The peregrine falcon shifted his gaze, fixing on a certain corner of the forest. His Animagus form gave him eyesight far keener than usual.
Suddenly, he dove—wings tucked close to his body, shooting down from the sky like a silver arrow.
Amid the dead leaves, a rat that had been crouching on a tree branch seemed to sense danger. Without even looking up, it darted down the slanted trunk.
Just as the falcon's talons were about to seize its back, the rat made a sudden turn and slipped to the underside of the trunk!
The strike missed. The falcon spread his wings wide, slowing his fall. He circled back, then swooped at the rat again!
The dusty-gray rat had already plunged into the undergrowth, scurrying at astonishing speed among roots and grass. Its gray body was like a streak of lightning—agile, swift.
In an instant, it squeezed into a narrow tree hollow, just as the falcon's talons swept past the opening. A gust of wind sent leaves swirling, and the sound of wingbeats seemed close enough to touch.
Inside the hollow, the rat's heart pounded wildly. It gasped for breath in great gulps. Only after a long time did it cautiously poke its head out to look around.
No falcon. No wizard.
The rat let out a breath of relief. As it scurried out, its form stretched rapidly, limbs reshaped, long whiskers shrunk away, skin became smooth and fine—though dark, so dark that in the night his features were nearly invisible.
Once he returned to human form, the boy no longer feared pursuit by the falcon. He glanced up at the pitch-black night sky, then quickly ran toward the huge boulder in the grass.
From his perch high above, the falcon watched the rat transform into Jabari Viven of Uagadou, then saw the boy sneak across the clearing and slip into the stone camp they had brought.
The falcon turned his head and noticed Karkaroff emerging from the Forbidden Forest as well, trying to conceal himself, followed closely by another dark-skinned Headmaster from another direction.
A few minutes later, a small black cat, no bigger than a hand, also darted out of the woods. It didn't transform into a human—its head carried something like a tiny camera.
Abby from Salem Academy descended from a helicopter, bent down to scoop up the black cat at her feet, stroked its chin lightly, then returned to the aircraft.
Even though the dragon field was far from the castle, the commotion was impossible to ignore. Clearly, the heads of each school had long since taken notice. Each had their own way of gathering intelligence—none of them truly abided by the rules.
The falcon stopped watching. He skimmed along the edge of the Forbidden Forest in a wide circle, and only after looping back around to the far side of the castle did he choose a window to slip inside.
…
On Sunday morning, sunlight streamed through the library's glass, scattering mottled patterns of light and shadow on the floor. Wade sat by the window, leisurely flipping through the book in his hands, O.W.L. Essential: A Complete Guide to Basic Magic.
"We have to tell the others!" Harry was pacing anxiously beside him. "This is a matter of life and death, Wade!"
Madam Pince's hawk-like gaze swept immediately toward their corner. But thanks to the Silencing Charm Wade had cast nearby, she heard nothing out of the ordinary.
The librarian furrowed her brows and stared at them for a while, before finally turning her eyes away.
"No need. Just tell Cedric," Wade said without looking up, turning another page of his book.
"But… What about the students from the other schools?" Harry asked uneasily. "Some of them are younger than us!"
"Harry," Wade lifted his eyes to meet his, handing him a slip of parchment. "Go ask Madam Pince to borrow these books first."
"What?"
Harry took the parchment and saw that it listed nothing but titles about dragons. Instantly, he felt he understood.
Of course—they needed to secure their own advantage before warning anyone else.
Clutching the list, he hurried off excitedly to find the librarian.
…
"What? Magic in the Dragon's Lair is gone?" Harry stared in disbelief at Madam Pince's stern face. "Then what about The Art of Taming Fire Dragons?"
"I'm afraid that one is gone too," Madam Pince replied.
"That's impossible!" Harry scratched his head, looked back down at the parchment, and said, "Do you still have Legends of Dragons?"
"No."
"The Mysterious Powers of Magical Creatures?"
"Also no."
"Wizards and Dragons in Combat? All right, I suppose that's gone too… then surely Fire and Scales is still here?"
Madam Pince sighed and gave him a sympathetic look. "You're too late, Potter. The last copy of Fire and Scales was borrowed an hour ago."
"Can you at least tell me who borrowed it?" Harry asked urgently. "I really need it!"
"Absolutely not. Borrowing records are confidential," Madam Pince said primly.
Harry's shoulders slumped in disappointment. With one last shred of hope, he asked, "So… there isn't a single book about dragons left?"
"There's one last one." Madam Pince pulled out an old book from a cabinet as if performing a magic trick. "A student returned it just ten minutes ago. Do you want to borrow it?"
Harry glanced at the title—The Man Who Doted on Dragons..
He didn't even need to read it to guess: the book was surely written for people like Hagrid, filled with instructions on how to hatch dragon eggs, raise baby dragons, treat their illnesses and injuries, even postpartum care for mother dragons.
But what choice did he have? It was the only dragon-related book left.
Harry finally sighed and borrowed the book. Opening it at random, the first thing he saw was: "When magically cleaning a dragon's teeth, you need to pay attention to the following issues…"
…
"How is this possible? This is the only book about dragons left in the library!"
Harry sat down beside Wade with a look of disbelief, dropping the book onto the table. "I don't want to know how to brush a dragon's teeth! Who on earth borrowed all the useful ones?"
"Of course, the other schools' champions," Wade said calmly. "I've been sitting here since the library opened. While most people were still asleep, those lot had already borrowed every book they could get their hands on."
"Each person can borrow that many books at once?" Harry asked in surprise. "Do the champions have special privileges?"
"No," Wade replied. "Did you forget they've got plenty of classmates who weren't chosen?"
"…Right." Harry paused, then suddenly realized, "So… all the other schools already know?"
"Mm. Probably only Cedric doesn't know the first task involves dragons," Wade repeated what he'd said earlier. "So you only need to tell him."
Cedric had always been outstanding in every respect, but at this moment, Wade truly understood—he really was a Hufflepuff.
The champions, guided by their own headmasters, certainly knew how to deal with dragons. Yet all of them had still chosen to clear out Hogwarts' dragon-related books to weaken their rivals.
Wade, meanwhile, had been quietly watching from this hidden but conveniently placed corner near the entrance, noting which students from which schools came to borrow books.
The result: apart from the three Hogwarts students, every other school's champions had already been there.
Harry had spent last night with Sirius, learning ways to handle dragons, and so he'd woken up late this morning, not realizing he also needed to check the library.
Cedric, on the other hand, truly knew nothing—probably still speculating with his housemates about what the first task might be.
"But…" Harry still asked worriedly, "if all the books are gone, what do we do?"
What Sirius and Lupin could teach him was never going to be as complete or detailed as the books. What's more, some dragons only lived in certain regions, so even those two didn't know everything.
"I already told you." Wade patted Harry's shoulder. "I knew dragons had appeared in past tournaments, so I collected all the information long ago. Every book you wanted to borrow—I already have copies."
--------------------------------
🙏🙏Please consider supporting this translation project by becoming a P@treon member!!!
Your support is greatly appreciated!
Available on my P@treon page for just $4!!
Early access to the following translations:-
⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- 200+ Chapters
⭐MCU: Druid's Adventures (MCUDA)(⭐COMPLETE⭐) - Total Chapter 460
⭐Famous Police Detective in Detective World (FPDDW)- +165 advance chapters
⭐Marvel: Little Genius (MLG) (⭐COMPLETE⭐) - Total Chapter 450
[email protected]/Lightreaper457
--------------------------------