Chapter 68
Chapter 68
They followed Hermione’s pointing finger.
In the centre of the fire, beside the iron kettle Hagrid had used, lay a large black egg.
“Oh… that is…” Hagrid went rigid. He instinctively glanced towards the door and twisted his beard between thick fingers. “Well… it is…”
“A dragon egg, isn’t it, Hagrid?” Suer smiled at the black egg, strikingly visible amid the yellow flames.
It was the reason he had come. He had noticed it the moment he entered the hut.
Knowing the answer in advance, Suer immediately solved the riddle.
“Oh…” Hagrid grew terribly uneasy. Yet he could think of no alternative excuse, such as claiming it was his planned midnight snack.
“Yes,” he admitted helplessly. “I won it in a card game. I went out for a drink last night, and a stranger played cards with me.”
“To tell the truth, I didn’t believe it was a dragon egg at first. Perhaps the fellow was desperate to be rid of it.”
Suer braved the heat and approached the fire for a closer look.
“You won’t tell the professors, will you?” Hagrid asked miserably.
“Keeping dragons is illegal, Hagrid.” Once the answer was confirmed, Hermione recovered from her shock and began reciting the laws she had read.
“The Warlocks’ Convention of 1709 formally passed the ban on dragon breeding…”
When Hermione reached the penalty for privately raising a dragon–several days of complimentary lodging in Azkaban–Hagrid’s terror peaked. He clutched his hair with both hands, deeply distressed.
While Hermione solemnly listed every disadvantage, Suer’s eyes shone with excitement.
“Oh, don’t worry, Hagrid. We won’t tell the professors. I don’t fancy bringing wine when I visit you in Azkaban.” Suer rose, walked to Hagrid and patted an arm more than twice the width of his thigh. “Hermione is only frightening you.”
The little lion’s gaze shot towards him.
“R-really?” Hagrid’s eyes glistened as he stared unblinkingly at Hermione.
Under that damp gaze, Hermione’s breath caught. Finally, she nodded in resignation. “Very well. I won’t tell a professor.”
“But don’t forget, Hagrid, that you live in a wooden house. Dragons breathe fire.”
Hagrid plainly heard only the first half. His eyes filled with joy.
“Wonderful. Thank you both.”
This honest giant truly was hopeless.
Suer shook his head and deliberately stated the obvious. “I’d very much like to see the dragon hatch. I wonder what species it is.”
“I was planning to visit the library tomorrow and find out,” Hagrid said happily. “I reckon it might be a Common Welsh Green. A colony lives in Britain, but the colour makes me uncertain.”
“I have nothing planned tomorrow. I’ll help you research it.” Suer was equally excited.
…
Hermione remained worried on the way back to the castle.
“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen if nobody discovers it. Besides, Hagrid said he only wants to hatch the dragon and then find a way to send it elsewhere.”
“But… what if somebody finds out?”
“Think about it, Hermione. We may never again witness a dragon hatching.”
“It would be a memory to treasure for the rest of our lives.”
“When we’re old, we can tell our children about it. Imagine how envious and admiring they’ll be.”
Suer employed every argument he could devise. They were clumsy but remarkably effective.
“Wh-who said I would have children with you?” Hermione’s fur exploded. Her earlobes glowed scarlet. “Pervert!”
She stamped her foot, darted past Suer and ran ahead.
“Wait, Hermione.” Suer jogged after her. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Aren’t you afraid of the dark anymore?”
The young witch ignored him completely. Once inside the castle, she raced up the stairs beneath several puzzled gazes and soon vanished.
“Why is she embarrassed so easily?” Suer shrugged and shook his head before descending the stairs.
The night passed quietly.
The next day, Suer found Hermione in the library. The girl’s face flushed the moment she saw him, and she gave a cold little snort before lifting her chin towards a pile of books.
*Dragon Species of Britain and Ireland*, *From Dragon Egg to Inferno*, *A Guide to Raising Dragons*…
Hermione had already found all the material they needed and was merely waiting for Suer.
“Thank you, Hermione. You’re adorable.” Suer smiled and sat calmly beneath a gaze that could have killed him. Then he began turning pages.
Hermione rolled her eyes helplessly and returned to furious writing. One holiday day had already been wasted. She had to finish several subjects’ homework in the remaining thirteen.
Although dragon breeding was illegal, books about dragons existed in astonishing variety. Some illustrated every species and its eggs in meticulous detail.
Images moved in wizarding books, allowing Suer to examine each egg from several angles.
“Oh, I’ve found it.” Suer happily slapped a page. Hermione looked up.
“The egg. I found it.” He turned the book and pointed to a picture. A vicious-looking dragon silently roared from the page. Beneath it rested a black egg.
“A Norwegian Ridgeback?”
“Exactly.” Suer snatched up the book. “I’m going to Hagrid.”
“What about your homework?” Hermione caught his sleeve.
“The final day will be soon enough.” Suer tossed the words over his shoulder and ran.
He had never intended to do the work himself. On the final day, he would “consult” someone else’s, just as he had done at his former Muggle school.
It was also standard Hufflepuff practice.
Young badgers preferred to spend their intelligence discovering new ways to avoid effort.
Besides the identification guide, he took a copy of *Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit*. It contained comprehensive instructions for hatching an egg from the beginning.
The book was very old and might be outdated, but it should still provide Hagrid with some help.