Christmas is over, and school is starting to operate as usual.
Draco continues to live his seemingly peaceful life on campus, with the exception of the occasional incident.
Harry, on the other hand, is facing stricter requirements from Quidditch captain Wood.
Even on the continuous rainy days after the heavy snow, Wood's energy has not cooled down. The Weasley brothers complain, but they persevere, as do the rest of the Gryffindor team.
They are determined to end Slytherin's seven-year winning streak in the Academy Cup.
When the goal is out of reach, people usually give up their efforts. But when the goal is within reach, most people tend to dig in and persevere.
This is the true portrayal of the Gryffindor team.
On the training ground, the Weasley brothers began to blame each other again as they kept diving and bombing each other, pretending to fall off their flying brooms.
Finally, Wood trained them and delivered bad news: "Snape will serve as the referee for the game."
In a short time, almost all the players' faces were clouded over. The goal that was within reach now seemed like an unfinished task.
Everyone's morale has fallen and their enthusiasm for training has also dropped significantly. This is a fatal enough blow.
After training is over, the Gryffindor players are still whispering and chatting, presumably guessing how Snape will embarrass them.
Harry has no intention of listening and goes straight to the Gryffindor lounge to seek advice from Hermione and Ron. He also wonders if Snape will still hold a grudge against him.
"Don't take part in the competition," Hermione said immediately.
"Just say you're sick," Ron suggested.
"Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggested.
"Yes, tell them your broke your leg," Ron said.
Harry rubbed his painful forehead. "I'm the only seeker on the team. I should be in be in field"
Ron and Hermione stopped talking immediately. They both knew that Harry was a very responsible boy. He couldn't drag the whole team down for his own safety.
Of course, this once again highlights the irrationality of this game and the mistakes of the Gryffindor team in training talent. How can there be no substitute for a major game?
----------------------
"Damn," Draco said, taking a fierce bite of butter bread.
"My lady, isn't this not our game? Can we not care? Do you know when I fell asleep last night?"Draco wailed exaggeratedly at the table.
"I must see Gryffindor lose," Pansy said, still angry about the last team's defeat.
"I hate female fans," Draco said, slandering.
"But today should be a quick decision. I can go back to sleep after reading it."
"In this game, our dean is the referee. Gryffindor must suffer a lot this time" Pansy whispered, but Draco could feel the excitement in her tone.
Draco couldn't help but say,
"Is it really good to be happy about an unfair referee?"
Soon they arrived at the stadium, and the enthusiasm of the audience was unprecedented. Cheers and cheers echoed throughout the game, especially from Gryffindor.
This game was too crucial for them, but when they found out that Snape was the referee, the field was filled with boos.
"Ron, look, Professor Dumbledore is here," Hermione said, pulling on Ron's sleeve in the stands.
Dumbledore slowly made his way into the meeting place, dragging his robe behind him.
"Thank goodness," Ron said, taking a breath.
"Now we can rest assured that Snape wouldn't dare to play ghosts in front of him."
"No," Hermione said, frowning. "Last time it seemed like Professor Dumbledore was also in the stands."
"So why didn't he help Harry last time?" Ron asked.
"I don't know," Hermione said.
"But I hope he can do something this time."
"Remember, don't forget, it's leg stiffness," Hermione reminded Ron.
"Yes," Ron said impatiently.
"I still don't believe he would dare to be unreasonable in public."
Hermione thought that the last block's efficiency was too slow, so she chose to use a new spell to deal with Snape today.
On the court, the players from both sides came to the center of the field. As usual in previous games, Madam. Hooch said something about fair play and the game began.
"Hufflepuff! free throw!" Snape said in a somber tone.
Less than a few minutes into the game, Snape awarded Hufflepuff a free throw on the grounds that George hit the ball at him and interfered with the referee.
Harry was still hovering on the court, like an eagle, eager to find the thief as soon as possible so that Snape would favor Hufflepuff for as little time as possible.
"Hufflepuff! Free throw!" he said again, this time for no reason.
The Gryffindor students on the field were boiling with anger, and the harsh whistle came from all grades.
Even the students of Hufflepuff didn't look very happy.
