The Final Trial P10
"Ugh…" Marton stood back up from the ground completely aching while holding his shoulder where Red's flame had struck. It was completely blackened and scorched, with traces of burned and dried blood, accomplishing something that not even all the attacks Victor and Fleur had thrown at him until now had managed to do; injure him.
But even then, for a burn caused by Red's flames, it was still fairly superficial. Any other wizard or witch receiving that impact would have completely lost their arm.
Not only did this further show how tough Marton's skin was, but it also made Fleur feel that Marton's resistance was genuinely strange.
Victor, controlled by Marton's Imperius Curse, upon seeing his master attacked, immediately raised his wand.
"Diffindo!" he shouted while aiming directly at Fleur.
But Red, standing in front of her like a guardian, leapt forward while opening his mouth, his sharp teeth fully visible, and bit into the cutting spell flying through the air as if breaking something solid. The spell was destroyed, but Red did not stop his momentum and charged toward Victor like a red blur.
"Red, don't kill him!" Fleur shouted immediately.
She had seen this little dragon easily kill half a dozen wizards who attacked her and Harry the other night. Even with his somewhat silly and funny appearance, even she knew she could not fight against this little dragon. And after all, Victor was being controlled.
Red heard Fleur's words and abruptly stopped right in front of Victor, showing he had been about to attack the wizard with a bite. But he quickly changed tactics, though he did not close his mouth. Instead, a small red flame formed on his uvula.
"Kaah," Red lightly roared.
And that tiny fireball the size of a thumb struck directly into Victor's chest. It was even smaller than the fireball that had hit Marton.
But Victor was sent flying several meters when it exploded, embedding him into the labyrinth wall. Even a small flame still burning on his chest could be seen.
Fleur was a little shocked since she had just told him not to kill him, but…
Red, on the other hand, proudly nodded to himself, because he had followed Fleur's order splendidly. Or at least, in his mind, it seemed that way.
Certainly Victor was not dead. But he might need a couple of days in the infirmary along with several bone regeneration potions.
Marton, upon seeing Victor like that, suddenly had his expression turn completely cold, almost dangerous.
A killing instinct seemed to spread through the entire place directly toward Red and Fleur.
Red stared at Marton for a few seconds as if looking at an insect before turning back toward Fleur.
Fleur, who had still been looking at Victor for a moment while doubting whether he was still alive, snapped out of her surprise when she saw Marton raise his wand and say:
"Avada…"
"Red! Dodge it!" she shouted, seeing Marton aiming his wand toward Red, wanting to kill him for hurting Victor.
Red, meanwhile, turned around and looked at the green glow illuminating the tip of Marton's wand, but made no movement to dodge.
"… Kedavra," Marton roared completely furious.
The flash shot at tremendous speed directly toward Red while Fleur turned pale and raised her wand to help him. But the venom in her leg had already spread quite far, causing a slight dizziness and weakness that prevented her from casting a spell to push Red away.
She could already picture herself telling Harry what happened to Red, imagining the sadness on his face.
But against all expectations, Red simply opened his mouth.
"Chomp."
And the killing curse, one of the three Unforgivable Curses, the deadliest curse in the entire magical world, was simply swallowed by the little green dragon as if it were nothing.
For a moment, the battlefield fell silent.
But Red, not paying attention to that, turned back toward Fleur again. And Fleur seemed to more or less understand what he wanted.
"Erh… ah, well. Don't kill him, but you can hurt him," she said while letting out a huge sigh after seeing the stupid dragon was genuinely fine, even after swallowing an Avada, while the venom weakened her legs enough to make her fall to the ground.
And she looked for a moment at the wound the snake had left behind. It seemed that even if they won this fight, she would not be able to continue in the competition and needed an antidote.
Red, upon hearing Fleur's words, turned toward Marton with an excited look, while Marton was still genuinely confused about why Red was still alive.
But he quickly snapped out of his shock when he saw Red beginning to change.
Cracking sounds came from Red's bones; spikes began emerging all along his back tracing his spine. His claws grew larger, looking sharper, and his teeth gleamed intensely as if they could pierce through anything with ease. His body began growing from his normal size, which had been almost the size of a dog. And it kept increasing in size. Even Marton had to lift his gaze as Red's massive head blocked out the moonlight, until his body became nearly as large as an adult dragon. And it looked like he could keep growing, but he simply stopped once his head rose above the labyrinth walls.
