Chapter 94: Boring Levels and Rearrangements
With fireballs hovering above their heads, the two passed through a tunnel filled with demonic nets and arrived at the third level.
The place was filled with winged keys, and there was a flying broomstick next to it. It was obviously a challenge set up after Harry showed his Quidditch talent, based on his flying ability.
Vaughn didn't even have the desire to comment on this level; he simply uttered a single interjection:
"Tsk!"
In the later chessboard levels, he didn't even use any interjections.
Dumbledore was eager to hear the "user's" feedback: "Vaughn, what do you think of these two levels? I've been thinking for a long time about how to balance Harry and the others' individual strengths with the inherent power of the levels themselves."
"In the flying key challenge, I invited Phoenix (Professor Flitwick) to imbue those keys with the 'Volley of Arrows' spell. If you don't follow the rules and use your flying broom to grab the correct key, you will be attacked by them."
"This giant chessboard formation originates from an ancient magic called 'Stone Slabs Emerge,' which is Minerva's favorite. It can temporarily bring these giant stone sculptures to life. I invited Minerva to set up an endgame, which will surely satisfy Ron greatly."
"There are two more challenges next. One is a troll, which will test Harry and Miss Granger's fighting abilities, and the other is potions, which will test their logical thinking and courage."
After saying this, Dumbledore smiled at Vaughn, seemingly waiting for his praise.
But what he got in return was Vaughn's expressionless face. Vaughn looked at his head covered by a soft hat, as if trying to guess what was inside.
He offered a "tactful" assessment: "To be honest, Albus, these levels are really boring!"
Dumbledore's smile stiffened slightly, and he couldn't help but explain, "You mean it's not difficult enough? Vaughn, you have to understand, these aren't meant to protect against anyone; they're just a test for Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They're only 12 or 13-year-old wizards; it's too difficult..."
"No!" Vaughn interrupted him. "It's not about whether it's difficult or not, it's about whether it's interesting or engaging enough. Take the Flying Key, for example. What are you testing? Harry's flying skills? Didn't he perform well enough in Quidditch?"
"And what about the Devil's Web, which is even further ahead? Besides Hermione, what do you expect Harry and Ron to learn? That they'll spend their whole lives remembering that the Devil's Web is afraid of fire? How many times in their lives will they even encounter the Devil's Web?"
"The chessboard puzzle is the same. Harry and Hermione are terrible at chess; they can't help at all. In this puzzle, only Ron is somewhat useful. Are you trying to urge Harry and Hermione to study wizard chess properly in the future? Or are you trying to use the final deadlock to pull off a sentimental act?"
"The troll level is even more ridiculous. I suspect it was set up by Quirrell. It's basically pointless."
Vaughn looked at Dumbledore and said mercilessly, "Albus, haven't you noticed? Although you have indeed noticed the characteristics of each of the three, your design of each level focuses too much on one of them and neglects the other two..."
"You're not testing Harry, Ron, and Hermione individually; you're testing a team. What's the point of these so-called challenges other than letting them show off their well-known strengths? Testing them is about verifying their strengths, their weaknesses, and the problems they have with each other, so they can learn and grow."
These words left Dumbledore speechless.
He was initially quite proud of his design, but after Vaughn's series of questions, he looked back and realized it wasn't very interesting.
Old Deng fell into deep thought. After a moment, he didn't say much, but led Vaughn through the "worthless" giant monster level and the potion level surrounded by demonic fire.
It wasn't until the potion challenge that Vaughn gave a few words of positive feedback: "It's somewhat interesting, a logic puzzle, but I dare say only Hermione could come up with the correct answer. The potion for the next challenge, which only requires two doses, is more of a test."
"Did the professor cast a spell to ensure there's only enough for two people?"
Finally hearing a positive comment, Old Deng cheerfully replied, "It wasn't Severus. I set the rules here, allowing only two people to cross the wall of fire. The method is to find the correct potion and drink it. No other methods are allowed, and the amount of potion is only enough for two people."
"This is both to ensure that only Harry faces Quirinus alone, and to prevent Quirinus from accidentally destroying the potion as he passes by. Under the rules, even if he does destroy it, the potion will be restored and wait for the last person."
Vaughn vaguely remembered this kind of magic that set rules.
Of course not in this lifetime; he is not yet exposed to such advanced magic.
