Harry Potter and the Obscurus

Chapter 114 Clues and Answers

After telling Harry and the others that the golden egg contained the clue that the second item was hidden, Ludo Bagman hurriedly left. It was unclear whether he didn't want to disturb the queues that the three schools were preparing for their champions, or if there was some other reason.

The second event of the Triwizard Tournament will begin at 9:30 a.m. on February 24th of next year. Before that, all the warriors will have a long period of rest and preparation.

Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour used a flying broom and hypnotic magic respectively to deal with the dragon. To Mo Ran's surprise, Krum, currently the world's best Seeker, didn't perform any better than Harry did in the original story.

During the ten-minute flight, he attempted three times to lure the Chinese Fireball Dragon away from its lair using a diversionary tactic. However, due to the dragon's strong territorial instincts, he had to pay the price of burns to his left shoulder and right hand before finally obtaining the dragon egg.

It might sound a bit embarrassing, but anyone who has watched Krum's race would say he flew poorly.

Harry didn't dislike Krum, and even though they were rivals and harbored animosity, he wouldn't belittle his opponent. After some analysis, Harry concluded that Krum had drawn a bad lot, facing a territorial Chinese fireball dragon, which made his flying strategy less effective.

Mo Ran agreed with this view, but in his opinion, Krum, as the world's number one Seeker, might only be better than Harry in Quidditch. If broomsticks were considered as a weapon, Harry might not be much worse than him. On the other hand, Mo Ran, who wasn't particularly fond of broomsticks, was actually more interested in Fleur's performance in the match.

Since the movie didn't show the dragon fights of players other than Harry, Mo Ran wasn't sure if Fleur Delacour's tactics were consistent with those in the original book.

Instead of fighting head-on, the warrior from Beauxbatons used the special properties of his wand to cast a rather profound hypnotic spell on the dragon.

According to Ron, Fleur probably made the Welsh green dragon mistake her for a baby dragon or a small member of its own kind. Although the preparation time for the spell was a bit long, in terms of the effect, Fleur was the only one of the three warriors who managed to take the golden egg without provoking the fire dragon's hostility.

"According to what you've said, Fleur's score should also be very high, right? Why is she tied with Krum?"

In response to Harry's question, Ron patiently explained:

"Because dragons aren't afraid of fire. Just to maintain the incubation temperature for the dragon eggs, the mother dragon has to breathe hot air on them from time to time, and even breathe fire. She initially hypnotized herself into looking like a dragon, and then created a lot of smoke and dust to cover herself when she approached the dragon's nest. As a result, when the mother dragon was heating the dragon eggs, a localized fire occurred... um, what did Hermione call that again?"

"It was a dust explosion."

Hermione added on behalf of Ron:

"She wasn't injured, but her skirt caught fire. If she hadn't conjured water to put out the fire, she probably would have scored even higher."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Hibiscus's water-summoning spell affected the accuracy of the previous hypnotic magic, allowing the Welsh green dragon to see through her disguise. However, by then she had already obtained the golden egg and completed her mission, so the dragon tamers simply took action and subdued the fire dragon..."

"Congratulations, Harry!"

Before Hermione could finish speaking, a woman dressed in a rather flamboyant manner suddenly jumped out of the bushes.

It's Rita Skeeter!

"Where did you come from? Are you following us?"

Hermione's act of standing up for Harry earned her a glare from Rita.

“Harry, tell me, how did you feel when you faced the dragon? Why did you choose to subdue it that way? Is there anything you want to say to the readers of the Daily Prophet? Do you think the judges' scores were fair?”

How did you manage to follow me here?

Harry, who hadn't heard the Apparition sound, asked the same question as Hermione. Given his and Moran's current strength, unless it was a wizard of Dumbledore's or Voldemort's caliber who could approach silently, there was no reason for anyone else to pass by them without a sound.

"Me? I've been waiting for you here all this time?"

Rita's expression remained unchanged, revealing no flaw whatsoever, which only fueled Harry's growing disgust.

Facing this annoying woman he had once sent to the school hospital with his boil curse, he resisted the urge to unleash another "Front Teeth Like a Big Stick" curse and said:

"Since you're unwilling to tell the truth, then I have nothing more to say to you. Goodbye!"

......

About half an hour later, the trio, having shaken off Rita Skeeter, returned to Hogwarts Castle. Hermione kept saying things like, "The road to winning the tournament is still long" and "Why is the first challenge so dangerous?" But whenever Durmstrang or Beauxbatons students passed by, she would immediately switch to a "Harry is the strongest, we are the coolest" expression.

The cheers and clamor emanating from inside the portrait door of the Fat Lady could be heard from afar, and one could imagine the lively atmosphere inside the Gryffindor common room even without stepping inside.

