Chapter 309. Confidence
Ten minutes later, at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Harry finally understood why Hagrid was dressed like that.
At the moment, Hagrid was strolling side by side beneath the moonlight with Madame Maxime, who was a head taller than he was.
Honestly, Harry thought the scene could just about be called romantic—if not for him trailing along behind them under his Invisibility Cloak.
He had seen enough to know that Hagrid was clearly smitten with the Headmistress from Beauxbatons.
But… what did this have to do with the first task of the Triwizard Tournament?
Puzzled, Harry continued to follow Hagrid and Madame Maxime, keeping a safe distance.
It stirred a flicker of guilt in him.
Fortunately, Hagrid and Madame Maxime did nothing beyond walking together, which eased his mind a little.
He didn't know how long it had been, but they had gone a long way from where they started.
Hagrid led Madame Maxime into a thicket, and Harry hurried after them.
"This is—"
After pushing through the brush, the sight before him made Harry jump.
Ahead lay a vast enclosure fenced with wooden palings.
Inside were four massive dragons.
Chained with heavy iron links to enormous posts, they still wouldn't settle—belching fire that stained the night sky above the Forest a furious red.
Seven or eight witches and wizards stood beside each dragon, faces tired; black scorch marks on the ground suggested they had only just fought a hard battle.
Harry glanced around, instinctively searching for Adrian Wesson's silhouette, then remembered he had only just seen him walking with Gabrielle in the courtyard.
Clearly, these dragons were real, not something Professor Wesson had Transfigured.
So… were these dragons the first task?
Wait!
Had his teacher already known the task in advance?
Harry found it a bit unbelievable.
Just then, a lively voice carried over from not far away, cutting off Harry's thoughts.
"Evening, Hagrid, and Madame Maxime," said Charlie Weasley, wiping sweat from his brow as he came over. Smoke still curled from his dragon-hide protective gear. "We only just got these beasts here. They're terribly restless—new place and all. We had to triple the dose of dragon-calming draught just to get them barely quiet."
At the same time, Charlie glanced past Hagrid and Madame Maxime.
For a split second, Harry felt he might have been discovered.
Luckily, Charlie drew his gaze back at once—probably a false alarm.
Harry held his breath and edged further behind a tree.
"They're beautiful, they are," Hagrid said contentedly, taking a few steps toward the nearest Hungarian Horntail and leaving Madame Maxime standing where she was.
Harry clearly saw Madame Maxime's brows draw together.
That wasn't very gentlemanly, Hagrid…
After that, Madame Maxime stopped minding Hagrid and began to wander the enclosure on her own.
Harry noticed she paused deliberately at each dragon, plainly studying them closely.
Hagrid, meanwhile, seemed to have quite forgotten her; he kept drinking in the sight of the dragons, now and then discussing something with Charlie.
Cloaked, Harry also crept nearer to the fence.
He stopped in front of one dragon.
It was a Norwegian Ridgeback, a little different from the one Professor Wesson had conjured before—its dorsal ridge was a deeper colour.
He couldn't help thinking of the dragon Wesson had once kept—a dragon called Torch. That had been ages ago, when Harry had only just learned he was a wizard.
Come to think of it, he had helped look after Torch for a while, but that was when Torch was still small. Once Torch grew larger than he was, Lupin no longer allowed it near him.
He wondered how Torch was doing now…
Crouching carefully by the fence, Harry listened to the dragon-handlers talking.
"The Chinese Fireball's the most dangerous one," said a scar-faced wizard to his mate. "It's the best-behaved of the lot, but it's stronger than the others in both strength and flame."
"No idea how it got that way," the other said with feeling.
Harry didn't know how powerful a real dragon truly was, but judging by the size and bearing here, they were definitely far stronger than the fake dragon Wesson had made.
Beating them would be anything but easy.
After watching for a while, Harry decided to head back to the castle.
At this hour, Hermione would still be waiting for him in the common room, and he couldn't stay out too long.
Besides, he already knew the first task's content; tonight's aim was achieved.
However, Madame Maxime had got the information too.
Looked like his advantage wouldn't be great.
Harry had just turned to leave the Forest when, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a black-clad figure.
Like him, the figure was hiding behind a tree—definitely not a dragon-handler. The moonlight picked out a sharp jaw and a carefully trimmed goatee.
It was Durmstrang's Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff.
"So that's how it is…" Harry thought.
It seemed it wasn't just Madame Maxime; Karkaroff was also nosing around for his champion.
Everyone had their own business tonight.
To forestall any mishap, once Harry spotted Karkaroff he didn't linger. He went straight back to the Gryffindor common room.
The common room was pitch-dark; Hermione was waiting by the entrance like a watchful owl.
Seeing Harry appear, she darted forward.
"How did it go?" she asked, a bit breathless.
"Dragons," Harry said, yanking off the Cloak. After making sure no one else was there, he lowered his voice. "They've got four different dragons—each the size of a house."
"Really?"
Hermione looked sceptical. "They want you to deal with dragons? That's absurd!"
"I think so too," Harry nodded. "So I reckon they only want you to nick something from under a dragon—like a dragon egg. I saw they'd brought eggs as well."
"That will be dangerous," Hermione said anxiously.
"Possibly," Harry went on. "I also saw Madame Maxime and Karkaroff there, which means all the champions now know the task."
Hermione dropped into an armchair and shook her head helplessly. "Looks like no one intends to follow the rules."
Harry shrugged. "I told you—the rules don't include anything about forbidding champions from learning the task in advance."
"All right, let's not argue that," Hermione said. "Do you have confidence you'll survive under a dragon's nose?"
"Of course," Harry said, nodding with confidence. "It's hard to deal with a dragon, but believe me, a dragon won't cost me my life."
Hermione had no idea where Harry's confidence came from.
But unquestionably, his confidence made her feel a little steadier, too.
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