A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts C.320: Hungarian Horntail and the Contract Transfer

"The Hungarian Horntail Reserve doesn't always offer a view of Hungarian Horntails. They have a strong sense of territory," Charlie explained. "But we do bring injured Horntails back to the camp for treatment."

Felix followed him to a fenced area within the camp. There, several Hungarian Horntails were bound by chains and fire-resistant materials. When they saw someone approaching, they restlessly tossed their heads. Among them, a black dragon with a injured leg half-closed its eyes, observing them.

"This is the Hungarian Horntail, highly dangerous. To capture it, we had a team of twelve. Breathing fire is their usual means of attackbest to keep a distance," Charlie said. "I've seen them breathe fire up to forty feet away."

Felix's gaze swept over the black scales of the dragon. It looked like a lizard with bat-like wings attached. Its skull bore sharp ridges, like spears, extending all the way to its tail. Whether it was the bronze horns, the row of spikes on its back, or the hooked and powerful claws, all indicated this creature was not to be trifled with. Even the tips of its wings were sharp hooks.

Among the dragons present, it was the largest, even twice the size of the smallest one. The other dragons held a respectful distance around it.

After observing for a while, Felix inquired, "If all goes well, the first task of the Triwizard Tournament will involve dragons. Do you have any plans?"

Charlie thought for a moment, then said seriously, "We've prepared five dragons, each representing one of the five schools: the Welsh Green, the Norwegian Ridgeback, the Antipodean Opaleye, the Swedish Short-Snout, and the Chinese Fireball."

"Only these five?"

"You're looking for dragons that are nesting mothers, which is hard to find. I don't quite understand why..."

Felix guessed, "Perhaps it's to let the champions steal the mother dragon's eggs?"

Charlie looked somewhat uneasy. "Don't joke about it. They are already dangerous, and nesting mothers are a whole new level of danger. See the scar on my arm? Left by a mother dragon rearing her young."

"We excluded the particularly dangerous Peruvian Vipertooth and a massive Hungarian Horntail. The former has venomous fangs, and the latter is considered the most dangerous dragon."

Felix nodded. "Maybe we just need to pass by the dragons."

As evening neared, Felix and Charlie discussed the details of dragon placement inside a tent. "Hogwarts can clear an area in the Forbidden Forest, and the kitchen can provide food. However, we don't know much about dragon behavior, so we'll need your experts to care for them."

"No problem, that was our plan anyway," Charlie readily agreed. "During transport, we'll assign extra personnel to ensure safe arrival."

"You'll lead the team?"

"I'll do my best. It's a rare event."

"Charlie," a wizard entered the tent, a middle-aged captain whom Felix had seen once before. "I heard the young professor wants to stay a few more days. There's an agreement for him to sign."

Seeing Felix, the captain paused. "You're here too, good. This is for you."

Felix took the parchment, somewhat surprised. "A secrecy contract?"

"Exactly. For fairness' sake," the wizard shrugged. "While cheating has always been a tradition in the Triwizard Tournament, at least some surface work needs to be done. Our Minister is begging them."

Felix carefully examined the content. "The contents are nothing unusual, except for not revealing dragon secrets." Felix brushed his fingers over the parchment, feeling the magic imprinted on it. "This contract seems to have monitoring properties."

The middle-aged wizard explained, "Provided by the Ministry of Magic, we're just following orders. According to them, when the signer of the contract mentions dragons or similar words, they'll be notified."

Felix didn't say much and quickly signed his name. Though he didn't intend to follow the rules set by the Ministry of Magic, there was no need to make things difficult for these people.

Charlie appeared relieved. He hadn't been this nervous even facing dragons. Thankfully, Felix agreed.

In the evening, torches were lit in the camp. The black shadows of hills and trees stretched long. Felix spent the night in his tent without any incidents. Come morning, he walked through the dew-kissed woods to the enclosed area behind the camp.

The Hungarian Horntail with the injured leg was the first to notice him. It restlessly snorted, emitting a low growl. Not far away, a Welsh Green dragon raised its head for a moment, then lowered it back to sleep.

