Hagrid opened the door and let Silan into the house.
He carefully placed the dragon egg in a large basket.
After standing there for a while, Hagrid felt uneasy, so he put a Unicorn Hair mat in the basket.
It was as if he were facing not a dragon egg, but a sleeping baby.
"Please, sit wherever you like, Silan."
Hagrid patted the dragon egg as if soothing a baby to sleep, then turned to close the door.
He cautiously peeked out, glanced outside, and only after confirming that no one was there did he close the door and go back inside.
Silan took a candle and walked to the table to examine the dragon egg up close.
Although he had read about dragon eggs in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," no matter how detailed the description in the book was, it couldn't compare to seeing them in person.
The dragon egg Hagrid brought back was entirely black. Only when a candle was brought close could one see the fine, interlocking scale-like patterns on it. These scale-like patterns were layered and seamless.
Silan extended a finger and ran her fingertip along the lines of the scales.
The scales are thin yet have a distinct warmth, and feel very delicate and layered to the touch.
Hagrid pulled up a stool for Silan, took the kettle from the fire, poured him a cup of hot tea, and brought him some ferret sandwiches.
Thank goodness, at least it's not Rock Cakes anymore, Silan thought.
"Can you tell what kind of dragon egg this is?" Hagrid asked, carefully examining the dragon egg.
Silan's fingers traced the protrusion on the dragon egg's spine, then tapped the shell with his knuckles, producing a dull, stone-like sound.
"It's jet black in color, with a prominent midrib; it's probably Norwegian Ridgeback."
"You even know this kind of knowledge?" Hagrid, somewhat surprised.
"It's all written in the books," Silan put down the candle. "I've just read more books."
Hagrid moved his small stool closer to the dragon egg, his bright eyes gazing at it expectantly.
"Excellent, that's really good. As far as I know, the Norwegian Ridgeback is only as rare as the Hungarian Horntail and the Antipodean Opaleye."
Silan nodded in agreement.
"Norwegian Ridgeback is indeed quite rare."
"This is what I won at the tavern today," Hagrid said smugly, his mustache practically pointing to the sky. "Some guy brought a dragon egg to play cards with, saying he'd give it to him if he won."
"Oh, he's so stupid." Hagrid chuckled twice, then suddenly remembered that it was already night, and quickly covered his mouth, whispering, "I won in a flash."
Silan remained silent as he watched Hagrid's delighted expression.
Hagrid, engrossed in his fantasy of owning Dragon, was clearly unaware of the problem.
"Norbert, oh Norbert," Hagrid's voice was almost singing, "It must be a lovely little fellow, yes, it must be."
"Oh right, I need to prepare some chicken blood brandy."
Hagrid stood up and circled the table twice, thinking about what delicious food he should prepare for Norbert.
Hagrid had already figured out how to feed the baby Dragon even before it hatched.
"It hasn't hatched yet," Silan reminded her.
Hagrid scratched his head a little sheepishly. "Yeah, you're right, uh... I mean, do you know how to hatch a dragon egg?"
"I've read a lot of books on raising Dragon, but I'm not really sure how to hatch dragon eggs," Hagrid said with a sheepish grin.
He had dreamed of having a Dragon since he was a child, so he often looked through books about how to raise Dragon, but none of those books mentioned how to hatch dragon eggs.
Hagrid was somewhat afraid of making a mistake.
Silan pointed to the fire in the room. "Just put the dragon eggs in the fire, just like the dragon mother is warming them."
"Don't worry too much, dragon eggs aren't that fragile."
"That's great, Silan, you're such a smart little thing."
Hagrid hummed a little tune as he stoked the fire and placed the dragon egg on it.
Looking at Hagrid's excited face, Silan felt a little worried.
If things proceed as expected, tomorrow when Hagrid goes to the library to look up information about Dragon, Harry will follow him to Hagrid's Hut and discover the dragon egg.
Norbert was discovered by Malfoy as soon as he hatched.
Harry and the others decided to send Norbert away because they were afraid Malfoy would tell on them.
This is not good news for Silan.
With Norbert gone, he won't have the chance to use it to grind for [Animal Bloodline] proficiency.
We can't let Harry and the others find Norbert.
Otherwise, Malfoy would automatically reappear next to Harry, and this unstable factor must be eliminated.
Perhaps sending Malfoy away on the day Norbert hatches would be a solution?
After a moment of contemplation, Silan said, "Hagrid, the Norwegian Ridgeback is no quiet species; you'd better be careful."
Hagrid was completely absorbed in the wonderful fantasy of soon having a Dragon, and only gave a vague reply to Silan's reminder.
The fire in the fireplace illuminated most of the room, and the flickering flames cast shadows on Hagrid's face.
After settling the dragon eggs, Hagrid patted his head and muttered, "I need to go to the library to find some information."
"Oh, raising Dragon is a hassle."
"No, you can't go," Silan, sounding a bit annoyed.
If Hagrid goes to the library, he'll probably run into Harry and the others, and then Malfoy will definitely appear.
Hagrid asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"Think about it," Silan patiently explained to him, "If you brazenly go to the library to look for information about Dragon, it will definitely arouse suspicion. Once people find out you're incubating dragon eggs, things will get really troublesome."
"So you can leave this to me."
"You're right, thank you, Silan."
Hagrid looked terrified. "But... but I still need to find some books to read. Raising Dragon is such a hassle."
Silan laughed, "Leave this to me. I'll send you some relevant information tomorrow."
"That's wonderful!" Hagrid's beard trembled with joy. "You've really helped me a lot."
"It's nothing, we're friends."
"Good friend," Hagrid emphasized again, then added, "But you should go back to sleep now; curfew is approaching."
Goodnight, Hagrid. I'll be back tomorrow.
As Silan walked to the door, she added before leaving, "You must be careful not to be discovered by anyone else."
Hagrid, who was happily looking at the dragon Hagrid, waved to him, which was taken as an agreement.
But clearly, they didn't take it to heart.
Silan was somewhat helpless; given Hagrid's inability to keep secrets, it was difficult for him to keep them hidden.
Once Norbert hatches, we need to figure out a way to move him to the Forbidden Forest.
That's what makes it safe.
The next day, Silan personally found some information about Dragon and sent it to Hagrid, temporarily preventing Harry from discovering Norbert.
A few more days passed.
At dinner time, Hagrid passed him a note with two simple sentences written on it.
It's about to hatch.
"Probably tomorrow."
Silan thought about it and realized that getting Malfoy out of the way wasn't safe; it would be better to completely restrict his movements.
With that thought in mind, Silan got up and returned to the Slytherin Common Room.