Hatching the Dragon Egg, the Three Little Ones Worried

Hagrid's Hut

Lucien was poking at the firewood in the fireplace with a fire poker, trying to make the flames burn brighter.

But this is just for show.

According to Professor Newt, the incubation of Fire Dragon eggs requires the mother dragon to breathe continuously, exhaling warm gas, as well as intermittent small-scale dragon breaths; the latter is actually the key.

The Fire Dragon's magical flames are extremely hot and possess special magical elements, which can provide ample nutrients for the hatching and development of young dragons.

If it's just an ordinary fire like firewood, it might be able to barely hatch.

However, Fire Dragon's late-game development falls behind.

So while Hagrid was out, Lucien had Liuguang mix a trace of Purifying Fire into the firewood, a kind of advanced flame that was close to pure gold.

This ensures that the temperature required for the dragon egg is sufficient.

Of course, Lucien also followed Newt's instructions and had the Liuguang control the temperature range of the Purifying Fire to prevent turning the incubating dragon eggs into roasted dragon eggs.

As for the special magical elements contained in the dragon's breath, Lucien indeed found it difficult to deal with.

It's impossible for me to actually catch an adult Fire Dragon to help incubate the egg; given the Fire Dragon's violent temper, it would probably just treat the egg as a snack.

However, Lucien's intuition told him that the Purifying Fire of the mythical beast Qilin might have an even more wondrous effect.

Having learned from his previous experiences, Lucien now has a lot of faith in his intuition, or rather, his special inspiration.

"Lucien, you've worked hard. Take a rest and try my weasel sandwich."

Hagrid placed the tea and snacks on the round table, then took the fire poker from Lucien and got to work.

Looking at the refreshments on the table, Lucien felt it was still very Hagrid.

He picked up a cup of tea and sipped it gently, avoiding the grotesque 'white weasel sandwich.' Instead, he took a piece of Rock Cake from the side, secretly casting several Softening Charm on it before taking a bite.

Aside from being very hard, the Rock Cake was quite fragrant.

"By the way, Lucien, you mentioned before that hatching Fire Dragon eggs requires high-temperature flames, so this fireplace..."

"It's alright. I've mixed in some magical flames. It might not be as good as dragon's breath, but it's better than regular firewood."

Hagrid clapped his hands happily upon hearing this.

"Thank you, Lucien, you really are a good person."

These words silenced Lucien, who actually wanted to get the dragon egg from Hagrid.

While it's definitely not a free lunch— Hagrid will have to be compensated—how should I bring it up?

"Bang bang bang--"

A knock came at the door, Hagrid quickly pushed the dragon egg into the fireplace and hung a kettle above it.

Hagrid then got up and went to open the door.

Lucien glanced at the water jug and found it completely empty. He shook his head, drew his wand, and waved it lightly.

A silent stream of Aguamenti, filled the kettle to the brim.

"Oh, it's Harry! Come on in, everyone."

The three little ones arrived at Hagrid's Hut and found it surprisingly hot inside; despite it being springtime, the fireplace was still burning.

And sitting by the fireplace was the familiar Lucien.

After Harry, Harry, and Lucien greeted each other, they sat down and wisely declined Hagrid's offer to try the weasel sandwiches.

"Hagrid, let's get straight to the point. We want to know, besides Fluffy, what other obstacles protect the Sorcerer's Stone?"

"No, no, no, I can't tell you, you know too much!"

Faced with Harry's direct question, Hagrid waved his hands repeatedly, then added:

"Of course, I don't know either, so I can't tell you anything."

Harry, his two friends, and Lucien exchanged bewildered glances, while Lucien leisurely sipped his tea. Finally, Hermione spoke up:

"Hagrid, what can happen here that can escape your eyes? We just want to know who else designed the level."

After a pause, Hermione flattered in a sweet tone:

"Besides you, who else can Dumbledore trust, and who else can help him?"

Seeing Hagrid's smug and proud smile, Harry Ron quietly gave Hermione a thumbs up.

