"Congratulations to Gabrielle Delacour for successfully obtaining the dragon egg, and congratulations to the contestant from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic."
Amid the cheers, Gabrielle Delacour stepped forward with the dragon egg in her arms and quietly stood beside Regulus Black.
By this point, she was officially Regulus Black's girlfriend—but to outsiders, things didn't seem so straightforward.
The Chinese Fireball had demanded a cow, but Gabrielle didn't have one. This was something everyone could see. What the fire dragon had said, only Gabrielle knew. But what Gabrielle had said—without knowing the other half of the dialogue—could be interpreted very differently.
Most spectators believed Gabrielle confessed her love to Regulus only to meet the Chinese Fireball's demand. That way, she could get a cow from Regulus, use it to satisfy the dragon, and finally exchange it for the egg.
Only Gabrielle herself knew that the confession she made to Regulus Black was entirely of her own volition. She had no regrets. And in response to all the concerned glances around her, the petite girl maintained her ladylike silence. Let them misunderstand all they want.
But there were two people who wouldn't be so easily fooled. One of them was Gabrielle's sister, Fleur. The two had agreed to confess their love together, yet her younger sister had unexpectedly taken the plunge in such a bold way. It was definitely a risky move. If Regulus had rejected her—or even hesitated slightly—it would have cast a shadow over the future of this budding romance.
Fortunately, Regulus Black was considerate enough to accept her feelings on the spot. His reasons weren't just about her beauty, but also the understanding that, in such a public setting, he couldn't risk breaking a young girl's heart.
By handing over the cow directly, he further reinforced the public belief that this was all done to satisfy the dragon.
And if Regulus Black wanted to know the real truth, all he had to do was ask the Chinese Fireball directly—like he was doing now.
The Chinese Fireball said, "She's a lovely girl. Under my witness, please don't betray her feelings."
The fire dragon recounted everything that had happened and reminded Regulus that it had acted as a witness... a dragon witness. As such, any betrayal of the promise would be unacceptable. Still, the Chinese Fireball was quite pleased to see the agreement fulfilled.
"Gabrielle, don't worry. Since I've said I accept your love, I'll stay true to that."
Regulus Black turned to reassure Gabrielle, who walked behind him. After all, such good fortune didn't happen every day. Clearly, the protective charms he wore had played a big role—it was as if this adorable girl had fallen right into his lap!
"Mr. Black, actually... my sister also..."
Gabrielle began to speak, clearly troubled that she hadn't confessed alongside her sister. But before she could finish, Fleur quickly covered her mouth.
"Miss Fleur, is there something you'd like to tell me? Gabrielle's public confession took a lot of courage. Do you have something you want to say too?"
Regulus Black had already figured it out. These two sisters had long harbored feelings for him—they had just been waiting for the right opportunity. Gabrielle had seized the chance provided by the fire dragon, while Fleur was still hesitating.
But confessing publicly like this wasn't ideal. If it had been a private setting, even if the other party wasn't entirely willing, a Veela's charm could easily make things go her way. In such a public space, however, most methods were off-limits.
Blushing deeply, Fleur Delacour lowered her gaze, but said nothing.
"If you don't want to talk, then let's go watch the next match. Look around—everyone else is already gone."
Only then did Fleur, whose emotional intelligence seemed to drop when it came to love, realize that the audience had long since moved to the third arena to grab good seats.
Since the three of them were still standing there talking, the Aurors who had come to take the Chinese Fireball away stood at a distance, waiting patiently.
"Actually... I feel the same way as Gabrielle. I like you too, Black. Would you accept my feelings?"
Fleur, flustered, hid behind Gabrielle. When it came to love, this older sister clearly lacked the courage of her younger sibling.
"Of course I'll accept. Whether it's a private confession or a public one, I love both of you."
Regulus Black took Fleur's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, which reassured her immensely.
The Chinese Fireball spoke once more. "Under my witness, you are now in love."
With a low, rumbling voice, the fire dragon had once again become a witness to a love story. Then it promptly asked for another cow—because it would be leaving soon, and there'd be no food on the journey. The Aurors would pack it up, and the trip would likely be spent asleep.
"Sorry about that, friend!"
Regulus Black left another cow behind and exchanged a few words with the Aurors. Their squad leader was strongly opposed to his suggestion of letting the Chinese Fireball have one cow a day as a break.
"Mr. Black! Don't push it. Not everyone is as popular with both girls and dragons as you are."
Clearly, this Auror captain was single and harbored a strong resentment toward Regulus Black.
Even if Regulus provided all the cows along the way, there was no way the Chinese Fireball would be allowed to stay awake and enjoy the scenery for the entire journey. Absolutely not!He really wanted to file a complaint, but thought better of it—his finger had nearly jabbed into the guy's face a moment ago.
"That's unfortunate! I'm afraid you'll have to fall asleep for the trip back."
Regulus Black turned to face the Chinese Fireball. The dragon had already devoured the second cow and no longer had the unhurried demeanor it had displayed on its first day here.
"That's a shame. If I knew the way, maybe I could come back to visit you."
The Chinese Fireball regretfully licked its lips. The beef here really was excellent.
Regulus Black left with the Delacour sisters. The Aurors cast a sleeping spell on the Chinese Fireball, secured it in a net, and dozens of them flew into the sky on broomsticks, pulling up the corners of the net.
Viktor Krum vs. the Ukrainian IronbellyOriginally, Krum's plan was to use the method he had learned from Regulus Black. Since the Ukrainian Ironbelly was gluttonous, he could feed it a few cows. Once it was too full to move and collapsed, getting the dragon egg would be easy, right?
But this plan was flatly rejected by their headmaster, Igor Karkaroff.
"Getting a dragon egg through feeding—that's the kind of tactic girls use. Even if Stanislav Ivaneski is allowed to do that, you, Viktor Krum, absolutely cannot."
The reasoning was simple: Viktor Krum was a superstar. Igor Karkaroff couldn't afford to let him lose face, and neither could Durmstrang Institute.
So, dark magic had to be used. The dragon must be attacked head-on, and the egg seized by force. Any other method would be cheating.
Only a headmaster from Durmstrang, a school that actually teaches dark magic, could come up with such a student-sabotaging strategy.
When Regulus Black brought the Delacour sisters to the stands for the third event, what he saw was Krum launching a series of dark magic attacks at the Ukrainian Ironbelly. Most of the spells targeted the dragon's face, since there was a specific spell—Blinding Curse—that could blind any creature with eyes, and it worked on dragons as well.
"Krum! Krum! Krum!"
"You've got this, Krum! Go, Krum!"
The shouts from the audience echoed across the arena. It felt just like a Quidditch match, except the stakes were different. In Quidditch, all you had to do was play ball. Here, you had to fight a dragon.
Krum had narrowly avoided being scorched by the dragon's fire multiple times.But the more thrilling his near-misses became, the louder the cheers from the crowd grew. They were enjoying the spectacle with the detached amusement of people who weren't the ones in danger.
The Ukrainian Ironbelly had no idea it was being watched by a crowd. If it had known, it wouldn't have minded giving the spectators a little heat. All it could see in front of it was this pesky clown, daring to steal its egg. Wasn't that basically asking to die?
Aha! That last burst of flame had nearly hit him.
Just as it was feeling pleased with itself, a spell struck—and the Ukrainian Ironbelly suddenly felt itself go blind.
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