Zhang Xiao walked briskly across the school lawns. Nearly a week had passed since the celebration.
After all that time, the young witches and wizards had finally calmed down. They no longer shouted their admiration whenever they saw him.
Or gave him a thumbs-up.
Their excessive enthusiasm had, for a while, driven Zhang Xiao to avoid the crowds.
He made his way along the familiar route to Hagrid's Hut, where Norbert was lounging on the roof, basking in the sun.
The young dragon had been thoroughly spoiled by the students. Pile after pile of roast meat had left grease dripping from his mouth.
Now he refused to eat roast meat unless it was properly seasoned. His belly had grown so round that, the last time he tried to take off, he had nearly failed to get airborne.
When Norbert spotted Zhang Xiao approaching, he puffed out a few halfhearted showers of sparks in greeting.
"You really are lazy." Zhang Xiao chuckled, took out his Rocking Chair and tea set, found a spot beneath a leafy tree, and lay down comfortably.
Hagrid was not there. He had become a competent Care of Magical Creatures professor.
The gentle, somewhat guileless giant had taken Zhang Xiao's advice firmly to heart, choosing only the fantastic beasts voted most popular in the newspapers.
As a result, his classes had been a tremendous success. The response was reportedly excellent, and his subject had even become one of the students' most popular electives.
The main reason Zhang Xiao came here was the peace and quiet, though Hogwarts had plenty of places where he could lie back like this.
There was the lakeshore, for instance, or the Room of Requirement. But either there were too many people, forcing him to keep exchanging greetings, or he could not experience