It is a memory of the original work from a previous life.
The magic Voldemort used to hide the Slytherin locket in the cave he visited as a child was similar.
He placed the locket in a glass container and filled it with a poison that made people wish they were dead. Anyone who wanted the locket had to drink all the poison; pouring it out or taking it directly wouldn't work.
This is the most interesting part of all the levels I've seen tonight, in Vaughn's opinion.
Moreover, their target for tonight was also under Dumbledore's spell.
The two drank the potion, passed through the purple wall of fire, and arrived at the last room. The spacious room was completely empty except for a mirror standing in the center.
Vaughn looked around a few times. "This is the abandoned classroom where the Mirror of Eris used to be... I remember it was originally on the fifth floor. Did you move the whole classroom here?"
Dumbledore smiled mischievously: "That's right, it's a little privilege of being the headmaster. Remember when I said that Hogwarts wouldn't refuse the headmaster's trivial requests? Its staircases can be moved around, and so can the rooms."
Damn it!
Old Deng got away with it.
Vaughn admitted he was a little envious. This castle, which had existed for a thousand years, was the greatest treasure and secret of the entire Hogwarts, and the privileges of the Hogwarts headmaster were more numerous and important than he had imagined.
Ignoring Vaughn's sour expression, Dumbledore walked to the Mirror of Erised and stared into it.
A moment later, Vaughn saw with his own eyes a blood-red, translucent stone, like crystal, fall out of nowhere into Dumbledore's slightly open palm.
With a complicated look, Dumbledore glanced at the Mirror of Erised again, and before it could be bound by the rules of magic and resume its function, he pulled down the dust cover to cover it.
He turned around and handed the blood-red stone in his hand to Vaughn.
"He can lend it to you for a week, so, Vaughn, it's time for you to fulfill the terms of the deal."
Taking the magical alchemical artifact, Vaughn ignored the information that popped up on the system panel and replied with a smirk, "You've hit the jackpot, Albus. I'm going to redesign all the levels!"
Dumbledore's eyes lit up slightly: "Oh, may I hear your thoughts?"
"Don't rush, we can talk slowly. I believe you will be very satisfied with my idea. Of course, given that my magical abilities are far inferior to yours, you will have to help me."
"No problem," Dumbledore replied readily.
But seeing Vaughn's smile, he suddenly had a bad feeling.
Harry and Ron felt like they were being driven crazy.
Since Vaughn returned and started catching up on her studies, Hermione has shown tremendous enthusiasm for studying. The blank pages of her diary, which records her study plan, are rapidly thinning, while the pages filled with writing are visibly thickening.
Even more terrifying, as March progressed, one day Hermione suddenly exclaimed in horror, "There are only 10 weeks left until the exams!"
She not only pushed herself even harder, but also started making revision plans for Harry and Ron!
The two had protested before, but when Hermione said confidently, "You don't want to fail your exams and have to repeat a year, do you?"
At the prime of their youth, even a poor student has a sense of pride; no little boy wants to lose face like that.
So, night after night, they could only bury themselves in heavy homework and terrifying revision plans.
Fortunately, Hermione doesn't always have time to supervise them; she spends two hours with Vaughn every day.
That was the only chance Harry and Ron could relax and give their wound-up brains a break.
As for Vaughn, he became mysterious again.
Nobody knows what he does. People only see him in class, and he disappears as soon as get out of class is over.
Harry believes Vaughn may be developing a new potion.
Because his current condition is exactly the same as when he was developing the wolfsbane drug last year.
Ron disagreed: "Don't be silly, Harry. That guy wouldn't be that diligent. He only spent two months developing the Vaughn beauty line, and then played with it for a full six months!"
Then, that afternoon, Peeves, who had been away for a long time, set his sights on Ron again.
"Poor and stupid Weatherby, why does he always talk bad about the Great Demon King behind his back? Of course, Mischief loves it. Say a few more words, because Grandpa Mischief still has many prank ideas he hasn't used yet, hee hee ha ha ha!"
Peeves grinned merrily, throwing some kind of paint at Ron, who scrambled to cover his head and ran away, all the while somersaulting in mid-air in the classroom.
It now enjoys working for Vaughn because when Vaughn gives it orders, the other ghosts don't stop it, and even the Blood Man Barrow, which it fears most, turns a blind eye to its pranks.
