Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 179 Expansion of the Reserve

The dragon trainer was very enthusiastic. He took off his gloves and began to shake hands with Severus and the others, even Harry and Draco.

"Is that a Swedish short-nosed dragon?" Draco's eyes lit up as he couldn't help but approach the dragon.

"Oh my god, when I was your age, I couldn't even tell the difference between a dragon and a lizard!"

The dragon trainer praised Draco, while also noticing the longing in both Draco and Harry's eyes.

"Want to touch it? Feel free to touch it. The fire dragons we ride are all gentle and won't hurt us. You can touch them without worry, but be careful not to touch their noses. Sometimes they can't help but sneeze, and the high temperature of their breath can burn you."

Hearing his words, Harry and Draco finally mustered up the courage to approach the Swedish short-nosed dragon.

Just as the dragon trainer said, the dragon was indeed very docile, calmly observing the two boys approaching, and even deliberately lowering its large head on the grass, letting them touch it.

But at this moment, Andrews keenly noticed the words the dragon trainer had said at the beginning.

"Outside patrols for the expansion of the protected area?"

He frowned.

"What does it mean?"

The dragon tamer slapped his forehead, as if he had just remembered what he was going to say.

"Sorry, I almost forgot. I came down here specifically to tell you that in three days, the Logara Fire Dragon Nature Reserve will be expanding in this direction. We will designate the entire area, including this valley and extending 10 kilometers to the east, as a new fire dragon habitat. You'd better leave within these three days, otherwise the relocated fire dragons will be irritable and highly aggressive, which may harm you."

Severus and Lupin exchanged a glance; they had clearly both grasped the crux of the matter.

Andrews' expression changed even more; he looked at the dragon trainer in shock.

"Expanding eastward? Including this valley too! What about the giants living here? What will happen to them?"

The dragon tamer shrugged.

"Then it depends on nature's choice. In most cases, dragons will not actively harm other magical creatures, but they will definitely provoke trolls, which will lead to conflicts between them. In that case, they will probably be unilaterally crushed."

"If it were a rare magical creature on the protection list, the Ministry of Magic might arrange for employees to protect and relocate it, but trolls obviously don't need any protection."

Andrews' face had turned pale.

Whether it was in his mind or in what he and Severus said, he understood that most trolls were just idiots who acted on animal instincts, and only a small minority like Lulu possessed human-like emotions.

But no matter what, he has been living with these giants here for three years, and with Lulu acting as a mediator, he must have developed feelings for them.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed Severus and his companions' help to build habitable houses for these giants before he left Europe.

And now, the house isn't even finished, but the troll is doomed!
"Why did the Fire Dragon Nature Reserve suddenly expand?" Severus suddenly asked. "Wasn't the original area enough for the fire dragons to live in?"

The dragon tamer shook his head with a bitter expression.

"Of course we don't want to expand outwards, but there have been accidents happening in the western part of the reserve in the past two years. One after another, three dragons have died and seven have been injured. Both the Greek Ministry of Magic and the Albanian Ministry of Magic have sent people to investigate many times, but they haven't been able to find out anything. So the Department of Magical Creatures Protection issued an order a few days ago, telling us to abandon the area in the western part of the reserve and expand eastwards."

Having said that, he didn't wait for Severus and the others to continue speaking. He glanced at the dragons that had already gone far away, and turned around to say something.

"Oh no! I have to catch up with them! Kids! Our tour is over, we have to go, we still have a lot of work to do today!"

He climbed back onto the Swedish short-nosed dragon's back, gesturing for Draco and Harry to step back, and then addressed Severus and the others one last time: "Remember to leave within these three days! If anything happens to you, or if you are attacked by a fire dragon, remember to send a distress signal to the sky. Our people will arrive very quickly!"

After he finished speaking, the Swedish short-nosed dragon flapped its wings again and soared into the sky, heading away in the direction where the dragon herd had disappeared.

Harry and Draco were still caught up in the excitement of what had just happened.

"Did you see that?! Its nostrils could fit my head! I can't believe how big a column of fire it can spew out!"

"This dragon is so beautiful, much prettier than those gray-scaled dragons!"

As they talked about returning to the adults, they realized that, contrary to their excitement, the atmosphere among the adults was clearly not quite right.

Andrews' face was as white as paper, and Severus and Lupin stood by with expressions of wanting to comfort him but not knowing what to say.

"What's wrong?" Harry couldn't help but ask.

"The dragons are going to expand their territory into this valley. When that happens, the giants living here will definitely clash with them, and the giants will be wiped out."

Lupin said to them.

Upon hearing this, Harry and Draco's faces turned pale, as if they had been doused with cold water, and their previous excitement vanished completely.

"How could this happen?"

Draco couldn't help but speak.

"Wouldn't we have built that house for nothing!"

But as soon as he said that, after so many days of Severus's instruction, he realized he had made a mistake.

Under the watchful eyes of Harry and Lupin, he didn't want to admit his mistake, so he simply pretended nothing had happened and turned his face away.

Severus then patted Andrews on the shoulder and asked.

"What are you going to do?"

Upon hearing his question, Andrews snapped out of his daze, his expression somber, and finally sighed.

"I'm going to tell Lulu about this. She needs to know what's going to happen next. We'll talk about what to do next after she knows too."

After such an incident, their lunch afterwards was naturally tasteless.

After lunch, the house-building work was no longer needed, so Andrews went to find Lulu to explain the matter of expanding the Fire Dragon Reserve.

Severus and his three companions then gathered together.

"So, Mr. Andrews is leaving Europe ahead of schedule?" Harry asked.

"What else can he do? His research subjects are all gone. He can't possibly stay and help these giants fight the fire dragon, can he?"

Draco retorted.

"Nobody in this world is that stupid!"

(End of this chapter)