Allowing anyone, whether in the stands or inside the labyrinth itself, to see his enormous head. Even with the screens blacked out, his gigantic head rising above the labyrinth caused fear in the stands for a moment.
Even Ludo Bagman, as the commentator, went completely silent. Forcing even Sirius to stand up and try to calm everyone down.
On Harry, Draco, and Luciel's side, the three of them stopped for a moment with their eyes fixed on Red's enormous head sticking above the walls. Luciel and Draco turned toward Harry, silently asking what the hell was going on.
But Harry did not answer them; he only let out a faint tired sigh. Because he had asked that stupid dragon to take care of Fleur. And somehow he had ended up transforming into the same form he used when fighting the monstrous Professor Dominic last year.
Which, according to Harry's magical senses, was a complete exaggeration, but he did not say much as long as Red did his job.
Back on Red's side, he looked downward. With every breath, flames as red as blood seemed almost liquid. Even the most powerful Fiendfyre looked like a simple spark compared to those small flames escaping with his breathing. And the heat he released could be felt even from a distance.
Red looked down at Marton and opened his enormous mouth filled with teeth, each one sharper than the last. The liquid flames, as if alive, began gathering directly in his throat.
The heat pouring out began drying the fern walls at the sides even before the flames left his mouth, and the heat slammed directly into Marton's face, drying every drop of sweat beginning to gather on his skin and turning it into vapor. Marton began trembling completely pale.
Even he himself knew that no matter how much resistance his body had, he would not survive that attack.
A primal fear overtook him and he started trembling violently.
And he fell to his knees completely pale, filled with terror.
"I… I… I… su… su… surrender. P… p… please no. I only did it for family. Th… they have my family," Marton said while stuttering like the fake Professor Quirrell back in first year. Even worse than him.
He did not know why, but he felt that if those flames touched him even slightly, his soul would burn for eternity.
Red, upon seeing the weakling surrender, seemed to look at him with amusement and mockery before closing his mouth and returning to his normal size.
As if he had completed a job effortlessly, he walked directly toward Fleur, puffed out his chest, and stood in front of her as if expecting praise.
Fleur was frozen while staring at Red, because she had not known he could do that. Even she had felt fear when Red changed. She had even thought Red would ignore her words and simply erase Marton without hesitation.
But Red only seemed to be showing off, as if proving he did not even need to attack to defeat his enemy.
An enemy Fleur had struggled so much against because of his resistance.
But remembering who his owner was, Fleur could only let out a sigh before ending up patting Red's silly head. Red, upon feeling Fleur's touch, seemed to relax under her gentle caresses. Without rejecting them like he normally would; in fact, he looked quite comfortable.
But she could not help glancing toward Marton for a moment, who was now completely collapsed on the ground with his face full of tears and regret.
"What do you mean they have your family?" Fleur asked, unable to stop herself from wanting to know.
Marton, who was still trembling, especially after seeing Red, who was standing beside Fleur looking like a dumb dog being petted, trying to get on good terms with his future mistress.
"I'd like to hear that too," a voice said while slowly approaching them along with the sound of a cane striking the ground with every step.
Mad Eye Moody stepped out from the shadows calmly, his normal eye fixed on Marton, while his magical eye kept spinning completely out of control around Red as if it were about to explode or catch fire from friction at any second.
He still had the glowing hat on his head.
Red turned his head toward Mad Eye Moody, alert for a moment. But after looking at the magical eye, he seemed filled with interest, as if he might jump at any moment and steal it. Just like in the past when he attacked Dumbledore to steal the Elder Wand.
But Moody ignored the dragon's stupid thoughts and looked at Fleur's ankle, noticing she was poisoned with a single glance.
He slightly raised his cane and struck the ground. A burst of red sparks shot into the sky, signaling the other professors to move in that direction.
And then he looked back toward Marton.
"So… start talking, boy. And you'd better have a damn good excuse, because using the Unforgivable Curses… you're going to need a very good one," he said; then his gaze shifted toward Victor, who was still embedded in the labyrinth wall.