Mischievous Ghost Grandpa can unleash his mischievous talents to the fullest.
For two days in a row, Ron was driven to the brink of madness, twice falling victim to badmouthing Vaughn behind his back. After that incident, he looked at everyone in the common room as if they were informants.
The only people he never doubted were Harry and Hermione—they were his friends, how could they possibly harm him?
Ron thought naively and foolishly.
Besides the heavy workload of homework and review every day, the trio also kept an eye on Lou Williams.
Every day, they would take a little time to pass by the door guarded by Lu Wei, press their lips against the door, and listen to the thunderous snoring of the huge three-headed dog inside.
On one occasion, they even ran into Dumbledore there. The old headmaster had just come out of the door, and he was covered in sweat from exhaustion, his usually clear and bright eyes looking somewhat listless.
He seemed a bit neurotic, constantly muttering complaints to himself when no one was around.
"I'm over a hundred years old, how can you order me around like this? You've assigned me all the heavy work, and what have you been doing?"
"Yes, I invited you, but I only wanted you to participate. I never imagined your redesign would be so massive..."
"Oh—yes, that's a fantastic idea, absolutely brilliant! The problem is, I'll be doing such a huge amount of work, right?"
Hiding in the corner of the corridor, the trio looked at each other, watching the seemingly insane old principal stagger away, arguing with the void.
They certainly didn't think Dumbledore was crazy.
"Maybe he's with someone who's used the Disillusionment Charm," Harry thought of his Invisibility Cloak.
Ron, however, had a different focus: "What do you think Dumbledore is doing? It sounds like he's discussing some kind of project with that invisible man."
"They might be redesigning the mechanism protecting the Philosopher's Stone!" Hermione suddenly said.
Upon hearing this, Harry and Ron's eyes lit up.
Yes, it's very possible that Fluffy was guarding the entrance to the mechanism, and that's where Dumbledore came out.
What else could the "engineering" that Dumbledore just mentioned be but a mechanism to protect the Philosopher's Stone?
This made the two of them breathe a slight sigh of relief.
Whether Snape was the Man in Black or not, the Man in Black certainly existed.
He was likely a professor who participated in the design of the Philosopher's Stone mechanism.
These days they've been keeping an eye on Lu Wei, wary of the black-robed man whose identity is still unclear, who might suddenly break through the barriers and steal the Philosopher's Stone.
Now, seeing Dumbledore redesign the mechanism, they finally felt somewhat relieved.
Unfortunately, things don't always go according to their wishes.
Two days later, when they returned to that corridor, the trio were surprised to see...
Dumbledore brought several professors with him as well.
Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, Snape, Professor Quirrell, and Hagrid.
Fearing discovery, the trio dared not approach. They could not hear Dumbledore say a few words to them before leading them into the room guarded by Fluffy.
It seems that the plan is to continue involving professors in the design of the institution.
The three returned to the Gryffindor common room with heavy hearts.
There were other people in the lounge, so Ron could only lower his voice and say irritably, "Has Dumbledore gone senile? Didn't he realize that the man in black was one of the professors? If he was going to redesign the mechanism, why did he involve them again... I'm not targeting Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick, but... but Snape..."
He was so anxious he was pacing back and forth. These adults really never give him a moment's peace of mind.
Harry and Hermione were at a loss for words.
They discussed it for a while and decided to find an opportunity to remind Hagrid again.
And this opportunity soon arrived; the next day, Harry received a text message from Hagrid:
"It's about to hatch!"
I received the text message from the owl while I was having breakfast this morning.
So, for the rest of the time, Harry and Ron were restless and even considered skipping their morning classes to rush to Hagrid's hut.
But Hermione firmly disagreed.
"You're happy to leave, but have you ever thought about who will make up for the points you lost because of your absences and truancy?"
Ron was very unhappy with her attitude; he glared at the Slytherin students sitting opposite him.
"Vaughn didn't come today either. Oh, in fact, he didn't come to class yesterday either. Why don't you say anything about him?"
Harry, who was standing nearby, nodded subconsciously, and then Hermione stomped on his foot hard.
Harry grimaced, but dared not utter a sound.
Hermione lowered her voice and said angrily, "If you can add 30 points to Gryffindor every day, I'll stop bothering with you!"
Harry and Ron were dejected. They could easily lose 30 points a day, but gaining points would be impossible, as the sun would probably rise in the west.
