Eda, still carrying the golden egg, had already disappeared beyond the edge of the arena, yet the applause from the stands continued without end.
Everyone had been stunned by her incredible performance, and every student felt that this year's Triwizard Tournament might as well already be over.
How was anyone supposed to compete now?
Eda and Fleur and Krum simply weren't on the same level. It was like a top-ranked champion dropping into a beginner's match to crush everyone.
How could this even be a competition?
After Eda, Harry took the field. He had to face the fiercest of the four dragons, the Hungarian Horntail.
Using the Summoning Charm, Harry called his Firebolt to him and relied on his greatest strength, flying, to lure the dragon away before successfully grabbing the golden egg.
Harry's performance silenced many of the doubts surrounding him. As a fourteen-year-old wizard, he had done more than enough to impress everyone, even outperforming Fleur and Krum.
No one compared him to Eda, whose performance had come before his. The gap between them was simply too great. There was no point in making the comparison.
There was another tent beside the enclosure where the champions rested after completing the task.
Eda sat off to one side with her arms folded. Fleur and Krum deliberately chose seats far away from her. Both of them had burn ointment spread over their injuries. Madam Pomfrey was cleaning Harry's wounds with a steaming purple liquid that smelled absolutely awful.
Before Eda entered the tent, Fleur and Krum had exchanged a few words. Once she walked in, however, both of them became incredibly quiet. Eda had put far too much pressure on them. She was like an insurmountable mountain.
Climb over that mountain, and the world would hear your story.
It was a beautiful dream, but not everyone could climb Mount Everest. Just getting to the top was difficult enough. Eda might not be Everest, and perhaps not even Kangchenjunga, but at the very least she had to be Annapurna.
Madam Pomfrey carefully cleaned Harry's wounds while grumbling nonstop.
"Last year it was Dementors. This year it's dragons. What are they planning to bring into this school next?"
No one answered her, but Madam Pomfrey kept complaining anyway. Fleur and Krum each sat silently in their own corners, lost in thought. Eda still sat with her arms crossed, seemingly staring into space.
It looked like she was daydreaming, but in reality she was admiring her newest gift, the latest reward from the system.
The moment she defeated the Fireball Dragon, the system activated once more. She had completed the achievement for defeating a dragon and received a new reward: Dragon Heart.
"What does not kill us makes us stronger." That was the system's description of Dragon Heart. Its effect matched the description perfectly. It made its owner incredibly difficult to kill. More accurately, it made being killed by others extremely difficult.
Dragon Heart was like a passive skill or passive aura in a game. It increased Eda's endurance and her resistance to spells and physical attacks, making her much tankier and far harder to defeat in battle.
Combined with the crimson gemstone she had obtained earlier in the school year, as long as an opponent could not kill Eda outright, there was a good chance she could wear them down to death through hit-and-run tactics.
A dragon's heart was resilient. As long as there was a single breath left, there were still endless possibilities.
Eda raised an eyebrow as she looked at the newly acquired Dragon Heart reward.
So what was this supposed to be? A tank healer? Or had the dragon slayer become the dragon?
Just then, the twins, Ron, and Hermione burst into the tent. Hermione and Ron immediately rushed over to Harry and began talking nonstop. The twins, meanwhile, grinned as they reminded Eda that the judges outside were about to announce their scores.
Stepping out of the tent once again and breathing in the late November air, Eda was also curious to see how many points the judges would award her. Fred and George followed behind her, holding the golden egg and constantly rubbing it.
The scores for Krum and Fleur had already been announced. Krum, who had gone first, received forty points. Fleur, who had gone second, scored slightly lower than Krum. Now it was Eda's turn.
Madame Maxime raised her wand into the air. A long silver ribbon shot from its tip and twisted itself into a giant number "10."
Ten points, without question.
Next, Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman both awarded her ten points as well. Dumbledore gave her nine. The biggest surprise came from Karkaroff, who gave her only six points.
The stands immediately erupted into a deafening chorus of boos. Eda had subdued her dragon in an incredibly short time without suffering a single injury.
How could anyone accept Karkaroff giving her only six points? After all, he had given Krum a perfect ten!
"Unfair!"
"Karkaroff, go to hell!"
The stands descended into chaos. Some people even began throwing things toward the judges' table to vent their anger.
As long as you weren't blind or deaf, you should have given Eda full marks. It was understandable that Dumbledore didn't give her a perfect score because Eda was his student, but what right did Karkaroff have to give her only six?
Karkaroff, however, couldn't have cared less. If Eda's performance hadn't been so outstanding, he would have preferred to give her one point, or even zero.
At that moment, the other three champions came out as well. Fleur shot a contemptuous look toward Karkaroff at the judges' table, and even the way she looked at Krum changed. Krum, however, remained silent, his face flushed red as he stared at the ground.
Finally, it was Harry's turn to be scored. He also received forty points, tying with Krum. But everyone knew Harry's performance had been better than Krum's. The only reason they were tied was because Karkaroff had given Harry only four points!
The students in the stands were beyond furious. They used every insult they knew to curse Karkaroff.
Since he had the nerve to do something like this, Karkaroff naturally had no shame. The insults didn't bother him in the slightest. If anything, he almost wanted to shout, "Come and hit me if you've got the guts!"
Beside the tent, Viktor Krum, who had been keeping his head down the whole time, suddenly spoke.
"I'm very sorry... and very ashamed..."
Everyone turned to look at the Quidditch superstar. Karkaroff might have had no shame, but Krum did. A loss was a loss. What was there to be afraid of admitting?
Krum's apology greatly improved everyone's opinion of him. Fleur no longer looked at him with disgust. Ron also stopped cursing Karkaroff. He stood there awkwardly, scratching his cheek.
What a shame. Following Karkaroff and becoming his student had wasted such a good young man as Viktor Krum.
Under the professors' guidance, the students gradually began leaving the arena, though their angry complaints never stopped. The judges also left their seats and came with Ludo Bagman to the champions' tent.
Bagman skipped cheerfully into the tent and announced to the champions, "All right, I only have a few things to say. The second task will begin at nine-thirty on the morning of February twenty-fourth next year. Until then, you'll have a long period of rest."
"But we're going to leave you with something to think about!" Bagman said mysteriously. "Take a look at the golden eggs you're holding. You'll find that they can be opened. See the seam? You must solve the clue hidden inside the egg. That will tell you what the second task is!"
Bagman continued, "Find the clue, solve the puzzle, and then you can prepare for the second task. Is everything clear? No questions? Good, you're dismissed!"
That evening, Gryffindor Tower's common room once again erupted with cheers and excitement. Cakes were piled high on the tables and chairs, along with pitchers of pumpkin juice and Butterbeer.
Lee Jordan set off several Filibuster fireworks, filling the air with sparkling stars and bursts of light.
Dean Thomas, who was good at drawing, hung up several eye-catching new banners. Some showed Eda "capturing a dragon alive," while others depicted Harry weaving around the Hungarian Horntail on his Firebolt.
Encouraged by everyone around him, the exhilarated Harry opened the golden egg.
An absolutely horrifying, shrill, ear-piercing scream instantly filled the entire room.
Everyone in the common room clapped their hands over their ears. Even after Harry snapped the egg shut, the screaming still seemed to echo inside their heads.
Everyone couldn't help asking:
"What was that?"
Seamus, the explosive genius, suspected the second task involved dealing with a ghost. Neville turned deathly pale and thought it might have something to do with the Cruciatus Curse. Opinions flew everywhere, and no one could convince anyone else.
Eda sank deeper into her armchair and thought carefully.
What exactly was that piercing scream trying to tell the champions?
...
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