A Competition Between Principals

Upon seeing the Dragon, Hagrid's eyes became glazed over. He even forgot that there were two other people beside him, staring intently at the Dragon. He unconsciously took two steps forward, as if wanting to get closer.

"Stand still, Hagrid!" shouted a wizard near the fence. The short, tousled red hair and the strong, dark muscles clearly belonged to Charlie.

"This tree peak can shoot fire forty feet away, you'd better stay away!"

"Oh, how beautiful," Hagrid said softly, in the same tone he used to use to coax Fluffy, when he was a puppy.

A few minutes later, the dragon tamers finally calmed the raging Dragon down with Stunning Spell.

Hagrid took two more steps forward.

"How was it, Hagrid?" Charlie walked over, panting. "Getting them here was quite a hassle. Luckily there weren't many, otherwise, even twenty of us wouldn't have been enough."

"Oh, yeah..." Hagrid said absentmindedly, his eyes constantly glancing behind Charlie.

Charlie naturally understood what he was thinking. He was about to speak when he suddenly noticed Olympe Maxime and Lockneil beside him.

"I didn't expect you to bring them along, Hagrid," Charlie said, frowning. "Champion shouldn't know what they're going to face... She would surely tell her students, wouldn't she?"

"Ah, I just think they would be very willing to come and broaden their horizons," Hagrid said, his gaze still fixed on the Hungarian Horntail.

Charlie shook his head.

Since we're already here and have seen everything we needed to see, sending them back now won't make a difference.

However, to ensure the fairness of the competition, Charlie felt he had to do something... like take a stroll outside the Forbidden Forest tomorrow and then let Kyle see him unintentionally.

There's no need to say anything; just let Kyle see me... and he should be able to guess that the question is about Dragon.

In this way, he wouldn't be considered to have broken the rules.

With that thought in mind, Charlie stopped worrying about whether they should have come and went up to greet them.

"Professor Locknir, it's a pleasure to see you here," Charlie said, extending his hand with a smile.

"Me too, young Mr. Weasley." Professor Locknir shook hands with him.

"You two know each other?" Hagrid, somewhat surprised. He had just been about to introduce them.

"Of course I know him," Charlie explained. "Professor Locknir helped us a lot a year ago in the Dragon Sanctuary."

One year ago... Dragon Sanctuary...

Upon hearing these two key pieces of information, Hagrid immediately realized something and asked, "Could it be that time the Dragon battle?"

"That's right," Lockneil exclaimed, "A massive battle between dozens of different kinds of Dragon ...that was truly an incredibly exciting memory."

"Oh..." Hagrid let out a regretful groan. When he looked at Lockneil again, his eyes turned sour.

"You should have invited me too, Charlie," Hagrid couldn't help but complain.

"That's not something I can decide, Hagrid." Charlie shrugged. "The decision on the list rests with the Romanian Ministry of Magic; we're just responsible for hosting."

"Alright," Hagrid sighed.

At that moment, he suddenly noticed a large box in the shadows not far away.

"Is there Dragon inside too?" he couldn't help but ask. "Why is the box sealed up?"

"That..." Charlie glanced back, then looked at Olympe Maxime and Lockneil beside him, and shook his head.

"Don't ask, Hagrid, I can't say, but I can assure you it's not Dragon there... After all, those big guys don't just sit still."

"But what about the missing one?" Hagrid looked around and asked the question Kyle most wanted to know. "There are only two dragons here, but there are three Champion. One for each of them isn't enough, is it?"

"I don't know that," Charlie said. "Our mission was to escort two Dragon and this box of... well, special items to Hogwarts. That's all we know."

As for only having two dragons... they probably want to draw lots, and whoever is lucky enough to skip the Dragon and win directly.

But if you ask me, the person who got stuck on the Hungarian Horntail won't have a good time; even among the Dragon, it's the most dangerous one."

Olympe Maxime glanced at the black Dragon subconsciously, then lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought.

"By the way Hagrid," Charlie continued, "How's Kyle been lately?"

"It's alright..." Hagrid said, "He's preparing for the Triwizard Tournament, and he seems to be in good shape."

"That's good." Charlie looked at the enclosure where the Dragon was kept. "Although I guessed that Kyle might become Champion when I was on vacation, I was still very surprised when I actually received the news."

Mom was also very happy, but I didn't dare tell her what the First Task was, otherwise she would definitely get nervous again. It's fine as it is now.

"Never mind that... Hagrid, would you like to get a closer look? But be careful not to wake them."

"Oh, is that okay?" Hagrid's eyes lit up.

Although he asked that question aloud, his body had already moved uncontrollably to the side of the unconscious Hungarian Horntail, carefully examining it with an expression of almost reverence in his eyes.

In the woods not far away, Kyle and Kanna were preparing to leave.

Hagrid estimated he would be staying here for a long time; he certainly wouldn't want to go back before sunrise, and they weren't planning to spend the whole night here.

Kyle and Kanna turned around, preparing to return to the castle along the path they had come from.

When they reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they suddenly saw a dark figure hurrying towards them.

Kyle managed to sidestep just in time, avoiding a collision with the person.

"It's Karkaroff," Kanna whispered beside her. "I saw his goatee."

"They probably received some information," Kyle said. "The Triwizard Tournament is supposed to be confidential, but it always manages to leak out... I think this part is probably about the competition between the three principals."

The two returned to the castle, and Kyle glanced at the Marauder's Map.

Fortunately, Filch was still patrolling the fifth floor. He opened a crack in the door, and he and Kanna slipped into the castle and returned to the Hufflepuff Common Room through the Entrance Hall.

There was no one in the lounge.

Kanna took off her Invisibility Cloak and said with a heavy heart, "I can't believe it, the First Task is Dragon. Isn't that a bit too dangerous?"

"One of the challenges should be the Dragon," Kyle said, dispelling the Disillusionment Charm. "As far as I know, the First Task has three challenges, representing the three houses. The Dragon challenge is probably set up by Hogwarts."

"I dare say those two principals have definitely already told their school's Champion what happened."

Kanna frowned. "Did Headmaster Dumbledore tell you anything...? Like you just said, the headmasters always manage to find out what the competitions are for the Champion."

"Not yet," Kyle shook his head.

He hadn't even seen Dumbledore recently, let alone gotten any information from him about the Triwizard Tournament.

In terms of helping the Champion cheat, Dumbledore is clearly inferior to Olympe Maxime and Karkaroff.