Seeing that the children were still fixated on the checkpoint, Hagrid waved his hand and said gruffly, "..."
"Alright, alright, you guys know what the levels are for. We're not stealing Philosopher's Stone, so why are you worrying so much?"
Harry thought for a moment, but was still uneasy, so he asked again, "Do the other teachers know about the challenges they've set for each other?"
Hagrid nodded. "I know, but nobody knows how to get past everyone else's checkpoints! Everyone's in charge, it's very tight."
"That's good!"
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance and breathed a sigh of relief, their hearts finally at ease.
Hagrid laughed and said, "So, just trust Professor Dumbledore."
"Besides, weren't you here today to help me take care of the dragon eggs?"
Seeing that he couldn't get any more information out of him, Ron had no choice but to give up. "Yes, yes, help the dragon egg! Help the dragon egg!"
Draco, sitting to the side, had already noticed the fine beads of sweat on Hermione's cheeks, and looked up at Hagrid, saying calmly:
"Open the window! We're incubating dragon eggs, not hatching us all at once!"
"Exactly!" Ron immediately chimed in, "If we keep sitting like this, we'll get intimate first!"
Hagrid looked embarrassed, scratching his beard and apologizing, "Sorry, Draco, if we open the window, the heat will dissipate, and the dragon eggs won't hatch."
Draco smiled confidently and said, "No problem, I have a plan."
"What method?" Hagrid asked immediately.
Draco slowly drew his wand, the tip of which was steadily aimed at the center of the fireplace, beneath the kettle, where a large, blackened dragon egg lay quietly.
He slightly raised his wrist, and a warm, soft orange-red light instantly emanated from the tip of his wand.
The light, like a gentle little flame, softly enveloped the entire dragon egg.
The light shone continuously, steadily delivering warmth—the perfect incubation spell.
Hagrid gasped in disbelief, "This... this is actually Hatching Charm?"
" Hatching Charm?" Ron was also stunned, looking on with curiosity.
Hermione stared intently as Draco explained to Ron:
" The Hatching Charm is a spell specifically designed to nurture Magical Creatures at low temperatures. It precisely simulates the natural incubation temperature, making it far more reliable and professional than constantly burning a fireplace."
As she spoke, she quietly reached out and gently wiped the beads of sweat from Draco's forehead.
Hagrid was full of admiration. "That's right! If I had known Draco was so professional, I should have invited him over a long time ago, instead of getting so bored!"
"Then why don't you open the window already! Are you trying to kill me with heat?" Ron fanned himself by pulling at his collar.
This time, Hagrid didn't hesitate at all. He turned around, strode to the window, and pushed it open with a loud crash.
He himself was already feeling unbearably hot, but he endured it all for the sake of the dragon egg.
A cool evening breeze swept into the cabin, and Harry and Ron quickly wiped the sweat from their brows.
Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, I saw Hermione still carefully wiping the sweat from Draco's cheeks, even gently tidying up the stray hairs at his temples, being extremely attentive.
Ron couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "They're starting to show off their love again..."
Hermione acted as if she hadn't heard, focusing only on watching over Draco, who was concentrating on casting spells.
Hagrid opened the window, hurried back, and stared intently at the light in Draco's hand, his face filled with tension and anticipation.
Draco, while steadily maintaining the spell, calmly asked, "Where's Fang? I haven't seen it."
"He's off playing in the Forbidden Forest," Hagrid laughed.
Ron immediately chimed in, looking knowing. "It's obvious he couldn't stand the heat in the room and ran away!"
Hagrid burst into laughter.
Hermione exclaimed, "So clever, Fang!"
Hagrid's tail practically wagged its tail, and it said with a smug look, "That's right! Look who owns the dog!"
Ron crouched down, his eyes fixed on the dark, gooey dragon egg in the fireplace. Growing increasingly curious, he couldn't help but look up and ask:
" Hagrid, where did you get this dragon egg? It doesn't look like an ordinary one."
As he spoke, he moved even closer, almost touching the rough, hard eggshell.
"It must have cost a lot of money, right?"
"Money? I don't need it!" Hagrid puffed out his chest, his face full of smugness, and his voice unconsciously rose a few decibels.
"I won it! Last night I went to Hogsmeade for drinks, played cards with a stranger, and won in just a few hands!"
Hermione's brow furrowed slightly upon hearing the word "drinking," her tone carrying a hint of reproach:
" Hagrid, you're out drinking with strangers again? Haven't you learned your lesson from last time?"
Ron chuckled and nodded in agreement.
"Exactly! Professor Dumbledore entrusted you with such an important task, and you still dared to drink and play cards with strangers outside of school? That's incredibly careless!"
Hagrid blushed deeply, embarrassed by their back-and-forth banter, his beard drooping. He stammered, "I... I just had a couple of drinks occasionally... I wasn't drunk, and I didn't cause any trouble..."
Hermione didn't overlook this detail and pressed on in a low voice, "Are you really not drunk at all? Did you chat with that person and accidentally let something slip?"
Hagrid paused, tilted his head, and tried hard to recall. After a long while, he scratched his messy hair, his tone uncertain:
"I don't think so... We just talked about pets, and I think I mentioned Fluffy a little."
"Look at this! Look at this!" Ron immediately slapped his thigh, stamping his feet in frustration.
"I told you! Don't drink with strangers outside anymore! That guy probably had ulterior motives and was just trying to trick you into telling him things!"
Hagrid still refused to believe it. "No way... it's just playing cards and drinking, how could there be so many bad intentions..."
"He's playing to your strengths," Hermione said calmly, her words hitting the nail on the head.
"Knowing you like dragons, I'll use dragon eggs as bait to lower your guard, then easily extract Fluffy's secrets from you."
Hagrid's mind raced, growing increasingly uneasy and panicked. He slapped his forehead, exclaiming, "It really is... That guy kept going along with what I said, asking me about the Forbidden Forest and my pets..."
Ron grinned and said, "Did you hear that, Hagrid? From now on, if you want to drink, drink with us! We'll keep you company!"
Hagrid glanced at him, his expression saying, "I know you too well enough to drink with you guys? And then let you brats trick me into telling me things?"
Ron first nodded readily, then hurriedly waved his hand. "Hey—that's possible! Anyway, we're not bad people, it's better than being fooled by outsiders!"
Hagrid thought for a moment and had no choice but to admit, "That's... true."
Harry, who had been silent all along, suddenly asked:
" Hagrid, the stranger you mentioned... does he look like this, tall and thin...?"
Hagrid was stunned for a moment, staring wide-eyed at Harry: "You... how did you know? He was wearing a cloak so I couldn't see his face, but his build and appearance were definitely similar!"