Chapter 361: Three School Teams Draw Lots
Rita Skeeter's quill almost leaped toward her.
"Miss Amanta Merlin."
The tone of voice when she pronounced the name was like licking a candy, too sweet and too greasy.
"Do you think a fourth-year girl is really capable of becoming a Hogwarts warrior?"
The quill slid across the parchment with a rustling sound, and Amanta could almost see words like "heir to the Dark Lord", "underage girl", and "suspicious identity" about to appear.
She glanced at Rita.
"You were also a student at Hogwarts, right?"
"Oh, of course."
"Then you should know that Hogwarts has never lacked miracles."
Rita was stunned for a moment, and before she could say anything, Harry came over.
"Of course she can, come on, she's much better than me."
Harry muttered, then grinned. "If you really want to write, write about the three of us, and write about Julius's dark history."
"Thank you, Harry." Julius walked over calmly, his voice gentle, "I always thought you were one of my most sincere friends."
Harry: "..."
Rita's pen flies.
"It seems like your relationship is very complicated?"
"What's complicated is your imagination." Draco interjected lightly.
Rita turned her head and pounced on him as if she had spotted her prey.
"Mr. Malfoy, as the heir of the Malfoy family, what do you think this game means to you?"
"It means I'll be forced to be interviewed." Draco didn't even look at her. "You're welcome."
Rita froze for a second, and her smile fell apart.
"Any other questions?" Amanta asked.
"……temporarily unavailable."
Rita retreated angrily.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, the area around the Quidditch pitch had been cleared, leaving only the warriors of the three representative teams -
The Hogwarts team.
Durmstrang team.
Beauxbatons team.
The judges stood in a row in front of them, with Dumbledore in the middle, and Karkaroff and Maxim on his sides, all with different expressions.
"Draw lots to decide which kind of dragon you will face." Bagman smiled happily. "We have invited three dragons provided by the Department for the Regulation of Magical Creatures. The mission objectives will be announced before you enter the venue. Now, please draw lots."
Amanta stood in the line, her fingertips already touching the end of the elder wand.
The order of drawing lots is random.
Fleur from the Beauxbatons team stepped out first, taking noble steps and calmly pulling out a metal ball.
"Welsh Green Dragon," Bagman called out.
She smiled calmly, turned around and walked back to her teammates. Marina and Elsa gave her an encouraging look, while Bella held a bottle of perfume and sprayed herself.
Andrei Mikhailov of Durmstrang came out and drew the second one.
"Chinese Fireball Dragon."
He grinned, punched his teammate Karenin on the shoulder when he returned, and several people discussed in a low voice.
Krum stood in silence, glancing in their direction.
It's Hogwarts' turn.
The four of them looked at each other, and finally Draco walked out.
He reached into the black box expressionlessly.
Draw out a bright red dragon egg model.
"Hungarian Horntail." Bagman paused.
The scene fell silent.
The Hungarian Horntail, everyone present had heard of it - the most aggressive, the one that could breathe fire the farthest, and the fastest.
Draco clenched his fists and walked back to them.
Harry cursed, "What bad luck."
Julius slowly raised the corners of his mouth.
"Trouble also means opportunity."
Amanta whispered, "Don't take it lightly."
After the draw, they were taken to a separate tent.
The game is about to begin, and the referees and spectators are taking their places.
Outside the tent there was the noise and roar of a huge crowd, and in the distance the roar of a dragon.
Inside the tent, the three teams were making final preparations.
Amanta took out the potion pack and gave it to the three people one by one.
Harry nervously pushed his goggles up to his forehead, muttering, "What if I get mad at you later..."
Draco sneered: "Think about how not to drop your broom first."
Julius said nothing, fastening his cufflinks meticulously, looking like he was preparing for a dinner party rather than a fight with a dragon.
"Are you sure your plan will work?" Amanta asked softly.
"Of course," he chuckled, "as long as you don't die."
"Can you please stop pretending we don't exist?" Harry protested.
Suddenly, roars sounded one after another in the distance.
That was not the growl of an ordinary animal, but the sound of a dragon's rage breaking through its throat and rolling out of its vocal cords - strong and primitive, mixed with the sound of chains colliding and armor dragging, as if it would tear through the tent and rush towards you in the next second.
The four members of the Hogwarts team sat on the left side of the tent.
The curtain swayed slightly, and Harry leaned over to pry open a gap.
"I can't see anything."
"Of course I can't see it." Draco sat next to him unhappily, his chin slightly raised, "It's not our turn to play yet. Do you think we set up so many protective spells just to look good?"
Amanta did not interrupt, but just lowered her head to examine the neatly arranged potion jars in the Sage's Ring.
Hemostatic powder, mind-clearing agent, antipyretic spell, muscle relaxant potion... She picked out a few bottles to distribute.
"This is for you." She pressed a bottle of yellow liquid into Harry's hand.
"what?"
"Stop the bleeding."
"I won't bleed." Harry said stubbornly, but he still put his hand away obediently.
Amanta didn't respond, but just raised her eyes slightly and glanced at Draco opposite: "What about you? I have to state in advance that I only brought a bottle of painkillers."
"I'm not Neville." Draco rolled his eyes, "I'm ready for anything."
Harry narrowed his eyes. "As if you could fly and cast a spell with great accuracy at the same time."
"Can't you just fly in circles?"
"If you have the energy to argue, you might as well save it for thinking about how to deal with the Hungarian Treecrest Dragon."
This sentence finally brought a brief silence to the tent.
"Don't waste your energy." Amanta closed the silver box containing the potion. "Compared to your verbal attacks, I am more worried about--"
She paused, her eyes falling on the silent figure in the corner of the tent.
Julius leaned against a pillar in the back row, a roll of unknown spell drawings pressed under the hem of his robe, his fingers slowly stroking a silver ring, his expression dazed.
"What are you going to do?" she asked, her voice calm.
"...?"
"You said you don't fly. So how are you going to participate?"
Draco stared at him as well. "Don't tell me you're going to take a walk on the ground."
"I will restrain the dragon." Julius said calmly without opening his eyes, "From a spiritual level."
"Mental?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "You want to give it psychological counseling?"
"...a kind of dark magic."
There was silence in the tent for a few seconds.
"It's not the kind of spell that can harm a dragon." Julius' eyelashes fluttered slightly, and he finally raised his eyes. "It's a disruptive insanity spell. It has a limited range when it's released, so I have to get close to it. But I can make it unable to see you clearly."
Amanta stared at the ring in his hand, always feeling that it was not an ordinary medium.
"What about the side effects?"
"It might take a short time to drain all my magic power." Julius said slowly, "If you need me afterwards, I might just be an unresponsive shell."
"Then don't let it last too long." She said calmly, "You have to end this alive."
Suddenly, earth-shaking cheers broke out outside the curtain.
"The Beauxbatons team has completed their mission!" Bagman's voice rang out from outside the venue, with that exaggerated tone used in broadcasts, "They have successfully brought the dragon egg into the designated area! The time is - thirteen minutes and twelve seconds!"
Harry gritted his teeth, "Fleur and the others won?"
"Finishing first doesn't mean you win." Draco said calmly, "We are the third group and the last to go on stage. We still have a chance."
"Next up is Durmstrang."
Amanta looked at the curtain outside the tent, where several staff members were jogging over and shouting some dispatch orders.
A moment later, the referee's voice sounded again:
"Drmstrang team - stand ready."
Julius finally moved his fingers and pulled the hood of his cloak over half of his face.
Amanta slowly closed her eyes.
The roar came again.
The heat wave has not yet arrived, but the heart is already burning.