Chapter 580: The Dragons

"Good job, Ivan, so they won't see you!" said Hagrid admiringly, pointing to the dark forest, "You four wait for me in the grass and keep quiet. We won't take Fang, he won't like it..."

He came out of the hut and they all saw clearly that Hagrid wore in his buttonhole a flower that looked like a large artichoke. It looked as if he had given up using grease to comb his hair, but he had certainly tried to comb his hair and had spent a lot of time doing so. They could see the broken teeth of the comb tangled in it.

"God, this is terrible, what's wrong with her?"

"Shh, keep your voice down, it's Madame Maxime!" Hermione pointed to the carriage.

Sure enough, Hagrid stepped into the darkness and headed for the Beauxbatons carriage.

A few seconds later, he walked to the front of the carriage and knocked three times on the door bearing the crossed golden wands.

Madame Maxime opened it, her silky shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders.

Seeing Hagrid, she smiled slightly. "Ah, Hagrid, is it time?"

"Good evening!" said Hagrid, smiling and holding out a hand to help her down the golden steps.

Madame Maxime turned to close the carriage door and Hagrid offered her his arm.

They set off around the edge of the temporary meadow that contained Madame Maxime's giant winged horses.

"Hurry, he's forgotten about us again!" said Hermione in disgust.

The four people hurriedly ran to keep up with them, trying not to make a sound.

"Where did you say they're hiding the dragon?"

"I don't know. It's probably around here somewhere."

Madame Maxime, who shared their doubts, looked around blankly.

By then they were far from the cabin and the carriage, in the middle of the night....

"Where are you taking me, Hagrid?" she asked playfully.

"To the forest!" said Hagrid in a hoarse voice. "You'll enjoy it. It's worth seeing, believe me. But don't tell anyone I showed it to you, okay? You're not supposed to know."

"Of course not," Madame Maxime said, fluttering her long black eyelashes.

They walked on, and Ivan and the three of them trotted behind.

They had walked so far around the perimeter of the forest that the castle and the lake were out of sight.

If they hadn't known Hagrid was taking them to see the dragon, this would look more like Hagrid's date with Maxime, where Hagrid might take the lead.

Thinking about the scene of Hagrid and Madame Maxime together, Ivan couldn't help but shudder.

Just then, he heard something. Men were shouting up ahead... Then came a deafening roar.....

The four of them stopped abruptly and looked at each other.

"Go ahead, go to the right and get away from them!" said Ivan in a low voice.

Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and stopped.

Everyone hurried after them. It was an open space, and suddenly their entire view cleared.

For a split second, they thought they saw bonfires and men running around them. And then their mouths dropped open.

Dragons!!!

They finally saw dragons!!!!

Four fully grown, huge, fierce-looking dragons were rearing up on their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick wooden planks, roaring and snorting, torrents of fire shot into the dark sky from their gaping, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks.

There was a silvery-blue one with long, pointed horns, snapping and snarling at the wizards on the ground.

Not far behind it, a green one with soft scales was writhing and kicking with all its might.

There was also a red one with a strange fringe of fine spikes around its face, which threw mushroom-shaped clouds of fire into the air.

And finally, there was a gigantic black dragon, more lizard-like than the others, which was closer to them.

There were at least forty wizards in the camp, and every tenth person was in charge of dealing with and surrounding a dragon. They were trying to control them, pulling chains connected to heavy leather straps around their necks and legs.

These four dragons were slightly smaller than the black dragon Ivan had seen in the illusion, but their form was equally amazing.

Ivan was secretly amazed and his heartbeat was racing. As for Harry, Ron and Hermione, they were completely mesmerized.

Harry was stunned, while Ron's mouth gaped wide open, dumbfounded, and Hermione gripped Ivan's shoulder tightly.

They all looked up, high above them, and saw the black dragon's eyes, pupils vertical like a cat's, bulging with fear or rage, they didn't know which. It was making a horrible noise, a howl, a screech or a mixture of both....

"Careful, stay back there, Hagrid!" shouted a wizard near the fence, straining at the chain he was holding. "They can shoot fire at a distance of twenty feet, you know! I've seen this Horntail do forty!"

"How nice!" said Hagrid under his breath.

"Not good!" shouted another wizard. "Stunning spells, together, on three!"

Each of the dragon keepers pulled out his wand and pointed it at the dragon in front of him.

"Desmaius!" they shouted in unison, and the Stun Spells shot out into the darkness like fiery rockets, bursting in showers of stars on the scaly skins of the dragons.

After the dazzling flash, the dragon closest to them staggered dangerously on its hind legs; its jaw opened wide in a silent howl; its nostrils were suddenly devoid of flame, though they still smoked. Then, very slowly, he fell.

Several tons of sinewy, black dragon fell to the ground with a thud that shook the trees.

The dragon guardians lowered their wands and walked toward their fallen forms, each the size of a small hill.

They hastened to tighten the chains and fasten them securely to the iron pins, which they forced deep into the ground with their wands.

"Let's get closer!" said Harry.

They approached the fence and Hagrid along with Madame Maxime followed them.

"Charlie!" Ron said suddenly.

The wizard who had warned Hagrid not to come any closer, turned, and Ivan realized who it was - Charlie Weasley.