All the tables, chairs, and places to hold things were piled high with cakes, pumpkin juice, butterbeer, and other delicacies. Harry's favorite steaks and roast chickens were piled up like small mountains.

With the help of the Weasley twins, Lee Jordan prepared a few small magical fireworks, and thanks to these starlight and sparks, the banner hanging on the lounge ceiling looked much prettier.

"Wow! Did you guys empty out the kitchen?"

As Harry's voice rang out, a deafening roar of cheers and shouts engulfed the Gryffindor common room. No one could make out what anyone was shouting, but that didn't stop everyone from moving in unison.

"Harry!"

"Harry!"

"Harry!"

......

After being tossed up and down more than a dozen times, Harry finally landed back on the ground surrounded by the lion cubs.

The golden egg, once guarded by the Hornet Dragon, was passed around among the crowd until Harry and Ron picked up a plate of food, at which point it was returned to its rightful owner by Lee Jordan.

"Wow! This thing is pretty heavy!"

Jordan weighed it in his hands and said:

"Open it up, Harry! Let everyone see what's inside!"

Touched by his classmates' enthusiasm, Harry didn't rush to eat. He held up the enormous golden egg and asked, like a rock star interacting with fans in the audience:

"Should I open it?"

"want!"

"Should I open it?"

"want!!!"

"Ow!"

A terrifying and shrill scream instantly filled the entire common room.

Not only the young Gryffindor wizards, but even the portraits that had come from the walls to join the fun covered their ears and scattered. They had only ever heard such a piercing sound before, at ghostly death anniversary parties.

"Oh my god! Close it, Harry!"

Ron screamed and shouted:

"What the hell is that thing?"

"It's mandrake! It must be mandrake!"

"No, that's not it! That's a female ghost! Harry's next challenge is to subdue a female ghost."

Neville and Seamus were analyzing the situation, little did they know that Harry, Newt's protégé, had already identified the source of the noise from the strange cry.

"Mermaid?"

Ha spoke in a voice that only he could hear.

He could identify the source of the sound, but he couldn't understand what the merfolk were saying.

"Never mind that for now! Everyone, let's eat and drink!"

George, carrying a bowl of jam pies, called out twice, then quietly approached Harry and said:

"To be honest, this sounds more like Percy singing. Maybe the Ministry of Magic wants you to attack him next time he takes a bath."

"Ha! Cough cough cough!"

Harry, who started coughing after being teased by George, had to cast a cough-relieving spell on himself.

"Anapneo." (安咳消)

"You and Fred seem to be in good spirits. Looks like you've made a lot of money."

Fred and George, who were easily recognized by Harry, were initially slightly surprised, but then they instinctively feigned awkwardness and replied:

"It wasn't much, but your performance of subduing the fire dragon in just three minutes really surprised all of us."

"Yeah, we originally thought that betting on the outcome of a game... cough cough! The suspense of betting on the outcome of a game is too small, so we added the time to clear the game to increase the options. But then some dim-witted guy put up 500 gold gallons to bet on you to win. Your odds have dropped to 1 to 0.2, so he's basically giving us 400 gold gallons for free."

Upon hearing this, the perceptive Harry immediately sensed something was amiss. He turned to the Weasley twins and asked:

"500 Galleons? Don't tell me Malfoy has lost his mind."

"It wasn't Malfoy, it was that Ludo Bagman from the Ministry of Magic. God knows why he did it, but thanks to him, Fred and I made over 420 Galleons on our first project alone."

"He has that much money?"

“Yeah, George and I were pretty surprised too, but it’s probably because the Department of Physical Education and Sports at the Ministry of Magic is so lucrative. Look, that guy just finished organizing the Quidditch World Cup and then he came to Hogwarts to be a referee for the Triwizard Tournament.”

"But wouldn't that mean your transaction volume would..."

boom!

Before Harry could say anything more, Neville suddenly transformed into a giant canary, causing everyone in the Gryffindor common room to burst into laughter.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Neville!"

Fred hurried up to him, his tone full of pride and smugness, without a trace of panic.

"This is a new magical custard dessert that George and I developed—the Canary Skip-School Cookie. After eating it, you'll turn into a big bird like Neville is now, and these feathers will start falling off automatically after a minute. Once all the feathers are gone, you'll return to normal! Oh, and it costs 7 silver shicos each, which is very cheap!"

......

Under Hermione's strict supervision, the lion cubs' queue only lasted until about one in the morning, which meant that Harry and the others were still full of energy when they returned to their dormitory. Sure enough, Seamus had barely changed into his pajamas when he couldn't wait to go to Harry's bedside.

"Let's take another look at that little dragon, Harry!"

