After the iron cage disappeared, an expectant hush fell over the misty clearing. The massive Norwegian Ridgeback did not immediately launch into the ferocious attack that both Harry and Cedric had braced themselves for. Instead, it remained eerily still, its golden eyes alert and watchful, positioning itself as a living fortress around the egg that lay between its feet.
Cedric decided to test the waters with subtlety rather than force. He was the first to make a move using Disillusionment Charm.
With a flick of his wand, his body began to waver and fade like a mirage in desert heat, gradually blending seamlessly with the autumn colors of the surrounding forest environment. Within moments, he had become invisible, his outline was barely detectable.
Moving with the careful steps, Cedric began his cautious approach toward the dragon. But as he drew within perhaps fifteen feet of his target, the massive beast suddenly raised its enormous head with predatory alertness.
Its nostrils flared wide as it drew in a deep breath. Without warning, the dragon exhaled a powerful burst of superheated air filled with dancing sparks and tiny flames.
The blast struck Cedric instantly dispelling his Disillusionment Charm and sending him tumbling backward across the leaf-scattered ground in a rather undignified sprawl.
Cedric scrambled back to his feet with as much dignity as he could muster, frantically dusting off his now dirt-stained robes while staring at the dragon with surprise. His hair was slightly scorched, and there were small scorch marks on his outer cloak, but he appeared otherwise unharmed.
"This isn't a real dragon, is it?" He called out to Adrian.
"I never explicitly said it was real," Adrian replied calmly with a slight shrug. "But I would still strongly recommend that you treat it with the greatest seriousness, Cedric."
As if responding to some invisible signal, the dragon chose that precise moment to make a movement that sent chills racing down the spines of the two.
It reared its massive head back in a gesture that every wizard who had ever studied dragons would recognize with terror. Its throat began to bulge visibly as internal fires built to dangerous levels, and within the depths of its huge mouth, they could glimpse flickering orange and red flames dancing like demons eager for release.
Cedric's pupils contracted to extremes as survival instincts honed kicked into overdrive. He raised his wand with desperate speed, his mind racing through possible defensive options in the split second he had remaining.
"Disapparate!"
The soft 'pop' of displaced air echoed through the clearing as Cedric's figure vanished instantaneously, leaving nothing but empty space where he had been standing.
Almost simultaneously, a heavy blast of scorching dragon fire erupted from the creature's throat, sweeping across the exact spot where Cedric had been positioned moments before. The supernatural flames were hot enough to char the earth, leaving behind a blackened scar in the forest floor.
Cedric appeared roughly twenty feet away, his face was pale and filled with sweat. His hands trembled slightly as he understood how close he had come to serious injury. Fortunately, he had successfully obtained his Apparition license during the previous summer holidays.
"Are you alright?" Harry's voice rang out across the clearing, filled with concern for his wellbeing.
Cedric managed to shake his head in what he hoped was a reassuring manner, though his voice still had the slight tremor of recent adrenaline.
"Stick to the plan!" He shouted back with as much confidence as he could muster.
Upon hearing this confirmation, Harry nodded grimly and took a deep, centering breath that seemed to steady his entire body. The moment had arrived for him to play his crucial role in their hastily conceived strategy.
Pressing the tip of his wand against his right temple, Harry whispered the incantation that Adrian had taught into him during countless summer training sessions: "Mens Claritas!"
A flowing stream of silvery-blue light emerged from his wand tip like liquid starlight, circling his head once before being absorbed into his consciousness.
Harry's green eyes became extraordinarily clear and focused, their usual brightness intensified until they seemed to glow with light. His thinking processes accelerated and sharpened for a few moments.
This was a particularly useful spell that Adrian had taught him during their intensive summer training routine—a specialized charm designed to help wizards maintain mental clarity and enhanced cognitive function during the most critical and stressful moments.
What made this spell even more interesting was its origin. Adrian had learned this particular piece of magic from Ravenclaw through the Tree of Wisdom.
Maintaining mental clarity in combat situations was absolutely essential for survival.
