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The Hungarian Horntail was the most aggressive of all dragons and also the most dangerous.
Its body was covered in dense black scales. It had amber eyes with snake-like vertical pupils. Countless bronze-colored hornlike spikes surrounded its head, and similar bronze spikes jutted from its long tail.
For that reason, it had the reputation of being the hedgehog of dragons.
Of course, the Hungarian Horntail was far more aggressive than any hedgehog.
Dudley led the three dragons to a stop less than twenty meters from the Hungarian Horntail.
Unlike with the Welsh Green, this was already within the Horntail's safe distance. The Hungarian Horntail had the longest flame range of all dragons, reaching fifty feet, roughly fifteen meters.
Dudley waved his hand, signaling the three dragons behind him to stay there, while he walked alone toward the Horntail.
Opposite him, the Horntail bared its mouthful of sharp teeth and released a warning roar. Its large eyes shone with dangerous light.
Its hoarse roar was somewhat similar to Charizard's, except Charizard's breed was Norwegian Ridgeback. To outsiders who did not understand dragons, the two might not look very different.
But the Norwegian Ridgeback was one of the rarest dragon species in the world.
When facing the Horntail, Dudley adopted a completely different attitude.
The most obvious point was that he showed no intention of communicating with it.
"Why is he not speaking? Is he not going to use dragon speech?"
"Perhaps his dragon speech is not mature enough. The Hungarian Horntail's temper is so bad that if communication fails, there is no way to escape."
"Then what will he do? The Hungarian Horntail is the most dangerous of the four dragons."
The spectators discussed it anxiously, worrying for Dudley despite themselves.
"Look! He has drawn his wand!"
Dudley drew his iron birch wand and faced the Hungarian Horntail directly.
Everything he had done today had only one purpose:
Fame.
His previous low profile had only been preparation.
The noseless man would soon return. Continuing to stay low-profile no longer had any meaning. Greater fame could bring many conveniences.
Of course, Dudley also understood the value of keeping something in reserve. Otherwise, he would not have disguised magical-creature speech as dragon speech and first handled the three relatively milder dragons. He would have challenged all four dragons head-on from the beginning.
Let the world remember the name Dursley from today onward.
He slowly pointed his wand at the Hungarian Horntail.
Then he showed two rows of terrifying teeth.
From his pocket, he took out four objects and casually tossed them into the air.
His wand pointed.
With a flash of spell-light and a sharp whoosh, the four objects rapidly grew larger.
The spectators and judges widened their eyes at the same time. Because they were too far away, most wizards did not see Dudley's movements clearly. They only saw four things suddenly appear, shocking them badly.
"Merlin's beard! Champion Dursley has... summoned four dragons!"
Bagman shouted in a nearly hoarse voice, like someone struggling with his throat caught in a clamp.
Yes.
They were four dragons, identical in appearance to the four on the field, as though carved from the same mold.
The moment the four dragons appeared, not only were the spectators stunned, but even the Hungarian Horntail briefly lost focus.
The four dragons did not give it time to react. They opened their mouths full of sharp teeth and bit toward the Horntail.
True creature-summoning magic was not unknown in the wizarding world, but it had been lost for far too long, even longer than dragon speech. Searching through magical history would turn up only a few fragments, such as a wizard once summoning a pig and being crushed to death by it. Beyond that, there was almost nothing.
Summoning four dragons with one spell?
Even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named probably could not do that.
The spectators were deeply shaken. They had already lost count of how many times they had been shocked today.
"No. That is a combined spell using Engorgement and Transfiguration. A rather advanced piece of magic."
When Dumbledore said this, his eyes became very deep. He even lowered his signature half-moon spectacles and watched Dudley in the arena with clear blue eyes.
Lucius glanced at him and then looked at Dudley with a similarly complicated expression, full of relief and quiet acceptance.
He finally understood why Draco admired Dursley so much and had even been willing to follow his lead.
It was not only because Dursley himself was outstanding.
It was because he was outstanding beyond ordinary measure.
If someone surpassed others by one step, he was a genius.
What if he surpassed them by ten steps?
What if he surpassed them by a hundred?
Replacing Dumbledore and that man would only be a matter of time.
Unfortunately, Draco did not know what Lucius was thinking. If he did, he would certainly tell his father that Big D had not surpassed others by ten steps or a hundred.
He had boarded an aeroplane and circled back around.
Compared with those two, Karkaroff's and Madame Maxime's expressions looked much worse. Neither of them had seen that it was a combined spell.
They could argue with Dumbledore, but no one would question his magical expertise.
Especially Karkaroff.
The mad wizard expelled from Durmstrang several decades ago had created no less commotion than He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. In the end, Dumbledore had been the one to resolve it.
The four dragons fought fiercely.
The dragons "summoned" by Dudley could even breathe fire, though their flames did not possess the true properties of dragon breath. Even so, it was enough to give the Hungarian Horntail a great deal of trouble.
Dudley stood where he was, eyes closed.
He was meditating and activating the meditative skill.
Ding.
His mind became still. In his thoughts, it was as if a drop of water fell onto a calm surface, spreading ripples outward.
Then came the second sound, and the third.
After that, he slowly opened his eyes.
The three meditation enhancements were complete.
Dudley raised his wand again.
'Confringo.'
With a loud bang, a burst of flame exploded against the chest of the Hungarian Horntail, which was resisting the three model dragons. Its body was struck heavily and blasted backward.
Then came the second explosion, and the third.
Dudley waved his wand like a conductor. Each movement made the Hungarian Horntail release a miserable roar.
Before long, blood streaked the dragon's body.
Even with a dragon's magical resistance, it had suffered such severe injuries. One could imagine how terrifying the caster's spell power was.
And Dudley was still holding back.
He did not intend to truly kill the Hungarian Horntail, so the injuries only looked terrible.
But even Dudley's restrained method was shocking enough to the other wizards.
As fellow headmasters, Madame Maxime and Karkaroff were clearly not in Dumbledore's class. They seemed barely comparable to any of Hogwarts's four Heads of House.
Neither Madame Maxime nor Karkaroff had ever shown much evidence of true battlefield prowess. Karkaroff, in particular, was the sort of man who would flee the moment Voldemort's return became real.
And this was one of the three great school headmasters?
Truly unimpressive.
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