Draco's Hint

It's 1 PM, on the way back to the castle.

"Draco, why are you frowning? Is it because of Hagrid?" Harry finally couldn't hold back and asked.

"More or less." Draco gestured for Harry to be quiet and let him continue. "I checked, and it is indeed Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon Egg, which is very strange."

"I've put up with you for a long time. Do you think Hagrid would lie to us?" Ron couldn't help but interject.

"Come on, Weasley, your brother Charlie raises dragons, don't you know that? Harry grew up in the Muggle world, so I can understand him." Draco's pale face flushed slightly as he spoke sarcastically.

"What, is there some explanation?" Harry asked curiously.

"Dragon eggs are not allowed to be traded privately."

"But on the other hand, he's easy to deal with. In Knockturn Alley, as long as you have a dragon egg, no one will dare to lay a hand on you," Draco added.

"Are those Dark Wizard insane? Why don't they—" Ron said.

"Why not double-cross? The dragon breeding industry is monopolized by Romania, which is why your brother Charlie had to leave his hometown to work."

"A dragon is a treasure from head to toe, even its blood is valuable. Dumbledore is famous for discovering 12 uses for Dragon Blood."

"However, on the other hand, he was so rare in the Britain underground market that Knockturn Alley made special provisions for the dragon and its body parts."

"There, it's neither possible nor acceptable to cheat people out of dragons."

"If it were a live dragon egg, its value would be even more extraordinary," Draco concluded, frowning.

"Is it the person who gave Hagrid the egg?" Harry guessed.

"But there are wild dragons in Britain."

"Take the Common Welsh Green and the Hebridean Black Dragon, for example. I can tell you that one of the Ministry of Magic's jobs is to conceal the existence of these wild dragons. Our wizards have to frequently cast spells on Muggle who see wild dragons to make them forget about it completely," Ron asked.

"No one in my family works at the Ministry of Magic, but that doesn't mean I don't know about these things."

"Dragons in our country are protected animals, and it is not allowed to sell or hunt them."

"Also, Harry, anyone who gets a dragon egg understands its value and how it's traded. He definitely wants something from Rubeus Hagrid, or maybe he already has," Draco concluded.

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, avoiding Draco, and made the mouth shape of the Philosopher's Stone.

So the next day, Charms Class in the afternoon, Harry and Ron rushed to Hagrid's place after dropping off the Ravenclaw in their common room.

"You have something to ask me? Or are you here to see the dragon eggs?" After a brief conversation, Hagrid opened the door, and behind Hagrid appeared a figure they hadn't expected to see again— Draco Malfoy.

"What, you didn't expect to see me here?"

"What do you want to ask me behind my back?" Draco questioned.

"Kids, your problems have nothing to do with Nicolas Flamel, right?" Hagrid seemed to suddenly realize something, and disregarding Draco's presence, his interactions yesterday and today had convinced him that Draco was not a bad person.

"Oh, we figured out who he was hundreds of years ago," Ron said smugly.

"What? This is related to the Philosopher's Stone?" Draco exclaimed in surprise.

"Merlin's beard! How did you all know about it?!" Hagrid said angrily.

"Hagrid, please answer our question. It concerns the safety of the Philosopher's Stone," Harry said earnestly. A few minutes of silence followed in the hut.

Hagrid then said, "Alright, since you—then I will."

"The Philosopher's Stone is at Hogwarts!" Draco exclaimed in surprise.

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Ron glared at Draco, lest Hagrid change his mind.

"Could you tell us, besides Fluffy, was Quirrell also involved in the organization that guards the Philosopher's Stone?" Harry asked directly.

How did you know?

"This is top secret." Hagrid immediately changed his tune. "First, I don't know myself. Second, you already know too much, so even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. There's a good reason why that stone is here. It was almost stolen from Gringotts —I suppose you know all that too?"

"Hagrid, all we want to know is whether Quirrell has joined us. That's important." Harry grasped Hagrid's hand, his green eyes fixed on him.

This reminded Hagrid of Lily, and of Harry when he was a little kid, when he rode on Sirius's traitorous motorcycle to take him to his Muggle relatives' house.

This caused his already loose mouth to open even more.

"Okay, it's not a big deal."

"Professor Quirrell is participating. Let me tell you again, so you won't dare to go and risk it."

"Let me think— Dumbledore borrowed Fluffy from me—and then asked a few other teachers to cast spells... Professor Sprout — Professor Flitwick — Professor McGonagall— " he counted on his fingers, "Professor Snape —of course, Dumbledore himself cast spells too."

"You're not worried that something might have gone wrong with Professor Quirrell, are you?" Hagrid said, feigning sudden realization. "If I may be so bold, with Dumbledore's magic, no wizard in this world can take that stone from Hogwarts."

"You kids are overthinking it," Hagrid concluded.

No, that's not it.

"Do you remember the night you won Norbert in poker? What did that stranger you were playing poker with look like?"

"What did he ask you?" Harry asked eagerly.

"What does this have to do with Professor Quirrell? You suspect him? Quirrell, a Ravenclaw wouldn't dare! — Sorry, Harry, Ron, I'm not targeting you," Hagrid laughed.

"Please answer me, Hagrid." Harry shook Hagrid's left arm.

"Well, I don't know what they look like. At the Hog's Head Pub, most people there are wrapped in cloaks. Wizards like me are the odd ones out," Hagrid replied. But judging by his pace, it would probably be evening before they got to the point.

"Did he mention Fluffy and seem particularly interested in it?" Harry quickly asked, focusing on the key point.

"That's right—quite interesting—how many three-headed dogs do you run into, even near Hogwarts? So I told him that Fluffy is actually quite easy to deal with. You just need to know how to calm it down, play some music for it, and it will fall asleep immediately—" Hagrid's face suddenly showed a look of horror.

"Damn it! I shouldn't have told you this."

"The place where the stone is hidden is dangerous. Even if you get past Fluffy, there are other professors!" Hagrid said seriously, gently pulling his left arm away from Harry's.

"Big guy, you're looking at the wrong thing," Malfoy said irritably, as this was interrupting his observation of the dragon eggs.

"The point is, what you really want is a dragon, and a stranger just happens to have a dragon egg in his pocket? How many people carry dragon eggs around all day? You know that's against wizarding laws!"

"And he's also interested in Fluffy."

"Harry, you suspect that person is Quirrell, right?" Malfoy guessed.