Chapter 258: Dragon's Might

From her seat as a teacher, Professor McGonagall had drawn her wand, poised to rush onto the field and rescue Hermione from the dragon's jaws, but Professor Flitwick firmly held her back.

"What are you doing, Filius?" McGonagall exclaimed loudly. "Please don't stop me. I must go and save that girl. I cannot stand by and watch her meet her end like this."

"Please, Minerva, calm down," Flitwick said, conjuring ribbons from his wand to bind McGonagall firmly in place. 

"Look at him, Alaric. He cares deeply for Miss Granger. Besides, he is responsible for the safety of the champions during the match. He looks calm; I'm sure Miss Granger has her own plan."

In the arena, Hermione and her family had entered the Swedish Short-Snout's attack range, but suddenly the girl stopped.

Just as everyone thought she was about to cast a spell, Hermione simply looked at the Swedish Short-Snout.

But no one noticed that Hermione's beautiful brown eyes had turned into a pair of golden vertical pupils.

Within those golden pupils, flames seemed to burn. Those were not human eyes; they were the eyes of a dragon.

The power belonging to a true dragon erupted from the girl's body.

Due to the distance, neither the judge nor the audience felt any of this, but as a breed with degraded bloodlines, the Swedish Short-Snout was keenly aware of that power.

It was the aura of a superior being, a presence from the bloodline, one that made it fearful, submissive—something that came from a true dragon.

Though this true dragon wasn't currently powerful, had there been another world's dragon present, it would have sensed that the source of this aura was just a young dragon.

However, how could a breed as dim-witted as the Swedish Short-Snout discern any of this? 

Sensing this aura, this dragon's might, the Swedish Short-Snout instinctively began to retreat. At the same time, it emitted a low, mournful cry, lowering its body and curling into a ball.

Thus, Hermione stared fixedly at the Swedish Short-Snout, advancing steadily. 

Meanwhile, her opponent, the massive monster, continued to retreat, flapping its wings.

If not for being firmly chained to the ground, it would have tried to take flight and flee from the terrifying little creature before it.

If the Swedish Short-Snout could speak, it would surely be shouting, "Don't come any closer!"

"My god! What on earth is happening in the arena?" Bagman exclaimed in shock, freezing in place before shouting.

"I—I don't know what Miss Granger did exactly, she didn't use her wand, just looked at the Swedish Short-Snout like that and made the creature repeatedly retreat. 

Though I can't believe it, it seems afraid of her. But how could that be? It's a dragon!"

Deafening cheers erupted from the audience, though they didn't understand what had happened. 

Hermione hadn't used any known magic; she had simply forced the Swedish Short-Snout to retreat with a glare, an "overbearing" sight that captivated countless spectators.

In fact, some girls had openly declared their admiration for Hermione Granger.

As the Swedish Short-Snout continued to retreat, it had completely abandoned its clutch of eggs and was now trembling at the edge of the arena, thankful for the iron chain that kept it from escaping.

"Oh my, how did Miss Granger manage this?" Bagman cried out. 

"How did Miss Granger scare the fire dragon into continuous retreat? Dumbledore, do you know what's going on? Did she cast a wandless spell on the dragon just now?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure," Dumbledore frowned. "I didn't see what happened just now. I'm not even sure if Miss Granger used magic."

"Although I don't know what happened, I must say Miss Granger truly deserves to be the youngest Triwizard Champion," Bagman sighed. 

"She calmly walked toward the nest, and looked, she had already retrieved the golden egg with ease. 

After our champion left, the Swedish Short-Snout finally returned to its nest, visibly relieved.

It seems Miss Granger did manage to instill fear in it somehow? However, I can't imagine how one could make a dragon feel fear."

"Could she have cheated?"

"She didn't use any spells; she must have cheated. I refuse to believe such a young girl could achieve this."

"Then maybe the Swedish Short-Snout was trained beforehand?"

"I heard that goblins at Gringotts train dragons to guard the vaults. 

Through cruel methods, the goblins have managed to control dragons using some sort of signal. Could this be a similar method?"

After Hermione left the field, some began to question her methods, including Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff, the last two lines coming directly from them.

On one hand, they had no idea what method Hermione had used; on the other hand, it was an opportunity to suppress Hogwarts' champion.

However, after the match ended, the dragon handlers rushed over to check on the poor Swedish Short-Snout.

Facing the handlers, the Swedish Short-Snout immediately reverted to its originally fierce and brutal personality. 

No longer cowering like a chick just now, it began to rage at the handlers, even attempting to kill one or two to vent its anger.

Now, those questioning voices had no ground to stand on. In front of these handlers, this dragon behaved as fiercely as any normal dragon would, showing no pre-trained timidity—remember, even goblins can only make trained dragons fear or obey specific things. 

Throughout wizarding history, thousands of years of experience have proven that making a dragon fear or submit to an individual is entirely impossible.

At the entrance to the arena, Alaric waved to Hermione, who immediately rushed over and gave him a warm hug.

"I did it, Alaric! I did it!" Hermione exclaimed joyously, no longer the cold and overbearing figure in the arena, now showing excitement.

"I did it, with that dragon's might you talked about! Did you see it? That dragon was actually afraid of me!"

"Of course, of course," Alaric patted the girl's back, feeling something soft against his chest. 

"I knew you could do it. But this is just the beginning. Your dragon's might isn't very powerful yet—it's enough against ordinary magical creatures.

But against slightly stronger creatures like unicorns, phoenixes, or horse-shaped water monsters, it won't be effective. 

If it weren't for this match against a dragon sensitive to dragon's might, you wouldn't have been able to take the golden egg just by relying on dragon's might."

"I know, I know," Hermione pouted, complaining, "I know I'm not good enough yet. But can't you comfort me a bit? Geez."

"Alright, alright," Alaric chuckled, ruffling Hermione's hair and adding before the girl could retort, "The judges are about to score. I have to go now. See you later."

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