Ultimately, the two of them weren't thick-skinned enough to shamelessly shift the blame onto others. However, throughout the entire class, they stubbornly tried to reason with Hermione and appeal to her emotions.
"How many people in the wizarding world have seen a dragon hatch? I bet we may never have this chance again in our entire lives. Remember my brother Charlie? He's never seen a dragon hatch in Romania. The mother dragon won't allow it unless you kill it."
"Yes, Hermione, what a rare opportunity! We… we can even treat this as a social practice; you could even write a paper about it."
To convince Hermione, Harry told nonsense that he himself didn't believe.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him: "Do you want the professors to arrest us all? Also, keep your voice down, look over there..."
She looked across at them, and Harry and Ron then noticed that Malfoy had been eavesdropping the whole time. Now that the trio had discovered him, he wasn't ashamed at all; instead, he gave them a cunning and meaningful smirk.
This made Harry and Ron somewhat uneasy, and even though Hermione later agreed to visit Hagrid's hut after class, they weren't as happy as they had imagined.
After class, the three hurried to Hagrid's cabin, discussing how much Malfoy had actually heard.
But they weren't mind readers, so of course they couldn't reach a conclusion. In the end, Hermione said, "Anyway, we have to persuade Hagrid later. The dragon can't stay with him, otherwise he'll be finished if someone finds out."
Harry wholeheartedly agreed, while Ron was less than pleased, though he knew Hermione was right.
The three jogged to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where Hagrid was already waiting at the entrance. He greeted them warmly and glanced behind them a few times.
"Where's Vaughn? Didn't he come with you?"
"Uh, we didn't see him, Hagrid."
"What a pity, I specially sent him a letter along with it, he loves dragons so much!" Hagrid felt sad that Vaughn couldn't witness the dragon egg hatching, thinking of how Vaughn had stared at it intently.
But then he cheered up and quickly ushered the three of them into the hut: "You've come at the right time, it'll be out soon."
Hagrid had taken the dragon egg out of the fire and placed it on the table. The dark shell had cracked open, and a thin membrane held the cracked shell together. It seemed to be breathing and wriggling, and you could see something moving around inside.
Several people carried chairs and eagerly crowded closer to watch.
Suddenly, with a crisp cracking sound, the dragon egg split open, and a thin, sticky substance flowed out, revealing a skinny, small "lizard" in front of them.
It looked ugly—that was Harry and Hermione's first impression—its thin, less than a foot long body was practically just skin covering its bones, looking wrinkled, though its wings were strong, making it appear unusually large and deformed in contrast to its small size.
Perhaps because it was newly born, it hadn't yet gotten used to being surrounded by air. The little dragon struggled on the table for a few moments, raised its head (which had no horns yet, only two small protrusions on its skull), and sneezed.
A string of sparks suddenly shot out from its long, large nostrils!
"oh--"
Two little boys and one big boy exclaimed in surprise. Hermione, who had been reluctant to come over, forgot her insistence at this moment. She took out her notebook, and the quill pen flew across the page as she recorded the little dragon's physical characteristics, cries, and the fact that it could breathe fire at birth.
She even drew a sketch of it. Actually, she misses the camera at home now and should have brought it to Hogwarts!
Surrounded by onlookers, the little dragon opened its bulging eyes, which were orange-red and looked like lava.
Hagrid couldn't help but gently extend a finger and pat the little dragon's head.
But the newborn creature grabbed it in its mouth and bit it hard with its sharp teeth.
Hagrid felt no pain at all. He screamed happily, "Merlin, did you see that? It recognizes its mother! Oh, little darling, this is its mother's finger, not food... Look, what a strong young man! It can breathe fire right after it was born and it can tear apart its prey!"
"…Young man…"
Hermione, who was making notes, paused at the section on the dragon's gender and decided to leave it blank for the time being, because as far as she knew, Hagrid had no idea how to tell the gender of a dragon.
Every day he reads books about how to raise dragons to be big, strong, fierce, and powerful!
From this perspective, the Greek who sold Hagrid the dragon egg was indeed to Hagrid's liking; the Norwegian Spinosaurus was even more ferocious than described in the books.
Hermione wasn't Hagrid; she knew that this newborn little creature didn't see Hagrid as one of its own kind, but rather as food!
