The Dragon That Can Barbecue

Harry felt his hair stand on end as he watched the dragon breathe down on him.

Harry was impressed by the dragon's strength and temper.

"Why would there be a dragon in the Forbidden Forest? And why would Hagrid bring us to see it?" Harry, unable to think straight, whispered to Ivan, who might be nearby.

"It's obvious, isn't it? This is the first task we're going to have to face!" Ivan's voice came from the other side.

"You mean we're going to have to fight the dragon?" Harry stammered, swallowing hard at the sight of a huge dragon with fangs that could swallow him whole.

The dragons were in terrible shape, lying unconscious on the ground, but Harry would not underestimate them.

To be able to make so many elite wizards work together to deal with it was enough to prove how dangerous a dragon was!

"Don't worry, we probably won't be required to defeat or kill them, as most champions can't do that."

Ivan offered words of comfort, but before Harry could relax, he added,

"But it's a given that the champion will have to face them head-on. If I'm not mistaken, it's a cliché where the champion snatches treasure from the dragon's jaws. That's what the crowd loves to see!"

Harry rolled his eyes; this was no better than a brawl, and he was no match for it.

While Harry was deep in thought, Ivan turned his attention back to the match.

After a fierce struggle, the dragons were all subdued, and the guarding wizard was left sweating as he repaired the damage.

Ivan, however, noticed a dragon that was very special. It was not attacked by the wizards, and simply lay on the ground, half-napping, oblivious to the noise.

There were only two or three wizards watching it, and they were obviously very comfortable with it.

"Norwegian Ridgeback!" exclaimed Ivan as he identified the dragon.

This was thanks to the many books he had read on dragons in his earlier years, which gave him a good idea of how dragons were classified.

However, if he remembered correctly, the champions of the first match of the Goblet of Fire should have been facing Hungarian Horntail, Chinese Fire Dragon, Swedish Short-Snout, and Welsh Green Dragon!

Yvonne took a closer look and saw that the Welsh Green had been replaced…

Replaced with this Norwegian Ridgeback!

This made Ivan wonder if he had caused a butterfly effect on Romania, even though he had been here for several years.

The number of warriors did not change. It should have been the same few dragons.

However, the combination of Romanian and Norwegian Ridgeback was vaguely familiar to Ivan.

"Oh, it's Norbert! I can't believe they brought him!" Hagrid shouted excitedly from up ahead.

Hagrid's shout woke Ivan up, and he remembered that he had kept a newly hatched Norwegian Ridgeback in his first year.

"I can't believe it's grown so big in just a few years… it can take on such an important task!" Hagrid exclaimed, looking at the snoring Norwegian Ridgeback like an old father seeing his child achieve something.

"What? You've seen these dragons?" Maxim asked, glancing at Hagrid.

"Seen one o' them, to be exact! See that Norwegian Ridgeback? I hatched him myself, and I'm his mother!" Hagrid declared proudly, gesturing with his hands.

"When it first hatched, it was about that small! But it grew very fast, reaching my shoulder in a few days. Norbert was also very clever, learning to roast fish himself in two weeks…"

Ivan, who was hiding in the shadows, wanted to rush to Hagrid's side and gag him. Those who kept dragons on their own at school could be imprisoned in Azkaban, and Hagrid had revealed this information so easily.

Fortunately, Maxim did not care about Hagrid's dragon breeding in the Forbidden Forest, and instead asked how dangerous this dragon was compared to other dragons.

Maxim knew full well that the fact that the British Ministry of Magic had gone to so much trouble to transport a shipment of dragons from Romania meant that these dragons must have something to do with the first match, something that the champions must face!

Maxim was very worried at the prospect of having to deal with a dragon, which was extremely dangerous for professional dragon tamers, let alone Fleur, who had just come of age.

So if you have to face them, choose the gentlest one!

"I haven't seen Norbert in a while, so I don't know much about them, but I'm sure Norbert's the safest of them all!" Hagrid said hesitantly.

"You're right, Hagrid! It's safe and clever, and it won't lose control easily. That's why we sent for it!"

As Hagrid and Maxim were talking, Charlie came over with a group of dragon tamers and explained to them with a resigned look on his face.

It was the Ministry of Magic's decision to make dragons a competition, and due to the danger of such magical creatures, every dragon was chosen through a hundred different methods.

It is best to show the danger of the game while keeping things under control at all times, although it seems strange to Charlie that the Ministry of Magic only needs a brood of hatched female dragons, which will undoubtedly make their selection of the dragons more difficult!

It took them more than half a month to choose the four dragons!

Norbert did not, strictly speaking, meet the hard requirements of a hatched female dragon, a young one.

However, at the urging of many dragon tamers, the Ministry of Magic's Commissioner assigned Norbert a test, which, upon passing, was accepted.

"I'm sure Norbert won't let you down!" Hagrid said, thumping his chest. "Can I go visit him? It's been ages since we met!"

Instead of replying, Charlie turned to Maxim and frowned. "Why did you bring her along, Hagrid? It's against the rules for champions to know what they're up against—she's bound to tell the Beauxbatons champions what's going on, isn't she?"

"Lady Maxime was only interested in the dragon, so I took her to see it. We should have trusted her, she wouldn't have let it slip!" Hagrid argued.

Maxim nodded, indicating that he was very tight-lipped and would not say a word.