Chapter 211: The Box Was Still Too Small
Chapter 211: The Box Was Still Too Small
After Hagrid left with Toothless, Kyle turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione with a smile and said, "So the egg was in the fireplace this whole time... How much longer were you planning on hiding it?"
"Oh..." Ron muttered, "Hermione, you said you read that book. How come you didn't know dragon eggs give off a smell when placed near fire? Or did you get the title wrong?"
"Shut up! How is that even possible? Do you think I'm like you?" Hermione retorted irritably. "'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' is a required book by the school, of course, I've read it, and not just once."
"Then how..."
"Don't ask me, I don't know!" Hermione exclaimed, tugging at her hair. "I don't recall ever reading that in the book. All it mentioned was how to hatch a dragon's egg!"
As they spoke, the trio turned their gazes towards Kyle.
Ron asked suspiciously, "You didn't make that up, did you?"
Compared to Kyle, he trusted Hermione's knowledge more, as she had never made a mistake when it came to their textbooks.
"What about Toothless then?" Kyle asked. "It's not like he would cooperate with me."
Harry pondered for a moment. "Maybe... he just happened to be feeling unwell."
"He certainly has a knack for timing."
Kyle picked up the teacup from the table and took a sip before addressing Hermione, "I assume you bought your book before the start of term."
"Yes, on my first trip to Diagon Alley." Hermione frowned. "Is there a problem?"
Kyle spread his hands. "Actually, 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' has been revised numerous times. I suspect Scrivenshaft's might have given you an older edition by mistake."
As he spoke, he handed his copy of the book to Hermione.
"You can take a look for yourself."
Hermione flipped to the page on fire dragons as soon as she took the book.
Just as Kyle had said, the exact phrase was written there. She then checked the publication date and was surprised to find that the two books were published more than fifty years apart.
"This is outrageous..." Hermione exclaimed angrily. "It's deceitful of them to do this! How could they?"
"It's quite normal," Kyle explained. "Newt revised the book countless times, but the cover remained unchanged. If you don't open it and look inside, it's hard to tell if it's the latest edition."
"And with the rush to buy books before the start of term, the shopkeepers probably didn't notice the mistake either," Hermione added.
Hermione recalled her visit to Scrivenshaft's. All the required textbooks for Hogwarts students were displayed by the entrance, except for the box containing 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', which was empty. The staff had been busy, and she had found her copy tucked away in a corner of a bookshelf.
"Oh, drat!"
Hermione was even more frustrated now, but this time it was with herself.
She realized that Kyle's copy had much more detailed information, and she regretted not waiting a little longer to get a newer edition.
"If you really care about it," Kyle said with a smile, "you can take your copy to Scrivenshaft's during the holidays, and I'm sure they'll be happy to exchange it for you."
The copy Kyle had was from fifty years ago, which coincided with Newt's creative peak. Sometimes, a newly revised edition would be completely rewritten just days after its previous update, so older editions from that period were quite rare.
These older editions were of little use to the average person, but bookstores valued them. To showcase their extensive collection, they often displayed the entire 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' series, including all the different editions.
"No need!"
Hermione returned the book to Kyle. "It's not that expensive anyway. I've decided to buy a new copy when the time comes."
With that, she walked back and sat down on the nearby stool.
Without them blocking the view, Kyle immediately spotted the large, pitch-black egg hidden beneath the teapot.
"Norwegian Ridgeback?"
"That's right." At that moment, Hagrid walked in and closed the door behind him.
With a gleeful expression, he said, "Pretty rare, isn't it?"
Kyle nodded.
The rarity of the Norwegian Ridgeback was second only to the Hungarian Tree Bee and the Australian White-eye, making it a truly uncommon sight.
...
On their way to find the Pear tree, Hagrid kept glancing back at his cabin.
"You should head back and take care of the dragon's egg. I know the way, so you don't need to come with me."
Hagrid shook his head firmly. "No, I can't let you go into the Forbidden Forest alone!"
"Alright then, I'll try to hurry." Kyle sighed, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"But how did you manage to buy a dragon's egg?"
"I didn't buy it, I won it." Hagrid said, "Actually, I was quite lucky. A few days ago, a drinking buddy of mine came to me and said someone in the village was playing cards with a dragon's egg as a stake. He asked if I was interested."
"So you went to Hogsmeade?"
"I didn't want to go at first, you know how restless the Forbidden Forest has been lately. But it's a dragon's egg... " Hagrid lowered his voice, his eyes sparkling with excitement, "That guy was too stupid. I easily tricked him."
Kyle raised an eyebrow at Hagrid's self-satisfied expression but remained silent.
The fact that someone could be tricked by Hagrid spoke volumes.
"But what will you do once it hatches?" Kyle asked.
"Oh, I've been reading up on it." Hagrid turned to glance back at his cabin once more.
"After it hatches, I just need to feed it a bucket of chicken blood brandy every half hour."
"Then you'll have to be careful." Kyle said, "Norwegian Ridgebacks aren't exactly a quiet breed. They're as aggressive as Hungarian Tree Bees, so it's impossible to keep them hidden."
"Um... yeah, I'll be careful." Hagrid mumbled in response, his mind clearly elsewhere.
With the prospect of raising a dragon, he couldn't bring himself to focus on anything else.
"In that case," Kyle patted Hagrid's arm, a meaningful look in his eyes, "If you need any help along the way, don't hesitate to ask. Don't be shy about it."
Fire dragons grew at an incredibly fast rate, and it would only take a month for it to surpass the size of his current dragon, Loewy.
Kyle made up his mind to enlarge the box once again as soon as he returned.
...
The two of them soon arrived near the nest of the moon-addled beast, where the best-grown Cornelian Cherry trees in the area were located.
Kyle walked over and carefully inspected the trunks of the Cornelian cherry trees, while Hagrid stood by absentmindedly, his mind clearly still on his cabin and the dragon's egg.
His thoughts alternated between worrying about the fire in the fireplace dying out and fretting over whether Harry and the others would accidentally break the egg.
This made him appear increasingly anxious, and he kept glancing back, as if he couldn't wait to return.
On the other hand, Kyle circled the area and quickly found two younger trees that weren't as lush.
These were the most suitable choices, as they would be much easier to transplant and more likely to survive.
...
(End of Chapter)
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