Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 95 Little Fire Dragon

Loren listened for a while and realized that Quirrell had given Hagrid a dragon egg in order to get information from him about how to deal with Cerberus.

Thinking about it carefully, this whole thing is full of flaws. A dragon egg is incredibly valuable, and Quirrell just gave it away because of Cerberus's weakness. Voldemort didn't even complain. What a naive Death Eater!

He leaned close behind the three men and said, "How many chances do you have in your lives to deliver prison food to Hagrid?"

The sudden sound startled the three of them.

"Loren! When did you get here?" Harry asked.

Loren did not answer the question. "If it is discovered that you are raising a fire dragon without permission, both the dragon and Hagrid will be punished. That is not a good thing."

"Of course, this is just a suggestion; the key is what Hagrid thinks."

Loren didn't plan to get too involved in these matters; the fire dragon incident had a happy ending anyway, so there was no need to worry. He just wanted to complete the alchemy array as quickly as possible.

"Right now, only we know about this." Harry leaned more towards Hagrid.

Judging from Hagrid's obsessed look, he clearly wants to hatch the dragon.

Harry didn't have a clear understanding of the Ministry of Magic's rules and regulations. When school started, he thought the Hogwarts rules were some kind of ironclad law. But in less than a year, he had broken almost everything he could, and it seemed like there were no consequences.

Hagrid was the one who brought Harry out of that dark and hopeless place and opened the door to a new world for him. Harry probably didn't even realize it himself, but he vaguely regarded Hagrid as a close parent, somewhat like a father.

He thought to himself: Hogwarts has professors and Dumbledore, and there are no Muggles around, so raising dragons won't harm anyone.

Choosing between that damned "Secrecy Act" and Hagrid's wishes wasn't difficult.

"We'll talk about it later, we'll keep it a secret." Harry stretched, ending the conversation, and pulled Ron upstairs.

"Sigh, I knew it." Hermione was used to her grotesque friends; she'd have to figure out a solution herself.

Loren and Hermione said goodnight to each other, and Loren returned to his dorm room to continue immersing himself in the alchemy lab.

The next day, Hermione compiled a list of books about dragons from the library. She wanted to write this down in preparation for any possible accidents.

Loren was also in the library, reviewing cases of punishment for misusing the Invisible Stretch Charm. He was looking into ways to prevent making the same mistake.

After turning the last page of "Classic Cases of 20th-Century British Wizarding" about the Unseen Stretch Charm, Loren rubbed his slightly sore eyes and brows.

He was certain he would never make those foolish mistakes and put dozens of elephants in the box.

Hermione, sitting next to her, was engrossed in a thick book called "The Stages of a Dragon's Growth," occasionally scribbling and drawing in the notebook, and had already reached the last page.

Closing the book, Hermione's expression was complicated. She said to Loren, "I wonder if Hagrid and the others know that the dragon will be bigger than his cabin in no time after it is born."

"Instead of looking at information about dragons, let's look at the Ministry of Magic's cases regarding the punishment of keeping dragons." Loren showed Hermione the books in his hands. "At least then we'll know how big Hagrid's cell is, and maybe there's also a place where Harry and Ron are held."

Hermione could hear the sarcasm in Loren's words, and her worries vanished. She couldn't help but smile. "You're right. Maybe we two accomplices can be locked up together."

"Do your homework, Prisoner Number One, Mr. Morgan."

"Yes, Prisoner Number Two, Miss Granger."

This week's homework is a little over a billion.

Harry and Ron were nowhere to be seen all weekend. They hung out with Hagrid, and even back in their dorm at night, they were still discussing the markings on the dragon egg and the sex of the baby dragon inside.

Simo and Neville assumed the two men had suddenly become interested in the dragon and didn't think much of it.

It's perfectly normal for a twelve or thirteen-year-old student to suddenly become interested in dragons. Seamus was interested in Muggle cannons for a while, and he believed that the two had the same appeal to young wizards.

Sunday evening.

As usual, before bedtime, Loren asked Harry, "Have you done your Transfiguration homework?"

Several professors assigned an astonishing amount of homework this weekend. In just two days, Loren barely managed to finish the metamorphosis course assignment due on Monday, and planned to finish the rest before the deadline.

But Harry and Ron have been engrossed in the world of dragons these past two days, and he figured they'd be working overtime again tonight.

