Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Chapter 573: the First Task

“We can’t go, Ron!” Hermione objected directly, and took a thick book out of her bag. “We’re only a few days away from the tournament. You haven’t mastered all the spells I’ve summed up for you yet.”

“There are several spells, including the Conjunctivitis Curse, that you must learn as soon as possible,” said Evan.

“Evan …Hermione, give me a break. That’s the seventh year course!” said Ron, “Over the past two months, I’ve learned more than a dozen spells and should be able to cope with emergencies. The tournament will start soon, what I need now is to adjust my mood …”

Before he had finished speaking, there was a sudden rustling noise above them.

More than a hundred owls came soaring through the open windows carrying the morning mail.

Hedwig’s white figure mingled with a large number of brown and black owls, slowly landed to the table. She gently pecked Harry and stretched out her right leg with a crumpled parchment tied to it.

Harry quickly untied it and looked at the content of the letter.

Hedwig chirped softly, flapping her wings and looking for something to eat on his plate.

“It’s a letter from Sirius!” said Harry excitedly. “He wants to meet us this afternoon in Hogsmeade.”

“Great!” Ron cheered, proudly saying, “We must go to Hogsmeade. Sirius…”

Just then, a screech owl landed to their side and threw a parcel on Ron’s lap.

“What’s this?” Everyone looked at Ron curiously.

“I don’t know!” Ron looked down at the parcel and said puzzled, “Strange, Charlie sent it.”

Charlie Weasley was Ron’s second elder brother, whom Evan had met during the summer vacation.

When he was at Hogwarts, he was a legendary figure of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He led the Gryffindor team to win the Quidditch Cup many times. After graduating with excellent results, he went to Romania to study dragons.

Charlie doesn’t usually contact Ron, let alone send him a parcel.

Ron opened the parcel and put out two books, Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit and Common Methods of Taming Dragons.

“What on earth is going on?! Why did Charlie suddenly send me two books?” Ron picked up the note at the bottom of the package and read, “Dear Ron, you may need these two books, please forgive me for not saying more…”

He put down the note and looked through the two books, his brow tightened and tightened.

“Charlie must be crazy. Why would I need two books related to dragons? And he doesn’t even tell me why!”

Seeing Ron’s inquiring eyes, Harry shook his head, with the same puzzled expression on his face.

“We might find some clues from it.” Hermione took the book Common Methods of Taming Dragons and looked at it. “I haven’t seen this book in the library. Maybe Charlie summed it up by himself.”

“Even if he wrote the book himself, there is no need …”

“Ron, don’t you still understand?!” Evan interrupted Ron and said impatiently,” Charlie sent you these two books to tell you the challenge of the first task is a Fire Dragon!”

His voice was not very loud, but it seemed to have some magic.

Hearing his words, no one spoke, and they all turned to look at him in astonishment.

“God, Evan!” Hermione exclaimed, covering her mouth with her small hand.

“You … what did you say … fi … fire dragon?!” Ron stammered, looking pale.

“Yes!” Evan nodded solemnly. “Charlie is sure of it, but he can’t say it. It’s against the rules.”

“It’s impossible. How can they use dragons as a task?!” Ron stared closely at Evan, “With the ability of a young wizard, how could it be possible to defeat a fire dragon? That’s impossible!”

Looking at his expression, it seemed that he expected someone to suddenly tell him that it was April Fool’s Day.

There was still silence, and that gradually turned into despair.

Thinking about it carefully, everyone thought that Evan’s reasoning was very likely, accepting this shocking fact.

Only Ron was unwilling to accept it. He answered Charlie’s letter as quickly as he could to ask about the matter.

In his words, it was just a coincidence.

Seeing Ron’s obstinacy, Hermione wanted to say something, and Evan pulled her gently.

Ron now needed time to digest the news, and he didn’t need to be pushed into it, for he was probably already overwhelmed

Although no one was talking about the fire dragon, this incident still cast a shadow over the next visit to Hogsmeade.

Ron seemed preoccupied, not as excited as he had been at the beginning.

They went back to the dormitory, put on their respective cloaks, and they set off for Hogsmeade.

Harry, Ron, Colin and Ginny went first, while Evan and Hermione went to Gabrielle to accompany her to Hogsmeade.

The two of them walked out of the castle and walked along the lake to the carriage of Beauxbatons.

“Evan, is the first task really a fire dragon?!” said Hermione incredulously, looking very anxious.

“No doubt about it!”

“Ron will collapse, how can he defeat a dragon? That is an impossible task.”

“It won’t be that difficult. The champions should be only asked to get something from the dragon,” said Evan.

“I hope so, the two books Charlie sent should help.” said Hermione, “I have to go to the library to have a look. We were in the wrong direction before. I remember a book said that Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate…”

Yes, the dragon was the most horrible and dangerous creature. When he first saw it, Evan was shocked and wondered how such a monster even existed.

But he has not had much fear since he killed a horrible fire dragon in the illusion with Okegiga, the Centaur.

Dragons were not invincible, they had many weaknesses.

In addition to the need to improve his strength, Ron had now to overcome his inner fear. This was the hardest thing for him.

They talked about the dragon until they came to the carriage of Beauxbatons.

Gabrielle was already waiting there, wearing a sky-blue school cloak and a bright smile on her face.

For today’s trip to Hogsmeade, she apparently got prepared carefully.

Several girls who were ready to leave Beauxbatons’s carriage passed by her and gave a silver bell-like laugh.

“Evan, we should tell Fleur about it!” Hermione suddenly whispered, “She certainly doesn’t know.”

Evan looked at Hermione strangely. He thought she would propose secrecy.

“Don’t look at me like that. I know what you’re thinking. We really should keep it a secret, but in the face of a dragon…” Hermione said quickly. “In short, aren’t Fleur and Gabrielle our friends?! Go and tell her!”

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