The Beating Arrives

Fortunately, Tom had only killed one dragon and had even absorbed the Dragon Blood, so his aura as a dragon slayer wasn't too strong. In the end, his sense of closeness overcame his fear.

Hagrid, standing to the side, was completely dumbfounded. If he had read a few more books, his mind would definitely be racing with thoughts like, "Amazing! Amazing!"

I've seen people tame dragons, but I've never seen anyone so easily tame a fire-breathing dragon!

Tom played with the little dragon for a while, then got tired of it and wanted to give it to Daphne and Hermione to try, but the two refused in unison, their disdain undisguised.

Harry looked at the little dragon, who had already finished its eggshell and was now happily munching on fresh beef, and asked worriedly, "Hagrid, are you really not going to give it away?"

Hagrid was currently immersed in the joy of being a "dragon dad" and wouldn't listen to any advice. He just nodded perfunctorily. Seeing that he was so stubborn, Harry could only sigh helplessly.

Tom glanced at him. "If you really want to keep it, you'll have to prepare a habitat and food. Norwegian Ridgeback like to eat large mammals, like goats and deer..."

Once the novelty wore off, Daphne took a few unflattering photos with the magic camera and then pulled Hermione away, not wanting to look at them anymore. Tom simply took them away, leaving Harry and Ron in the hut.

The atmosphere in the room only eased after the three people left.

The following week was a nightmare for Harry, as the little dragon grew up to look like an inflated balloon.

Things changed every day; he worried about Hagrid being discovered while also enduring Malfoy's various threats.

Although Hagrid told him that Tom had warned Malfoy and that the man was just bluffing, Harry didn't know Tom's "status" in Slytherin and always felt that Malfoy wouldn't listen obediently.

After repeated persuasion from him and Ron, Hagrid finally relented and decided to give the little dragon to Charlie, the second son of the Weasley family, who was working in Romanian Dragon Sanctuary in Romania.

Tom's paper was kept under Snape's thumb for a week.

Snape checked the experimental data three times and asked Tom to add a few more control experiments. Tom cheated and asked Snape to do them for him.

A week later, Snape handed the revised paper to Tom. "I've already sent it to the editorial office of * Potions Today *. We should hear from you in a month to three months at the latest."

"Thank you, Professor."

"Don't thank me." Snape leaned back in his chair. "Once the paper is published, you can join the Extraordinary Potioneers Association."

"Membership in the association will bring you many advantages. For some books in the Restricted Section, Albus Dumbledore is not enough; membership in the association is also required."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Academia is more closed off than you think." Snape picked up his teacup. "There's a reason why those old men have monopolized Potions knowledge for hundreds of years."

Tom put the paper away and asked, "Professor, what about the special contribution award?"

Snape paused for a moment. "I'm working on it, don't rush me."

In the Forbidden Forest, Tom hadn't paid any attention to Norbert these past few days, focusing all his attention on seducing the little unicorn.

He can now cuddle and stroke the little unicorn's fur, but he still hasn't completed the second trial.

Tom pondered that perhaps the little unicorn was too young to understand the meaning of "approval" and "following";

Or perhaps the little unicorn simply didn't consider him its master; in Tom's words, "Damn, that's so rude!"

Thinking of this, Tom became furious and reached out to vigorously rub the little unicorn's head.

The little unicorn blinked its adorable big eyes, looking at him blankly, not understanding what it had done to offend this human.

Tom ignored it and turned to look at the large unicorn leisurely eating beside him. The little one might not know any better, but surely the big one would.

The great unicorn was indeed sensible and saw through Tom's thoughts, but it didn't care. It had food and drink in the Forbidden Forest and got along well with other Magical Creatures, so why should it submit to humans?

Their main trait is getting something for nothing; they'll take whatever food they're given, and they won't starve if they aren't. To put it bluntly, they just need to be toughened up by society.

Soon, the beating began.

One Wednesday, a male unicorn died in the Forbidden Forest. When Tom arrived, the silvery blood had already dried, and the large unicorn and the small unicorn were huddled to one side, their eyes filled with fear.

"See that?" Tom pointed to the dried bloodstains, convincingly deceiving the audience.

"Don't think you're safe in the Forbidden Forest. When you're out in the world, you need to have a certain status and background. What will you do if you, a widow and her orphan, are targeted by bad guys again?"

The great unicorn let out a pitiful whimper.

"I've already placed a tracking spell on your daughter, so I'll know if she's in danger. But what about you?"

Tom stared at the giant unicorn and played his trump card, "Madam, you wouldn't want anything to happen to you, leaving your daughter all alone in this world, would you?"

The unicorn was very clever; it understood everything Tom said, and its eyes clearly showed hesitation.

Ultimately, the instinct for survival triumphed over pride; it slightly bent its forelegs and slowly lowered its head.

Tom immediately left his mark on it, and the little unicorn became even more clingy, following him around like a silvery-white tail.

But the second trial was still not completed.

The palace on the system panel was only lit up to one-third of the way, neither bright nor dim, which annoyed Tom.

He crouched down, hugged the little unicorn's head, and stared at it intently.

"Don't you understand what recognition means?"

The little unicorn blinked and snorted.

"Are you still pretending to be stupid with me?"

The little unicorn buried its head in his chest and nuzzled against him.

Tom sighed. Oh well, why bother arguing with a child?

The wind was strong at the Astronomy Tower night.

Harry wrapped himself tightly in his Invisibility Cloak, clutching the box containing Norbert in his arms.

Ron squatted to the side, his face pale from the wind, his lips pressed into a thin line, as several brooms sliced through the night sky and landed in front of them.

The leader was a young man with red hair and freckles on his face, and he smiled just like Ron.

Charlie Weasley, followed by three people, two men and one woman, all wearing leather flight suits with goggles hanging around their necks.

"Harry?" Charlie jumped off his broom. "Ron?"

"Brother." Ron stood up, his legs a little weak, "You've finally arrived."

Charlie walked over and glanced at the box. "Is the fire dragon inside?"

"Hmm. Norwegian Ridgeback, just hatched a week ago."

Charlie lifted a corner of the box, and Norbert looked up and bared his teeth at him.

His teeth weren't fully grown in yet, but you could already see tiny white dots. Charlie smiled. "Such a spirited little guy."

"Energetic my ass." Ron rolled up his sleeve, revealing a red, swollen scar on his arm. "It bit me. It's swollen like an eggplant."

Charlie glanced at it, and the witch behind him walked over, took a bottle of ointment from her pocket, and handed it to Ron. "Apply it, and it'll be fine tomorrow."

Ron took it and thanked him.