"Not yet, no rush," Harry replied casually. He was talking to Ron about whether the little dragon should recognize the person who hatched it as its father or mother.

There was no rush. Loren admired their good attitude and they went to bed together.

The second pair of runes has perfectly depicted the orthogonal runes. As for the correspondence with the inverse runes, he attempted to posit a completely new concept of weight, unrelated to classical mechanics and gravity, merely as a unique property of matter for wizards to understand.

Flamel believed that this idea was correct for now, but in the higher realms of alchemy, Muggle's understanding of space and mass would actually help Loren's understanding of magic.

That's how magic works; you might think it's illogical, but it actually makes some sense. Or you might think it might make some sense, but in the end you find it's inflexible.

Monday.

Loren woke up from the fantasy book, folded the blankets, and found the other four people in the dormitory still lying in bed, occasionally groaning, showing no intention of getting up.

Loren felt something was very wrong. The first period in the morning was Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class. How dare you be late for that?

"Get up!" Loren patted the bed.

Ron rolled over, buried his face in the soft pillow, and muttered, "No classes today, why get up?"

"No classes?!" Loren exclaimed in surprise.

A muffled voice came from under the pillow, "Yes, the Easter holidays."

Easter holiday!!!

As a pseudo-British, Loren had never had any concept of Easter. Plus, his mind had been completely preoccupied with alchemical arrays these past few days, and he'd completely forgotten about it.

Easter weekend is combined, so there are four days of no school.

Of course, the Easter holiday simply means no classes; the Hogwarts Express is not running, and students are still at school. Therefore, the ridiculously high amount of homework this week is calculated based on the holiday schedule.

Loren couldn't fall back asleep, and he didn't want to disturb Flamel by returning to the Book of Wonders. Perhaps Flamel was waiting for him to leave before going to sleep.

After having breakfast, he went to the library, intending to catch up on the remaining assignments for his subjects.

Professor Flitwick's Charms class assignments were very specific, about making apples dance, peaches dance, and all kinds of fruits dance, which had little to do with the previous lessons.

It's hard not to believe he wasn't hinting at something. Anyone whose brain hasn't been swung at by a troll's club would think carefully about the magic used in this process.

Hermione arrived at the library just as Loren finished writing how to make apples dance.

The little witch, her hair disheveled and her bow tie not particularly neat, sat casually next to Loren and glanced at the contents of Loren's parchment.

"Good morning~" Hermione's tone was still a little lazy, soft and gentle.

"Did you stay up late last night to finish your homework?"

"I stayed up all night looking at some cases. If someone vouches for Hagrid and he doesn't cause any damage, he might not have to go to jail." Hermione finally overcame her fear of the dragon.

"Let me think about it."

Loren rested his chin on his hand, pretending to think. "Newt Scamander was fired for keeping dangerous animals, Hagrid was fired for keeping dangerous animals. Do you think we'll be fired for keeping dragons?"

Hermione listened with trepidation, her sleepiness completely gone. "We absolutely won't! Dragons aren't kept in the school."

Sunlight streamed into the library through the windows, casting a clear, filtered glow on the bookshelves.

The two chatted and laughed as they discussed how to get Peach to dance the tango and Grape to dance group ballet...

Morning, Gryffindor dormitory.

Ron, with his eyes closed, put on the sweater Aunt Molly had knitted and reached for his coat. "Do you think the professors might be playing a joke on us by having class on April Fool's Day?"

"Then they tricked me." Harry's movements were in sync with Ron's. They had spent their entire Easter holiday on dragon eggs, and after staying up all night studying homework, they were now exhausted.

Loren, already dressed and waiting nearby, stood in stark contrast to them.

He said with a smile, "I also think it's a joke. Otherwise, you guys can keep sleeping. I'll go check the greenhouse. If it's really class, I'll have Hanhan come back and let you know."

Harry and Ron opened their eyes, giving him a bloodshot-eyed roll. "Thanks."

Simo and Neville led the two men, following Loren to the restaurant.

After a bowl of warm oat milk, the simple aroma of grains and the silky fragrance of milk flowed smoothly into their stomachs, and the two of them finally felt refreshed.

Hermione sat next to Loren, looking indignant, tearing pieces of bread with her silver teeth.

"What grudge does bread have against you?" Loren asked, puzzled.

