The wheelchair-bound warrior is speedrunning Hogwarts.

Hagrid's smile froze on his face: "Well... I haven't decided yet..."

“You can’t keep it forever,” Hermione said seriously. “Leaving aside the legal issues, Norwegian Ridgebacks grow very fast and will be bigger than your cabin in a few months.”

“And it breathes fire,” Harley added, “which will burn your house down.”

Hagrid scratched his head in distress: "I...I know I can't keep it forever, but I can't just throw it away like this, I can't!"

Vera spoke up at the right moment: "Let's not rush. The fire dragon hasn't been born yet. We'll make plans after it's born."

The most important thing right now is to put Hagrid at ease and raise the dragon until it hatches and grows a bit bigger before we can think about the future.

Hagrid glanced at Vera gratefully and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, let's wait until the little one is born first."

Hermione wanted to say something more, but Vera stopped her with a look.

The four of them observed the dragon egg for a while longer until it got dark, at which point they had to say goodbye to Hagrid and return to the castle.

“Vera,” Hermione couldn’t help but ask on the way back to the castle, “do you really think it’s a good idea for Hagrid to keep dragons?”

Vera shook her head gently: "Of course not. But as you've seen, Hagrid won't listen to reason."

"What should we do then?" Harley asked worriedly. "We can't just stand by and watch Hagrid illegally raise dragons, can we?"

Vera thought for a moment, and was just about to mention the method from the original story to them, when her nerves were suddenly jolted by a figure hurrying past in the corridor.

She immediately turned around, and without even having time to say hello, activated the levitation spell on her wheelchair and chased after the person.

"Vera!" Harley called out quickly, and seeing that she didn't stop, she and Hermione hurriedly caught up with her wheelchair.

After they finally managed to get around the corner of the corridor, they were startled by the person lying on the ground.

"It's Malfoy?" Hermione exclaimed in surprise, staring at the scene before her in astonishment—

Malfoy, who hadn't shown his face in front of them for a long time, had collapsed to the ground, and in front of him, Vera stood coldly holding her wand.

Vera turned around only when she heard their voices, the coldness in her eyes not yet completely gone.

“He was eavesdropping on our conversation just now.” Vera put down her wand, her voice calm. “The secret of the dragon must not be revealed.”

In the original book, it was Malfoy who discovered Hagrid's secret dragon-keeping and secretly informed on him, resulting in the Trio, Neville, and Malfoy himself all having fifty points deducted and being punished by patrolling the Forbidden Forest.

It was at this time that they encountered Voldemort and Quirrell, who had killed the unicorn, in the Forbidden Forest.

Although Voldemort seems to have given up on the unicorn now, she still prefers to avoid this storyline.

Harley and Hermione looked somewhat troubled, especially Hermione, who immediately knelt down to check on Malfoy's condition, then breathed a sigh of relief: "It's just a Stunning Curse, nothing serious."

“That’s good… How much did he hear?” Harley asked nervously, her green eyes filled with worry.

Vera pushed her wheelchair closer: "Not sure, but just to be on the safe side..."

She waved her wand at Malfoy: "Forget everything."

Hermione looked at her in surprise: "When did you learn this spell?"

“The library,” Vera replied curtly, putting her wand back in her pocket. “We need to take him to an empty classroom nearby, so no one else can see him.”

Once he wakes up, he will automatically forget this memory.

“Okay, let’s do it.” Harley stepped forward and lifted Malfoy’s foot, then gestured to Hermione with her eyes.

Hermione glanced back at Vera before stepping forward and lifting the man's shoulder.

The two of them worked together to carry the unconscious Malfoy into a nearby empty classroom and carefully placed him on a bench.

Vera followed behind them, and when they weren't looking, she waved her wand, signaling the castle to erase all traces of what had happened there.

She's gotten used to doing bad things without leaving a trace.

After doing all this, she pushed her wheelchair in and closed the door behind her.

