Chapter 302. Crazy Harry
The moment the cage vanished, the fire dragon did not immediately attack Harry and Cedric.
It merely stood there, guarding that giant egg.
Cedric first tried the Disillusionment Charm.
With a light flick of his wand, his outline gradually faded, blending into the environment around him.
But as he drew near, the great beast suddenly lifted its head. Its nostrils flared, and it blasted out a rush of heat flecked with sparks, knocking him flat in an instant.
Cedric scrambled up in a sorry state, patted his robes, and stared at Adrian Wesson in surprise. "This isn't a real dragon?"
"I never said it was real," Wesson shrugged. "But sir, I still advise you to take it seriously."
No sooner had he spoken than the fire dragon made a bone-chilling movement.
It raised its head high, its throat swelling with a bulge; within the gaping maw, a throbbing glow of fire could be seen.
Cedric's pupils tightened; he swung his wand on instinct.
"Apparition!"
With a faint pop, Cedric vanished on the spot.
Almost at the same moment, searing dragonfire swept over where he had stood, scorching the ground black.
Cedric reappeared not far away, a fine sheen of sweat on his brow—good thing he had obtained his Apparition licence over the summer.
"Are you all right?" Harry shouted anxiously.
Cedric shook his head at Harry and shouted back just as loudly, "Stick to the plan."
Hearing this, Harry nodded, then drew a deep breath.
He pressed his wand to his temple and whispered, "Clara Mente!"
A stream of silver-blue light spilled from his wand tip; Harry's eyes went unnaturally clear, and his thoughts sharpened like never before.
It was a handy little charm Wesson had taught him over the summer—one that helped a wizard keep a cool head in a crisis.
Amusingly, Wesson had learned it from Ravenclaw's side via the Tree of Wisdom.
Keeping the mind clear was extraordinarily important.
Once prepared, Harry began to carry out the countermeasure he and Cedric had agreed on.
Sometimes, the simpler the plan, the better.
After much discussion, Harry and Cedric decided on the simplest approach—Harry would distract the fire dragon with spells while Cedric tried to snatch the egg from under the dragon's nose.
The details would be handled on the fly.
"Reducto!"
Harry led with a spell—one that could trigger blasts and violent impacts.
The red beam struck the fire dragon's shoulder; it let out an ear-splitting roar, its massive body swaying before it steadied.
It clearly hadn't hurt the dragon.
But that was within Harry's expectations.
It was only a small probe.
Wesson had specially taught him a general method for dealing with hulking creatures like this.
In a word—find the weak points.
Almost the entirety of a fire dragon was hide and scales with formidable magical resistance, but there were always relatively weaker spots.
"Incarcerous!"
Harry used a binding spell—Wesson's particular specialty—and, after long exposure, Harry had mastered it quite well.
Several inky-black chains shot from his wand tip, lashing precisely around the dragon's limbs.
For a moment, the fire dragon was pinned in place; it struggled, but the chains did not budge.
At the same time, Harry's brow knit tight—the dragon's strength was immense. After only a few seconds of maintaining the binding, a dull ache began in his head.
That was a sign of short-term overexertion of magic.
Even so, it was the perfect opening to attack: a dragon's belly was among the places with the weakest magical resistance.
Seizing the moment, Harry levelled his wand at the dragon's exposed belly. "Diffindo!"
A flash of light—and the fire dragon howled, thrashing harder.
A moderate wound split open on its abdomen.
Seeing this, Harry's heart leapt.
As long as he could inflict harm, there was hope of victory…
Snapping back to itself, the dragon fixed all its attention on Harry.
By now, Cedric had finished his own preparations.
He cast several spells on himself in quick succession.
No sound, scent masked, Apparition…
In short, anything to conceal his presence.
Wesson nodded despite himself at the sight.
It looked as though they would complete this training with ease.
Just as Wesson relaxed, Harry suddenly swung his wand again. "Confringo!"
"Boom!"
In the deafening blast, the wound on the dragon's belly took another direct hit and burst into a bloody hole, blood gushing—of course, not real dragon blood, merely some effects Wesson had arranged.
"?"
Arms folded, Wesson cocked his head, puzzled at the scene.
Honestly, attacking the dragon now was not a rational choice.
The commotion Harry had made at the start had already drawn the dragon's eyes entirely.
If he kept attacking, he would only enrage it further and make it more savage; that would not help Cedric's next move, and might even backfire.
Sure enough, the fire dragon loosed a roar that shook the Forbidden Forest, fury blazing in its eyes as it heaved even more violently. The chains binding its limbs held for only a second before they shattered into fragments.
"Harry! What are you doing?" Cedric cried in alarm under his concealment. He was only a few steps from the egg and now had to halt.
Harry did not answer; a strange light flickered in his eyes.
He raised his wand again.
"Confringo!"
"Confringo!"
"Confringo!"
"Confringo!"
Watching Harry pour spells into the fire dragon like a madman, Wesson's brows drew together.
Something was off.
Very off.
Harry was clearly not himself.
His pupils were slightly dilated; the corners of his mouth lifted of their own accord into a near-fanatical grin.
The wand sat ever more naturally in his hand; each sweep carried a near-savage exhilaration, the spells slamming into the dragon one after another—not a fight so much as a kind of venting.
"Harry! Stop!" Wesson barked.
But Harry turned a deaf ear.
His thoughts remained crystal clear—clearer than usual, in fact—but some unfamiliar emotion was boiling in his veins.
Rage.
Mania.
A hunger to destroy.
Born of instinct.
Harry's hair whipped wildly in the surge of magic.
Wesson's pupils tightened abruptly—he had keenly noticed that the lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead was glowing with an eerie red light!
"Confringo!"
This one was a tremendously powerful curse, far beyond what Harry could normally unleash—indeed, the most powerful Blasting Curse Wesson had ever seen.
With a feral look twisting Harry's face, a dazzling red light shot from his wand and struck the dragon's abdomen dead on.
"Protego!"
Damn it, Wesson thought. In the instant Harry raised his hand, he cast a Shield Charm for the bewildered Cedric by the dragon's side.
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