The Christmas holidays had flown by, and compared with before the break, Hogwarts was missing quite a few people.
But the school remained quiet. Aside from a few sighs over how quickly the holiday had vanished, no one seemed to care.
This was somewhat unexpected to Ezio. At the very least, he'd thought he would feel some impact, considering he'd made quite a commotion. It was only natural that some parents would be furious. Someone had dragged their family's name through the mud, and slinking away from Hogwarts was hardly something to be proud of.
If Dumbledore had known Ezio was thinking this, he would have laughed out loud.
You little brat, you think you'll get another chance to cause trouble? The Wizarding World has finally found a bit of peace, so you'd better keep your head down. For as long as I'm in office, you're not pulling any of your nonsense, Ezio, you little rascal. You think I'm the sort of person who'd let you get started? How many wizards are there in England? Even if you mowed them all down, it wouldn't be enough to add an inch to that mountain of skulls of yours.
Dumbledore had put in some rare overtime over Christmas. He went out and had some pleasant, peaceful, friendly talks with a few people, then helped them put their worries to rest. After Dumbledore's kind persuasion, they said they understood and seriously reflected on how their family had managed to produce such a good-for-nothing who had brought shame upon them all.
At least in public, they were willing to do a favor for Dumbledore, the man from another dimension who possessed the Face Fruit. After all, the combined length of his titles was greater than their lifespans.
As for anyone who wanted to sneak around and stir up trouble behind the scenes, Dumbledore could only say that Merlin didn't save fools who went looking for death. He trusted Ezio to take care of things properly. Once they were off school grounds, it had nothing to do with him. Besides, he'd already given them fair warning.
Fudge might have a bit of trouble during this period, since some people still hadn't given up on pressuring the Ministry of Magic and trying to get the authorities involved. But that was Fudge's problem, not Dumbledore's.
The second half of the school year at Hogwarts turned out to be even more enjoyable than Ezio had expected. In the weeks after Christmas, he grew busier and busier. There were only ten weeks left until the end of the second term, and he still had to take care of some matters related to going abroad during the holidays. He needed to pick up the pace so he wouldn't fall behind on his planned tasks.
One afternoon, as Ezio and Harry were getting in their usual study session at the library, a huge figure walked through the library doors.
"Hagrid, what are you doing in the library?" Harry asked. He had looked up to stretch and spotted Hagrid, so he nudged Ezio and got up to follow him.
"Oh!" Hagrid gave a start. He'd been so focused on the books in front of him that he hadn't noticed them. When he recognized who they were, he spoke awkwardly. "I just came to... to... Nice weather today, isn't it? Hahaha."
Hagrid clumsily changed the subject, then tucked the books from the shelf under his arm.
"You're raising a dragon?" Ezio called from behind him just as Hagrid was about to make a hasty escape. The words nearly made Hagrid drop the books.
"Shh!"
He raised a thick finger and glanced around like a thief. "Come to my hut, and you'll see."
Hagrid looked so ridiculous that Ezio couldn't help finding it funny. It was hard not to laugh when someone as big as him made that kind of gesture.
"Then let's go now."
"Ah... all right." Hagrid sighed. He'd known he couldn't hide it from Ezio the moment he saw him. If only Harry had come alone—at least then he'd have had a chance of fooling him.
The three of them left the castle, one after the other. Hagrid strode along in a hurry, too busy to chat with them. When he sped up, the two behind him had to run to keep up. There was no helping it: almost everyone in the world had short legs compared to Hagrid. Even Yao Ming would only come up to his chest.
When they reached the door, Hagrid turned to Ezio, who was jogging alongside him, looking nervous. "You absolutely mustn't tell anyone."
"Sounds like you really are raising a dragon, then."
"Strictly speaking, it's a dragon egg."
Hagrid opened the door, and a wave of heat rolled out through the gap. The weather wasn't as cold as it had been, but the fire in Hagrid's hut was blazing. For someone with the constitution of a half-giant, though, the heat and cold didn't make much difference. He barely broke a sweat.
"Want some weasel sandwiches?"
After setting down the books, Hagrid greeted them warmly. "This time I roasted them with cumin and chili. That method you suggested really works."
"I'll have one, then."
Ezio accepted a sandwich almost as big as half a washbasin. It was a cut-off piece from a much larger sandwich, less than a fifth of the whole, but it was still enough to stuff him.
As he gnawed on his weasel sandwich, Ezio watched Hagrid bustle about in front of the fireplace.
Inside the fireplace, beneath the kettle, sat a dark, soot-black egg. The flames licked at its shell, but it looked as though the egg were eating the fire. If Hagrid didn't keep adding logs, a fire that should have burned for three or four hours wouldn't last even one.
If Ollivander saw this, the old man would be so heartbroken he couldn't breathe. All the wood Hagrid was burning was high-grade magical timber, aged at least a hundred years. Their rings bore witness to how long they had breathed the air of the world, but now their time had come to burn.
"Just look at the little darling!"
Hagrid poked at the fire and spoke with an affectionate smile, gazing at it as if it were his own child.
"Do you know what kind of dragon it is?"
After managing to finish his dinner, Ezio crouched down beside Hagrid and looked at the dragon egg with him.
"Of course! Of course! As soon as I got back to Hogwarts, I borrowed a book and looked it up. It's a Norwegian Ridgeback. Spines grow backward along its back. This little darling won't be very big—at least, among dragons, it's a small one. But no matter what, it'll grow up beautiful. I can hardly wait to touch its scales and introduce it to all the other little darlings in the forest."
"Then congratulations on getting your wish soon, Hagrid," Harry said happily, though he couldn't help feeling that there was something a little off about it.
"Of course. This is worth celebrating, but we need to be careful not to let him find out. Once it hatches, you can come over, and we'll have a little celebration."
"So you do know you're not allowed to keep a dragon without permission, Hagrid."
There was a hint of teasing in Ezio's voice. Hagrid nodded, looking troubled. "But what can I do? I can't just abandon the little one."
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