Norberta's appetite was now over a hundred times what it had been at Christmas, and the number of Plimpies and Water Snails needed for her meals was correspondingly staggering.
Fortunately, fishing magic was as efficient as a water pump.
Brian poked the knee of a Plimpy with particularly thick legs, got splashed all over, and discovered something terrifying when he thought about it: Plimpies actually had a knee-jerk reflex!
Humans and fish... Merpeople and fish... or fish-people and fish?
Time always flew when his mind was occupied with questions. The sun took a few steps westward, the dragons' howls changed direction five times, and two hours soon passed.
Old Bud came to help, too. ("You got both the money and the dragon eggs back? Ha! Brilliant! Now I can buy a new batch of bird toys-don't mention it, let me join in!")
Three rivers, five people, two hours, a hundred kilograms-when Brian and his companions arrived at the Underground Research Institute on a direct mine cart, their haul won the approval of one of the institute's fishing enthusiasts.
As soon as they got off, Hagrid followed Charlie to the kitchen. After returning to the base, Old Bud hurried back to his quarters, saying he needed to change his equipment and head to another site to look for birds. Brian and Targaryen were responsible for taking the fish to the pond in the backyard-and that was when the strange angler suddenly appeared.
"So many Plimpies? You must have some wonderful fishing magic. Even I, with twenty years of expertise in the art of fishing, couldn't have done better."
A middle-aged male researcher in a workwear-style fishing outfit spoke admiringly.
"But it still falls a little short of my catch today-not to brag, but take a look at this!"
"Thanks for the