Lucien was impressed by Hermione's performance; she truly lived up to her reputation as the intellectual backbone of the trio throughout the early, or rather, the entire story.

That immediately struck a chord with Hagrid. Hmm, the little girl really does have a sweet tongue and a pleasant way of speaking.

"Ahem, well, you can talk about it then. I've lent out Fluffy, and the other professors have set up some magical arrangements."

Hagrid picked up his teacup and gulped down several mouthfuls, then said, as if reminiscing:

"Like Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, Professor Quirrell, Professor Snape..."

"Oh, of course, Dumbledore himself also set up related content."

All three of them noticed.

"And Professor Snape?"

Hagrid wore an expression that seemed perfectly natural.

"That's right, he's a professor at Hogwarts, why would he steal the Sorcerer's Stone? Alright, your only suspect is out of the picture..."

While Harry was wondering who was trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone, he suddenly noticed something burning in the fireplace.

A big, black egg?

"Hagrid, what is this?"

Hearing Harry's question, Hagrid suddenly tensed up, stroking his long beard.

"This, that, is..."

Ron ran up curiously to take a look, while Hermione said with a serious expression:

"Hagrid, that creature is dangerous. Its flames are terrifying, and..."

Hermione glanced around,

"You still live in a wooden cabin."

These words made Hagrid raise his chin and say with a chuckle:

"It's alright, it's alright. Lucien has already cast Water-Repelling Charm on the house and furniture for me."

"And I've also read a lot of books..."

While Hagrid went to get the book, Hermione looked at Lucien suspiciously, wondering how he already knew about Hagrid's dragon egg.

Lucien calmly continued drinking his tea, as if he hadn't noticed anyone watching him.

"Look, dragon eggs have to be placed in a fire, and after they hatch, they have to drink a barrel of brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. My goodness, can you imagine? A little guy has to drink so much alcohol!"

"The egg I'm carrying should be Norwegian Ridgeback, that's what Lucien told me, and later I saw in a book that it was indeed true!"

"Ah, my dream is to raise a Fire Dragon. Hmm, my previous dream was to raise a Three-Headed Dog, and my earliest dream was Acromantula..."

Hagrid hummed a little tune as he tended the firewood.

Moreover, after Harry and his friends tried to persuade him several times, Hagrid consistently gave a clear answer as to how he planned to handle the dragon egg and the baby Fire Dragon that might hatch from it.

After noticing that Lucien hadn't said much either, the three boys gradually stopped mentioning the matter.

After chatting for a short while, Harry and his two companions got up to say goodbye.

There's nothing I can do; things have just gotten busier and busier lately.

We must protect the Sorcerer's Stone from being stolen by bad guys and maintain the peace of Hogwarts.

Now we have to worry about Hagrid raising Fire Dragon.

This made the three little ones increasingly worried.

Schoolwork is busy, including the year-end exams, which means there's more homework for all subjects.

Lucien also said that there would still be final exams, but fortunately the content overlapped quite a bit with the school's curriculum, so it could be considered as early review.

Hermione was naturally delighted, but Harry and Ron were in for a rough time. The two of them clearly remembered Lucien saying something like:

"Recently, some students have mentioned that the workload is relatively light, so we're speeding up the pace..."

Although it was unkind, Harry and Ron's first reaction was genuinely "suspicion" that Hermione had said it, but then they immediately realized that didn't make sense. Given Hermione's personality, if she were to say something, she would have said it in front of everyone, not privately to Lucien.

Both Harry and Ron believed that the other was not the reason why they were studying harder. After all, brothers understand that they can learn well from Lucien, but they would never ask for extra lessons!

That leaves two suspects: one is Malfoy, and the other is the newly joined female student named Greengrass, who is also Slytherin.

Malfoy is definitely the prime suspect, but Harry and the others can't figure out what his motive is.

However, these two have already identified their objective: to ensure stability in the future, they must find the mole!