https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-862-The-Stubborn-Hungarian-Horntail/12540231/
Chapter 861: Eight Months Later?
Chapter 861: Eight Months Later?
Drools' mood was like a rollercoaster, a real rollercoaster of emotions.
He had been delighted to find the mysterious donor, but the legitimate dragon-keeping certificate that the man produced simultaneously had dampened his spirits considerably.
Especially with all the additional conditions attached, not only providing the dragon egg but also covering all expenses required for dragon-keeping. If he agreed, it would be as if they had almost added another Fire Dragon Sanctuary London District.
And it would be the kind that they couldn't interfere with management-wise.
But if he didn't agree... Drools thought of the second letter he had deliberately hidden and not shown, the one in Birdman's house, which vaguely mentioned some secrets from ninety-seven years ago.
In the letter, Birdman emphasized the importance of that bag of Galleons to the Fire Dragon Sanctuary. It could be said that the Sanctuary's establishment and development to its current scale were all dependent on those three thousand Galleons.
Without that money, the Fire Dragon Sanctuary would probably have ceased to exist in name only back then.
To be fair, Drools felt that if he were Birdman, he might have made the same choice.
Exchanging a legitimate dragon-keeping certificate that would take effect ninety-seven years later for the normal development of the Fire Dragon Sanctuary was a fair deal.
But the problem now was that he wasn't Birdman.
The creditor had come knocking, and the signatory had retired, leaving all the trouble to him, the current captain... Who could he turn to for help?
In addition, there was one other thing that bothered him: in his writing, Birdman hinted that he had met Headmaster Dumbledore ninety-seven years ago and mistakenly identified his identity, for which he should apologize and make amends.
This wasn't a big deal in itself. After all, Albus Dumbledore had already existed ninety-seven years ago, and he had been an adult, so seeing him wasn't unusual.
But if you combined this information with what had been passed down in the Sanctuary, it became intriguing.
According to their records, the donor back then had been a young man in his twenties accompanied by a centenarian old servant with a head full of white hair.
Drools subconsciously glanced at the three people in front of him.
If you ignored Newt, there was also a young man in his twenties and a centenarian with a head full of white hair.
Was it a coincidence? It seemed too much of a coincidence.
While dragon keepers were known for their physical prowess, it didn't mean they lacked intelligence, and Drools wasn't a fool. He didn't think Birdman would have written so much meaningless nonsense.
And about misunderstanding Dumbledore's identity and needing to apologize... There had only been two people back then, and their identities were clear: one was a wealthy young man, and the other was an elderly servant in poor health. Who would need to apologize?
The answer was obvious: the latter... After all, given the situation at the time, it wouldn't have been strange to assume that Dumbledore was a wealthy young man.
Only if you mistook the Headmaster of Hogwarts, the greatest white wizard in the wizarding world, for a servant would you need to apologize.
But it had been 1899, and Dumbledore had just graduated. Even if Birdman had terrible eyesight, how could he have mistaken him for an old servant?
Unless... the Dumbledore Birdman had seen back then was the same person Drools had seen.
As unbelievable as it seemed, all the information Birdman had left pointed to this conclusion.
If one dared to take it a step further.
If you didn't count Newt Scamander, even the setting might have been the same... a young man and an old man.
This was also why Drools had taken so long to return.
Birdman's residence wasn't far from here; it would only take a few minutes to go back and forth, but he had taken half an hour.
The extra time had been spent convincing himself to accept this situation and hesitating about whether or not to agree to the other party's request.
In theory, if the truth were as he suspected, the other party was taking advantage of a loophole and cheating, and the Fire Dragon Sanctuary could refuse to acknowledge the debt.
But the other party could also refuse to acknowledge it, as they had no evidence, and there was a magical contract in place. The Sanctuary was naturally at a disadvantage, and even going to the International Wizarding Federation would be futile.
After half an hour of inner turmoil, he finally decided to agree to the other party's request.
And after going to so much trouble, they certainly wouldn't give up just because he said no.
Let's see who they were.
Newt, Dumbledore—both influential figures in the wizarding world.
And that Kyle, the most troublesome one. Although his identity wasn't as prominent as the other two, according to Charlie Weasley, he had become a senior assistant to the Minister of Magic in the British Ministry of Magic even before graduating, giving him a solid official identity and a high position. He could even influence the Minister of Magic's decisions to some extent.
If this matter wasn't handled well, it could even escalate into an international dispute.
No wonder Birdman ran away; that ! Drools cursed Birdman's lineage in his mind, but he maintained a calm expression as he looked at Kyle.
