"Hagrid must have fed Norberta something weird," Ron declared with absolute certainty on the way back to the castle.
Harry nodded in firm agreement, but then asked doubtfully, "But what could make a fire dragon grow so quickly?" He searched his memory but found nothing relevant.
Then he looked at Jean Gardner beside him.
As an exchange scholar between Hogwarts and Castelobruxo, and one specializing in Care and Study of Magical Creatures at that, Gardner naturally knew a great deal about magical creatures.
That made her the right expert to ask.
"Oh, quite a few things," Gardner said with a nod.
"For fire dragons, the simplest method is to feed them a mixture containing powdered rubies imbued with fire magic. That greatly accelerates their growth. Of course, the exact feed differs between breeds of fire dragon.
"But that's the general idea. Besides that, other herbs associated with fire, such as Fire-Pattern Grass and Blazing Flowers, can produce much the same effect."
"Jean, you know so much," Yi Qianqian said sincerely, looking at Gardner with some envy.
"Where we come from, dragon keeping isn't regulated as strictly as it is in Europe and Asia. Of course, it isn't as lax as in Africa, either. But overall, research is relatively easy.
"Our school keeps fire dragons, so students like us who want to learn about them don't have much trouble finding the relevant information."
Harry and the others nodded repeatedly, though they were still impressed.
This new Care and Study of Magical Creatures professor really did know her stuff, young as she was!
Gardner felt a little embarrassed by the way everyone was looking at her. She changed the subject. "By the way, are you still in touch with the other Champions?"
Gardner was clearly just making conversation. Yet the moment she