"Quiet."

Felix said, his eyes turning silvery-white. The Hungarian Horntail angrily lifted its body, glaring at him with fierce yellow eyes. Then, its gaze seemed to flicker for a moment. It shook its head. Other than the wizard getting closer, it didn't sense anything unusual.

Unbeknownst to it, Felix had already pulled it into the realm of his thoughts. Unlike other applications, he had crafted an environment identical to the outside world and seamlessly connected the two.

The dragon was clueless about this; its nostrils started emitting sparksdangerous sign, indicating an impending attack. But the wizard had arrived beside it, tilting his head to examine its metallic-like claws.

"Boom!"

The Hungarian Horntail spewed thick flames, engulfing Felix. He seemed to melt without any resistance. The dragon snorted triumphantly and lowered its head.

The next second, it noticed Felix standing right where he was, as if he hadn't moved at all.

Its intelligence was limited, and it couldn't comprehend this behavior at all. It only grew angrier, exhaling another burst of flames. This time, the fire was fiercer and lasted longer. The Hungarian Horntail was convinced that the arrogant wizard had been reduced to ashes. It even saw a scattering of black dust.

Yet, in the blink of an eye, Felix stood unharmed before it, even reaching out to touch its claw.

"Swoosh!"

A claw, glinting with an icy sheen, sliced through Felix's body, cutting him into pieces. "Mmm, that's rather gruesome," Felix remarked. As though unbothered, he pushed away the dragon's claw.

For a brief moment, Felix was certain he saw bewilderment in the Hungarian Horntail's eyes. Despite being the aggressor, it was evidently confronted with something beyond its understanding.

"Stay still, I'm figuring out how to transfer the contract to you..." Felix leaned down, tapping the dragon's black scales, "It's quite an interesting experiment, isn't it?"

Unlike the unbreakable vow and the Ministry's contract, he had no way with the former, but he could maneuver around the latter. That's why he willingly signed it.

The Ministry's contract operated on specific keywords. The problem was, he wasn't sure if there were hidden clauses, which introduced significant uncertainty. During the summer break, he'd spent most of his time wandering Nicolas Flamel's hidden library. He didn't want to expose those places. Furthermore, some of his planned trips were sensitive: the black market, Beauxbatons Academy, for instance.

An interesting fact was that, based on his connections, he was closer to Beauxbatons, given that he was a trustee of the school.

For safety's sake, he decided to transfer the contract. He had considered using just any deer or rabbit as a substitute, but that would pose an issue. What if the rabbit got eaten? His status in the Ministry would then be marked as deceased.

Fortunately, the dragon reserve had no shortage of dragons. This particularly fierce Hungarian Horntail was his chosen target.

The dragon was futilely attacking, breathing fire, swiping its claws, thrashing its tail, biting. But Felix kept recovering in the next second, methodically checking. In just a few minutes, Felix had endured hundreds of fatal attacks.

Eventually, the vicious Hungarian Horntail panted, looking at him without options. It was utterly helpless. Dejectedly, it lowered its head, slumping onto the ground, hot puffs of air emanating from its nostrils.

"Excuse me, just turn around." Felix told it.

The Hungarian Horntail stared at him with its vertical yellow pupils for a good while, then slowly exposed its belly. As it turned, its eyes seemed to blur, as if its sight experienced a subtle shift. But the awful and persistent wizard was still there, prodding it with his wand, urging it to hurry.

Then, Felix followed the path of opened black scales on the dragon's body, walking up to its back and standing there.

"The scales beneath its neck are quite good, and the magical radiance is strong enough."

...

Charlie emerged from his tent, unable to find Felix. Subconsciously, he went to the back of the camp and was taken aback by the scene before him. The fierce Hungarian Horntail lazily opened its mouth, emitting a thin trail of flames.

"Don't be hasty, needs another layer of oil." Felix patted its reaching mouth, flipping the meat on the grill, "I have a secret sauce. Want some?"

The Hungarian Horntail nodded eagerly.

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