Chapter 477 "Two Stages and Accumulated Madness"

The students gathered around; Krum, Fleur, Daniels, Cedric, and Sean followed. These five students are the leaders of the five teams. Everyone's attention was on Ludo's hands while Sean was quietly looking at the facial expressions of the other contestants.

It seems that they all have some doubts, and there is no obvious tension.

Ludo said, "I suppose you all had a long talk with the students who participated in the Tournament five years ago. It was an amazing one."

"Sir," Cedric reminded politely; otherwise, Ludo would start to recall the past.

"Oh, of course. Let's get down to business. The first stage of the Tournament involved facing ten fully grown mountain trolls simultaneously. Sounds incredible, right?" He laughed out loud.

Of course, Sean knew about the stage in the previous Tournament. Ten mountain trolls may not sound like a lot, but trolls are a kind of magical animal that even adult wizards are difficult to deal with because they possess high magic resistance. The mountain troll is better than ordinary trolls. In the original book, Harry and others managed to defeat a troll in the first grade and that was because of pure luck.

From this, they also see the difficulty of the Tournament.

"But this year, the first stage is also against a magical animal, but—" Ludo chuckled, "in two stages."

The students all looked at each other with their companions, and everyone became nervous.

Ludo first raised the magic rope in his hand, "The referee specially made the magic rope before the game. This rope is very strong. What you need to do is to take one and tie it to the first animal you will face."

"A cockatrice."

Hearing this name, Sean frowned. This is a magical animal with a rating of XXXX by the Ministry of Magic. It is already a deadly level for ordinary wizards, but it can only be dealt with by experienced wizards.

However, this magical animal has a characteristic: It is annoying, and it is easy for them to fall into a state Sean likes to describe as 'Nervous'.

The stage requires tying the rope around the animal, which is much more difficult than defeating it. When the animal is in a 'nervous' state, it will run around. This is only the first stage. The organizers definitely put this animal on purpose.

Seeing the expressions, Ludo smiled, satisfied, and continued, "When the animal's tail is tied up, you can start the second stage. You have to guard yourself against two dragons and get the golden eggs from their nest."

Upon hearing this, everyone present gasped, including Sean. The dragon is a frequent appearance in the Tournament, and the students present are ready to face a dragon. But the two dragons are a bit too much.

Fleur took a step forward, "Sir, the two dragons are not placed in the same field with the cockatrice, are they?"

"Correct, Miss Fleur." Ludo replied.

The students were relieved for a moment. The cockatrice cannot be dealt with quickly; this animal will scurry around the entire field. At that time, the dragons may have attacked them while they were chasing them.

Moreover, the cockatrice is likely to directly destroy the golden eggs they want to bring back. The golden eggs are obviously not the dragons egg. Although the number of people has increased, the difficulty has increased as well.

"Okay, time to take your ropes." Ludo raised the rope in his hand.

Krum, Fleur, Daniels, Cedric, and Sean all looked at each other and extended their hands together.

"I'm number one." Cedric held up the rope in his hand.

"Oh, no." the Weasley twins wailed. Although there was an element of acting, they still had some frustration.

The pressure to be the first to play in this kind of Tournament is very high. Others also raised the rope in their hands. Beauxbaton was number two, Durmstrang was number three, Nurmengard was number four, and Sean was holding the last one.

"Are we really the last one?" Daisy grabbed Sean's hand and asked nervously.

"You're right," Ludo said. "The number on the rope is your order of appearance on the field. Come now, time to draw your dragons."

After taking a few deep breaths, the delegates surrounded him.

"Swedish Short-Snout, Mr Diggory. Good choice."

"Antipodean Opaleye, Mademoiselle Delacour. This dragon is as beautiful as you."

"Ooooh, Chinese Fireball, Mr. Krum. It fits Durmstrang's fiery characteristic, I have to say."

"Oh my, this is a tough one. The Hungarian Horntail for Nurmengard."

Sean looked down at the dragon model in his hand, which was only the size of his palm. It has black, rough scales and a row of not-deep but razor-sharp ridges on its back. Its tail ends with a tapered arrowhead, and its wings are bat-like.

"Hebridean Black Dragon," Ludo said in surprise, "Strong fellow. I have a little news for you, Mr. Wallup, Ms. Daisy, and Ms. Ollivander."

Sean looked up, and Ludo smiled. "Because of the relationship between the dragon species, the two dragons have their own territory and cannot coexist together. The judges put a spell on them so the two wouldn't fight each other. Mr. Wallup, I hear you're doing well toward magical animals."

Sean glanced at him, thinking that he was lucky if he didn't choose the Hungarian Horntail, but in the case of two fire dragons, their Hebridean Black Dragon was the worst choice.

