stonecrandall Chapter 136 The Forbidden Forest Fire Dragon Shoots Jade Feast
Chapter 136 The Forbidden Forest Fire Dragon Shoots Jade Feast
Chapter 137 The Forbidden Forest Fire Dragon Shoots Jade Feast
Picking up where we left off, Harry suddenly said that he had come up with a plan, but he only needed Hermione's help.
Hermione was startled by these words and quickly pointed to her own house, asking in confusion, "Me?"
Harry whispered in her ear, "It has to be my eldest sister. If I could use her time-tamper, we could at least go back to before summer vacation and get a mandrake leaf."
Ron read this aloud for a while, then exclaimed excitedly, "That's right! Professor Sprout planted a huge batch last year!"
The two were enjoying themselves when Hermione suddenly shook her head like a lotus leaf swaying in the wind.
"I'm sorry, Harry, but the Time-Turner I have can only go back two days at most. The Ministry of Magic has very strict control over time-related magical items."
"And even if we could go back to the end of last semester and get the mandrake leaf, we'd still have to come back eventually."
"It will still take two or three months to get back to the present timeline, by which time the leaves will definitely wither."
Upon hearing this, Harry could only sigh and give up. It was truly a case of: A heart full of enthusiasm met with cold rain, all enthusiasm turned to ashes.
In the following days, Scarface sent Fred and George to gather information, and also visited Sprout for advice, and asked Flitwick to use his connections.
To his dismay, all inquiries came to nothing; the mandrake seemed to have sunk without a trace. The out-of-season mandrake was nowhere to be found, leaving Harry utterly disappointed. He had come full of hope, only to leave dejected.
On Friday, they went to the Protecting Magical Creatures class in Haigna. The three left the castle and headed straight for the Forbidden Forest, with Hermione chattering incessantly along the way.
"Slytherin is also taking the Protect Magical Creatures class with us. I bet those guys will deliberately make things difficult for Hagrid, and we might have to come to his rescue then..."
"Don't worry, Hermione, I'm sure Hagrid is already prepared," Ron said casually. "This is his first real job, anyone would be well-prepared."
"Don't you think so, Harry?"
Before Harry could respond, the three of them walked to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and saw a crowd gathered in front of Hagrid's hut.
Hagrid was sitting cross-legged on the ground, gulping down a bottle of brandy. His long, red tongue flicked across Hagrid's bald head, polishing it until it shone like a bronze mirror, dazzling the eyes in the sunlight.
Ron craned his neck to look for a moment. "Okay, I take back what I said. Hagrid might not be prepared."
Hagrid waited for a while, but no more students came. He then staggered to his feet and chuckled, "Are all the students here?"
"Open your books!"
"How do I open this?" Draco asked coldly, dragging out his words, as he took out the "Book of Monsters" with its interlocking fangs from the package, which was bound together with a rope.
"We have no idea how to deal with a book that's going to bite like crazy."
Upon hearing this, the Gryffindors did not refute him but instead chimed in with their own opinions.
One person said, "This book is as fierce as a tiger or wolf," another said, "Even after being tied up three times, it still struggles to stay put." There are truly complaints everywhere.
Seeing that everyone was at a loss, Hagrid asked in surprise, "Is none of you able to open it?"
"Hermione?"
"Um... Professor Hagrid." Hermione picked up her own book and said apologetically, "My books are more obedient when I buy them."
When Ron looked at the book, he could see two deep rows of teeth marks on the cover, shining brightly in the sunlight.
He gasped. "Wait, Hermione, you didn't bite the book back, did you?"
"Come on, do you think I'm the kind of person who would do something like that?" Hermione said irritably. "It was the Death Diary that bit me."
"I kept biting the book 'The Book of Monsters' until it screamed in pain. My neighbor thought I was abusing animals and called the police."
Upon hearing this, Harry stamped his foot and sighed, "If I had known this fellow was a bully who preyed on the weak, why would I have bothered to draw my sword?"
After saying that, he poured out four or five books from his bag with a "whoosh," all of which had been chopped into pieces.
Ron's eyes twitched as he watched from the side; being a professor like Hagrid was definitely not an easy job.
Seeing that all the students were engrossed in their books, Hagrid said nothing, snatched the book from Draco's hand, and scratched its spine twice. Strangely enough, the book immediately became docile and no longer acted arrogantly.
"See, this is good enough."
