Hearing Rhys's words, Ron's face turned a color similar to his wound. He shakily raised his hand, nearly pushing the wound under Rhys's nose.
"Rhys, take a closer look. It's just a bite, how can you say there's no hope?" Ron's voice trembled.
"If it's a rabid dog bite, there's indeed no hope. Seems like this wound has been left untreated for a while?" Rhys calmly pushed Ron's hand away. Anyone with eyes could see Ron's condition was dire; the bitten hand had swollen to twice its normal size, and the flesh around the wound had turned green.
"It was yesterday, but it's only been a day!" Ron's face contorted with distress, on the verge of tears.
"Rabies, or what they call 'mad dog disease,' have you heard of it? If bitten by a rabid dog and not treated promptly, it's certainly fatal," Rhys said flatly.
In the non-magical world, rabies is incurable once symptoms appear. In the magical world, it's also a highly troublesome disease. Rhys believed that Hogwarts' medical facilities alone might not be enough to handle it.
However, Ron wasn't infected with rabies. His wound was a dragon bite, which had nothing to do with rabies.
Daphne chimed in, agreeing that it was a very difficult condition to treat.
Ron's face turned the color of liver.
After a minute of hesitation, he lowered his voice and said, "Can you keep the cause of my injury a secret?" Trusting Rhys and Daphne, given their shared disdain for Malfoy, Ron decided to confide in them.
If it weren't for his prior interactions with Rhys and Daphne, during which he found them to be among the more reasonable Slytherins, Ron wouldn't have sought help from them.
But he was out of options.
Among the people Ron knew, only these two exhibited exceptional talent in Potions. He and Daphne were the only duo who had never been criticized by Snape in Potions class. If they couldn't help, he'd have no choice but to go to the school nurse.
But once he was in the hospital wing, how would he explain the origin of the wound? If he couldn't provide a satisfactory explanation, Madam Pomfrey would escalate the matter to Professor McGonagall, and that would be disastrous.
So, Ron decided to confide in Rhys, trusting they would keep his secret.
"Of course, we won't tell anyone."
With Rhys's assurance, Ron admitted, "Alright, it's actually a dragon bite, from a Norwegian Ridgeback. Is there anything you can do to help?"
To Ron's surprise, Rhys and Daphne didn't seem shocked by this explosive revelation. Instead, they remained remarkably calm, as if he had merely been bitten by a stray dog.
Rhys nodded, indicating that Ron's wound indeed showed the standard signs of a dragon bite. Treating it, he assured, wouldn't be too difficult.
Growing impatient, Ron couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you curious at all about why I—"
"Why you were bitten by a dragon at Hogwarts Castle? It must be Hagrid's dragon, right? I suspected as much and didn't bother to ask. Hagrid's knowledge and resources are insufficient for him to be a competent dragon handler. If he insists on keeping a dragon in his hut, I can guarantee that more serious incidents are bound to happen," Rhys replied in one breath.
He was somewhat displeased with Hagrid's actions. Could Hogwarts accommodate a dragon? Certainly, but the handler needed to be well-prepared. If Hagrid's preparation consisted solely of those books, Rhys was firmly against his dragon-keeping endeavor.
Raising a dragon is a highly advanced skill. Masters of this craft can tame dragons to be as docile as sheepdogs, but Hagrid clearly wasn't one of those masters.
Ron's eyes widened in shock.
"How do you, um, know about that?" Ron stammered, too stunned to form a coherent sentence.
"He's too conspicuous!" Daphne recounted the day they encountered Hagrid and pointed out that with a bit of observation, anyone could figure out what Hagrid was up to.
Ron broke into a cold sweat. Thankfully, it was one of their own who noticed Hagrid's activities. If Malfoy or another Slytherin had discovered it...
Illegally keeping a dragon could result in a sentence in Azkaban!
"Alright, we'll talk about Hagrid later. Let's first take care of Mr. Weasley's wound." Now that Ron was finally telling the truth, Rhys was willing to help treat his injury.
They led Ron to an empty classroom and began preparing the necessary potions for his treatment.
