The next day happened to be a weekend, and Harley planned to visit Hagrid again to see if he had any useful materials. She wanted to buy a little more.
Although getting things for free felt great, Hagrid was such a kind man and cared so much about Harley that she couldn't keep taking advantage of him without feeling bad.
Besides, Hagrid charged Harley very little for his materials, which already made her very happy.
Hermione went with Harley, partly to put her Potions knowledge into practice.
Almost everything was just as usual. The only difference was that Harley sensed something was wrong with Hagrid's Hut from a long way off.
It was already February, and the weather was starting to warm up. But Hagrid's Hut had its windows firmly shut, and the thick curtains were drawn.
But was Hagrid afraid of the cold? His strong physique, likely the result of being a Half-blood Giant, let him swim laps in the Black Lake even in the coldest winter.
Harley instinctively drew her wand. At the same time, she pinched her earlobe and activated Spirit Vision, looking into the hut.
After all, Harley's sense that something was wrong came from the details, not from a supernatural warning of Spirituality. So she wasn't worried about seeing something she shouldn't.
"What's wrong?" Hermione noticed Harley's reaction and asked.
"Hagrid's Hut isn't quite the way it usually is," Harley replied briskly.
Hermione studied Hagrid's Hut carefully and frowned too. "You're right. It's not cold enough to need to keep the doors and windows shut and the curtains drawn!"
"Exactly." Harley nodded. "And smoke's been coming out of the chimney the whole time, so he's probably got a fire going.
"I wonder if he's sick... No, maybe not... He looks healthy..."
"What?" Harley's last few words were so quiet that even Hermione couldn't hear them.
But Harley didn't explain. She just pointed at the hut. "Let's go in and see what's going on."
From what she'd seen with Spirit Vision, Hagrid's spiritual form looked perfectly healthy. The Spirituality of the materials around him was as active as ever, and constantly draining away.
Hagrid seemed to be fine. The only thing Harley regretted was that she'd taught him several ways to preserve materials, but he didn't seem to be doing it properly.
Harley knocked gently on the door of Hagrid's Hut. "Hagrid, are you home?"
"Who is it?" Hagrid's deep voice called out, though he sounded a little flustered.
"It's me, Harley!" Harley called back. "Hermione and I came to visit!"
"Just a moment, wait there, I'll be right out..."
A little while later, Hagrid opened the door of the hut a crack.
After confirming who was outside, he quickly opened the door wider and let Harley and Hermione in, then immediately shut it tight again.
The hut was stiflingly hot, and flames leaped high in the fireplace.
"What brings you here?" Hagrid asked, bringing them tea and ferret sandwiches. Harley and Hermione politely declined the latter in unspoken agreement.
"We don't have classes on the weekend, so we came to see you. I also wanted to buy some more materials."
Harley pulled out a piece of parchment. "Hagrid, do you have any of these?"
"No problem!" Hagrid glanced over the parchment.
"I've seen these materials in Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley, and there are plenty of things that look a lot like them in the Forbidden Forest, too.
"I'll gather them up and write to you when I've got everything. You can check whether they're the right materials."
With that, Hagrid wiped the sweat from his forehead, gulped down a big mouthful of tea, and smiled.
"Harley, you're so much like your mum. Lily was just as fond of Potions..."
As Hagrid talked, Harley discreetly looked around the hut.
Hermione listened attentively. She was very interested in what Harley's parents had been like back then.
Ten minutes later, Hagrid had talked himself hoarse. While he paused to drink some tea, Harley began steering the conversation.
"Hagrid, it's so warm outside. Why do you have the doors and windows shut and the fireplace going?
"You're sweating so much—you must be roasting. Want me to open a window and let some air in?"
As she spoke, Harley made as if to get up and open a window.
"Don't!" Hagrid cried, immediately stopping her. "You can't open the window. The Dragon egg needs to be kept somewhere hot..."
"Dragon egg?" Hermione picked up on the words at once.
"Oh!" Hagrid covered his face.
After a long while, he finally admitted dejectedly, "All right, I'll confess. I got my hands on a Dragon egg recently, and I'm incubating it."
"But Hagrid," Hermione said, looking shocked.
"Professor Binns just told us in class this week that the Wizards' Convention officially passed a law banning the breeding of Dragons in 1709. Anyone who breaks the law will be punished by the Ministry of Magic!"
"Oh, that's no problem." Hagrid hadn't taken in a word of it.
"I'm sure the Ministry of Magic won't have the heart to punish a Dragon once they see what a little sweetheart it is.
"It'll be fine, trust me. Let's talk about the egg itself instead!
"I borrowed a book from the library, and it said you have to incubate a Dragon egg in a fire..."
Hagrid had gradually grown excited without even realizing it, and began bragging about all sorts of details about his Dragon egg.
But Harley was more interested in how he'd gotten the Dragon egg. Perhaps she could use the same source to get her hands on some contraband materials.
So she started steering the conversation in that direction.
"Hagrid, can you afford that much high-quality brandy? I imagine you'd already spent a lot of money getting the Dragon egg."
Harley brought up the subject at just the right moment, when he was explaining how to feed the baby Dragon.
"Oh, actually, I hardly spent anything." Hagrid rubbed the back of his head and chuckled.
"A few days ago, I was having a drink in Hogsmeade when I happened to run into a masked man.
"We played a few hands of cards, and the Dragon egg was the stake. I won it from him. Though I expect he was glad to get rid of it!
"The only thing I spent was the cost of two Butterbeers for him. What luck—he didn't drink Firewhisky!"
Harley was a little disappointed. She had no particular need for a Dragon egg; at most, she could use it to make a Sealed Artifact.
What interested Harley more was the possibility of a black-market channel, but this was clearly just a coincidence.
Of course, Harley had heard one name from Hagrid: "Knockturn Alley." She hadn't heard of that place at school.
Harley made a mental note to visit and have a look when she got the chance.
While Harley was thinking, Hagrid and Hermione began arguing. Hermione tried with all her might to persuade Hagrid to get rid of the Dragon egg.
"Hagrid, think about it. You live in a wooden house, and Dragons breathe fire!
"So once it hatches, it'll easily burn your house down and expose the fact that you're illegally raising a Dragon!
"Even if it doesn't burn your house down, a Dragon can grow as long as your house in just two weeks! You should get rid of it!"
"Oh, no!" Hagrid bit his lip. "I can't. This little one hasn't even been born yet. Where could it go?
"I have to at least hatch it, then raise it until it can live on its own. Otherwise, the moment it goes out into the wild, someone will hurt it!
"Only Hogwarts is safe!"
Hearing Hagrid, Harley suddenly felt like laughing for some reason.
In a hollow voice, she suddenly said, "The safest place? Hagrid, have you forgotten what Dumbledore's most famous accomplishment was?"
Hagrid looked at Harley in confusion. "What accomplishment?"
Hermione answered before he could. "One of Professor Dumbledore's most famous academic achievements was discovering twelve uses for Dragon Blood!"
Hagrid's huge face turned deathly pale. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
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