He continued, "The Hebridean dragons are naturally aggressive, so each requires more than a hundred square miles of territory. But this dragon has been taken care of by the MacFusty clan for generations. They allow you to use magic to defeat the dragon, but you can't affect the dragon's mind because it would go against their current natural feelings."

"Why is that?" Fred asked.

"The two dragons sent by MacFusty are a male and a female dragon that can live in harmony. There are only two periods when they can live together in harmony." Sean Stretched out two fingers, "Their resting period and mating period."

He spread his hands, "The current weather is not suitable for hatching. Basically, these two dragons are probably preparing to conceive. Well, in this period, they are the most protective regarding their partners."

The others were surprised. Not only Cedric and the others but even Fleur showed sympathy and concern. Reinhardt smiled, and after Krum glared at him, he stopped.

"Idiot." Sean shook his head silently.

He looked at Daisy, who had started to hiccup, and Stephanie.

"God save us."

"It's a pity that we are the last ones. We could get the things done and go back quickly."

Others looked at Sean in surprise. The cockatrice and the dragons feel like his daily life pets at home. But Hugo and Patricia were not surprised at all. In their hearts, Sean was a wizard who could talk to dragons. He should have no trouble dealing with the dragons later.

Cedric and the others knew that Sean could talk to dragons, but they were still worried. After all, magical animals were just animals, and their instincts might be stronger than him.

"Okay, it's time for you to start."

As if responding to Ludo's words, two roars came from outside the tent immediately.

Sean patted Fred's shoulder and said in a low voice, "The Swedish Short-Snout dragon's flying speed and flame temperature are the most dangerous things it has. Its eye is stronger than other dragons, so don't use the Conjunctivitis Curse. Try to trick its mind first, and aim at the barbs on the nose of the nosed dragon when you want to fight them; that's their weakness."

"Mr. Weasley, it's time for you to go," Ludo shouted, opening a corner of the tent.

Winking at Fred, Sean smiled slightly.

Competitive sportsmanship needs to be taken seriously, but in Sean's heart, the safety of his friends is more important. 

Cedric and the twins walked out, and soon, there were continuous weird sounds outside. It was the sound of a cockatrice, accompanied by waves of shouts from the audience.

In the tent, Sean told Hugo and Patricia about the weaknesses of the Hungarian Horntail. However, he was not very worried about Nurmengard's team. Judging from their experience, the strength of Nurmengard students is better than most schools.

Daisy and Stephanie glanced at each other, seeing Sean talking to acquaintances so easily about the points to pay attention to.

"Sean, I'm really nervous. Stephanie, how about you?"

She shook her head, "I'm nervous as well."

"He is in a place we can't see, and his strength may exceed our imagination." She smiled, "We believe that he can do it."

Daisy nodded, "I have always believed in him!"

The students in the tent were waiting anxiously, and Reinhardt even discussed their strategies with his teammates.

Ludo's commentary can be heard from outside.

"Oh, that's a dangerous one! What a risky decision; they want to save more time!"

"It's too much. The dragon was alarmed!"

"Oh, that movement is really beautiful!"

After a while, the cockatrice's roar subsided and was replaced by a dragon's roar.

"What a beaut that is!"

"However, two dragons are surrounding them. What a dangerous situation!"

The shouts from the audience, Ludo's commentary, and the deafening roar of the dragon can be heard altogether.

"My God, what a beautiful spell!" After a loud shout, there was a huge cheer outside.

From its appearance, Cedric's team successfully completed the stage. Sure enough, someone came to inform Beauxbatons' team that they were about to play.

The same noise can be heard, and it took a bit longer than the previous one.

"Durmstrang, get ready to go."

Only Nurmengards and Sean's group were left. Sean was tasting some of the food Hugo had brought.

"Wow, this is amazing. There's a fruit juice mixed in it? It's so nicely neutralized." Sean exclaimed as he chewed.

Hugo looked at Sean with admiration, "President, I'm a food lover, but I only ate one serving. You ate two servings!"

Sean licked his fingers and said with a smile, "I like eating good food."

Not long after, Nurmengard's group also entered the field. Amidst all kinds of voices, the tent was suddenly opened, and Hermione came again.

She whispered, "Listen, Fred asked me to inform you. There's only one cockatrice and it hasn't been replaced."

"Huh?" Daisy was a little puzzled, "Does that mean we have an advantage?"

"No," Sean said flatly, "The nervousness of a creature like them will accumulate. Judging by the sound, from the first team that went out until the current one, we'll definitely be facing a cockatrice that has completely lost its mind. But I can take care of them with my talent."

Hermione nodded, "Yes, your talent."

Sean works just as well for creatures that lose their minds, but Sean will burden that negativity, and that cockatrice has accumulated a lot of stress.

Sean stood up and stretched himself, "I didn't intend to have a heart-to-heart talk with that animal anyways. Well, it's almost starting. Let's get this done quick."