"Oh, how stupid we were," Draco said sarcastically, arms crossed. "We should have sorted out these books; how come we didn't think of that?"
Pansy chuckled and echoed him, "Looks like from now on we'll have to scratch the spine of every book we buy."
After he finished speaking, many Slytherins burst into laughter.
After only a few laughs, another Slytherin man blocked Draco's path.
"Don't go too far, Draco."
"Is what you're doing now really what you'd call Slytherin?"
Upon hearing this, three or five more Slytherin men echoed his sentiments.
Draco, upon hearing this, bristled with rage, his hair standing on end. He laughed in fury, "I'm not worthy to be called a Slytherin? My whole family are Slytherins!"
"Then you didn't open the secret room by your own means either!"
These words made Draco's teeth itch with hatred, wishing he could fight him for three hundred rounds to distinguish the real from the fake Slytherin student.
Hagrid, having endured Draco's sarcasm, was no longer as tolerant as before. He merely snorted coldly and snapped, "You seem to think a little too highly of yourself, Mr. Malfoy. You're not just stupid, you're completely brainless!"
After saying this, he took the book from another student, untied the rope, and the book immediately bared its teeth, ready to hurt someone.
Hagrid! He didn't dodge, but raised his fist, which was as big as a vinegar jar, and roared. The wind from his fist caused a loud bang, which shook the earth and startled the birds and beasts in the forbidden forest to scatter and flee.
The book took that punch, and its fangs almost broke off and scattered on the ground. It immediately went limp and cowered, no longer daring to be fierce.
Hagrid threw the book back, looked down at Draco, his bushy beard bristling, and said, "Are all those muscles on your body just for show?!"
Draco, who had just been struck by Hagrid's punch and was nearly knocked out of his body, saw that Hagrid was no longer the timid forest ranger he usually was, so he had no choice but to suppress his anger, glaring and gritting his teeth but daring not to speak.
"Slytherin, five points deducted! Talking back to the professor!" Hagrid suddenly roared, then burst into laughter. "I've been wanting to do this for a long time."
It should be noted that Draco has always looked down on Hagrid's background. Although he has the appearance of a professor, he still regards him as a forest hunter. Now that he is being punished by Draco, how can he restrain himself?
"You dare deduct points from my account?! Don't you know who my dad is?!"
"You dare threaten the professor? Slytherin, another five points deducted!"
"My dad's on the school board!"
"I think you want to be put in solitary confinement!" Hagrid rolled up his sleeves, revealing arms as strong as iron pillars, his beetle-like eyes gleaming coldly. "Come patrol the Forbidden Forest with me tonight!"
Upon hearing this, Draco immediately fell silent. Seeing Hagrid's swift and decisive action, who among the students dared to utter a word?
They all straightened their backs, held their breath, and were completely silent.
Hagrid looked around and, seeing that no one had any further objections, nodded in satisfaction. "Alright, children, wait here for me for a while."
"I'm going to show you what a big guy this is."
After saying that, he turned and strode away, his footsteps shaking the earth.
Only after the giant's figure disappeared into the forbidden forest did everyone exhale a sigh of relief and relax.
"Nico Flamel's elbow, is that really Hagrid?"
"He's changed so much..."
"In intimidating students, he's absolutely on par with Snape."
The students chattered amongst themselves, and Ron shook his head vigorously, clicking his tongue in amazement, "He looks so unfamiliar. Is that really Hagrid?"
"To be honest, apart from his physique, I can't see any resemblance between Hagrid and his former self."
Upon hearing this, Harry laughed and said, "A true man can have an epiphany in a day or two. Hagrid has been blessed with good fortune and transformed. He is no longer the same as before."
Just then, a rumbling sound like the earth splitting and mountains collapsing was heard in the distance. Everyone turned around quickly and saw Hagrid leading the Norwegian spineless dragon Norberta in a long procession.
"Run! It's a fire dragon!"
It's unclear who shouted, but the students were thrown into chaos, running around like headless flies, with cries of "Dad, Dad, Mom!" filling the air.
Hermione exclaimed, "Isn't the first lesson about hippogriffs?"
"Why did he bring Norbert here?!"
Seeing the crowd scattering, Hagrid called out, "Hey! Kids, come back!"
"Professor Dumbledore has cast a forbidden spell on the Norbert; it cannot harm the students!"
Upon hearing this, the crowd hesitated and stopped.