"Since it was Mr. Birdman who signed the magical contract, our sanctuary will naturally abide by it. So, are you going to take the dragon egg away now?"
"If possible, the sooner, the better."
"Alright then." Drools sighed and started walking towards the door. "Follow me, all of you."
Kyle quickly fell into step behind him.
He had assumed that Drools would take them back to the cave, but instead, the dragon keeper led them deeper into the sanctuary.
"I know what you're thinking." Drools turned and said, "I'm sorry, but we can't give you the dragon egg."
"Oh?" Kyle raised an eyebrow.
He wasn't worried that Drools would go back on his word or try to silence them.
With Dumbledore trailing behind, Drools wouldn't dare attempt anything foolish unless his brain was overwhelmed by his muscles.
"We can't take the egg away from the mother dragon, especially one that's about to hatch," Drools explained.
"So, there are no other dragon eggs here?" Kyle asked.
"No, there aren't." Drools replied, "But if you don't mind, you can take one yourself. I won't stop you..."
"I'd like to hear your thoughts on this." Kyle said.
He would be crazy to provoke a brooding mother dragon.
"Alright." Drools sighed.
"If you agree, can we change it to a young dragon, one that has already developed hunting capabilities and left the nest?"
Fire dragons, as top-tier magical beasts, wouldn't stay with their adult counterparts forever. Once they possess sufficient abilities, they venture out to establish their own territory.
"A young dragon is much more troublesome than an egg." Kyle gave Drools a meaningful glance.
Fire dragons naturally develop an affinity for the first creature they see upon hatching, which is the dragon keeper's greatest advantage. However, a young dragon's personality is more or less set, and establishing a good relationship with them is far more challenging than starting from the egg.
It seemed that Drools didn't want the fire dragon to become too attached to them.
"Yes, you're right." Drools nodded, acknowledging his thoughts. "But I believe that with Mr. Scamander's help, this won't be a problem for you, right?
"Moreover, a young dragon has the advantage of skipping the most tedious steps and saving you a lot of time."
"Of course..." Seeing Kyle's silence, Drools continued, "If you insist on disagreeing, you can also wait for a while, hmm... no more than a year, and we can prepare two eggs for you in advance."
"No need." Kyle smiled. "I don't have that much patience. A young dragon is fine."
He was well aware of Drools' little calculations. Even for Norberta, her affections needed to be nurtured. For Newt to gain the trust of a wild fire dragon adopted halfway through its life would be a challenging task, even for him.
Drools, as a dragon keeper, was all too familiar with this reality. After all, they had their areas of expertise, and unless there were special circumstances, a dragon keeper tending to Hungarian tree bees wouldn't venture into the territory of Swedish Short-Snouts.
Kyle understood this as well, but he didn't mind.
"However, Mr. Drools," Kyle said, "if we're changing the dragon egg to a young dragon, I'd like to make a small request."
"Oh? What is it?"
"I want to choose the species." Kyle said, "For example, a Hungarian Horntail."
"No." Drools immediately refused.
"That's where you're wrong." Kyle shook his finger, "I'm willing to make concessions because of your difficulties. Now, I've made a small request, and you're refusing? What if you bring me two Welsh Green dragons instead?"
"They're still fire dragons."
"You really think so?" Kyle looked at Drools in disbelief.
After all, he had been instrumental in establishing the sanctuary. To dismiss him with two Welsh Green dragons seemed a bit excessive.
"It's like this... mainly, I want to study the Hungarian Horntail." Newt stepped forward and said.
He waved his hand, signaling for Kyle to step back, then pulled Drools aside and began whispering to him.
Kyle immediately fell silent and waited quietly.
As for Dumbledore... he seemed to be genuinely sightseeing, wandering around, occasionally reaching out to touch the nearby oak trees and musing, "This wood would make a fine door. We could install a new entrance for Hogwarts."
Although Kyle wasn't a wood expert, he figured that the wood used for Hogwarts' doors, which had endured for a millennium, was probably of much better quality than that of ordinary oak trees.
Newt was highly efficient, and in just a few minutes, Drools walked back over.
"A Hungarian Horntail, huh? I agree." He gave Newt a resigned look, "I suspect you must have inquired about the sanctuary beforehand. Otherwise, how did you know we just so happened to have two young Hungarian Horntails?"
"Just a coincidence." Newt smiled.
