In front of him was a dragon.
More precisely, it was a gigantic dragon covered from head to tail in pale white scales, at least sixty feet long, looking from afar like a small fortress, with sparks still flickering inside its mouth...
If he remembered correctly, the thing's proper name was the Ukrainian Ironbelly, currently the largest known dragon and the one with the highest danger rating. It was usually used to guard Gringotts' highest-security vaults.
They were seriously making a bunch of students fight this thing one-on-one???
Actually, if it were only a matter of dueling a single Ironbelly, Avada could still have accepted it. After all, this Triwizard Tournament had been hell-difficulty from the very beginning...
What truly left him somewhat dumbfounded, however, was the magical armor fixed onto the dragon's eyes, nostrils, joints, anus, and every other place that could barely be called a weakness.
How was anyone supposed to play this game?
They were not even allowing the most basic tactic of exploiting weak points??
If not for the thick iron chains still wrapped around the dragon's wings, he might have chosen to withdraw from the tournament on the spot.
And as the layer of dark dome faded away, the full structure of the massive arena was finally revealed as well. Apart from the spectator stands around the edges, protected by Shield Charms, the entire field was completely open and flat, with no cover and no obstacles of any kind. In other words, if he really had to fight the dragon, then he would have to face it head-on with real ability, without any room whatsoever for opportunism or trickery...
There was, however, a platform floating in midair roughly a dozen meters above the center of the arena. Avada could not see what was on it from where he stood, and could only sense a complex but harmless magical structure through his perception of magical power. But if he went by the worst possible assumption, then what sat on top of it was very likely his objective for this match—the golden egg...
Which meant that this time, not only did he have to fight the world's most powerful dragon head-on, he would very likely have to do so in the dragon's own greatest home ground—the sky?
"...These are the competition rules, as well as the protective gear you'll need to wear during the match."
The Durmstrang professor beside him also wore an expression like he had just swallowed a fly. In one hand he held out a small booklet toward Avada, while in the other he carried a neatly folded dark-red bundle of cloth, probably some kind of cloak. His gaze toward Avada was full of sympathy.
"Try to relax. The task this time isn't as... ah, difficult as it looks on the surface. Once you read the rules, you'll probably understand. And as for this cloak..."
He shook out the piece of fabric in his other hand, lightly jostling the hood between his fingers.
"This specially made cloak contains powerful protective magic, as well as a built-in Portkey. If at any point you fail to dodge or block a lethal attack from the dragon, this cloak will ensure your safety—but the Portkey will immediately send you out of the competition area, which also means that you'll have failed this match..."
'...At least it matches the description.'
Avada accepted the cloak. After examining it for a moment, he finally felt reassured enough to drape it over himself.
'The protective magic works fairly well, and the Portkey is indeed locked onto a point near the spectator stands... but what's with this curse that "provokes dragons"??'
'...'
He decided not to think any further about what kind of grudge the designer of this task had against the champions. Instead, he directly opened the booklet in his hand and began reading it carefully while wondering why this match's rules had grown so numerous—
[This competition will be divided into two primary stages.]
[In the first stage, the dragon's wings will remain sealed, rendering it unable to fly, while the golden egg will begin with zero integrity. Under the dragon's attacks, the champion must make use of stone pillars that rise randomly throughout the arena to gradually repair the golden egg. Please note that the integrity of the golden egg will not only affect your score in this competition, but will also directly affect how smoothly you can proceed in the third task. Therefore, please restore the golden egg as completely as possible...]
"That's actually a little interesting."
Avada gave a slight nod, and his gaze continued downward.
[During the first stage, three types of stone pillars will rise randomly throughout the arena. Champions may make proper use of their characteristics to complete the task.]
[Fragile pillars will give off a green signal from the ground five seconds before rising. These pillars can be shattered by the dragon's charge or flames, but often contain hidden items inside. Such pillars will remain in the arena for ten seconds.]
[Sturdy pillars will give off a blue signal from the ground three seconds before rising. These pillars can effectively resist the dragon's charge and flames, and if used properly, may buy time to breathe or prepare. Such pillars will remain in the arena for five seconds.]
[Charging pillars will give off a red signal from the ground five seconds before rising. Once scorched by the dragon's flames, these pillars will generate magical power capable of repairing the golden egg, but they can also be easily shattered by the dragon's body. Only three charging pillars will exist throughout the match, and the golden egg will be fully restored after receiving restorative magic five times. Such pillars will remain in the arena for ten seconds.]
Avada's fingers gradually began to tremble, but he still forced himself to continue reading the rest...
[Once the golden egg has been fully repaired, or once all three charging pillars have been destroyed, the competition will enter the second stage.]
[During this stage, all magic and magical equipment on the dragon's body will automatically be removed. At the same time it loses the protection of its armor, it will also regain the ability to fly. Meanwhile, no more stone pillars will rise in the arena.]
[The match will be completed once the dragon is fully defeated or the champion is eliminated, and the champion will receive the golden egg preserving whatever repair progress had been achieved by the end of the first stage.]
"..."
Avada took a deep breath of icy air, forcibly making himself appear calm on the surface at the very least...
Which bastard designed this task?!
Wasn't this just deliberate psychological torture?!
At first he had thought the iron chains on the dragon's wings were meant to lower the difficulty of the challenge somewhat. But in the end, they were only there so the champion would be forced to expend a huge amount of stamina and concentration before facing the dragon's full-power assault?
If he had not been absolutely sure the protective cloak on his body was reliable, he would have suspected that those pure-blood families were planning to use this very task to carry out the murder of one of the champions...
And the most outrageous part was that even if the champion really did have the strength to defeat the dragon through its defenses, it would not matter. These rules would force you to actively endure the dragon's fire breath in order to repair the golden egg.
And on top of that, there were only three repair pillars!
And worse still, the rules described the rising pattern of the pillars with a term that sounded extremely broad, but in many games usually concealed tremendous malice—
"Random"!
Which meant that if he planned to hide behind a sturdy pillar to block the dragon's charge, then a charging pillar might suddenly pop up in a blind spot right in front of him and get smashed by the dragon before he even had time to react.
Sure, the spectacle would be amazing.
But what about the mental state of the person actually going through it?!
Was this really a task a human being could come up with??
Even Umbridge was not this sadistic!
(End of Chapter)
TL Note: In all this years I have read thousand of Harry Potter Fics, but this one takes the prize with how it develops the tri-wizard tournament.