A Certain Scientific Harry Potter

"You basically said it yourself, you're raising a dragon." Harry smiled, winking. "Hagrid has been muttering about how much he wants to raise a dragon for ages~"

"My goodness! Doesn't he know that keeping a dragon privately is illegal?!" Hermione was instantly startled by Harry's guess.

If Hagrid had actually gotten his hands on a dragon egg, then things were definitely serious!

This wasn't like Harry's previous minor school rule-breaking that could be easily brushed aside!

That was a dragon, a dangerous magical creature strictly prohibited for private ownership by the Ministry of Magic!!

"Let's go take a look together."

When it came to dragons, Harry was actually quite interested, though he was more curious about how Hagrid intended to hatch the egg.

Would he act like a mother hen, lying motionless on a nest he'd built himself~

With this anticipation, the Granger Siblings knocked on the door of Hagrid's hut an hour later.

"Why are you two here?"

The wooden door was opened just a crack, and only after Hagrid confirmed they were familiar faces did he cautiously let Harry and Hermione inside.

"Hey, can't we come visit you just because?" Harry grinned mischievously. "You've blocked off the entire room so tightly, we came to check if you're up to something shady~"

"I... I'm not doing anything like that!!" Hearing Harry's sudden inquiry, Hagrid became quite fidgety.

"But we checked your library borrowing records," Hermione chimed in perfectly. "Do you want to hear what kind of books you've been checking out? Things like Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit..."

"Alright, alright, I admit it, okay?" Hagrid made a bitter face, helpless, and pointed toward the fireplace in the room. "The egg is right there, go see for yourselves~"

Following the direction Hagrid pointed, the two of them discovered a silent, giant egg amidst the burning embers.

Of course, Harry had already pinpointed the egg's location the moment he entered; after all, Hagrid couldn't hide the magical resonance emanating from a dragon egg.

Hmm... it sounded very similar to the vibrations beneath Gringotts, though weaker, it was quite volatile!

"Is this really a dragon egg?" Hermione asked in amazement. "How did you get this thing?"

"Won it~" Hagrid explained nonchalantly. "I was drinking at Hogsmeade Village last night, and a stranger in a hood lost it to me in a card game. I imagine that person was dying to get rid of it anyway."

Hogsmeade Village was a purely wizarding settlement near the school and the most popular destination for Hogwarts students, though students weren't allowed to visit until their third year, and only after obtaining parental permission and other paperwork.

Basically, it was like a Diagon Alley located near the school, filled with all sorts of people, so encountering someone unusual wasn't exactly strange.

But Harry was already suspicious.

"Is that really how it happened?" Harry narrowed his eyes, noncommittal. "As far as I know, while private dragon ownership is indeed illegal, there are plenty of ways to dispose of a dragon egg before it hatches."

Looking across all of Hogwarts, if there was anyone besides the gamekeeper Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn of the Care of Magical Creatures class who knew about magical creatures, Harry would definitely be at the top of the list.

After all, he and Scamander had a bond so close they were like father and son.

Under the supplementary rules of Article 73 of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, dragon eggs were classified as Class A non-tradable goods, strictly forbidden from import or sale between countries, but within Britain, there were still many channels to handle them.

Harry knew of three ways off the top of his head.

Let's start with the third method: just throw it away~

If a wizard really found a dragon egg, they could simply toss it into the wilderness; there would be nothing wrong with that, and no one would come looking for trouble afterward.

But almost no wizard would do that, because a dragon egg was a valuable commodity that was easy to liquidate in both the black and white markets.

If one wanted more Galleons, they could find a way into Knockturn Alley, where they would definitely encounter a crowd of interested buyers.

If one was afraid of trouble and didn't want to go to such a lawless place, they could take the egg to the Ministry of Magic.

Since dragons were classified as Level 5 (the highest level) dangerous creatures, if they ever threatened ordinary humans, the country's entire Ministry of Magic would be held accountable by the International Confederation of Wizards. Therefore, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures would be quite happy for a wizard to voluntarily turn in a dragon egg.

Not only would they waive the charge of 'illegal possession of a dragon egg,' but they would also issue a reward as an incentive.

Scamander had witnessed such events more than once; it was back in 1918 when he was still working at the Ministry. According to the pricing from over seventy years ago, turning in a dragon egg would earn a reward of 30 Galleons.

