Fantasy Realm – Infinite Worlds Adventure-Chapter 249: The First Task, A Small but Decisive Difference, Stunning the Competition

November 24th, 1994, 3:44 PM

Alex stands on a wooden plank at the top of the hastily erected stadium, overlooking the mountain near Hogwarts. The location, chosen by Dumbledore, is far from the corrupted Forbidden Forest. On one side lies the arena, scattered with a few stones; on the other, a steep cliff that’s impossible to climb. Unlike the movie, dozens of Dragonologists are present, tasked with taming and handling the dragons, alongside a few hooded wizards Alex assumes are Aurors.

If I hadn’t already obtained Magorian’s Rage Arrow, I’d seriously risk my neck to kill one of those dragons. The Conjuration ability would’ve been insanely powerful, I bet.

Curiously, the location of the task hasn’t changed, but it’s still a perfect spot. Atop this mountain, there’s no fear of ambushes, and we’re far from the forest.I guess we can enjoy the show, right, Jewel?

Princess Jewel is happy anywhere as long as she’s with her dearest Soulmate.

Anyway, we better keep an eye out for anything suspicious, including the team of traitors. The other teams are here too. If they ask for help, we might as well lend a hand.

Princess Jewel will obey her beloved Soulmate, no matter what he does.

… Jewel, I’m getting a bit flustered here. You can be a bit more selfish. You’re my friend, and I guess we’re soul-bonded too, but I’m getting a VERY small feeling that you might be a TINY bit obsessed with me, which might be a TAD unhealthy.

Princess Jewel is indeed obsessed with her beloved Soulmate, which is perfectly natural and healthy. Her love only grows stronger with every passing day until she can finally ❤️

… I think I’m in trouble. Let’s fall back into old habits and just ignore the problem. Honestly, I’ve got other issues to deal with—this seems harmless enough… for now, at least, Alex thinks, deciding to temporarily ignore Jewel’s growing obsession.

Alex uses Gyo for just a second and spots Tereza flying in the air, surveilling the area, hidden by a Disillusionment Charm of her own.

Finally, at 4 PM sharp, Cedric Diggory enters the arena. He looks visibly scared and confused. His opponent? The Swedish Short-Snout.

In canon, Harry told him about the dragons, but surely… someone else must’ve told him by now! Is he really surprised?

Just like in the original story, Cedric uses a spell to transfigure a rock into a dog. However, the stone only partially transforms, some parts clearly looking like a stone while moving painfully slow.

The stone dog finally catches the dragon’s attention, and Cedric sprints toward the egg as the dragon chases it. Thanks to this window of time, Cedric manages to grab the egg, but unlike in canon, the dragon only needs a few seconds to deal with the slow stone dog. It then spots Cedric and blasts him with an incredibly beautiful, but powerful blue flame. Cedric desperately holds up the egg to shield himself, but the force of the blast slams his entire body against a wall, crushing him, burning away his clothes and leaving him completely naked and charred.

Damn! Is he dead?! I guess he learned about the task a few days later, and his spell wasn’t quite ready for use….

Silly peasant!

The entire audience screams in terror. Alex spots Rita Skeeter and a photographer next to her, scribbling wildly in her notebook and snapping pictures of the likely dead Cedric.

A dozen Aurors and Dragonologists rush into the arena, along with Dumbledore, to subdue the dragon. Dumbledore immediately carries Cedric toward the tent, where Madam Pomfrey is already stationed to tend to him.

… This is kinda hardcore. I don’t like snuff films.

Roasted Peasant is also not appealing to this Princess. This disgusts Princess Jewel.

Suddenly, a phoenix appears above the tent and swiftly flies inside.

Looks like Dumbledore was prepared. Cedric might pull through with that… I’d love to catch that flaming bird—permanent healing tears sound useful.

Princess Jewel would also be delighted to catch that majestic-looking chicken. She’d love to enjoy this exotic delicacy. Don’t worry, dearest Soulmate, Princess Jewel would, of course, share her meal with her beloved.

That’s… nice… I’d also share with you.

❤️

Despite the obvious shock on Fleur Delacour’s face after hearing the audience scream in terror, and seeing Cedric getting carried inside the tent, she performs exactly as in canon. She successfully puts her dragon, the Common Welsh Green, to sleep and grabs the egg. Surprisingly, she isn’t hit by its accidental flame sneeze but is lightly struck by its tail, suffering a light blow to her body.

Despite the pain, she manages to stay silent and walks away slowly, delivering a performance similar to what Alex expected.

She’s stronger than I expected!

Viktor Krum, up against the Chinese Fireball, delivers a performance identical to canon as well. He blinds the dragon with the Conjunctivitis Curse and steals the egg, but he enrages the dragon into destroying quite a few of its own eggs.

