"But this bizarre entanglement between the two dragons has given Cohen a perfect opportunity!"
Lee finally tore his eyes away from the two fire-breathing beasts, as the newcomer dragon had begun exhibiting an extremely rare and baffling behavior—pouncing around the older dragon, wagging its tail like a puppy, and even rolling over to expose its belly.
It was behavior nobody had ever witnessed in dragons before—more like something a mammal would do.
The older dragon was clearly caught off guard—it stared blankly, completely unprepared.
"Look! Cohen is moving toward the golden egg!" Lee exclaimed, his voice climbing in excitement. "He's at the nest, and the Norwegian Ridgeback is too distracted by its new companion—he's going to pull it off! I can't believe it! No one has ever tried something like this before!"
Cohen had ambled right up to the nest and was carefully examining the golden egg alongside the seven dark, heat-emitting dragon eggs nestled there.
At this point, Norbert had completely deviated from the plan, and Cohen wasn't even sure he wanted to proceed with pairing it up anymore. After all, Lala was a female too—they weren't exactly going to repopulate the species.
If Cohen still wanted more dragons, he figured he'd better steal as many eggs as he could while he had the chance...
Tricky business. But he made up his mind—just take them all. Surely not all seven would hatch into females?
With that decision made, Cohen, under the watchful eyes of the entire audience, lifted the golden egg into the air.
"He's got the golden egg!" Lee shouted, barely finishing the sentence before the stands erupted in thunderous applause and cheers.
"ROAR!!"
The older dragon had spotted Cohen and realized he was at the nest—with an egg in hand. It let out an ear-splitting roar, its black wings flaring wide, before launching a massive fireball straight at him—
Exactly as Cohen had hoped.
He opened another portal right in front of himself, and the fireball—along with all the eggs—blasted through it, heading straight toward Norbert's cave exactly as planned.
Meanwhile, the team of wizards tasked with keeping the dragons under control finally sprang into action, unleashing a volley of Stunning Spells toward the beasts.
Norbert, however, wasn't keen on going alone through the second portal as instructed. Not only did she want to return, but she also seemed unwilling to leave her new friend behind.
With a growl, Norbert spread her wings wide and shielded the older dragon from several spells, then gave it a shove toward the portal.
"There's a situation on the pitch!" Lee gasped. "Both dragons are out of control—no, wait—they're diving straight into Cohen's spell—"
"They're in! The dragons are gone! Cohen's spell vanished—did he… get rid of the dragons?!"
Gone.
Not just the dragons—when the dust finally settled, all that remained on the field was Cohen.
Even the nest, even the dragon eggs—gone.
"Cohen got the golden egg in record time!" Lee cried, astounded. "But the dragons are gone—he actually got rid of the dragons! I don't know how the judges will score this... that spell—what was that spell?! I've never heard of it!"
Cohen walked off the field with the golden egg in hand. A crowd had already gathered to greet him—Edward waved him over excitedly, while Moody, looking quite annoyed, pulled a handful of Galleons from his pocket and discreetly handed them to Edward behind Rose's back—clearly convinced Cohen had taken first place, and already settling his bet.
"Amazing," Edward grinned, giving Cohen a tight hug. "None of the other champions were nearly as composed—now I've got plenty to brag about to Arnold—"
"I'm right here, watching, you know…" Arnold muttered behind him. "Just wait until my kid gets into Hogwarts. I'll make sure to gloat harder than you ever could."
"You were incredible!" Rose exclaimed and planted a big kiss on Cohen's forehead. "Absolutely amazing, Cohen."
Herbert didn't say anything, but the huge smile on his face said enough—he was clearly proud.
"Head to the tent for a bit—you'll be called out soon for scoring," Professor McGonagall said warmly, patting Cohen on the shoulder. "No injuries. You did wonderfully."
No one here seemed particularly concerned about the missing dragons. That was, after all, the Ministry's problem now.
Following McGonagall's direction, Cohen made his way to the champions' recovery tent.
Inside, Madam Pomfrey was tending to the injured. Cedric had been burned, Fleur's robes were partially singed off, Krum looked fine, and Harry was covered in soot but otherwise unharmed.
"Cohen—are you okay?" Harry immediately jumped down from his bed and rushed over. "Did anything go wrong? I heard the commentary and—"
"No, nothing went wrong," Cohen said. "Wait—actually, something did. The dragons and the eggs? All gone."
He and Harry locked eyes—they both knew exactly where those eggs had gone.
Before Harry could ask for more details, two people burst into the tent—Hermione, followed closely by Ron.
"You two were amazing!" Hermione beamed, giving both Cohen and Harry tight hugs, her face flushed with excitement. "Just incredible!"
Ron, on the other hand, looked pale and sheepish, lips tightly pressed together.
"I… I think whoever put your names in the Goblet really meant you harm…" Ron muttered.
"Took you long enough to figure that out," Harry said dryly. "It's been a while."
"I thought you'd transferred," Cohen added with a raised eyebrow. "It's been almost a month since I've heard from someone named Ron Weasley."
"..." Ron opened his mouth, but didn't seem to know what to say.
Hermione stood nervously between them, clearly hoping they'd reconcile—and right now, Cohen and Harry's tone wasn't exactly warm.
"It's fine. Let's forget about it," Harry suddenly said, a grin tugging at his lips.
"Huh? But I shouldn't have…" Ron stammered.
"Give me today's happiness as a snack, and I'll forgive you," Cohen smirked.
"I'll give you two days' worth," Ron replied with a sheepish grin—and Harry burst into laughter.
But suddenly, Hermione started crying.
"Why are you crying all of a sudden?" Harry asked, bewildered.
"You're all so stupid!" she sobbed, stamping her foot as tears streamed down her cheeks. "You… you…!"
She hugged them all again, now fully breaking down into loud wails.
"What does she mean?" Harry blinked, then turned to Cohen and Ron for clarification.
"No idea," Cohen shrugged.
And for once, he genuinely didn't understand—this was one human emotion he still couldn't quite grasp.
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