Obviously, their loyal personality wouldn't allow them to accept Snape's partiality, even if it was to their advantage.
"Good job," Pansy cheered with her hands raised.
"Why aren't you cheering? Enemy's enemy scored again," Pansy said, poking Draco with her arm.
"Oh, yeah!" Draco raised his hand stiffly and waved.
"Good job," he said dryly.
The applause was thunderous all around the grandstand, except for the seats on their college's side, which were filled with strange silence.
Pansy reminded Draco that it seemed the victory or defeat had already been decided and they missed the crucial moment.
"Wow, I can't believe what I just saw! I'm sure many students missed it too. Harry Potter from the Gryffindor team just made an incredible dive, moving so fast that it looked like he was going to crash to the ground. The referee also seemed to think so and had mounted his broomstick to rescue Harry. But Harry didn't fall – he caught the golden snitch just inches from the ground. Now he's holding it up in triumph, celebrating his victory. The crowd is going wild – this has to be the fastest ending to a Quidditch game in history!"
"Unbelievable," Ron whispered.
"I thought he was going to crash into the rocks on purpose."
"But Harry didn't give him the chance!" Hermione said, grinning.
"Well done, Harry," a kind voice said behind him. Harry turned to see Dumbledore smiling at him.
"It's nice to see that you're not constantly thinking about the magic mirror and that your fulfilling your role as a seeker well. Good for you." Dumbledore's voice was low, so only Harry could hear him.
Harry turned to see Snape vomiting on the ground and felt a sense of satisfaction. He had finally done something he could be proud of and nobody could say that he was just riding on his famous name.
The night air had never tasted so sweet. Harry walked through the damp grass, replaying the happy moments of the game in his mind: his teammates lifting him up on their shoulders, Ron and Hermione jumping up and down in the distance, Ron with a nosebleed.
Harry arrived at the broom shed and leaned against the wooden door, looking up at Hogwarts with its windows glowing red in the setting sun. His team, Gryffindor, had come out on top. He succeeded.
There are people who are happy and those who are sad.
Someone stepped on Harry's foot, causing him to turn and see Pansy's red face.
Draco saw that she was shaking and her eyes were red.
"I told you earlier not to come and to brace yourself for the blow," Draco said, obviously trying to make things better but only making them worse.
The first priority now is to calm down, but he couldn't think of any comforting words at the moment.
"Thats the rich second generation for ya!" The character suddenly slapped their forehead.
"Gryffindors are unbeatable. Harry Potter's broom is the latest Light Wheel 2000. Professor McGonagall may seem fair, but she's partial to them. But this can't continue next year. I'll ask my father to sponsor the Slytherin team. The Light Wheel 2001 will definitely be better than theirs next year."
"Really? Its not worth it for you to spend money," Pansy said, disbelief in her voice.
"For the honor of the school, it's worth it, the character, possibly named Draco," said pompously.
Pansy looked at him blankly before suddenly smiling and saying,
"Come on, you have the least sense of honor in the school. You have to pull in both games."
"Uh..." Draco didn't know how to respond.
"But I know you're doing it for me," Pansy said, lowering her voice and blushing shyly. It seems that she has feelings for Draco.
Thank you," Pansy whispered before kissing him, Draco, on the cheek and running off.
Draco touched the spot where he had been kissed and sighed.
"What a girl" he said before silently adding to himself, "But I like it."
On a quiet night at Hogwarts, a full moon shone in the sky, casting a soft light over the campus. Owls flew by occasionally and night cats cried out, creating a peaceful atmosphere.
However, in a basement not far from Hogsmeade village, an explosion was about to occur.
"Damn," Draco cursed as he watched the soft, golden-yellow liquid in the crucible start to bubble and change color.
It turned from pink to red and finally black as the reaction became more and more violent, resembling turbulent waves.
More and more bubbles broke away from the liquid, making a popping sound.
"Two months of work destroyed in an instant," Draco sighed, disappointed at the failed potion.
He had been trying to brew a healing agent, but something had gone wrong during the process.
He sat on the ground and started to think hard, frowning as he tried to figure out where he had gone wrong.
