"Bang!"
A muffled yet piercing explosion echoed inside the sealed incubator.
The pearl-like egg in front of him flickered violently, as though struck by an invisible bolt of lightning.
Immediately afterward, a hair-thin black crack burst across the smooth shell.
Thick smoke carrying an acrid, scorched smell erupted from the crack like a snake flicking its tongue.
The alarm runes engraved inside the incubator activated at the same instant, letting out a shrill, piercing wail!
"Idiot!"
Hagrid's roar was like a thunderclap.
He moved far faster than anyone of his size should have, reaching the offending incubator almost instantly.
He grabbed a large bucket of foul-smelling, specially prepared blue potion that had long been standing ready beside it.
Splash-!
A great torrent washed precisely over the egg on the verge of going out of control, producing a sizzling sound and finally cooling it down and quieting it.
Without turning his head, Hagrid roared at the student who had frozen in fright:
"Twenty points from your house!"
"The guide says to minimize energy output! Minimize it! Were you burning it like firewood in a winter fireplace?"
He pointed at the mess inside the incubator.
"Quick! Get the sticky stuff in the red bottle from that damned emergency kit of yours and seal that crack! Now!"
"Honestly! I didn't believe it at first, but to think Douglas actually anticipated behavior this stupid!"
Elsewhere, Fred and George's spirit of scientific exploration had once again overpowered their awe of Professor Holmes.
"Fred, look."
George lowered his voice, a dangerous gleam of genius flashing in his eyes.
"Single-point channeling is too inefficient, and the force isn't distributed evenly."
"If we could bypass the channeling rod and directly create a gentle, uniform, all-encompassing energy field..."
"...around the entire egg."
Fred immediately grasped his brother's intention and