On Christmas Day, He Shenyan was not at Hogwarts.
He knew that the teachers and students remaining at the school would hold a Christmas feast together. There might not have been many people, but the occasion would certainly be grand enough. However, he had more pressing matters to attend to—at least, matters far more urgent to him than a Christmas feast.
He was currently on the Northern European Plain. Dumbledore had gotten him a Hungarian Horntail.
The dragon was covered in black scales, with yellow eyes and bronze horns. Its tail was bristling with spikes. This monster, renowned for its extreme ferocity, was lying obediently on the ground at the moment, barely daring to breathe.
Its amber-yellow eyes did not even dare glance at He Shenyan. It could only stare at the hem of his black robe.
The man in the suit extended a hand, and He Shenyan shook it. The man said enthusiastically, "Sir, I must say, I've never seen this dragon act like this before."
"Is that so? Aren't you an expert in this trade? Dumbledore said you've sold over fifty dragons in twenty years." He Shenyan turned to look at the Horntail and spoke casually.
"Haha, that's just a selling point. I have sold plenty of dragons, but I'm no expert." The man laughed heartily, then left via Apparition.
He was quite tactful.
Watching him leave, He Shenyan casually laid down five detection spells around the area, then added a powerful anti-magic ward. After that, he set up a human-repelling spell. Having done all that, he even cautiously used the Mirror Dimension.
The dragon had already been left dazed by the repeated waves of Magic Power. Dragons were naturally extremely sensitive to magical auras. Their tendons, hearts, and even scales were excellent materials for all sorts of magical items.
He Shenyan had read in the history of Magic that only six dragon species remained, all of them endangered—but money held endless appeal.
Besides, sometimes, there was no need to spend money.
Dumbledore had merely mentioned it in passing, and this man had volunteered himself, coming to offer a Hungarian Horntail. He asked for no reward; he simply wanted to make an impression. People like him were usually skilled at opportunism and adapting to the wind.
It did not sound particularly admirable, but most of them did quite well for themselves. Human society could not do without such people, and no one truly disliked them—as long as they were adapting themselves to you.
He Shenyan looked at the dragon before him and, unusually, found himself in a difficult position. He wanted to study the dragon, but he did not want it to die just like that.
He quickly thought of a solution.
Black Magic Power surged between his fingers, and an intricate magic circle emerged in the air. He Shenyan then gathered Magic Power into a giant hand and seized the dragon.
The magic circle expanded. Then, holding the dragon, he passed it through the circle. A moment later, the Horntail lowered its head and stared blankly at its claws. It had grown more than twice as large, a situation its meager mind could not comprehend.
It had originally been only seven meters long. Now, it was a full eighteen meters long.
He Shenyan vanished from where he stood and appeared atop the Horntail's head in the blink of an eye.
He gently stomped his foot, and the Horntail's mountain-like body collapsed onto the ground as it fell asleep. He Shenyan climbed down, crouched beside it, and cast a pain-blocking spell on the dragon. His gaze shifted to the pair of savage bronze horns atop its head, and he fell into thought.
"Research log: Hogwarts world. Classified creature: subspecies dragon, Hungarian Horntail."
As his voice fell, a sphere of light appeared out of thin air and said in an emotionless voice, "Recording initiated."
"Hmm, let's see. After using the Enlargement Spell, its physical constitution has been comprehensively enhanced. The possibility of atavism cannot be ruled out."
He summoned a wind blade and slashed it across the Horntail's scales, easily carving a wound so deep that bone was visible across its back.
He Shenyan frowned. "Its magic resistance is extremely low. It remains unclear whether other dragon subspecies are the same. Make a note: remember to improve magic resistance."
He Shenyan casually clenched his hand again, and a ball of flame ignited in the air. He tossed it onto the dragon's belly. The burning continued for several minutes, yet under the intense heat, the Horntail's belly scales did not even discolor.
Next, he roasted its entire body. The scales did not even change temperature. He Shenyan smiled and nodded. "Extremely fire-resistant."
He took some blood from the wound on the Horntail's back—two large bottles' worth. Then he cast another spell. A hymn rose in the air, as though countless voices were chanting together.
They were men and women, old and young, reciting Its holy name before saying in unison, "Heal."
In a burst of golden light, a healing spell from Heaven restored the wound on the Horntail's back with Reparo. It even grew a little larger, reaching twenty-one meters.
He Shenyan was somewhat surprised—the spell came from his world, so why could it be used in another world?
"Record: the Horntail does not reject spells from Heaven. It can even benefit from their buffs. The possibility of it being a Hell dragon subspecies can be ruled out."
"Now, let me take a look at your horns."
As he spoke, azure light shone in his hand. A massive two-handed sword appeared in his grasp. Wearing wizard robes, He Shenyan swung the greatsword, which was larger than himself, and cut off both of the Horntail's horns.
"Hmm. No blood is flowing from the breaks. The horns are not vital points for the Horntail."
He moved a finger, and one horn rose into the air. He repeated what he had done at Ollivanders Wand Shop, except this time, he added many special ingredients. He Shenyan leaned on his cane, and the other horn rose as well before vanishing into the air.
He planned to take these back for that old man Ollivander to practice on.
I taught him a couple of tricks, so I ought to give him some materials. Otherwise, if he messes up, he'll be ruining my reputation too. He Shenyan thought to himself. He always had peculiar principles in such strange matters.
"Next, let's test its magical conductivity."
He raised his cane. It was entirely black, with spiral patterns along its shaft, and looked plain and unremarkable. But in the next second, Magic Power lit up its tip, and a pillar of flame erupted from it, vaporizing a nearby mountain without leaving even a trace behind.
If they had not been in the Mirror Dimension, this alone would probably have driven all the wizards around here mad.
"Its magical conductivity is excellent. I'm starting to wonder—are dragons in every world like this? It's a miracle they haven't been bred in herds. Of course, maybe these people simply don't understand the importance of sustainable development. You have to harvest chives one crop at a time."
"Overall evaluation: an excellent disposable soldier. After the Enlargement Spell, it should be able to fight two Steve Rogerses. Sorry, Captain, I didn't want to do it either. How has your advanced training been going? Ah, why am I telling the recording sphere all this?"
"The horns and scales possess exceptional magical conductivity and excellent fire resistance, but average magic resistance."
The sphere of light disappeared.
He waved his hand, and the dragon abruptly opened its eyes, letting out a shrill scream. But its voice was gradually becoming thinner, as was its body. The gigantic twenty-one-meter creature slowly shrank until it was only palm-sized.
He Shenyan stepped forward and picked up the agitated little thing, rolling it around in his hand. The shrunken Horntail bit him with its claws and teeth, but it could not even break his skin. It tried breathing fire as well, but could only spit out a puff of black smoke.
Before long, it lay down on its own and gave up struggling. Sprawled across He Shenyan's palm, it looked just like a dead lizard.
He Shenyan looked up at the Northern European sky and muttered to himself, "There isn't even a Chinese Dragon here. Sigh. I wanted to ride a dragon, too."
He did not know that certain things were about to arrive.
Where there was a cause, there would be an effect.
Before you continue