He had forgotten that the pot of failed potion was still boiling.
"What the hell," a strange sound interrupted his thought
"Protego!" Malfoy instinctively cast a spell, sensing that he would be the first person to die from an experiment if he didn't use it.
As soon as the words left his mouth, there was a loud boom and a violent explosion occurred in the basement.
The impact and the rushing airflow threw him against the wall and sent dust flying everywhere.
"Cough," Draco coughed as he slowly got up from the ground, looking at the destroyed basement and the spilled potions with a grim smile.
"I should remember to clean up after experiments," he thought to himself. "I can't believe I survived and make it back." I wonder what's wrong with my experiment.
No, I shouldn't bother with this and make preparation for next experiment."
Draco redirect his focus on materials and tools.
-----------------
During the Easter holidays at Hogwarts, students have a lot of homework to catch up on and are preparing for final exams.
However, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are not studying in the library like they should be.
Instead, they are drawn where they meet Hagrid, who is collecting information about dragons.
The trio follows Hagrid back to his hut and asks him about the Philosopher Stone, which they have learned Snape is also responsible for protecting.
Their focus then shifts to a dragon egg that Hagrid has acquired. It tells them that he won it while playing cards with a stranger and plans to raise it according to an outdated book called "Raising Dragons for Recreation and Profit."
Ron, Harry, and Hagrid are excited about the prospect of raising the dragon, but Hermione is not as enthusiastic and has concerns about the legality and care of the creature.
As the sun sets, they realize it is late and they should return to their studies.
Their current focus is the dragon.
"Hagrid, can you open the window? It's hot outside"
"No, Harry, sorry." Hagrid said. Harry noticed that he glanced at the fireplace. Harry also turned his head to look at the fire.
Harry noticed that Hagrid was looking at the fireplace and followed his gaze. In the middle of the fire, under the kettle, lay a large, dark egg.
"Hagrid, what is that?" Harry asked.
"Oh, that's..." Hagrid said, twisting his beard anxiously.
"I won it last night while I was playing cards with a stranger in the village. To be honest, the man was probably eager to get rid of it."
Ron, who had been squatting by the fire to get a closer look at the egg, said, "Where did you get it, Hagrid? It must have cost you a lot of money!"
"I won it," Hagrid repeated.
It's not clear from the given information what Hagrid plans to do with the dragon egg or how he plans to care for it once it hatches.
"But what will you do when it hatches?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, I've been reading books," Hagrid said, pulling out a large book from under his pillow.
"I borrowed this from the library - it's called 'Raising Dragons for Recreation and Profit'. It's a bit outdated, but the information is still useful. It says to put the eggs in the fire because the mother dragon exhales on them. And after it hatches, you have to feed it a bucket of brandy and chicken blood every half hour. Look, it even tells you how to tell the difference between different types of eggs. I've got a Norwegian Ridgeback - very rare."
Hermione intuitively knew was illegal to own a dragon, but when she saw that Ron, Harry, and Hagrid were all excited about it, she didn't know how to bring it up.
The last time she had tried to object to something they were doing, she had ended up getting turned into a bad person.
She decided to be more inclusive with her friends and go along with their enthusiasm, even though she wasn't really interested in the dragon egg.
"Hermione? Hermione?" Ron said.
"Don't daydream, come and see the dragon egg. I promise you've never seen anything like it."
"Okay," Hermione said, forcing herself to look at the egg even though she wasn't interested.
It was strange to think that a new life might be emerging from it, and she found herself feeling a little bit excited and less disgusted by the prospect.
As the sun began to set, they realized it was getting late. "Hagrid, we have to go,"
Harry said. "We'll come back again," Ron called out as they left the hut.
"Me too," Hermione added, nodding gently.
The next day, Harry received a note from Hagrid via his owl, Hedwig.
The note contained only four words: "Almost out of the shell." This indicated that the dragon egg was about to hatch.
Ron didn't want to go to class anymore and wanted to go to Hagrid's hut instead. Hermione strongly disagreed.
"Hermione, how many times do we get to see a dragon hatching in our lives?" Ron aske
"We have to go to class or we'll get in trouble. And if someone finds out what Hagrid is doing, he'll be in even more trouble than us," Hermione replied.
