Smith returned to the airport utterly crestfallen. Seeing how dejected he looked, his old friend tried to comfort him:
"Buddy, she's your wife. Sure, she's only slightly better than that terrifying creature known as an ex-wife, but there's no need to look so miserable. You just have to lie in bed and endure eight hours!
"Then you'll be free again!"
Smith shook his head and said in a dreamlike voice:
"You know what? I just raced a giant dragon. It... it actually broke the sound barrier!
"And even more unbelievably, there was a boy riding it!
"He was wearing something like a school uniform. A Dragon Knight academy? God..."
His old friend looked at him with a pained expression, then suddenly stepped forward, hugged Smith, and patted his back.
"Man, I knew your wife put you under a lot of pressure, but I never imagined it was this bad... Come on, let's grab a drink!"
Smith: "...Huh?"
Above the Hogwarts lawn, several professors were searching the skies for Norbert on broomsticks. Dumbledore wore a smile he could not quite conceal.
He seemed to find the whole affair immensely entertaining.
Hagrid's shoulders kept shaking as he wiped away his tears, still confessing his guilt in a choked voice:
"It's all my fault... I shouldn't have drunk so much, let alone encouraged him to ride Norbert. Headmaster Dumbledore, if anyone has to be expelled, expel me. This has nothing to do with Zhang.
"Nothing at all. It's all my fault."
Dumbledore waved a hand and said softly:
"Hagrid, no one is going to be expelled over this, and it isn't entirely your fault. Zhang has always had a mind of his own."
Just then, a signal came from the professors overhead, followed by a delighted shout:
"He's back!"
The professors circling