Besides, Karkaroff couldn't hear his noise anyway.

Just then, Phoebe Delacour and Cheng Keya'er Krum walked over together.

Cheng Keya'er's expression was somewhat melancholy, or rather, he always had this expression, not because of anything else.

Phoebe's expression became somewhat 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 Luya Bagman, leaping lightly into the tent with an air of elation, as if he himself had just defeated a Fire Dragon. "Alright, I only have a few words to say Second Task will begin at 5:30 AM on February 24th next year. Before then, you can rest for a long time—but we have some questions for you to test! Look down at those Golden Egg you're holding. Can you find that they can be opened to see the seams? You must decipher the clues provided inside the eggs—that will tell you what the Second Task 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, he would be idle for almost four months before taking over the job.

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

"That's really nice." Veratia Shen smiled and said after seeing him.

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

"How could I miss your match?" Veratia said with a slight smile. "Besides, I'm just an ordinary Head of Department; I don't have anything too serious to worry about."

As she spoke, Veratia suddenly smiled slyly, leaned closer to Harry, and whispered, "This time, I actually came to the Triwizard Tournament as the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation Greater German Ministry of Magic. Theoretically, it's on my own expense. I just bought a few small toys outside, and the Ministry of Magic can reimburse me when I get back."

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

"You're so smart." Harry was a little speechless. "You're not short of money, are you, sister?"

When you become Minister for Magic, will you also...? Oh, unlikely, given Veratia's personality...

She definitely treats all the Ministry of Magic's money as her own, unwilling to part with even a penny. The old Vienna are terrified of poverty.

Harry's mind conjured up a scene where someone in the Ministry of Magic wanted to claim travel expenses, only to have Veratia angrily slam her hand on the table and yell, "My money!"

"What are you thinking about, Shen?" Veratia asked, seeing him lost in thought, and waved her hand in front of him.

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

"He thinks you're stingy, Grindelwald."

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

"I'm just saving some money for our little family, that's all," Veratia said, her face neither flushed nor pale, and she even reached out and put her arm around Harry's.

Seeing this shameless advance, Cassandra's eyelids twitched violently.

"You're still the same as before, Grindelwald, completely disregarding your status—a Head of Department 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," Veratia said cutely, blinking her eyes.

Cassandra took a deep breath.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?"

Pabbie suddenly jumped over and grabbed Harry's other arm. "Did Shen steal Harry? Then please give me one of your arms!"

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

Yes, legendary wizard fragments, who wouldn't want to collect them?

"How could that be!" Pabbie persisted. "How could I be so evil? I think the one who most wants 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. Whether it was 40/70 or 50/50, it was still a peak that Cheng Keya'er could never catch up to.

He had long since passed the age where he needed external affirmation.

"So where are we going to celebrate?" Pabbie hooked her other arm around Cassandra's. "Come on, let's celebrate together, let's go to the Hogwarts Kitchen —I'm pretty close with the House Elf."

"I can't go," Veratia said regretfully. "I still have a lot of work to do at the Ministry of Magic. You know, merging the two Ministry 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 Shen Veratia's thigh twice. "When I have my vacation, I'll come to Vienna to visit you."

"Then I'll wait for you." Veratia smiled and ruffled Harry's hair before Apparating and disappearing from the spot.

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

Cassandra raised her head, exuding arrogance.

"I'm flat.—"

Before he could finish speaking, Ping's little hand was grabbed by Harry.

"Let's go together, hmm—let me think... how about we go to the Gryffindor Common Room? I heard there's going to be a lively celebration party 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 Pabbie and asked, "And what about you?"

"Me?" Pabbie 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 noise erupted once again.

The tables and chairs were piled high with cakes that looked like miniature dollops, along with jugs of Pumpkin Juice and Butterbeer.

Lee Jordan set off some Filibuster Fireworks, and the air was filled with twinkling stars and Fire Moon.

Dean Thomas, a skilled painter, hung up several eye-catching new banners, all depicting scenes of Harry using Charms to repel Hungarian Horntail dragon and smashing Fire Dragon with stones.

In the Common Room, not only were there people from Gryffindor, but Cedric from Hufflepuff and his gang of followers 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.

But these two lackeys... they look kind of simple-minded, but we're alright, right? Of course!

Luna of Ravenclaw sat in the corner, wearing strange glasses that looked like two small 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 Ominis, who was hanging nearby; they all applauded and celebrated for Harry.