“That should be fine,” she said softly. “When he wakes up, he’ll only remember that he fainted for no reason.”

Hermione frowned: "Vera, I didn't expect you to be so...decisive."

Vera looked at her calmly: "If Malfoy tells anyone about the dragon, Hagrid will be in big trouble."

He told us the secret of the dragons because he trusted us, Hermione. You don't want to betray his trust, do you?

Harley nodded. Although the suddenness of the event had caught her off guard, she still sided with Vera: "Vera did the right thing. We can't take the risk."

Hermione glanced at the unconscious Malfoy, took a deep breath, and finally nodded: "Alright, let's not linger here, lest we be seen."

The three left the empty classroom, carefully closing the door behind them to make sure no one noticed them.

Back in the common room, in front of the Gryffindors, they tacitly avoided mentioning the incident, as if nothing had happened.

But... the atmosphere suddenly fell silent when Harley went into the bathroom to shower first, leaving only the two of them in the dormitory.

After a long while, Hermione, who had been sitting by her bedside, finally couldn't help but come to her side and speak with a somewhat complicated expression:

“Vera, you looked so unfamiliar when you cast the spell on Malfoy just now.”

Vera paused slightly as she made the bed, her long, silver-gray hair falling down and obscuring her expression: "I just did what was necessary."

Hermione sat down beside her, her brown eyes filled with worry: "Don't overthink it, I'm not blaming you... it's just..."

She hesitated for a moment. "I know Malfoy is a jerk, but to cast a forgetfulness spell on him directly... that feels a bit too much."

Vera looked up, meeting Hermione's probing gaze, and asked softly, "If it were you, what would you do? Would you just stand by and watch Hagrid get fired for illegally raising dragons?"

Hermione fell silent, her brows furrowed.

After a long while, she shook her head: "I don't want my friend to get hurt."

“Me too.” Vera stretched out her hand and grasped hers. “I promise, it will only be done when necessary.”

Seeing Hermione's still hesitant expression, Vera couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Although she knew that Hermione would later have exceptional political acumen and become Minister of Magic, the 11-year-old clearly did not yet have such awareness.

As for Harley… Vera felt that she hadn’t thought that far ahead at all; she simply disliked Malfoy, wanted to protect Hagrid, and wanted to stand on her side.

But Hermione is, after all, candidate to be Minister for Magic, and even at this age, she can't help but think more deeply.

“Hermione,” Vera gently lifted Hermione’s chin, making her look directly into her eyes, “Please believe me, I will never use these spells on innocent people.”

Hermione's eyelashes fluttered slightly, her brown eyes reflecting Vera's earnest face: "That's not what I meant... Vera, I believe you completely! I was just worried about you..."

It turned out to be the case.

I'm not worried about Malfoy, I'm worried about her.

“Yes,” Vera understood her meaning, and a hint of warmth welled up in her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’m willing to make this sacrifice for the people we want to protect.”

The so-called sacrifice is not physical injury, but rather the use of extreme measures in violation of one's own principles.

Most ordinary people would find it difficult to overcome this hurdle, and even wizards would.

Hermione was worried that this would traumatize her—only a sensitive and innocent child would have such a concern.

“Besides,” Vera smiled, taking her hand and placing it against her heart, “you see, it’s still beating here, it’s okay.”

Hermione, holding her hand, stared blankly at her warm expression, finally breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile returned to her face: "That's good... I'm glad you understand what I mean."

Vera gently squeezed her hand: "Mmm."

She understands.

Chapter 120 Someone's hands were practically sparking from rubbing them together in private (Bounty 2/2)

As night deepened, Vera quickly washed up and lay in bed, sensing the faint pulse emanating from the dragon egg through her magical circuits.

She could sense that Xiaolong's consciousness was gradually becoming clearer, and she could faintly feel a joyful excitement and an eagerness to see her in the mental link.