She jotted down Little Dragon's temperament in her notebook, then nudged Harry, signaling him not to forget what they had agreed upon before they came.
Harry suddenly realized, hesitated for a moment, and was a little embarrassed to speak.
Hermione glared at him, then turned to Hagrid and said, "Hagrid, do you know how fast a Norwegian Spinosaurus grows? We've all read about it in books; it can become a gigantic creature in just two months. Your little hut simply can't hide it..."
Before he could finish speaking, he heard Hagrid suddenly shout angrily, "Who's out there!"
Hagrid hurried to the window and looked out.
Hermione and Harry initially thought Hagrid was interrupting, but when they saw Hagrid's suddenly pale face by the window, Harry realized something was wrong and quickly went over to him.
Along the stone path that stretches from the cottage to the mountaintop, a white-haired figure runs wildly toward the castle.
Even though they were quite far apart, Harry recognized him at a glance.
Draco Malfoy!
The entire Hogwarts was second on his list of most hated things; he would never forget it even if he turned to ashes.
Harry's face also turned pale.
Oh no, Malfoy saw a dragon!
Chapter 95 Alchemy Talent: Vaughn and the Dragon
Vaughn didn't see the letter from Hagrid until evening.
At the time, he was making plans for the future, especially regarding the research and use of the Philosopher's Stone—
These days, he has spent almost all his spare time on the reconstruction of the Philosopher's Stone mechanism. For this reason, he specifically asked Dumbledore to extend the time he could borrow the Philosopher's Stone.
The original 7 days have been extended to 1 month.
The Philosopher's Stone was now in his hands, and he was expected to design the mechanism. What could Dumbledore say? Of course, he could only agree.
However, Vaughn wasn't intentionally trying to avoid paying back; he genuinely didn't have time to investigate.
For a while, he met with Dumbledore almost every day to draw up blueprints for the new mechanism of the Philosopher's Stone—he dictated, and Dumbledore drew. This was probably the greatest use of the old man who had lived for over a hundred years; he knew a little bit about everything.
Today, as construction is about to begin, Dumbledore has reassigned the project to the professors to avoid making Quirrell and Socket Man suspicious.
Vaughn was no longer suitable to be there, which gave him time to deal with his own affairs.
"system!"
As he called out, the system panel appeared in his field of vision:
[Host: Vaughn Weasley]
[Magic Scale: 470 (500 for a typical adult wizard)]
[Talents: Charms 7, Dark Magic 6, Polymorph 8, Potions 10, Herbalism 6, Alchemy 6, Divination 2 (Maximum 10)]
[Spells: Occlumency LV5 (MAX), Ironclad Charm LV5 (MAX), Disarming Charm LV5 (MAX), Levitate Charm LV4 (11/16), Levitate Charm LV4 (10/16)... Legilimency LV3 (1/32), Illusion Charm LV2 (7/8), Divine Shield LV2 (3/12), Patronus Charm LV1 (6/8), Apparition LV1 (1/6)...]
[Alchemy LV0 (0/20)]
[Potions: "Vorn Beauty" series, "Vorn Hair Care" series, Wolfsbane Potion, etc...]
[Reputation Points: 16]
[Side Quest 1: Obtain the Magic Stone (Completed)]
[Reward: Alchemy Talent (Claimed)]
Looking at his information panel, the side quests he had completed and the rewards he had received, Vaughn looked at his talent bar.
His alchemy talent didn't bring him many surprises, only a score of 6.
Based on his personal experience practicing black magic, he was only slightly above the passing grade.
However, Vaughn had nothing to complain about. Alchemy is not like Muggle physics and chemistry; it has no fixed formulas or standard answers. Therefore, learning it places great emphasis on talent, and having talent or not having talent are two completely different concepts.
This difference is evident from the very first sentence of the introductory alchemy textbook:
The natural universe is one, and the body and soul are also one; this is a dualistic view. The great and real form, like the sun scattering light, differentiates into worlds without diminishing the perfection of the ether. When one unites with one, it is the source of miracles. (Adapted from the alchemical "bible," the Emerald Book)
He seems a bit mystical.
The amazing thing is that Vaughn used to be unable to understand this passage, thinking it was truncated and shrouded in mystery.
It wasn't until he received his alchemical talent that he suddenly understood the meaning of that sentence—
It explains the true nature of the world and the role of alchemy.