"Good heavens, this feels pretty good, it's a bit heavy." Lee Jordan picked up the Golden Egg Harry had placed on the table, weighed it in his hands, and said, "Quick, open it, Harry! Let's see what's inside!"

"He should solve the clues himself," Hermione said hastily. "The Triwizard Tournament rules state—"

"Rules are rules, 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."

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

Lee handed the Golden Egg to Harry, Harry used his fingernails to pry it open by digging into the grooves around the Golden Egg.

It was empty inside, with nothing there—but the moment Ping Shen Harry opened it, an extremely terrifying, piercing scream filled the entire room.

Harry had only heard similar sounds before at Nearly Headless Nick Deathday Party; it was the noise of the Ghost Band playing a saw.

"Turn it off!" Fred yelled, covering his ears with his hands.

Harry slammed the Golden Egg shut.

"What is that?" Seamus Finnegan asked, staring at the Golden Egg. "It sounds like Female Ghost's cry— Harry,"

You might have had to pass by a Female Ghost last time!

"It looks like someone is being tortured!" Neville said, his face pale, scattering sausage meat all over the floor.

"You're dealing with the Cruciatus Curse!"

"Don't talk nonsense, Nash, that's illegal," George said. "They can't cast the Cruciatus Curse on a warrior—I think the voice sounds a bit like Percy's singing. Maybe you should attack him while he's showering, Harry."

"Would Hermione like a Jam Tart?" 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. What you need to watch out for is the Custard Cream Biscuit." Na Cheng had just taken a bite of the Custard Cream Biscuit when he heard this, and he stopped and spat it out.

Upon seeing this, Fred burst into laughter.

"I was just joking, Najang—"

Hermione picked up a Jam Tart and said, "You all got these from the Kitchen, Fred?"

"Yes," Fred said, grinning at her. He forced a high-pitched, shrill voice, mimicking House Elf: "'We can prepare anything for you, sir, anything at all!' They're so kind—they'll roast a whole cow for me the moment I say I'm a little hungry."

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

"No, they won't grill 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 at all.

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

What has blinded me?

"I think—" Pabbie 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, Ping was slapped on the head with a chop by Cassandra.

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

"Perhaps it's related to some kind of Magical Creatures?" Cassandra asked, stroking her chin. "Think about it, such a strange sound might just be the sound of some kind of Magical Creatures— "

"What kind of legitimate Magical Creatures would make such a sound?" Na Cheng muttered to himself.

"What kind of sound will that wicked Magical Creatures make?" Fred and George chuckled.

Think about it, what kind of sound will it 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 spoke as if Shen Yong was singing, "I think maybe we're approaching it the wrong way."

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

Pabbie 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 April, Second Task won'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 begged for Butterbeer: "Keep the music playing, keep the fun going!"

At this moment, Na Cheng suddenly transformed into a large canary, attracting everyone's attention.

"Oh—sorry, Na Cheng!" Fred Shen shouted amidst the laughter, "I forgot—these are our enchanted Custard Cream Biscuit— "

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 Cream Biscuit!" Fred shouted to the excited crowd. "George and I invented 117 Sickle a day, and they're very cheap!"

"I want a block!" Pabbie raised his hand high. "What an interesting invention! I think I need to buy one."

"You want to become a big fat bird?"

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

"Oh, no, I just find it funny." Pabbie chuckled. "Just imagine what it would be like if Veratia ate one of these cookies?"

Upon hearing Pabbie's words, Cassandra involuntarily began to imagine the scene where Veratia ate the Canary Cream Biscuit she had prepared and, with a "poof," transformed into a giant canary. "I bought them all," Cassandra said resolutely.

"Oh, Your Excellency Miss Malfoy," the Twins exclaimed, their eyes seemingly fixed on 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 Cream Biscuit from their wallets. "We made two hundred in total, used four today, and Miss Stingin ordered a few more, so we have a hundred and eighty-six left. Let me calculate how much money we have—."

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

It's worth noting that the currency in the Magical World is rather peculiar: one Galleon is equal to seven Sickle, making calculations extremely complicated...

"No need to count," Hermione said. "There are seven or six Galleon plus one Sickle."

"Alright." The Twins chuckled as they stood up and said to Cassandra, "Well then, Your Excellency Miss Malfoy —we've wiped off the Yin Tou Sickle, a total of seven or six Galleon, thank you."

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

She planned to prepare a proper meal for Veratia and use these cookies.

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

That woman must be turned into a canary!