Earl's flying speed was limited, and Cohen couldn't speed up the "sell venom—get money—buy feathers" process.
During the nearly week-long wait, Cohen and Harry watched the entire process of Norbert, who was originally only the size of Hagrid's fist, grow to the size of a hound named Fang.
On Wednesday afternoon, Cohen and the others arrived at Hagrid's door.
"It's growing way too fast—I feel like it'll be as big as this house next week!"
Ron refused to go into Hagrid's house, because Norbert was rampaging inside, the entire cabin shaking violently from its thick tail.
Even from the outside, it was clear what a mess the cabin was in.
"It's alright, it'll calm down as soon as Cohen goes in," Harry reassured Ron with considerable experience. "I don't know why, but Norber always gets quiet whenever Cohen comes in."
"It's probably just afraid of me," Cohen said, feigning uncertainty. "I guess breaking its eggshell gave it a psychological trauma."
"Indeed, think about it, when you were born, there was a huge creature trying to pull you out of the egg…" Ron said dramatically, pinching the air in front of him as if imitating a terrifying demon from a fantasy.
"Hopefully it won't burn Hagrid's house down…" Hermione smelled a burnt odor—she couldn't tell if it was Hagrid's beard or his house.
Cohen went up and knocked on the door. Norber's roars and whimpers came from inside.
"Oh—don't rush… Norber, don't get agitated—be good…"
Hagrid was trying to control Norber.
After a struggle, the door opened a crack.
The other three, except for Cohen, all took a step back, wanting to wait until Cohen scared Nober before following him in to avoid being accidentally injured.
As soon as Cohen pushed open the door, he saw Hagrid holding Nober like a baby, the dragon's back bent into a C-shape, yet it was still struggling to break free.
"Sizzle—"
Sparks were constantly shooting from its nostrils, and Hagrid's whiskers were singed in several places.
Once Cohen came into Nober's view, it immediately stopped struggling and slipped out of Hagrid's arms like an eel, happily rubbing against Cohen's legs—in fact, Nober was now almost up to Cohen's waist.
"This would be called Stockholm Syndrome in humans," Cohen said, looking at Nober circling him with utter bewilderment.
When it first hatched, it had shown fear upon seeing Cohen.
But now, its presence near Cohen only evoked feelings of happiness—even more so after Cohen stroked its head.
What was this? A masochist?
With Norbert instantly tamed, the world seemed to quiet down.
Luckily, Hagrid's house was filled with blankets and ornaments made of magical animal fur, many of which were fireproof, so Norbert only managed to scorch the wooden tables, chairs, and walls, as well as Hagrid's beard.
"It's so cute..."
Hagrid said, tears welling in his eyes as he looked at Norbert, who had curled up on Cohen's lap.
"..."
Harry, Hermione, and Ron remained silent—they didn't find the black dragon particularly cute, especially since they were now sitting in a ruin it had created.
Scattered rags and fur from unknown creatures were everywhere. Hagrid's unicorn blanket was torn to shreds, seemingly a former chew toy for Norberth—now it had a new one, a rough wooden carving of a small dragon Hagrid had carved for it, bearing very fresh teeth marks.
Probably carved from some kind of wand tree, it hadn't been burned by Norberth.
"I'm actually quite alright," Cohen commented neutrally.
It was indeed quite cute from certain angles, when quiet, of course.
If it maintained its puppy-like personality, it would certainly be a novel and useful pet.
"Shouldn't we move it to that room in the next few days?" Harry asked.
"By the way, that's why I dragged you all here to see Norberth today," Cohen intended to relay Dumbledore's meaning, "We can't keep it in the castle anymore."
"What?" Hermione asked in horror, "But it'll be as big as the house by the end of term time!"
"So I can keep it in the woods?" Hagrid asked hopefully.
"No, it'll be too late. Once its wing membranes are thicker, it can fly, and then the whole school will know there's a dragon in the Forbidden Forest," Cohen shook his head. "Will the Board of Governors let it stay here alive? The Department of Magical Creatures Control will send someone to kill it."
"Kill it means…" Harry asked cautiously.
"If it's old enough to be used as dragon material, it will be killed and its blood and hide taken," Cohen said briefly. "If it's not old enough, it should be captured."
"They can't do that!" Hagrid cried out sadly. "It's too cruel!"
Norbert seemed to understand Cohen's meaning—it began rubbing its head against Cohen's belly, trying to win him over with its cute gesture.
If some other less appealing creature were to try and take this spot, it would probably be a bit too desperate…
"Why can't we keep it in that room?" Hermione asked worriedly. "We can't—maybe we should have Ron contact his brother Charlie."
"But Charlie's dragons will eventually be used as wizarding materials too," Harry said soberly. "It seems like the ending is the same for everyone…"
"Because Dumbledore wrote to me," Cohen replied. "He forbids us from keeping dragons in the castle; it's dangerous for the students—he's definitely right."
Hagrid's face turned deathly pale upon hearing that Dumbledore knew about Norbert.
"Dumbledore, Professor Dumbledore knows?" Hagrid's voice trembled slightly. "Nothing can be hidden from him…"
"Don't blame yourself too much, Hagrid. Dumbledore didn't forbid it—it's illegal, but at least he won't report us," Cohen comforted him. "Besides, he also wants to help us."
"Oh my god… Waaah… Dumbledore is really… um…" Hagrid covered his face, unsure what to say. "I… He trusted me so much… and yet…"
"So what's the solution?" Ron asked cautiously. "If all else fails, I'll write a letter to Charlie now—he can definitely help…"
"We can keep it in a box," Cohen replied.
"Using the Unblemished Stretching Charm, I'm working on it. Dumbledore gave me a reference book. Now we just need to wait for the Earl to return with the last set of materials I need, and the box big enough to keep the dragon will be ready."
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(End of Chapter)