"It's not a big problem; you don't need to worry." Rhys said, as he deftly added ingredients to the boiling cauldron with his wand.
"You just said—"
"So you were bitten by a rabid dog?"
Ron closed his mouth.
Daphne snorted, "You can't hide that wound. Anyone can tell it's a dragon bite at a glance."
As Rhys spoke, his potion was ready.
Knowing that Ron wanted to see how he would treat the wound, Rhys diluted the potion slightly and had Ron drink it.
Shortly after drinking the potion, Ron realized he couldn't feel his limbs.
After Ron had ingested the pain-relieving potion, Rhys pointed his wand at Ron's wound and used a precise cutting spell to remove the necrotic tissue. Once the dead tissue was removed, he applied a layer of salve to the wound.
The white salve quickly turned green upon contact with the wound.
When the salve turned green, Rhys removed it with a wave of his wand and applied a fresh layer. He repeated this process until the salve turned blood-red. Finally, he poured a few drops of Dittany on Ron's wound and bandaged it.
Ron's wound was treated.
"Good, the toxins in the wound have been completely removed—here, eat this." Rhys molded some of the salve into a ball and indicated that Ron should eat it.
Ron was puzzled.
"This will help draw out the toxins from your body. You didn't think the toxins stayed just near the wound, did you?"
Seeing Rhys's seriousness, Ron obediently ate the ball of salve.
"Thanks, Rhys, you've really helped me out a lot," Ron expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Rhys.
"You're welcome. Lead the way."
"Huh?"
"I want to meet Hagrid."
"What do you want to see him for?" Ron asked, feeling a bit guilty.
"I want to see if he's interested in some nutritional supplements for dragons."
Ron was once again bewildered; Rhys had thoroughly confused him.
Do dragons even need nutritional supplements?
______
🐞Powerstones?🐞
12 Advance Chapters- Patreon.com/HornyFBI
To Rhys, this was a perfect opportunity to strengthen his relationship with Hagrid. Once their bond was strong enough, he could freely obtain materials from Hagrid's dragon and even share some tips on dragon care—benefiting both parties.
Moreover, as the gamekeeper, Hagrid must have accumulated a lot of valuable items over the years. With a good relationship, Rhys could access these items, expanding his potion ingredient collection.
Truly precious potion ingredients are hard to find on the market, like African tree snake skin for Polyjuice Potion. These items are quickly snapped up by potion masters and rarely make it to the open market. They can only be acquired through trades with other potion masters.
Thinking of these benefits, Rhys quickened his pace.
No potion master can refuse the chance to expand their materials collection. If they do, it means they aren't passionate enough about potion-making.
Led by Ron, Rhys and Daphne soon arrived outside Hagrid's hut.
All the curtains were tightly drawn. After Ron knocked on the door, Hagrid first confirmed his identity before opening it.
He was stunned to see Rhys and Daphne behind Ron.
"Hagrid, they can be trusted!" Ron quickly vouched for Rhys, seeing Hagrid's hesitation. He raised his bandaged hand, indicating that Rhys had helped treat his injury.
With Ron's assurance, Hagrid allowed Rhys and Daphne inside. Once they were in, he promptly shut the door tightly behind them.
Rhys walked into Hagrid's hut and was immediately struck by the overwhelming stench of blood. The floor was littered with feathers and empty bottles.
Rhys immediately saw the culprit: a dragon about the size of a large dog, furiously tearing at something under Hagrid's bed. Judging by its scales and tail fin, it was indeed a Norwegian Ridgeback.
Once he confirmed the dragon's status, Rhys began to observe Hagrid's living conditions.
Hagrid's hut was rather cramped. The small wooden house had only one room. The ceiling was adorned with ham, pheasants, and rabbits. A fireplace was built into the wall, with a kettle hanging above it where Hagrid usually boiled water. His bed was in a corner of the room, and the patchwork quilt had been shredded by the dragon.
The magical energy in the room was strong, even slightly stronger than that in Snape's potion storeroom, which made Rhys secretly alarmed.