"Finals are here! I didn't even realize finals were coming up!" Hermione said angrily.

"You must be dreaming. The exam is still two and a half months away."

Loren reached out to Hermione's forehead to see if she had a fever, but Hermione, holding a loaf of bread, nimbly dodged him.

"Ten weeks, to be precise, ten weeks." Hermione's mouth was full of bread, her cheeks bulging, and her speech was a little slurred.

"I should have realized that the assignments the professors gave were a hint that we needed to review."

"It's all your fault. You dragged me into saying that grapes should breakdance. I was so stupid to argue with you about this."

Loren felt inexplicably pleased. "Grapes are indeed not suitable for ballet."

"How is it unsuitable—" Hermione was about to retort, but took a deep breath to control herself. "Stop talking about grapes. We should start reviewing."

Then Hermione started rambling on about her study plan, from Transfiguration to Charms, turning matches into needles, the Illumination Charm, and the Levitation Charm...

Loren and the others didn't care much. That's just how Hermione is; she loves learning.

Hermione kept nagging for days afterward.

After Potions get out of class, everyone walked side by side from the basement back to the dining room.

Harry and Ron were calculating when the little dragon would hatch.

Hermione ignored everyone else's conversation and kept muttering, "We should review Potions and Herbalism together, since their properties are similar."

Harry turned to look at Loren. "Is she alright?"

"Once she memorizes all the textbooks, there's no need to worry." Loren didn't think this was exam anxiety; Hermione was probably excited about exams and couldn't wait to take them.

Ron and Harry trembled upon hearing this answer.

It was a rare occasion for a few of us to get together and do our homework on the weekend.

Harry and Ron stayed up all night to finish their homework just three days ago; it still stands vividly in their memories.

That morning, Rolf stared at the herbs in the greenhouse with bloodshot eyes, and he almost cried out to the professor for help, thinking they were under the influence of some kind of drug.

"White peony grows on the island of Crete."

The last letter was "k". Harry drew the quill pen long, making a vine-like pattern, and then casually tossed it into the ink bottle.

"Completed!" The voice was filled with pride.

Ron also finished around the same time. "We're going to go play with Hagrid later."

"agree!"

After waiting for the ink to dry completely, he immediately rolled up the parchment without any intention of checking it.

Ron took the small bag containing Loren's books, and Harry put the two assignments inside. The whole process was smooth and coordinated.

"We're off! Loren, take our homework back for us." Harry grabbed Ron and tried to run away.

Hermione stopped them, "You should study with us."

"Oh!" the two exclaimed in unison, as if they had been targeted by some ferocious magical creature.

The unusually loud volume attracted Mrs. Pince's attention, and sensing her warning gaze, the two quickly lowered their voices.

"Hermione, the exams are still hundreds of years away from us," Ron said.

"Ten weeks, only ten weeks," Hermione retorted.

Harry scratched his head. "If we start reviewing now, we'll forget everything before the final exams."

Hermione blinked in confusion, not quite understanding the sentence. She mentally broke down each word and then rearranged them.

Loren pulled Hermione back to her seat. "Let them go. They won't sleep peacefully until the dragon hatches."

"Please give our regards to Hagrid."

"Okay!" the two exclaimed happily.

Harry and Ron ran out of the library without looking back as Mrs. Pince angrily chased them away.

When Harry returned home that evening, he excitedly told Loren that the little dragon would hatch next week. Ron, standing nearby, looked puzzled and conflicted.

As the time for the fire dragon to hatch drew closer, the two began to change their mindset.

Harry grew even more excited, eagerly anticipating the dragon hatching and breathing a tiny flame at him. Ron, on the other hand, became anxious and uncertain.

On Monday afternoon, Harry went to the Forbidden Forest as soon as school was over, and Ron unexpectedly refused to go with him.

In the Gryffindor common room, Loren and Hermione were comparing their differing opinions on their assignments.

Ron sat to the side, unconsciously fiddling with the chess pieces on the board. "You have no idea how dangerous dragons are. Charlie always comes home with new scars. His mother has scolded him hundreds of times, but he still loves dragons."

"Didn't you want to see a dragon before?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Yes, but—" Ron couldn't express his worries and sighed heavily.

"I really want to know what peaceful and tranquil days are like."

(End of this chapter)