"Never mind, as long as you don't forget what you promised." Drools shook his head, "But we must make it clear that if you choose the Horntail, the other one must be either a Welsh Green or a Hungarian Tree Bee."
Choose?
Kyle was a little surprised, as he had already envisioned a combination of the Horntail and the Green dragon.
"We have too many Hungarian Tree Bees in the sanctuary.
"I see." Kyle nodded, he hadn't expected this.
"This is also related to Mr. Scamander." Drools said, "If not for your promise, we'd rather endure the hardship than release such a dangerous creature."
"I just happen to have experience in that area." Newt said humbly.
The Hungarian Tree Bee in his case was even more temperamental than the ones here, hence why it had been returned three times.
"I'll take the Tree Bee." Kyle said without hesitation.
"I hope you won't regret it."
Perhaps it was his imagination, but Kyle felt that Drools had just breathed a sigh of relief, as if a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders.
"Let me make this clear," Drools said quickly, "once these dragons leave, there are no take-backs. If one day you decide you don't want it anymore, you'll have to give up your legal dragon-keeping certificate. Also, if the dragon causes any trouble, we will take it back."
"No problem." Kyle said.
Although he didn't know what Drools was up to, how could he possibly return the fire dragon?
It was like trying to get gold coins out of Dobby's pocket, nearly impossible, let alone doing it voluntarily.
"Then the rest is simple." Drools suddenly became more enthusiastic, "Let's go have lunch first, we can talk while we eat."
Kyle felt even more suspicious, but because he was happy about getting two fire dragons, he didn't think too much about it and followed Drools to the sanctuary's cafeteria.
...
Lunch was similar to the last time, mostly large chunks of roasted meat with a few scarce vegetables, and a bowl of some unidentifiable stew.
It was grayish and bubbly.
Kyle merely glanced at it and pushed the bowl aside, the chef here probably had a lot in common with Hagrid.
However, Drools ate with great relish.
Dumbledore also tentatively sipped the stew.
"This flavor is quite unique." he said to Kyle, "I suggest you give it a try."
"No thanks." Kyle shook his head firmly after glancing at the color of the stew.
After a simple lunch, everything Kyle needed was ready.
First was the food, a crate of Firestone was brought over, as they were young dragons, they didn't need much, and this amount would be sufficient.
There were also various meats, Drools chose a group of wild boars and a group of goats, totaling about fifty heads.
The wild boars were for the Lion Dragon, and the goats were for the Hungarian Tree Bee.
"Oh, it's a good thing Aberforth isn't here." Dumbledore said quietly, "Otherwise, he would have gone crazy."
Kyle understood immediately and couldn't help but chuckle.
Aberforth only kept a single goat and was extremely devoted to it.
Next was the main event.
A fire dragon about seven to eight feet tall, with a body completely covered in scarlet scales, was carried over. Its head was slightly longer than that of a typical fire dragon, and sharp horns resembling a mane sprouted from the back of its head, giving it a resemblance to a lion. It also had a pair of broad wings that were larger than its body.
"Be very careful." Drools warned, "The Lion Dragon is not a docile breed, their temperamental nature is second only to the Hungarian Tree Bee and the Norwegian Ridgeback."
"I understand." Kyle nodded.
He looked around, "Where's my Tree Bee?"
"Don't worry." Drools smiled slightly, "Although it's only eight months old, its situation is special, so it might take a little longer... Oh, here it comes."
Kyle followed his gaze.
And froze in place.
He saw no less than five dragon keepers, using thick iron chains as thick as their wrists, struggling to carry an almost twenty-foot-tall fire dragon towards them.
"Is this... eight months old?"
"Yes." The smile on Drools' face grew wider, "Hungarian Tree Bees are generally a bit larger than other fire dragons, that's normal."
"A bit larger?" Kyle mumbled.
Even though they were the same age, the Lion Dragon looked like a delicate toy compared to the Tree Bee.
Moreover... even though it was under the influence of a Stunning Spell, the Hungarian Tree Bee was still unconsciously lashing its tail.
Kyle witnessed one of the dragon keepers get pierced through the thigh by a spike because he couldn't dodge in time.
The injured keeper skillfully left the group, applying a potion to the wound with his left hand while simultaneously bandaging it with his right, then he rejoined the others and grabbed the iron chain, the entire process was smooth and efficient, clearly something he had done many times before.
The others also seemed accustomed to it.
"Um..." Kyle cleared his throat, "I suddenly feel that maybe a Welsh..."
"No take-backs, remember?" Drools interrupted him, "I believe you can take good care of it."
(End of Chapter)
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