With Scamander's salary of two Silver Sickles a week back then, he would have had to save for five whole years without eating, drinking, or spending a penny to get 30 Galleons!

At that time, he truly dreamed of finding a dragon egg himself~

If he hadn't failed to find one, he wouldn't have ended up changing careers to write books ┌|*′?｀|┘

So, in summary, the person Hagrid met wasn't unable to get rid of it; they were deliberately pushing the dragon egg onto him!!

(p.s. Don't worry about the 30 Galleon price tag; it was just written for the sake of the plot, that's all~)

Chapter 79: Hatching an Egg Isn't That Easy

"So, tell us, what exactly did you reveal to that person?" After sorting out the sequence of events, Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I, I didn't really talk to him about anything..." Hagrid tugged at his beard, conflicted. "I had a few too many drinks, and while talking about the egg, I brought up Fluffy... oh, that's the three-headed dog. You know, creatures like that are hard to come by. The other person seemed interested, so I chatted a bit, saying that Fluffy falls asleep as soon as he hears music..."

That's it~

Since Hagrid mentioned his three-headed dog, Harry was absolutely certain that the person who gave the egg to Hagrid was undoubtedly Quirrell!

Every staff member at Hogwarts knew about Hagrid's desire to raise a dragon, and Quirrell using this to cater to his interests to break through Hagrid's defenses couldn't have been easier.

However, Quirrell probably didn't expect that Harry, who was behind Hagrid, not only knew a great deal about magical creatures but also had an extraordinary understanding of legal statutes, allowing him to easily identify his identity!

Come to think of it, Hagrid was actually quite tight-lipped and always kept in mind the need to keep secrets, but that was only on the condition that... he didn't start chatting with people~

Once he got into a good conversation, there was no telling which sentence might let the key information slip out of his mouth.

Actually, there was nothing to worry about; Quirrell would have found out in the original story anyway, so it made no difference now.

Harry was much more interested in the dragon egg; he had been listening to the little creature inside chirping for quite a while.

"This dragon egg... Hagrid, I'm not against you hatching it, but the way you're doing it right now might be problematic." After listening carefully, Harry shook his head.

"Problematic?" Hagrid scratched his head in confusion. "I'm following the method written in the book exactly. You have to put the dragon egg in the fire because their mothers breathe on them..."

"That's exactly the problem!" Harry sighed, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "A mother dragon is a dragon herself, and the breath they exhale is dragon fire! You don't actually think the flames of a mere fireplace are equivalent to the heat of an adult dragon, do you?"

Harry was one hundred percent certain that if he followed Hagrid's method, this little dragon would be born with congenital deficiencies and might never grow up to be as strong as its peers.

Of course, he wasn't just making this up; he could hear it.

Harry had grown accustomed to the sound of magical currents recently. While he couldn't actively respond to certain magical items or creatures, he could basically discern the meaning they were trying to convey.

The sound of the little dragon inside the egg was intermittent, and it kept sending Harry a signal... it was cold, and it was hungry!

The fireplace's flames didn't have enough heat, and the magic contained within them was even more insufficient; it needed flames with higher temperatures and more active magic!

"This... if that's really the case, then what should I do?"

Hagrid was at a loss upon hearing this. He certainly wouldn't doubt Harry's words, so he was now particularly worried, fearing that his crude egg-hatching environment would hinder the little dragon's growth.

"Let me try... Incendio!"

Harry raised his hand and flicked his wand. The flames in the fireplace suddenly surged high, nearly scorching the beams of the hut!

"Harry, be careful! Hagrid lives in a wooden house!" Hermione, who was nearby, screamed a reminder.

"I know."

Harry gently flicked his wand, using his powerful control to successfully change the shape of the flames, turning them into a spiral fire snake coiling around the dragon egg.

Patterns like a web of fire gradually appeared on the shell of the egg wrapped in flames. It shook slightly, as if expressing its gratitude to Harry.

"It really works? That's great!!" Seeing this, Hagrid was so happy he almost jumped up.

"This isn't bad at all... Alright, I've decided!" Harry quickly had an idea. "Starting today, I'll stay here at night to help you hatch this dragon egg. Every day after class, I'll come back here first thing!"

Just a moment ago, Harry discovered a new way to improve his strength: heating this dragon egg.