Compared to the golden egg that emitted a mournful roar, Harry could understand why Seamus and the others preferred another souvenir of the Triwizard Tournament champions. He used a wandless summoning charm to pull the little dragon from his pocket, the Forbidden Forest, and then placed it on the table for his roommates to admire, saying:

"You guys go ahead and have fun. I have some things to discuss with the professors."

The four, who were already used to Harry's nighttime outings, all grimaced in unison. After watching him disappear into the invisibility cloak, they turned their attention back to the dragon model.

Night had fallen, and the December winds, occasionally carrying cold rain and snow, assaulted the ancient magic castle. Harry disliked the winter drafts, but compared to previous years, he now felt a kind of contentment, neither particularly good nor bad.

The large ship moored on the Black Lake had no warm hearth, and Beauxbatons' giant carriages were not equipped with thick walls. Compared to the living conditions of students at the other two schools, the students of Hogwarts were undoubtedly fortunate.

Twenty minutes is neither a long nor a short distance. Harry, who was checking the entire school's faculty and students with the Marauder's Map as he walked, stopped only when he smelled the aroma of single malt whisky in the wind.

"Um, the map of the shop ends here. Could you check if there's anyone else in the house?"

Looking at Hagrid's hut with its light still on in the window, Harry gave Moran these words of advice. For some reason, ever since he last peeked at the dragon, every time he saw Hagrid, he would think of him on a date with Madam Maxim.

"There's only Hagrid inside, let's just knock on the door."

"call......"

Harry breathed a sigh of relief at Moran's answer. He had absolutely no intention of getting involved in Hagrid and Madam Maxim's relationship and certainly didn't want to witness the two doing anything strange. Carefully stepping over the sleeping Blasttail on the grass outside, Harry removed his Invisibility Cloak and gently knocked on the door.

"Hagrid, it's me. Are you still awake?"

"Ah? Oh... it's Harry..."

A series of clanging and banging noises came from inside the cabin, and it wasn't until ten seconds later that Hagrid opened the door.

"Come on in, Harry... cough cough... have a cup of tea."

"This is bad!"

Harry inwardly groaned.

Hagrid's voice sounded off, and even his movements when opening the door were somewhat hesitant. Sure enough, before Harry could even thank his professor who protected magical creatures, the half-giant, who was as big as a small hill, asked a shockingly difficult question.

"What do you mean by love?"

"what?"

"Ms. Maxim hasn't said a word to me since the competition ended. Even when I helped her feed the Pegasus, she just nodded. You think she didn't talk to me just to find out about the first event... ah..."

Harry opened his mouth, but no sound came out. After a long while, he finally spoke to Hagrid, who looked troubled and annoyed and had forgotten to pour himself some tea:

"I think... it might be because Furong's score is quite far behind mine, and she's feeling a bit down. I don't know what the Warriors' scores represent right now, but a 15-point gap is definitely not easy to catch up with."

"Yes! Yes, yes! That must be it! That makes things much easier!"

Hagrid's sudden movement from the giant sofa startled the sleeping Tooth.

"The scores don't actually determine the winner between the warriors; they only decide the order in which they enter the last event. Oh dear, if I explained this to her, she'd definitely feel better. Harry, you're such a genius... um..."

Hagrid, belatedly realizing he'd let something slip again, looked at Harry with immense embarrassment. He wanted to change the subject, but his brain wasn't functioning properly. It wasn't until Harry broke the silence that he regained the ability to organize his thoughts amidst the chaos.

"Hmm... Hagrid, I suggest you don't bring this up with her."

"I know, I know, I won't do anything that would harm Hogwarts or you again."

“I don’t care about that. What I want to say is that women’s temperaments are very fickle. If you say these things to Mrs. Maxim, she may think that you are convinced that Fleur is not as good as me in other areas, and thus she will take her anger out on you again.”

"Would she really think that way?"

Hagrid scratched his big head incredulously and said:

"But that's really the case. She's already seen your match and gave you a perfect score. Isn't it obvious how powerful your magic is?"

Harry replied ambiguously:

"That's hard to say. Anyway, in Muggle movies, many women are like that... Speaking of which, Hagrid, why did we prepare four dragons for our first project? Where did the Swedish short-nosed dragon that wasn't drawn by the heroes go? Is it still at Hogwarts?"

Everyone had to admit that Hagrid's tactic of using the dragon to distract Hagrid was brilliant. Immersed in a multitude of emotions, Hagrid didn't hesitate for a moment and openly revealed everything he knew.

"The extra dragon was requested by the Ministry of Magic, and many powerful little creatures, including the Blasttail we're currently breeding in Magical Creatures Protection class, will be included in the final project. Heh heh, Harry, even if others have higher scores than you and start the final project ahead of you, it'll still be difficult for them... oh no..."

"Hmm, goodnight, Professor Hagrid."