Draco's Strange Behavior

Ten minutes after Harry waved his wand and sent out a paper crane, Draco jogged over.

"The Triwizard Tournament was established about seven hundred years ago. It was a friendly competition between the three largest magic schools in Europe: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. Each school selected one Champion, and the three Champion would compete in three different magical events. The Triwizard Tournament was held every five years, with the three schools taking turns hosting. Everyone agreed that it was an excellent way for young wizards from different countries to build friendships—but later, the death toll became too high, and the Triwizard Tournament was discontinued." Seeing Ron's puzzled look, Harry explained. Hagrid nodded beside him.

"For centuries, there have been several attempts to revive the Triwizard Tournament, but none of them have been successful."

"To be honest, do you really think it's dangerous—injuries and deaths caused by some Care of Magical Creatures?"

"In my opinion, the most exciting competitions are those featuring powerful and Care of Magical Creatures, such as the Cockatrice, the Manticore, Nundu. It would be so much fun to design exciting events around them!"

"I never thought I'd see the Triwizard Tournament come back in my lifetime!" Hagrid's eyes gleamed as he spoke of the creatures.

"That... Hagrid, I remember that Cockatrice you mentioned. It was one of the challenges in the 1792 Triwizard Tournament. The requirement was for three Champion to capture it, but it unexpectedly escaped and injured all three headmasters."

"The Nundu was the Third Task problem in 1797, because it even poisoned a Champion from Beauxbatons."

"There was also the Manticore, which was brutally dismembered during the Triwizard Tournament of 1802 because a Durmstrang contestant used Dark Magic on it."

"I think Dumbledore's advice is really necessary for you."

"If you're also prepared to use these dangerous Care of Magical Creatures," Draco said seriously. Harry and Ron's expressions changed from nonchalant to alert as Draco spoke.

But when did Draco become so knowledgeable about Care of Magical Creatures?

"Okay, but that's all because the principal at the time wasn't very good."

"You know we have Dumbledore!—the Greatest White Wizard!"

"With him here—even if I find a Basilisk as part of the competition, Dumbledore can easily handle it," Hagrid said sullenly.

"How about this, let's analyze all the previous Triwizard Tournament that caused injuries and deaths, see if we can find their mistakes, and try to avoid them," Harry chuckled.

So the group went to a tree and sat down. Hagrid wanted to go to his house, but Ron, unable to overcome his fear of spiders, refused.

"What about the Nundu? It's more like a lion than a leopard. When it roars, its thick mane stands on end and its neck inflates."

"That's beautiful!" Hagrid started by mentioning the most dangerous Care of Magical Creatures.

Draco was about to start yelling, but Harry stopped him.

"Although it is known as the most dangerous creature in the world, it is enormous, moves silently, and its breath is highly poisonous and can cause deadly diseases, enough to destroy a large village. It is also believed that at least a hundred wizards working together are needed to subdue it."

"But Newt Scamander is a friend of Dumbledore, and it is said that he keeps a Nundu in his trunk."

"We can bring him over as the security advisor for this project—if Hagrid insists on using the Nundu," Harry said earnestly.

Harry didn't actually want Hagrid to include this dangerous creature in the competition.

Harry understood that Hagrid wasn't as rough as he appeared; he also had a kind and gentle side.

Dumbledore is Hagrid's weakness. As long as Harry explains the danger of the Nundu and asks Dumbledore for help, the problem can be solved.

Hagrid would definitely refuse outright.

He didn't want to cause trouble for Dumbledore.

And even if Hagrid really was blinded by lard, there's still Newt, isn't there?

Perhaps Newt, the master of Fantastic Beasts, really does have a way to reduce the toxicity of the Nundu.

"Hmm, never mind."

"As I just mentioned, those animals are too rare, and the wizards don't have a set routine for dealing with them."

"I've got it! We can use dragons. During the competition, a whole bunch of dragon breeders can watch from the sidelines." Sure enough, Hagrid still refused, but he immediately thought of a better idea.

"Dragons? Hmm, indeed, dragon breeders have a hundred ways to deal with them." Draco, a dragon lover, nodded.

Seeing that Draco had already said that, Harry and Ron didn't say anything more.

That's true. Dragons are indeed powerful, even more so than creatures like the Nundu mentioned earlier.

However, because of the value of dragons, many spells have been created over the centuries specifically to deal with them.

There are so many of these curses that even those that were only known within the dragon breeder community have begun to circulate in the market.

"Now I can raise dragons again!"

"But the dragon challenge is too easy. It'll probably only be chosen as the First Task. I wonder if I can let this little cutie stay at Hogwarts a little longer." Hagrid clicked his tongue regretfully.

"Then I'll go see them too," Draco was equally obsessed with dragons, chimed in.

Hagrid immediately looked at Draco with hopeful eyes. He knew Draco always had a lot of crazy ideas.

"Hagrid, that's easy."

"For the final project, we could totally build something like a large maze, like the maze that King Minos ordered Daedalus to build."

"We can also trap Care of Magical Creatures as dangerous as the Minotaur inside."

"Moreover, it's not just dragons; we can also put some other interesting Care of Magical Creatures inside: the Diricawl that can teleport, the Red Cap that likes to ambush from the shadows, the Ashwinder that explodes and sets fires everywhere, the Bundimun that likes to follow people and lie on the ground like a rock, the Grumplump that can become invisible and is difficult to approach and catch, and the Sphinx that will eat people if they don't answer the riddles." Draco listed the names of the Care of Magical Creatures as if they were his own treasures.

"When did you—" Ron was speechless.

Harry couldn't believe his ears. Was this really Draco Malfoy?

"Here's the thing, Flint has been particularly irritable lately (we all know it's because of the Triwizard Tournament, this is his last year), and he's ordered us to gather information on anyone who might pose a threat to our team, and Cedric Diggory is one of them." Draco shrugged.

"What does this have to do with him?" Harry asked curiously.

This was the second time he had heard Draco's name from his lips.