[Taming status stable, hatching countdown: 7 days]

The words that appeared on her retina made Vera's lips curl into a slight smile.

A week is almost up.

But what name should we give the child?

In the original story, Hagrid named the dragon Norbert, but the little dragon was actually a girl, and was later renamed Norbert.

She certainly wouldn't make such a blunder; she would have to prepare the name in advance.

"Meow." Knox, who had been lying quietly beside her, let out a soft meow, then suddenly crawled out of the covers, trying to jump off.

Vera was taken aback, but quickly picked up her cat and brought it back, subconsciously combing its slightly messy fur, already having an idea in mind.

“Hemera,” she murmured.

In contrast to Knox, Hemera means "goddess of the day."

Hmm... Although the Norwegian Spinosaurus wasn't very fair-skinned, she could still spoil it.

"What do you think of this name?" she asked the cat in her arms.

Knox ignored her, focused solely on escaping her embrace.

My cat is acting crazy again.

Vera, who was already used to it, smiled and gently kissed Knox's fluffy head.

Then they saw Knox, who had been struggling just moments before, suddenly stop moving, his amber eyes wide open in vain, stiffly held by Vera in the pitch-black night.

They look rather pitiful.

"Getting out of bed so late, are you going for another night out? Or are you going to see Lu Wei?"

Having named her dragon, Vera felt as if she had accomplished a great task, and she relaxed, burying her face in Knox's arms and asking softly, but it sounded more like she was talking to herself.

"You've been at school for so long, you must have figured out every nook and cranny of the school by now, right?"

As Vera spoke, she rubbed the kitten's soft belly. "Could it be... that you've discovered some secret passage that even the humans here don't know about?"

As she spoke, she couldn't help but laugh: "Then can you help me find a place... where I can keep large animals? The bigger the better."

Well, it seems she's really desperate and resorting to any means necessary, actually saying things like that to a kitten.

Perhaps it was also because she felt that contacting Charlie to send the dragon away was just a last resort...

Vera gave the cat a good sniff before letting it go.

Knox let out a hoarse meow, then immediately jumped down and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Vera got up and glanced in the direction it had run off to. She smiled silently, not paying any attention, and quickly lay back down, falling into a deep sleep.

The next day, when Vera woke up, Knox still hadn't returned.

She didn't mind, since Knox knew the way anyway.

Now that the fire dragon is about to be born, she should increase her vigilance in related matters.

First, there are Quirrell and Voldemort, the two dragon thieves, and then there's Malfoy.

After washing up, the three of them went to the auditorium together for breakfast.

As Vera passed the Slytherin table, she made a point of glancing at Malfoy, who was talking to his followers.

He looked perfectly normal and probably had no recollection of what happened yesterday.

Vera breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the wheelchair forward.

By this time, Harley had already served her oatmeal and fruit, while Hermione was flipping through today's schedule.

“This morning we have Charms and Herbalism,” Hermione said. “And tonight we have Astronomy.”

Vera stirred her oatmeal thoughtfully, her gaze occasionally sweeping across the Slytherin table opposite her.

Malfoy seemed to notice her gaze, and perhaps recalling the scene of being brutally beaten by Vera earlier, he subconsciously shrank his neck.

But soon, he forced himself to straighten his chest, probably wanting to avoid losing face in front of his followers.

Still all bark and no bite.

Vera silently curled her lips, recalling the Christmas gift Narcissa had given her—a pair of protective gloves.

It seems like the intention was to protect her hands when she was pushing the wheelchair by herself.

However, the gloves were inlaid with many pearls and diamonds, and they looked quite beautiful. They would probably be popular with a noblewoman like Narcissa.

But the gloves were really uncomfortable on her hands, so after trying them on once, they were put away at the bottom of the bedside table.

"Are you looking at Malfoy?" Harley followed her gaze and asked nervously, "Has he remembered something again?"

Vera shook her head: "Don't worry, nothing will happen."