"Quiet," Harry whispered.
During the herbal medicine class, Ron had been arguing with Hermione. Finally, during the morning break, Hermione agreed to go to Hagrid's hut with them.
At the end of class, as the bell rang in the castle, the three of them dropped their shovels, ran across the field, and headed towards the edge of the forbidden forest.
Hagrid greeted them, looking red and excited.
"It's almost time for the hatching," he said, letting them into his hut. The egg was on the table, already cracked and with something moving inside.
There was a strange clicking sound. The three of them pulled their chairs up to the table, held their breath, and watched closely.
Suddenly, with a loud scratching sound, the egg cracked open and a dragon flapped onto the table. It wasn't very pretty - Harry thought it looked like a crumpled black umbrella.
Its wings were especially large compared to its thin black body, and it had a long, sharp nose with white nostrils, scar-like marks on its head, and protruding orange-red eye
The dragon sneezed, shooting a few sparks out of its nose.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Hagrid whispered, reaching out to touch the dragon's head.
The dragon snapped at his finger, showing its pointed teeth.
"Oh my goodness, it knows its mother!" Hagrid said.
"Hagrid, how quickly do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow?" Hermione asked.
Hagrid was about to answer when his face suddenly turned pale.
"Someone's outside the window," he said, jumping up and blocking the light as his large body.
"It's you!" Ron and Harry exclaimed in shock as Draco walked into the room. Hermione looked uncertain, not knowing what to thin.
"You were spying on us outside!" Ron yelled, raising his wand.
Normally, he wouldn't have the courage to confront the strongest Draco like this, but things were different now because Draco didn't have a wand.
Many wizards believe that wizards without wands are worse than Muggle
"Stay back!" Ron shouted, a green light shooting from his wand.
"I won't let you succeed!"
"No!" Hermione shouted urgently.
However, neither Hagrid nor Harry seemed to hear her, both of them were stunned by the current situation.
"I hate it when people point wands at me," Draco said lightly.
"Slugulus Eructo!" Ron shouted, casting a spell.
The green light seemed to hit an invisible wall, stopping abruptly and giving a strange feeling of using the wrong force.
Then, the light bounced back at a faster speed than when it came.
"Ron, are you okay?" Harry and Hermione rushed to help Ron as he stumbled back and fell to the ground.
Harry glared at Draco with resentment.
"Don't look at me like that," Draco shrugged.
"I'm just defending myself. If I don't resist, it's me who would look like that."
After speaking, Ron burped and a few slugs fell from his mouth onto his thigh.
He continued, "Only dark wizards point their wands at unarmed people, just like a regular army doesn't point their knives at civilians, they only fight with real opponents. It seems that I'm a better civilian."
This statement was clearly made up on the spot, but it sounded reasonable.
"You were the one who was spying on us first!" Harry said loudly, although his voice was weak and shaky.
"A law-abiding citizen is obliged to report illegal activities," Draco replied.
"Let me see, what does the 'Magic Animals Protection Law' say? Ah, privately domesticating dragons is punishable by five to ten years in prison, and considering our custodian has previous convictions, they'll probably get a longer sentence. And as for accomplices... imprisonment or expulsion, perhaps? I'm sure our school would be happy to see Gryffindor's score would decrease massively."
Hagrid's beard shook violently and he remained frozen in shock.
Harry was shocked at the prospect of expulsion.
In his eyes, it was worse than death.
The glory of Gryffindor would be tarnished by him, so it would be better to go to prison.
"So, do you want to report us?" Hermione tried to keep her voice calm.
She was the only one present who could still remain composed, although her thin fingers were clenched tightly and the white knuckles betrayed her inner turmoil.
"He's not such a person, he's not such a person," Hermione whispered to herself, waiting in agony for his answer.
Ron wanted to speak, but he ended up spitting out a few slugs on the ground.
"Don't ask Hermione, she's Snape's student. There's definitely a conspiracy," Ron said, trying his best.
But then Draco cast a spell and Ron's mouth locked shut. His cheeks became bigger and bigger and soon his throat bulged. It became difficult for him to breathe.
