The Silent Bookstore Manager at Hogwarts

Harry saw Red's figure begin to appear and disappear, like a ghost. The edges of his body even seemed to be melting. Upon closer inspection, it was enough to make Harry feel a chill down his spine.

"In fact, it's just using shapeshifting to transform into my body and then controlling it with soul matter. After all, if soul matter finds a suitable vessel, it's no different from a person's soul and body being combined."

Red smiled, and it was then that Harry noticed that this wand was not the walnut wand that Red always carried with him.

"What is this wand?"

"The spoils...you know, since there's a leader of dark wizards like Voldemort, there will naturally be a group of dark wizards following him. We'll encounter him sooner or later. After all, the prophecy says that the savior who survived the ordeal was destined to defeat this 'Dark Lord,' isn't it?"

Harry's vision went black. He only knew that the title of Savior had brought him trouble in his daily life, but he never thought that the title might even lead to his death.

"Of course, don't worry. I did this very discreetly. The owner of these two wands is actually a smuggler, and the kind of smuggler who has no one protecting him."

Looking at his increasingly unstable body, Red couldn't help but sigh. There was still a lot of room for improvement in his research on Transfiguration. At least, there were still many things in the two books he had taken from the forbidden book section that Red was unable to put into practice for the time being.

Moreover, the current achievement, which is this lifelike stand-in, is actually completely impractical. The huge amount of magic and energy consumed, coupled with its extreme fragility, makes it only useful when he wants to show his research results to Harry. Otherwise, it would be more practical for him to personally take the stage.

"Alright, I need to get out of here first, otherwise they'll have a hard time explaining themselves when they see my body turned into a pile of mud."

Red smiled and walked out of Hagrid's hut. Hermione and Ron looked towards the door with some confusion. Why did Red leave so quickly? They should have had some things to discuss.

Harry could only try to cover up Red's current situation. He looked at the dragon egg. Although he didn't know what the person behind it was planning to do, at this moment, Harry touched his beating heart. Unlike the biting cold wind and rusty smell brought by the "Commandments of the Scars," he felt hot blood flowing through his body. The heat emanating from the burning brass and the fishy smell that seemed to be left by a feline made him shiver involuntarily.

At that very moment, he felt his body grow stronger. It was the Commandment of the Hammer and Anvil, the commandment representing the power of the Lionsmith's side, the technique of forging one's body until it is nearly perfect, which was now silently being applied to Harry himself.

"The fire isn't hot enough." Harry's sudden remark stunned Hermione and Ron.

"What nonsense are you spouting? If the temperature were any higher, that poor little dragon inside the egg would have turned into a roasted dragon egg before it even hatched!"

Hermione stared wide-eyed at Harry, who seemed somewhat lost in thought, and retorted. Originally, she had only intended for Hagrid to hand the dragon egg over to Headmaster Dumbledore for proper handling, but why did Harry suddenly seem to want to eat roasted dragon eggs and say such things?

"No, I wasn't referring to the temperature of the flames used to incubate the dragon eggs... Sorry, I was just talking to myself..."

Harry quickly realized that he wasn't sitting in the Silent Bookstore or in front of Red. Saying anything unnecessary in front of Ron and Hermione would only make them uneasy, so he had to continue to be careful with his words.

"I just feel... maybe a bigger fire would speed up the hatching process?"

Harry tried to touch the flames with his hands, and Hermione instinctively tried to stop him, only to find that Harry's hands were burned by the flames but were completely unharmed, as if the flames had not touched him at all.

"Ah, no matter what, we must act discreetly now. We can't tell anyone else about the fire dragon except for a few of us..."

After saying that, the three of them turned to look at Hagrid at the same time. The three of them had no problem keeping the secret during this period. No matter what, as long as they reduced their contact with other people, they would not easily let it slip. But Hagrid was really different. The three of them had watched Hagrid reveal the fact that the Philosopher's Stone was at Hogwarts without asking them anything. Therefore, the three of them had deep doubts about Hagrid's ability to keep secrets.

Fortunately, Hagrid seemed to realize his mistake. He quickly assured everyone that he would not say a word, that no one would approach the cabin belonging to the Forest Keeper, and that no one would discover the upcoming birth of the Norwegian Spinosaurus.

Of course, everyone knows that Hagrid genuinely has this intention, but whether he can actually do it is truly anyone's guess.

As the three chatted, they returned to the Great Hall of Hogwarts. Of course, the most eye-catching person there now was not a professor, but a student.

"Neville, you really need to learn to rebel against Malfoy..."

Ron said earnestly, "The last time Malfoy used the Leg-Locking Curse to force Neville to hop and skip into the Great Hall, it already said something. However, Neville seemed to have no way to resist Malfoy. Today, he seems to have been put under the Leg-Locking Curse again. Neville seems to have gotten used to it. He has even found a way to keep his balance while hopping and skipping."

"How can I resist...?"

Neville spoke with some grievance. Malfoy and his two henchmen were almost inseparable, but Neville was always alone at times. Malfoy didn't know why he always managed to take advantage of these moments to bully him.

"Let me break the curse first."

Harry waved his wand, breaking the spell on Neville. Neville's matter couldn't be reported to the professors; aside from breaking the unspoken rules among students, Snape didn't seem like the type to stand up for Neville. So, for now…

Harry clenched his fists instinctively, realizing that the sentences he had read in books arguing for the existence of violence were actually quite insightful.

After all, some things really seem to only be resolved through violence.

With that in mind, Harry decided to go find Red first. In his heart, he believed that if Harry were to resort to underhanded tactics, Red would certainly be willing to offer some small assistance.