With his magical preparations complete, Harry began implementing the strategy that he and Cedric had agreed upon during their brief planning session. Sometimes, as every experienced duelist knew, the most straightforward approaches proved to be the most effective when executed with skill and determination.
Their plan was simple: Harry would distract the dragon with offensive spells, drawing its attention and ire completely upon himself, while Cedric used his stealth abilities to circle around and attempt to snatch the egg from beneath the creature's guard.
As for the specific tactical details of how this would unfold, they had agreed to improvise based on the dragon's responses and the opportunities that presented themselves.
"Confringo!" Harry's voice rang out as he launched the opening barrage of their planned assault.
The Blasting Curse was among the more destructive spells in his arsenal. The dazzling red beam lanced across the clearing, striking the dragon's muscular shoulder with a sound like thunder.
The impact caused a deafening roar that seemed to shake the trees around them, and the massive creature's body swayed several times under the force of the magical assault before it managed to steady itself and regain its composure.
While the spell had clearly caused the dragon some discomfort and certainly succeeded in capturing its complete attention, it was obvious that no real harm had been inflicted upon the creature. Its thick, magically resistant hide had absorbed the majority of the attack's destructive force.
But this outcome fell well within Harry's expectations. The spell had been intended primarily as a probing attack—a way to test the dragon's defenses and gauge its responses while simultaneously announcing his presence as the primary threat.
Adrian had spent considerable time during their summer training sessions teaching Harry the fundamental principles for engaging large, magically resistant creatures in combat. The core thing could be distilled into a single concept: identify and exploit the weak points.
Dragons possessed skin and scales with extraordinarily high magical resistance covering nearly their entire bodies. However, like all living creatures, they inevitably possessed certain areas that were relatively more vulnerable than others.
The key to victory lay in finding these weak spots and focusing attacks upon them with precision.
"Incarcerous!" Harry's second spell was launched with flexibility.
This was binding magic—Adrian's area of expertise, and through months of constant exposure to his techniques, Harry had developed considerable skill with these restraining spells as well.
Several chains of black magical energy erupted from his wand tip, streaking through the air before wrapping themselves around the dragon's powerful limbs. The chains constricted immediately upon contact, binding the creature's legs together and severely limiting its mobility.
For a few moments, the dragon found itself completely immobilized. It strained against the magical bonds with increasing desperation, its muscles bulging with tremendous effort, but the chains held firm against even its supernatural strength.
However, maintaining such powerful restraining magic against a creature of the dragon's scale came with a significant cost.
Harry's brow furrowed deeply as he felt the spell drawing heavily upon his magical reserves. Just keeping the binding in place for those few seconds had already caused his head to begin aching with a throb of excessive magical drain occurring too rapidly.
This was a clear warning sign that he was pushing his limits, but it was also an unprecedented opportunity that could not be wasted.
The dragon's belly was one of the areas with the lowest magical resistance anywhere on its body.
Harry seized the moment spinning his wand to point directly at the creature's exposed abdomen. "Diffindo!"
The Severing Charm flashed through the air as a concentrated beam of cutting energy, designed to slice through magical defenses and inflict precise damage upon its target.
The spell struck true, and the dragon immediately began shrieking with what appeared to be pain and outrage, struggling even more violently against its magical restraints.
A wound of moderate but significant size had appeared across its belly—not deep enough to be life-threatening, but certainly painful enough to prove that the creature could indeed be harmed through focused attacks on its weak points.
Seeing this concrete evidence of success, Harry's heart leaped with a surge of elation and renewed confidence. If he could cause meaningful damage to the creature, then there was genuine hope of achieving victory in this seemingly impossible challenge.
The dragon, meanwhile, had recovered from its initial shock and confusion. It focused all of its attention upon Harry, the culprit of the attacks.
This development was exactly what their strategy had been designed to achieve. While the dragon's attention was completely occupied with the threat that Harry represented, Cedric had been making his own preparations for the crucial second phase of their plan.