"One" refers to the "great reality" in that passage, which is the original form of all existing matter and illusory spirit, and also the original unified entity of the universe.
One day, it dispersed like sunlight, and the world and all things were born as a result. However, all things were not completely separated; they were closely connected to each other through something called "ether," which was like the soul of the world.
The secret of alchemy lies in traversing the ether, communicating with the macrocosm of nature through the microcosm formed by one's own body and soul, in order to create miracles!
"Sure enough, the underlying logic of this world is rather strange. Anything related to magic will change from materialism to idealism. Nuclear physics in the magical world has actually become a philosophical concept..."
Vaughn smiled wryly. No wonder he had always struggled to get started with alchemy. Back then, he had no talent for alchemy and couldn't even understand what was written in the books, so how could he possibly get started?
The so-called alchemical talent is actually more like an enlightenment, a channel that connects his "own microcosm" with the external macrocosm.
Thinking about it, Vaughn looked at his information panel and saw the newly added [Alchemy LV0 (0/20)].
This was the first time he had seen a subject other than Charms (Charms, Dark Magic, and Transfiguration are all essentially Charms, just with different focuses) apply the LV classification system, but not be included in the Charms category.
Moreover, the difficulty is extremely high; it takes 20 reputation points to fill LV0, which is simply outrageous.
After hesitating for a moment, Vaughn did not invest the reputation points he had reserved for this month's settlement. After gaining the talent of alchemy, he discovered that his past understanding of alchemical theory was full of errors.
If he wanted to learn, he had to reread the theoretical books and at least figure out the various key points of alchemy, lest he learn something completely wrong in the future.
He turned off the system panel, opened his small satchel, and took out a translucent, scarlet stone.
The stone wasn't big; even though he was just starting to develop, he could hold it in one hand.
"I remember reading in an alchemy book that the Philosopher's Stone was called the Fifth Element. The element mentioned here is not a Muggle chemical term, but a term used in alchemy to describe the dynamic relationships in the material world."
"The first four elements are earth, water, fire, and wind. They can basically represent all forms of matter—gas, liquid, solid, and plasma... Matter flows between these four forms, from light to heavy and back to light, from cold to hot and back to cold. The four elements describe a cycle. So, what does the fifth element describe?"
With many questions lingering in his mind, Vaughn eventually had no choice but to give up thinking about it and decided to consult Dumbledore when he had time, and then go to the library to reread the basics of alchemy.
He intuitively felt that alchemy might be an important tool for him to find the nature and origin of magic.
Put the magic stone away again.
It was only then that Vaughn noticed several unopened letters on his desk in the dormitory, the top one being from Hagrid.
After opening it, Vaughn raised an eyebrow: "It actually hatched today? It's a bit of a pity that I missed the moment the little dragon was born. I may not be able to see it again in the future, since mother dragons are usually very irritable during the nurturing period."
"Let's go check it out later, a dragon... Hmm, maybe I can help Hagrid solve this problem?"
Thinking about the level he was designing, Vaughn felt inspiration flowing again. He put down Hagrid's letter and picked up the next one.
The envelope read:
"Respectfully yours, Vaughn Weasley!"
"Your dear friend, Isabella Rozier."
Seeing this familiar name, Vaughn was speechless. If he remembered correctly, the last time the two communicated was during Halloween.
At the time, he also asked her to leave North America as soon as possible and return to Europe, as he wanted to invite her to his medal ceremony.
It seems Isabella didn't listen to him, or perhaps the situation in North America is getting worse and she can't leave?
Vaughn thought for a moment, then removed the sealant and pulled out the parchment.
As expected, Isabella did encounter an accident, or rather, she is now wanted by the Magical Congress of North America...
"Dear Vaughn, I apologize for the delay in replying to you, months later. I've been caught up in a series of events and have been on the run. My wand and owl are no longer usable because they were registered with the Magical Congress. To evade the Auror hunt, my companions and I have had to hide in the vast Colorado desert, far from human habitation..."
"Remember the witch I mentioned in my last letter who attacked Woolworth House? That poor woman, after being arrested, committed suicide in prison on Christmas Day. When the news spread, the whole of North America was like a boiling cauldron."
"Over the years, due to the strict enforcement of the International Secrecy Act in North America, too many resentful wizards have accumulated, and their trust in the Magical Congress has plummeted. Some wizarding groups have emerged, accusing the Magical Congress of using vigilante justice without trial."
