The golden egg cracked!
Zhang Xiao sprang to his feet and rushed to the table. Malfoy and the others did the same, watching with a mixture of excitement and nerves as the cracks in the golden egg grew wider.
"Zhang, what happened?"
Hagrid looked at the young wizards in confusion. An egg that took them an entire hand to hold was no bigger to him than an ordinary chicken egg. He had not noticed the cracks at all, but their intense reactions gave him some idea.
"Is it the golden egg? Oh, heavens!"
Hagrid hurriedly stood up, watching the golden egg surrounded by the young wizards just as anxiously as they did.
Startled by their reactions, Norbert stopped breathing fire and stared at them in bewilderment. But the young wizards had no attention to spare for him now.
As the cracks widened, a faint, mysterious light began seeping out of the egg. Like the first light of dawn, it filled the hut and bathed the young wizards' faces in gold.
The light grew stronger, and a dense web of cracks spread across the golden egg's entire surface.
A steady series of cracks rang out. Unable to withstand the strain, the golden egg shattered, its solid-gold fragments falling onto the iron table in an endless cascade of clear, musical clinks.
Then a silvery-white cube rolled out of the golden egg.
"What's this thing?"
Ron reached out curiously to touch it. The instant his finger brushed the metal block, he let out a yelp and snatched his hand back even faster.
"Bloody hell, that thing's hot."
Ron stared at his swollen, reddened finger, stuck it in his mouth, and spoke around it.
"When will you learn to be more careful?" Hermione shook her head helplessly, drew her wand from her waist, and