Finally, just like in canon, Harry faces the Hungarian Horntail—arguably the most aggressive and dangerous of the dragons, visibly distinct from the other dragons for its incredibly large size and its dangerous-looking spikes covering its body.

Is fate affecting the story? Quite a few things have changed, but certain details remain the same… or is this the Realm’s influence? Anyway, let’s see how Harry does.

Unlike in canon, Harry doesn’t foolishly stumble into the arena. Instead, he carefully spots the spiky Hungarian Horntail in the distance, immediately casting the Disillusionment Charm and using Zetsu, disappearing from everyone’s sight.

The entire arena is gobsmacked, at the skilled use of the Disillusionment charm, which is usually not potent enough to make one completely invisible, especially during the day and when one knows that it’s being used. It simply renders the caster extremely hard to notice. Harry on the other hand has seemingly vanished into nothingness.

Alex walks over to where most of the teachers are sitting, spotting Menchi and Snape in the stands.

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“Surprising. A celebrity like him managed to master the Disillusionment Charm to this level? Almost unbelievable, how lucky… surely you and your comrades have nothing to do with this,” Snape remarks, his tone dripping with sarcasm, Menchi just teasingly stretching out her tongue.

The dragon, however, expects someone to appear and sits protectively next to its eggs, including the golden egg placed right in the center among the real ones.

Suddenly, a Harry carrying a white, round object appears in the distance, directly in front of the Horntail.

Angry, surprised, and fully enraged, the dragon lunges forward, aiming directly for him.

Harry sidesteps two attacks before getting clawed by the dragon. His image distorts, revealing it was just an illusion.

The Horntail keeps attacking the illusion, but it isn’t affected by its strikes.

After a few seconds, the dragon turns around and returns to its nest, and roars in rage, spewing fire into the air as it realizes one of its eggs is gone—disappeared into nothingness.

Harry then reappears in the stands outside the arena, having climbed up the wall of rocks unnoticed.

Most of the audience, except the Slytherins, Hufflepuffs, and the foreign students, erupt into cheers, seeing Harry effortlessly pass the task. The furious Horntail is eventually calmed down by the Dragonologists.

Five minutes later, the judges award points.

Cedric receives 15 out of 50. Only Dumbledore awards 5 points, while Ludo Bagman, Bartemius Crouch, and Olympe Maxime award 3 points each. Karkaroff, predictably, awards just 1 point.

Not totally unwarranted. He got the egg, but would have died. I’d award maybe 2.

A dead Peasant deserves a Zero. Princess Jewel’s beloved Soulmate is just too kind.

Fleur receives a total of 35 points, while Krum scores a solid 40. Finally, it’s Harry’s turn. Everyone awards the full 10 points, except Madame Maxime, who awards 9, and Karkaroff, who awards 7.

Wow, these two are such petty fucks. Incredible. How can you do this task any more efficiently? Harry didn’t even have to use Mobiliarbus to control a wooden hand to grab the egg like we prepared. He just took it with his own hands.

Jewel, what’s wrong?

Jewel’s instincts scream at her to fight as well. This princess craves to battle a mighty foe like these dragons. They are worthy to be consumed by this princess.

… I can understand. Such battles can be… thrilling, I guess. I’ve also enjoyed some of my more difficult fights, despite the danger.

I love it when my dearest Soulmate takes the initiative. Princess Jewel suggests a little dragon hunt ❤️

You’re playing with fire, Jewel… literally. My instincts scream no, but this is one of the rare occasions where you ask for something. I’d hate to deny your request. Let’s discuss it with the rest, we may get a chance tonight, before they leave their camp on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

❤️

— [Scene Break] —

“Jewel wants to do what?! Are you insane?! Of course not! If we get caught, Dumbledore might kick us out, and we’ll become hunted by the entire Ministry, apart from the high likelihood that we simply get killed by the dragons, of course. This could also cause an international conflict!” Tereza exclaims, clearly shocked.

“I’m a bit surprised, Tereza. You’re usually the most aggressive and bold one in our grooup. Also, if even students can deal with them, how can we fail? The Dragons in Harry Potter are surprisingly pathetic, how about I’ll just stealthily approach it and stab it with my [Enchanted Runeblade] enhanced with Ko and Blizzard Sword lvl 4” Alex says, raising an eyebrow.

“I have something to look forward to now, as you know,” she says, staring directly into Alex’s eyes. “I have a wish for the future,” Tereza admits, her gaze unwavering.

Tereza…

“I don’t want to needlessly die. However, I get your point, Jewel, also your strategy sounds viable, Alex, despite its simplicity. If we have a strategy, of course, I’m in,” she says, her tone softening.

Rishi dryly states, “It’s incredibly risky. However, the possible gains are equally tempting.”

“With dragon meat… I could probably create something incredible!” Menchi mutters, almost entranced by the thought.

Suddenly, the door opens, and Harry walks in, removing his Invisibility cloak.

“I’ll help as well!”