Chapter 594: Facing the Fire Dragon (Edited)

"Shh!" Cedric gestured to Tom and Hermione to stay quiet and pointed to a flat area not far away.

In reality, it wasn't necessary for him to point; Tom and Hermione weren't blind, and they certainly couldn't miss seeing that massive creature.

It was a black dragon measuring over twenty feet long. Clearly, it was young, and some dragon species were slightly larger than others. It was crouched on the ground, wings folded at the sides of its body, eyes closed, and sparks occasionally emanated from its nostrils. It was covered in black scales and had spines on its tail. Next to its tail, there was a golden chest.

All three of them recognized it as a sleeping Hungarian Horntail.

The ground beneath the Hungarian Horntail had already turned into a wasteland. It was hard to tell if the Ministry of Magic had cleared it for him or if he had burned it himself, perhaps it was a combination of both.

"Are we really going to attack it?" Cedric whispered.

Tom nodded firmly, then pulled his armor out of his backpack.

Cedric: Great! Wait a minute, something's not right!

Although Cedric was glad that Tom had improved his combat power on his own initiative, the direction of the plot seemed to deviate slightly from what he had planned. According to Cedric, they should take advantage of the dragon being asleep and sneak past to steal the chest. But why did Tom's actions seem more like "unrivaled infiltration"? Why put on heavy armor for infiltration?

When Tom pulled out the armor, the Quidditch field was filled with excitement.

"So Yodel is the Golden Armor Knight."

"My goodness, then Cedric has already won!"

"Of course, isn't he about to win?"

However, the revelation of the Golden Armor Knight's identity wasn't the climax; what Cedric's team was about to do excited everyone.

They were going to face the dragon head-on!

Previously, some champions had had encounters with dragons, but they were all chase-and-escape situations. Cedric was the first to dare to confront a dragon directly.

Would they win? It took more than ten trained adult wizards to defeat a single dragon. Although this dragon appeared to be of small size, it was already nearly the same size as some adult dragons of certain species.

The young wizards lacked confidence in Cedric, and Cedric lacked confidence in Tom.

"Listen, Yodel, thanks for what you did for me..." Cedric began.

Tom raised his hand, interrupting Cedric's words. "Actually, I suggest that you and Hermione leave together. My choice was selfish... I want to see how strong I really am."

"I know that stealing the chest would be the right choice, but I also have my own goals, so I'm sorry," Tom paused, then apologized slightly to Cedric. But honestly, by helping Cedric, he had secured a large enough advantage for himself, even if he lost this time.

So, to satisfy his own selfishness. He wanted to test his team's strength and this dragon in front of him was an excellent test subject. If he couldn't defeat a young dragon even with this armor, then he wouldn't be a match for Voldemort.

Of course, Tom wouldn't abandon this plan. He would keep enhancing his armor, adding more advanced magic to it, until he could stand toe to toe with Voldemort. He didn't believe that he and Dumbledore together were incapable of defeating Voldemort.

"It's a shame that Buckbeak isn't here; I'm still not at my full potential," Tom lamented a bit, he hadn't reached his maximum power yet.

But he believed he could take on a fire dragon!

"Stay back, Cedric," Tom turned to Cedric, who was standing to the side.

The expression on Cedric's handsome face changed a bit, he seemed to have finally made a decision.

"Yodel, I won't retreat; I'll face this creature with you. You've helped me so much; it doesn't make sense to back down now."

"Tom," Hermione cleared her throat on the side, "You said that in the future, we'd go on adventures together."

With that, she put on her silver magic wings.

"You two..." Tom looked at Cedric and Hermione, a bit moved.

The atmosphere's excitement reached its peak.

"Alright, but stay away, your defense level isn't sufficient." Tom made a simple tactical arrangement. Hermione and Cedric obediently distanced themselves from Tom and maintained a certain distance.

Tom looked at the sleeping dragon, and his gaze became increasingly penetrating.

"So, you'll witness the power of wizards."

"Atmosférico-nubilum!"

"Atmosférico-pluvia!"

As Tom cast the weather charm, Hermione looked at Cedric and asked, "Do you know the Protego (Shield) Charm?"

Cedric nodded. After becoming a champion, he had studied and learned various useful spells.

"Perfect, we can actually try an upgraded version of the Shield Charm." Hermione was excited.

The Super Shield Charm was an enhanced version of the Shield Charm, composed of multiple Shield Charms interwoven together, forming a large barrier. If the spell was cast with enough people, it could even envelop Hogwarts Castle.

Although there were only two people present, they could still try this simplified version of the Super Shield Charm.

The moment Tom completed the spell, small clouds appeared in the sky, condensing with each other and beginning to release fine raindrops. As Tom's spell formed, the size of the clouds in the sky rapidly increased.

The magical fluctuations caused by Tom's spell awakened the Hungarian Horntail, which was asleep. It suddenly opened its eyes, its yellow eyes making the three shiver; it was a suppression in the food chain, a warning encoded in its DNA. The dragon fixed its gaze on Tom, then changed its position and faced him in an attacking posture. At the same time, the Hungarian Horntail violently swung its spiky tail, leaving a trail of craters and dents in the ground.

Roar!

Along with the dragon's roar, a dragon's breath measuring more than six meters long burst out.

"Protego!"

"Protego!"

Before Tom could defend himself, Hermione and Cedric cast the Shield Charm from behind him.

The coordination of the two wasn't perfect the first time. The spells they invoked weren't a Super Shield Charm; instead, it was Shield Charm x2. Two Shield Charms appeared on both sides of Tom, protecting him from the dragon's breath.

Hermione and Cedric's Shield Charm clearly wasn't enough to completely block the dragon's breath, but with the Shield Charm on Tom's armor, it was different.