This moment of timing was very accurate, the fierce stream was only half a meter away from Krump, his side face already appeared blisters like water bubbles, and Krump's fingertip was only half an inch away from the golden egg, but everyone in the scene except for Armostat and Dumbledore, view cup red flame obscured, unable to observe this detail.
And at that moment, Amortas and Dumbledore both chose to intervene.
The gray magic that Harry saw trapped in the short-nosed dragon in the cave before appeared again, instantly climbed onto the fire dragon and burst out into flaming columns in the air, completely confined to the spatial level. Dumbledore's magic, however, caused a gust of wind without any dazzling light and shadow, but its power was formidable.
The Hungarian Treebees, the largest of the dragons blown by the breeze, were blown away for several tens of feet and landed heavily on the ground with earth-shaking roars.
Bang—
In the aftershock of the massive earthquake, a clear impact sound appeared. It was Krump, who held the golden egg under his armpit and was also thrown back to the ground with a heavy thud. This blow was also quite heavy for him, and he was dizzy and unable to stand for a while. He curled up in pain and gasped for breath.
The scene on the big screen froze on Dumbledore and Amortas lowering their wands. The silence within the venue was so profound that it could hear a pin drop.
How should this be calculated?
Not even Ludo, Maximus, and Crowley had any response for a moment.
"Wickdor completed the challenge!"
Karkarov clearly knew the origin of the subtle atmosphere that permeated the air, and he spoke up more quickly than anyone else.
"You see, he got the golden egg!"
"I didn't mean to contradict you, Professor Karkarov—"
Ludo, as a host and judge, said awkwardly,
"But there is an indisputable fact that Krump getting the golden egg happened after Amortas and Dumbledore intervened to subdue the Hungarian Treebees. So, at least from a rule perspective, this doesn't count."
"It's completely nonsense, Bagman!"
Karkarov angrily shouted,
"It's not Wickdor who asked them to intervene, and he was supposed to get the golden egg!"
"How can you say that, Professor Karkarov!" Mrs. Maxim offensively glared at him, "If it hadn't been for Brian and Dumbledore, your warrior would have been dusted!"
Amortas and Dumbledore did not make any comment, and Karkarov's clown-like behavior was not enough to make them angry or confused. However, Karkarov quickly realized that they were not in a small room after the ceremony at Hogwarts, surrounded by many people's eyes staring at them!
After his face turned a few shades, Karkarov faced Amortas and Dumbledore, and smirked greasily.
"I am infinitely grateful for you two saving Wickdor's life, of course. That is also your responsibility, isn't it? But I ask you both to speak fairly: didn't Krump complete the challenge? He could have touched the dragon's egg before that most ferocious fire dragon's flames reached him, so, oh, what I actually want to say is that you intervened a bit too early!"
Karkarov's words attracted a round of contemptuous glances from around the room, McGonagall and Sprout professors even huffed angrily, and Snape turned his sinister face to one side, worried that if Karkarov couldn't convince the others, he would be brought out to boost his arguments.
Chief Puppeteer, approaching his end--
Amortas's corner of his mouth twitched into a cold smile, as he turned his head, slightly expectantly looking at the passage where the fire dragon was coming out, without deigning to engage with it. Dumbledore's crescent mirror frame also reflected a trace of impatience, but in the end, he calmly made an evaluation.
"Objectively speaking, the situation is as follows: Mr. Krump will touch the golden egg first."
Dumbledore's words caused Karkarov to open his mouth wide, revealing a row of yellow teeth.
Krum was carried away by the healers of St. Mungo's, to be honest, inviting these medical workers here was a wise decision, if it were just Pomfrey herself, she would probably have killed Amortas and Dumbledore after the competition ended.
Scoring has begun.
Dumbledore and Maximus were still generous. They gave Krump nine points and eight points respectively, which was in no way fault. And Bathy Crouch also gave eight points.
The issue arose with Karkarov and Ludo Bagman.
When Karkarov's wand shot out a silver thread-like '10' into the air, it was clear that angry protests immediately followed. No matter where you were sitting, you could hear someone shouting the word 'disgusting' at Karkarov, but he paid no attention to it, still looking delighted. However, his smile only lasted until Ludo gave him his rating.
Six points!
Not to mention Karkarov, even Amortas raised an eyebrow slightly, but then his brow dropped back down. This guy must have bet on Krump losing the contest in secret.
"It's not fair!" Karkarov shouted at Ludo angrily, "Your score is full of bias and targeting, Bagman!"
"Perhaps you've forgotten, Professor Karkarov," Mrs. Maximus bowed towards Dumbledore, her voice low and serious, "You too gave the boy from Hogwarts a six, and his performance was far beyond that score."
Karkarov had an unhappy expression on his face, he was about to make a counter-argument, but Ludo spoke up first to explain his reasons.
"I admit that Mr. Krump's performance was decent, Professor Karkarov--"
Ludo clearly anticipated that Karkarov might question his scoring, and he wasn't at all unhappy; instead, his face wore a cheerful smile.
"But there is a problem at the end of that competition, when the Treebees were about to spit out dragon breath, Mr. Krump did not choose to avoid, but instead accelerated towards the golden egg. He clearly wanted to race with the Treebees, which also indicated his true intention--"
"What?!" Karkarov asked angrily.
"Mr. Krump clearly believes that whether he gets the dragon's egg or not, he will be saved, of course. Ah, according to Dumbledore's words, he got the egg first, but his line of thinking is undoubtedly--"
Ludo finally gave his opinion.
"Mr. Krump relied on the help of others to complete the challenge and took the opportunity to make a statement when he got the golden egg, but if it weren't for Amortas and Dumbledore, he would have been defeated at the same time. I believe this clearly deserves a deduction."
Karkarov's sallow face turned red, and he was at a loss for words, unable to think of a good argument to refute.
"As long as there is a suitable reason, the judges have the autonomy to score. The last warrior is looking forward to it, and we shouldn't waste any more time on this issue." said Amortas indignantly.
Karkarov knew that he wouldn't get support from others, so he sat down grumpily and started calculating Wickdor's score. When he calculated that Wickdor's score had exceeded Fleur's and was equal to Cedric's, his expression improved significantly, and he looked forward eagerly at the channel where the warriors entered.
The first project of the Tri-Wizard Tournament was finally nearing its end, with only the second Hogwarts champion and the unexpected fourth champion to appear in this year's tournament yet to take part. The area where Gryffindor students were seated involuntarily quieted down. Cedric had already completed his challenge, now it was up to Hermione Granger!
Ron watched the entrance of the champions with a pale face, having seen Cedric, Fleur, and Krum's battle with the fire dragon, he no longer had those immature thoughts. But Harry? Why wasn't he there?
Ha!
At this moment, a series of exclamations were heard from the audience. Ron quickly turned his head and saw what Hermione was facing.
Chinese fireball - the only fire dragon in the East.
The dragon's appearance was particularly striking, its smooth scales were fiery red, and it had a lion's nose on its face with a ring of golden tassel-like spines around it. The dragon's body was much faster than the Hungarian Treebees that had just left the arena, weighing about three to four tons, looking much easier to handle. But--
Even if it's easier to deal with, it's still a fire dragon!
Why was this fire dragon being led up by Charlie alone on a chain?
(The end of this chapter)