Upon seeing the blue-eyed, scarred man, Nobeta quickly shrank his dozens-of-feet-long dragon body behind Hagrid, only peeking out half his head to steal a glance.
Hagrid reassured the dragon head with a smile, "She's a good girl, she won't bite people randomly."
"You'd better not waste your time, because you can only observe her for fifteen minutes. After all, we can't waste an entire class period watching a fire dragon."
Seeing that the fire dragon was indeed shy, the students mustered their courage and moved forward step by step, each step filled with trepidation, as if walking on thin ice.
Seeing this, Harry, wanting to save Hagrid's face, strode forward, raised his hand to pat the dragon's tooth, and turned to the crowd with a smile, saying, "This is the guardian beast of Hogwarts, what are you all afraid of?"
Seeing Harry's courage, the students gradually calmed down and slowly moved closer, encircling the fire dragon and marveling at it.
The truth is: a live dragon appears only once in a hundred years, and only dragon fragments are seen once in a thousand years. Such a rare live fire dragon is something even one's parents and elders might not see.
Neville recalled how he had been unable to cast a spell when he saw Boggart in front of Harry, and felt ashamed.
With a determined heart, he took a deep breath and tremblingly placed his hand on Nobeta's belly. A gasp rippled through the crowd behind him, but the fire dragon remained completely still.
Neville grinned and said, "Ha! Fire dragons aren't so scary after all!"
He turned around abruptly, wanting Harry to witness, only to see that the scarred man had already retreated to the shade of a tree and was drinking with Hagrid.
"Brother, you have quite the courage! You invited a fire dragon to oversee the very first lesson."
Hagrid tilted his head back, took a sip of his drink, and laughed, "Don't flatter me, Harry, I was just imitating Professor Lupin."
"I heard you were very satisfied with his practical lessons, so I'd like to give it a try too."
Harry clinked glasses with him and said, "Brother, you've already achieved tremendous success. Countless heroes never see the true face of a dragon in their entire lives. With just this one lesson, you've already earned the title of outstanding professor."
"I'd like to celebrate with my brother first!"
Hagrid blushed at these words, feeling incredibly embarrassed, and quickly changed the subject.
"Well, when you came over, you seemed a bit down. Did something happen?"
Harry clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Brother, you have a good eye! I've been troubled by that mandrake."
Then, he recounted in detail his desire to learn from Animagus but his lack of grass.
Hagrid pondered for a moment, then chuckled, "Then why not ask the amazing centaurs?"
"They are natural prophets; they might know who has mature mandrake leaves."
These words were like a golden bell piercing through a fog; Harry suddenly felt enlightened and laughed loudly, "Excellent! I'll just go find Brother Ferrenze and ask for a drink!"
"Remember to say hello to me too—I don't think there are any creatures in the Forbidden Forest that could threaten you, right?"
The two chatted and laughed, but Draco, who was stroking the dragon's leg, overheard them. When he turned and glanced at them sideways, his eyes burned with venomous hatred.
"Hogwarts is really doomed. Anyone can teach now," he sneered. "They bring in a harmless dragon for the students to touch, while they hide away drinking."
Crabbe and Gore quickly echoed his sentiments like insects.
Hearing this, Hermione turned around and said coldly, "If the dragon posed no danger, then why were you the fastest runner just now?"
"Is it because your buttocks are too loose, and you need jet assistance, Mr. Backyard Flower?"
Draco's face turned purple and he was about to retort when he saw Ron narrow his eyes and reach into his pocket to grasp his wand.
He knew all too well that this desperate Liu Lang was a man who wouldn't stop until he bled to death, so why would he want to provoke this madman for no reason?
He had no choice but to turn around and vent his anger on Nobeta, raising his wand and stabbing wildly at the dragon's groin.
"Are you dangerous, you ugly beast?"
Before it could finish speaking, the dragon's buttocks suddenly twisted, facing Draco directly. With a sharp "plop," a jet of golden broth shot out, its momentum like a powerful crossbow released from a bow, sending Draco flying three to five zhang away, and still not stopping.
"Damn it, gurgling..."
"Lurgle it down..."
The legend goes: A magic wand pricks the dragon's thigh, harsh words provoke its rage. A stream of urine sprays three and a half feet high, leaving the young master's mouth smeared; don't say beasts have no temper, the hot spring washes away the dust and turmoil. To find out what happens next, stay tuned for the next chapter.
(End of this chapter)