"You'll will kill him!" Hermione shouted, clearly frightened by the scene.
"Please stop it"
"Silencio Cancello," Draco said softly.
Ron then spat out the slug and gasped heavily on the ground. He glared at Draco in hatred, but then quickly looked down and lowered his head, afraid.
"For most people in this world, death is the ultimate fear, and that includes the Dark Lord. I hope you learn your lesson and don't interfere when others are speaking," Draco said, still indifferent.
'What do you want?' Harry asked bravely, clearly shaken by the scene with Ron showed just now was deeply engraved in his mind, and he just wanted to know what Draco wanted.
"It was a fair transaction, but now it's clear that you can only see it as coercion," Malfoy shrugged helplessly, obviously somewhat helpless in the current situation.
"What deal?" Hermione asked quickly.
Draco didn't answer her directly.
He said slowly, "Norwegian Ridgeback dragons are a type of fire dragon that grow quickly. They can grow to twice their original size in a week."
"This Giant man's house won't be able to fit this fire dragon soon, and because of its unusually aggressive nature, it may cause a big disaster sooner or later without proper domestication."
"Don't you remember the monster from last time? If you compare the strength of magical creatures, this dragon's strength won't be higher than that monster."
"If something goes wrong, you'll go to an ordinary prison, or maybe even Azkaban. You know, Mr. Hagrid, that thinking about dementors are very uncomfortable."
Hagrid stumbled and almost fell to the ground at the mention of Azkaban. Its deterrent is obviously too strong.
"What's more likely to happen is that the disaster it causes will be too great for humans to destroy."
"No!" Hagrid exclaimed in sorrow.
"Norberta is just a child." He squatted with his head in his hands, as if he had thought of the scene at that time.
"I can help you, you just have to pay a small price," Draco continued.
"What's the cost, and how will you help us?" Harry asked quickly. He didn't care who Draco's student was or what conspiracy was going on.
"In good faith, I'll tell you how first. That is, me," Draco pointed to himself.
"My father has a lot of investment in the UK, and some of the outside world is also involved. There is a dragon farm in Romania where my father has a lot of shares, and sending the dragon there would be the best choice."
"How do I know I can trust you?" Ron asked incredulously.
"I'm really sad about the IQ of the Weasley family's descendants," Draco couldn't help but help.
"Can't you report me if I lie to you? Think again about what your brother Charlie is doing."
Hagrid said in surprise, "Little guy Charlie is also studying fire dragons there. He told me he's also in Romania."
Then his voice fell low. "But I can't bear Norberta."
He started sobbing. Even for a big man crying in front of them, Draco felt discordant.
"Then what do you want?" Harry whispered.
Malfoy stared at Hermione for a moment, making her feel very uncomfortable.
"What does he want?" Hermione stared at him for a while and thought of a possibility. Her cheeks couldn't help but turn red.
"Impossible, impossible," she said to herself, trying to calm her mood.
"I only need a bottle of dragon's blood," Draco suddenly straightened his posture.
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this request in the battle between heart and mind.
"No, you can't treat it that way. He's just a child," Hagrid suddenly went crazy again.
He hugged Norberta tightly and repeated this sentence repeatedly.
"Then I'll have to act as a young pioneer and expose the illegal action," Draco
Suddenly, harry said in determined voice.
"I promised you for Hagrid," Harry said.
"Harry, how can you..." Ron's condition seemed to be better now, and he quickly dissuaded Harry.
"We have no choice," Harry said in a deep voice.
He had to admit that it wasn't brave or reckless of Gryffindor to solve the problem this way. Peter the little dwarf was involved, as well as Regulus Blake of Slytherin. Harry showed the wisdom and determination he deserved now.
"Wish us a happy cooperation," Draco held out his hand and smiled.
"Happy cooperation," Harry also extended his hand and forced himself to make a smile like it was crying.
"My father should send someone over next week. By then, the dragon should have grown a lot. Be ready, but don't let others know, or you'll regret it."
"We won't let others know," Harry promised.
"Oh, that's best." Before leaving, he added, "One more thing, please remember that it is a dragon!"