He looked around and was eventually drawn to something hanging among the ham and pheasants. It was a tuft of silver hair, hidden among the smoked meats and easily overlooked. Rhys took a closer look and his pupils dilated: it was a large bunch of unicorn hair!
This bundle of unicorn hair, which could fetch a bag of Galleons, was casually hung from the ceiling, almost ignored by Rhys himself.
Rhys scrutinized the room's setup more carefully and made more astonishing discoveries: the straw placed next to the firewood in the corner looked increasingly like phoenix feather straw; the basket used to hold miscellaneous items seemed to be made of laurel wood; among the stones used to build the fireplace, there appeared to be several pieces of firestone; and the stick used to hang the prey from the ceiling seemed to be a three-hundred-year-old oak core...
Rhys took a deep breath, thinking that if Hagrid didn't sell these "burial items," he would probably be wealthier than himself.
"Sit down, sit down. Would you like some tea?" Hagrid warmly invited the three of them to sit and brought over a gigantic teapot.
"Hagrid, about the dragon..." Rhys tried to get straight to the point.
"It's called Norbert, haha, I didn't expect you to find out so soon." A trace of embarrassment flashed across Hagrid's face.
"Yeah, I knew. I guessed it the day you borrowed those books." Rhys accepted a steaming cup of tea from Hagrid.
"Really?" Hagrid scratched his head. "I thought I hid it pretty well."
"What preparations have you made for raising a dragon, Hagrid? Did you just read those few books?" Rhys put his cup back on the table and asked very seriously.
"Well, I checked as many books as I could." Hagrid became serious as well.
"Your preparations are far from enough." Rhys's words were quite blunt. "Ron's injury is just the beginning. If you keep this up, sooner or later there will be a more serious accident. This time he was only bitten; next time he might lose an arm."
Ron's face turned a bit pale, remembering the stories his brother Charlie had told him.
Rhys glanced at Norbert, who was gnawing on the bedpost. "It needs training. You need to teach it what is right and what is wrong."
"Norbert is just a baby. It's still small—"
"It will be too late when it grows up." Rhys felt his patience gradually wearing thin.
"You know what will happen if it grows up and still behaves like this."
Hagrid fell silent.
Rhys's words were harsh, but they reflected reality. If Norbert grew into an adult dragon and remained disobedient, it would likely be killed. Even dragon reserves wouldn't accept a dragon that was too aggressive.
"Besides, raising a dragon is illegal right now."
Hagrid pursed his lips, and the room fell into a long silence, broken only by the sounds of Norbert and the crackling fireplace.
"I, I..." Hagrid opened his mouth, unsure of what to say.
"I can contact my brother Charlie. He researches dragons in Romania and would surely be willing to take Norbert," Ron quickly interjected to defuse the tension.
Rhys glanced at him. He had initially intended to suggest that Hagrid release Norbert into the Forbidden Forest. Given its size and resources, the forest could easily accommodate several dragons.
"Training a dragon isn't that difficult," Daphne added. "My family has some old records on it. I'll bring them to you later."
"That's great, that's great!" Hagrid's spirits lifted, and he thanked them repeatedly, though his excitement left him at a loss for words, repeating himself over and over.
"Good." Rhys smiled and looked at Hagrid, asking if he minded if Rhys gave Norbert a checkup.
"To be honest, I actually have quite a bit of experience with dragons."
Rhys wasn't lying.
When they had first moved here, the Forbidden Forest next to Hogwarts was home to many dragons. These energetic creatures often came out to attack the livestock that Helga kept. To expand the potion storeroom and protect the livestock, Rhys had dealt with the dragons in the Forbidden Forest thoroughly.
Through this process, he had indeed gained a deep understanding and knowledge of dragons.
"Really? That's great, go ahead!" Hagrid, unaware of these old stories, waved his large hand and agreed to Rhys's request.
"Thank you." The smile on Rhys's face sent a sudden chill down Hagrid's spine.
He was a bit puzzled: had he forgotten to close a window? It seemed the fire needed to be stoked more.
As for Norbert, the dragon lifted its head alertly, sensing something unusual.
______
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