The Peregrine Falcon turned its gaze, fixed intently on a certain corner of the woodlands; the Transfiguration Technique had enhanced its vision far beyond its usual capacity.
Suddenly, it dove down, with its wings pressed tightly against its body, descending like a silver arrow from the sky.
In the dry leaves, a mouse that had been crouching on a branch seemed to sense danger. Without bothering to look up, it suddenly sprinted down the slanted tree trunk.
Just as the Peregrine Falcon's talons were about to grab its back, the mouse made a sharp turn, surprisingly darting to the underside of the tree trunk!
Missing its target, the Peregrine Falcon suddenly spread its wings, slowing its speed, circling, turning back, and charging after the mouse once more!
Already, the greyish mouse had darted into the bushes, moving at an astonishing speed along the tree roots and grass, its grey silhouette like a lightning bolt, agile and swift.
Suddenly, it dashed into a small tree hole, feeling the Peregrine Falcon's talons sweep past the entrance, and a gust stirred up the fallen leaves on the ground, the sound of wing beats seemingly very close.
The mouse hid in the hole, its heart pounding wildly. It gasped for breath, and after a while, cautiously poked its head out to look around.
No Peregrine Falcon nearby, nor any Wizard.
The mouse breathed a sigh of relief, darting out of the tree hole. As it ran, its silhouette quickly elongated, its limbs transformed, its long whiskers rapidly shortened, and finally, its skin became smooth and supple, though very dark, so dark that his facial features were barely discernible in the night.
After reverting to human form, the young man no longer feared the Peregrine Falcon's pursuit. He looked up at the pitch-black night sky, then quickly ran towards the giant stone on the meadow.
The Peregrine Falcon remained perched on a lofty branch, watching the mouse transform into Jabari Viven from Uagadou, and then observing this youth as he stealthily crossed the field and slipped into their giant stone camp.
The Peregrine Falcon turned his head and saw Karkaroff also revealing himself, emerging from the Forbidden Forest, followed closely by the dark-skinned Principal Mando from another direction.
A few minutes later, a palm-sized black cat also darted out from the forest, although it didn't transform into human form, it had something resembling a camera mounted on its head.
Abby from Salem Academy disembarked the helicopter, bent down to pick up the black cat that had run to her feet, gently stroked the cat's chin, and then returned to the helicopter.
Even though the Fire Dragon's venue was far from the castle, such a commotion had evidently long attracted the attention of principals from various schools. They all demonstrated their skills in gathering information, with none truly adhering to the rules.
The Peregrine Falcon didn't continue watching, flying a circle along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, once more circling to the back of the castle, choosing a window to fly into the castle.
...
On Sunday morning, sunlight streamed through the library's glass, casting dappled shadows on the floor. Vid sat by the window, leisurely flipping through "Essential Wizarding Level Exams: Basic Magic Compendium".
"We have to tell the others!" Harry paced beside him, worriedly saying, "This is a matter of life and death, Vid!"
Madam Pince's hawk-eyed, sharp gaze immediately scanned this corner, but since Vid had cast a sound-blocking Magic Spell nearby, she hadn't heard any extraneous noise.
So, the librarian furrowed her brows and stared at them for a while before shifting her gaze away.
"There's no need, just tell Cedric," Vid said, turning a page without looking up.
"But… what about the students from other schools?" Harry said anxiously, "There are even kids younger than us inside!"
"Harry," Vid raised his eyes to look at him, handing over a note, "You go get these books from Madam Pince first."
"What?"
Harry took the parchment and saw that the books listed were all related to Fire Dragons, instantly realizing what it meant.
Indeed, they needed to ensure their advantage first before warning others.
Holding the note, he eagerly ran to the librarian.
...
"What? 'Magic in the Dragon's Lair' is gone?" Harry looked at the stern-faced Madam Pince in disbelief, asking, "Then what about 'The Path of Taming Fire Dragons'?"
"Regrettably, that book is also unavailable," Madam Pince said.
"How is that possible?" Harry scratched his head and glanced at the parchment again, asking, "Is 'The Legend of the Dragon' still there?"
"No."
"What about 'Mysterious Power of Magical Creatures'?"
"Also no."
"'Wizard and Dragon's Confrontation'? Okay, I know that's gone. Then 'Flame and Scale' must still be here, right?"
Madam Pince sighed and looked at him sympathetically, saying, "You came too late, Potter. The last copy of 'Flame and Scale' was borrowed an hour ago."
"Can you tell me who borrowed it?" Harry asked urgently, "I really need it now!"
"Of course not, borrowing records are confidential," Madam Pince said matter-of-factly.
Harry lowered his shoulders in disappointment, holding onto a last shred of hope, and asked, "Isn't there any book about Fire Dragons left?"
"There's one last book." Madam Pince pulled out an old book from the cabinet like performing a magic trick, saying, "A student just returned this book ten minutes ago, would you like to borrow it?"
Harry glanced at the title—"Men Who Love Dragons Too Much".
Without even looking at the content, he could guess that the book's audience was someone like Hagrid, filled with topics like how to help dragons hatch eggs, how to raise baby dragons, how to treat sick or injured dragons, and postpartum care for dragon mothers.
But what choice did he have? It was the only book about Fire Dragons left.
Harry ultimately sighed and borrowed the book, randomly opening a page, and found it read: "To clean a Fire Dragon's teeth with magic, you need to pay attention to the following issues..."
...
"How can this be? The library has only this one book left about Fire Dragons!"
Harry, full of disbelief, sat next to Vid and placed the book on the table: "I don't want to know how to brush a Fire Dragon's teeth at all! Who took all the useful books?"
"It's obviously the competitors from other schools," Vid said calmly, "I've been sitting here since the library opened, before most people woke up, those guys had already borrowed all the books they could."
"Does each person get to borrow so many books at once?" Harry asked curiously, "Do the Champions have privileges?"
"No," Vid said, "you forget they still have many classmates who weren't selected?"
"Alright…" Harry paused, suddenly realizing, "So… the other schools already know?"
"Hmm, probably only Cedric doesn't know the first task involves Fire Dragons," Vid repeated, "So you just need to inform him."
Cedric had always excelled in every aspect, but at that moment, Vid truly understood that he was indeed still a Hufflepuff.
The Champions would have guidance from their respective principals, undoubtedly knowing how to deal with Fire Dragons, yet they all unanimously chose to borrow all the Fire Dragon books from Hogwarts Library, weakening their opponents in the process.
And Vid was observing in a corner near the entrance, discreetly observing which schools' students had come to borrow books.
The result was that except for the three from Hogwarts, competitors from other schools had already visited.
Harry was delayed in thinking of borrowing books today likely because he stayed up late with Sirius learning methods to deal with Fire Dragons last night, only waking up late this morning;
While Cedric was genuinely unaware, possibly still speculating with his fellow housemates about what the first competition task involved.
"But…" Harry continued to ask worriedly, "All the books have been borrowed, what do we do?"
The things Sirius and Lupin could teach him were ultimately not as comprehensive and detailed as the content in books. Moreover, some Fire Dragons only lived in specific regions, making those two elder relatives not very knowledgeable either.
"Didn't I already tell you?" Vid patted Harry's shoulder, saying, "I knew Fire Dragons appeared in previous tournaments, so all the necessary materials have long been collected. The books you want to borrow, I have them."