After reaching a bottleneck in his strength improvement through the Mirror of Erised, Harry had been looking for ways to continue advancing.

According to the logic of typical fantasy novels, maintaining a cycle of magic release and replenishment would surely refine his magic, even if it couldn't increase his total magical capacity.

So, in the current Hogwarts, what could be more draining on magic than continuously heating a dragon egg?

"Haha, this is truly wonderful!" Hagrid patted Harry on the shoulder in excitement, nearly knocking him to the ground.

"Please, Hagrid, your strength is already comparable to a dragon's!"

Harry rubbed his shoulder and complained, then sat cross-legged in front of the fireplace, beginning to continuously release magic to maintain the flames.

"Hehe, I was just too excited~" Hagrid rubbed his nose sheepishly. "Harry, it's so good of you to help. How about this: you stay here and heat the egg, and I'll go prepare some food for you!"

"So... what about me?" Looking back and forth between the clearly divided tasks of Harry and Hagrid, Hermione, who hadn't spoken for a while, looked conflicted. "One of you is in charge of hatching, the other is in charge of logistics, so what am I supposed to do?"

"You can help me with my homework~" Harry said with a cheeky grin.

"Go to hell!" Hermione wrinkled her nose and glared at Harry, but she didn't actually refuse.

The pendulum of the grandfather clock swung again. Once Harry officially started hatching the egg, he realized just how big an appetite this unborn little guy had!

Harry had to attend classes during the day, so the dragon egg had to be left in the fireplace by itself, but the fire Harry needed to maintain couldn't be reduced at all—it all had to be made up for at night!

During this time, Hagrid had thought about taking over for Harry during the day, but he found that his magical control was far less precise than Harry's. He nearly burned the house down several times, which scared him so much he didn't dare try again.

This forced Harry to stay up all night releasing magic to maintain the flames, and then, after checking in at class during the day, he would fall fast asleep in the classroom to replenish his energy.

In short, he had figured it out: this little guy was being hatched purely on his own magic, his own heart's blood, and his Ravenclaw house points!

What, you ask what this has to do with Ravenclaw?

Heaven knows how many times Harry had his ears pulled by Professor McGonagall for sleeping in class, and how many times he was given detention by Snape... He had even become so skilled that he could sleep standing up, just like Hedwig~

However, there was always a reward for the effort. The day-and-night training made Harry feel his magic becoming more solid. The spells Snape had taught him, which he had previously found somewhat obscure, were now completely mastered.

At the same time, the fiery web patterns on the eggshell changed every day, and they would even flicker in sync with the pulse of his magic whenever Harry maintained the heat.

Finally, one morning, while Harry was releasing magic, he clearly heard... a roar from the young dragon inside the egg!

It was about to hatch!

(p.s. The artist changed the image to a vertical format so the horizontal image wouldn't be squashed too small on the screen~)

Chapter 80: The Decision to Raise a Dragon is Crazy

"Has the little dragon hatched? Let me see, quickly!"

When Hermione received a letter from Hedwig early in the morning, she skipped her second class of the morning, something she had never done before, and hurried to Hagrid's hut.

"Not yet, but it's close." Harry pointed to the giant egg that had been moved to the table, where a crack on the shell was gradually widening.

"By the way, did anyone follow you when you came here?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Followed... why are you asking that? I was in a rush and didn't notice~" Hermione paused, not quite understanding what Harry meant.

"Let's talk about that after the dragon egg hatches."

Harry smiled mysteriously, but he did not say anything right away.

There was a brat who had been coming to the hut almost every night lately to peek at the dragon egg; did he really think he didn't know?

"It should be hatching any moment now, right?"

Hagrid rubbed his hands together in excitement, and three heads—one large and two small—leaned in toward the table at the same time.

The dragon egg wobbled slightly, and a constant cracking sound emanated from the shell; it was the baby dragon biting its way through its confinement.

Soon... they would be able to see it.

The three people in the room held their breath in unison, not even daring to let out a sigh.

However, just as a harsh scraping sound came from the eggshell, Hagrid, who had always been allergic to cat fur, couldn't hold it back and let out a massive sneeze!

"Ah... achoo!!"

Hagrid's body lurched violently, and the hand he had been resting on Harry's shoulder instinctively pushed forward, slamming Harry squarely onto the table.

At the same time, the long-awaited baby dragon finally broke through its shell.