Cedric quickly cast a series of concealment spells upon himself in swift series.
Muffling charms to eliminate any sound his movements might make. Scent-masking spells to prevent the dragon's enhanced senses from detecting his approach. Preparation enchantments for rapid Apparition should a quick escape become necessary.
In short, he used almost every concealment-related magical technique available to a wizard of his skill level, layering defensive enchantments upon himself until he had become as close to completely undetectable as magic could achieve.
Observing this display of tactical thinking and magical competence, Adrian was nodding with genuine approval.
Both young wizards were demonstrating exactly the kind of strategic planning and adaptive problem-solving that would serve them well in whatever challenges the actual tournament might present.
It appeared that they would complete this training exercise quite efficiently and with a minimum of difficulty.
Just as Adrian was beginning to relax and congratulate himself on designing an appropriately challenging but manageable scenario, Harry suddenly raised his wand yet again with determination stamped across his face.
"Confringo!"
"BOOM!"
The spell erupted with tremendous force, accompanied by a deafening explosion. The dragon's existing belly wound took another direct hit and was immediately blasted open into a bleeding crater— though of course, this wasn't real dragon's blood, just some harmless special effects Adrian had created.
"?" Adrian crossed his arms and tilted his head to one side, studying this unexpected development with confusion and concern.
Honestly, launching another attack at this particular moment was not a rational tactical choice by any reasonable standard. Harry's initial magical assault had already succeeded completely in capturing the dragon's complete attention and focusing its hostility upon him as the primary threat.
Continuing to attack the creature at this point would only further enrage it and make it more dangerously unpredictable, which would actively hinder Cedric's delicate stealth approach rather than helping it. The additional aggression might even prove counterproductive to their overall strategy.
Sure enough, the dragon let out a roar that echoed through the Forbidden Forest, its eyes burning with furious flames as it struggled even more violently. The chains binding its limbs lasted only one more second before shattering into fragments.
"Harry! What are you doing?" Cedric's voice carried sounded from his invisible position, tinged with confusion and alarm. He had been only a few steps away from the dragon egg, close enough to reach out and snatch their prize, but now was forced to halt his advance as the situation rapidly deteriorated.
Harry gave no response to his question. His green eyes were flickering with an unusual and deeply unsettling light.
Without explanation or hesitation, he raised his wand once again.
"Confringo!"
"Confringo!"
"Confringo!"
"Confringo!"
Watching Harry frantically unleashing spell after spell at the dragon, Adrian's brow furrowed slightly.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Harry's condition was clearly problematic.
His pupils were slightly dilated, the corners of his mouth curling upward uncontrollably into an almost fanatical smile.
The wand felt increasingly natural in his hand, each swing accompanied by almost sadistic excitement. Spell after spell hammered into the dragon, as if this weren't a battle but some kind of twisted emotional release.
"Harry! Stop this immediately!" Adrian shouted sternly.
But Harry paid absolutely no attention to his instruction.
Paradoxically, his thinking processes remained crystal clear—perhaps even clearer than they had ever been in his entire life. But alongside this supernatural mental clarity, some alien and disturbing emotion had begun boiling in his very blood like poison.
Rage beyond any anger he had ever experienced.
A frenzy that seemed to consume rational thought.
An overwhelming desire for destruction.
Primal instincts that belonged more to a wild animal.
Harry's hair whipped wildly in the surge of magical power.
Adrian's pupils suddenly contracted—he keenly noticed that the lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead was glowing with an eerie red light!
"Confringo!"
This was an extremely powerful curse, far beyond the strength Harry could normally manage—perhaps the most powerful Blasting Curse Adrian had ever witnessed.
Harry's face was now twisted into an expression of fierce, almost demonic satisfaction as dazzling red light flew from his wand like a concentrated beam of pure destruction, aimed directly at the dragon's wounded and exposed belly with lethal intent.
"Protego!"
Realizing the danger, Adrian cast a Shield Charm for the bewildered Cedric beside the dragon just as Harry raised his wand.
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