Fire Dragon in the Forbidden Forest

Malfoy turned to Hagrid, his voice carrying a trace of terror. "What are we going to do?"

Hagrid took the lead toward the edge of the pitch-black forest and said casually, "Find a fire dragon."

This time, it was not just Malfoy—Sean and Harry also stopped in their tracks.

"Are you mad? A fire dragon?!" Malfoy's voice rose sharply. "I'm writing to my father. He's a Hogwarts governor, and he'll never allow something like this to happen..."

"Then go right ahead! If you get expelled, let's see what he can do!" Hagrid said roughly. "If you've done something wrong, you have to pay the price!"

Malfoy choked on his words. He had wanted to say something more, but in the end, he shut his mouth.

"Hagrid, a fire dragon? Are you sure?" Harry was scared too.

Hagrid waved dismissively and gave Sean and Harry a hairy smile. "Don't worry! It's just a little one!"

"A little one?" Sean did not entirely trust Hagrid's definition of "little."

His Magical Creature Affinity, which was as high as nine, ought to have been tested on some less dangerous Magical Creatures first—not on a fire dragon right from the start.

"Of course," Hagrid said, nodding seriously. "If it were an adult dragon, the Forbidden Forest would have been in an uproar long ago."

"But a fire dragon—even a hatchling—how could it have ended up in the Forbidden Forest?" Sean asked in confusion.

Hagrid shrugged. "I don't know. I've only seen a few claw marks from that dragon, so I can't identify it yet."

As he spoke, he lifted his lantern again to signal for them to follow. "Don't worry. I've already checked it out. That little fellow has trouble even hunting a fawn. If it weren't going to keep growing, I wouldn't have bothered with it."

As they talked, they had already entered the Forbidden Forest.

They followed a hidden, winding trail, and after passing a moss-covered stump, they found themselves surrounded by towering trees.

Hagrid adjusted his quiver. "All right, stay close. We need to find that little fellow's trail."

Sean walked at the very back with his wand raised, using the faint glow at its tip to inspect the marks on the ground.

They searched the outskirts for a while without finding what they wanted, and Hagrid frowned.

"Did it go deeper in? That's a bit troublesome..."

They followed Hagrid farther into the forest.

"Hagrid, look at this." Sean called out to the gamekeeper. He had found a mess of claw marks on a tree stump.

Hagrid studied them for quite a while, then showed an excited expression. "That's right. It should be it."

As they followed the trail inward, Sean asked softly, "Why would a dragon hatchling appear in the Forbidden Forest? I've read that female dragons protect their young fiercely."

Hagrid scratched at his beard and lowered his voice. "Actually, I have a guess."

"What is it?"

"It has to do with something Professor Kettleburn told me." Professor Silvanus Kettleburn taught Care of Magical Creatures. Rumor had it that during his teaching career, he had been placed on probation at least sixty-two times. The reason he had settled down in recent years was that he only had one and a half limbs left.

Those prosthetics simply could not withstand all his antics.

Hagrid lowered his voice mysteriously. "He told me that the habitat of the Hebridean Black Dragons was attacked by an especially savage Hungarian Horntail. Those black dragons scattered and fled, and for the past six months, the MacFasty Clan has been searching all over Europe for the escaped dragons."

Sean wore a strange expression. He remembered that story vividly, and the Dragon Heartstring from that Hungarian Horntail was now inside his wand.

Hagrid continued, "I suspect this little fellow may have become separated from its mother. Or maybe its mother is already dead. It was too afraid to return to its original habitat, and it ended up flying into the Forbidden Forest by accident."

"Then why not notify the MacFasty Clan?" Sean asked doubtfully.

Hagrid looked uncomfortable and stammered, "Oh, it hasn't been confirmed yet. Wouldn't want them to come all this way for nothing. Yeah, that's it."

Sean narrowed his eyes. Hagrid wasn't planning to raise that dragon himself, was he...?

Seeing his expression, Hagrid became even more awkward. He muttered, "I just wanted to have a few more looks, that's all. This job wasn't supposed to fall to me anyway. Professor Kettleburn just happened to get bitten by one of the animals he keeps..."

Just as Sean was about to continue, Malfoy's terrified voice rang out. "W-what is that?!"

They turned to look and saw a long streak of bright red blood dragged across a clearing in the woods.

Hagrid approached the bloodstain cautiously and bent down to sniff it. "Deer blood..."

He gestured for Sean and the others to stay quiet, then slowly followed the trail of blood forward.

Sean followed behind Hagrid. After they had gone a short distance, the blood trail stopped.

Hagrid smiled in delight and spoke in an almost inaudible whisper. "Look. This might be something you'll rarely get to see."

Sean poked his head out from behind him. In the clearing beyond the bushes, an adolescent fire dragon was anxiously tearing into the body of a fawn.

It had black, rough scales, and a row of shallow but razor-sharp ridges along its back. Its tail ended in a slender arrowhead, and its wings were like a bat's.

Just as Hagrid had said, this fire dragon was still a young one, only about seven feet long. For some reason, Sean saw a childishness in its bright violet eyes, as though it were an innocent little child.

"A Hebridean Black Dragon after all..." Hagrid murmured.

His eyes were full of delight and affection.

Sean also looked awestruck. This was the first time in both his lives that he had seen a living, moving fire dragon.

"Oh, look at it. This child must be starving." Hagrid looked heartbroken as he watched the black dragon wolf down its meal, completely oblivious to its surroundings.

"Hagrid, what do we do next?" Sean reminded him.

"Oh, right. We need to take it out." Hagrid looked regretful, but he had to be responsible for these children.

He drew an arrow from his quiver, then took out a paper packet.

Carefully opening it, Hagrid rolled the arrowhead through the white powder inside.

"This is extracted from Chameleon Giant Snail Venom. It has an extremely powerful anesthetic effect, especially on fire dragons," he explained.

Hagrid nocked the arrow and aimed at the little Hebridean Black Dragon, which was still eating desperately.

"Sorry, kid," he muttered.

But before he could loose the arrow, the ground nearby suddenly began to shake!