"At this time, the Muggle government also suddenly made some unusual moves. Not long after Christmas, a wizard from Kansas who was born in Muggle was arrested by the Muggle government on charges of endangering national security. No one knows why the Muggles knew about the wizard's existence. Everyone said that the Magical Congress deliberately leaked his information because he had just criticized the Magical Congress in the newspaper a few days earlier."
"After the news got out, you can imagine what the situation was like here..."
"Since Christmas, Woolworth and the surrounding neighborhoods have received as many as 52 attack warnings, all targeting members of the Magical Congress, that is, the pure-blood families… The pure-blood families have announced that they will retaliate in kind, Merlin…"
"...Darling, you're right. The situation in North America is deteriorating at an alarming rate. Everyone is like a bottle of toxic unicorn explosive sloshing around in mid-air, ready to explode at any moment—"
"But unfortunately, I can't escape this impending chaos now. One day after Halloween, I encountered some bad luck. A wizard from Iphamony saved me... She was also a member of an organization called the Watchmen. On Christmas Day, this organization issued death threats to the Grevis and Wilkinson families. Then, everyone associated with the Watchmen was subjected to equal retaliation by the two enraged families and placed on the wanted list..."
"Unfortunately, I was also on the list while recuperating at the Watchers' camp. Of course, I don't blame anyone; after all, they saved me. I can only say that fate played a rather cruel joke on me..."
"...Also, I'm so proud of you, my friend. Your reputation has now spread to North America. Inventing the wolfsbane potion and promoting the establishment of the Werewolf Affairs Committee, how impressive..."
Seemingly having been cooped up in the Colorado desert for too long, Isabella wrote a full six pages of parchment in this letter, clearly recounting her experiences over the past few months and what she had seen and heard in North America.
Vaughn never imagined that she would have such a thrilling and exciting experience over the course of a few months.
However, to Vaughn's relief, Isabella seemed to have gotten out of her predicament; at least, she was able to write to him again.
After reading the letter again, Vaughn did not rush to reply.
From England to North America, separated by vast oceans, replying to the letter wouldn't solve anything.
He was considering whether to ask someone for help, or to go to North America himself to see if he could bring Isabella back.
After all, she was his first pen pal after he came into this world, and also the first person to support him.
"The Rozier family is very large, with branches in England and France. I can explain the situation to them first and see if they can get the person out."
"If all else fails, there's Crouch and Old Dumbledore..."
Thinking about it, Vaughn pulled out his notebook from his bag. When he attended the inquiry meeting before, he met many representatives of pure-blood families, including the main branch of the Rozier family in England.
Although Isabella also shares the Rozier surname, it belongs to a declining branch of the family. Her letter seeking help would likely be less effective than Vaughn's.
After finding the contact address in his notebook, Vaughn pondered for a moment, unfolded the parchment, exchanged pleasantries, and then tactfully explained the situation to the other party.
After sending the letter, he replied to Isabella, asking her to continue hiding, avoid conflict with the Aurors of the Magic Council, and to provide a relatively safe and convenient means of communication in his next letter.
For example, a Muggle phone is pretty good!
By the time everything was finished, it was already dusk, and Vaughn came out of the owlhouse.
Seeing that it was already evening, he was too lazy to go back to Slytherin and went straight through the castle.
As he passed through the courtyard, he saw Malfoy talking happily to Goyle and Crabbe. When they saw Vaughn, the three of them immediately huddled behind the pillars like quails.
Vaughn ignored them and headed toward Hagrid's cabin with the fruit tea.
On the edge of the Forbidden Forest, shrouded in the veil of night, Hagrid's cabin was bathed in warm, golden light, but the atmosphere inside was anything but harmonious.
As Vaughn approached, he heard Hagrid's loud, persistent voice shout:
"...I won't agree to that! Norber is a newborn, so small. He'll die if he's separated from his mother!"
Then Harry angrily yelled, "You're not its mother! Don't forget, you won the egg from the Greeks, you didn't lay it... Good heavens, don't you really know how serious this is? You could be in Azkaban!"
Ron also advised, "Yes, Hagrid, didn't you hear Hermione say that a Norwegian Spinosaurus can grow bigger than your house in two months? It can breathe fire too. If you don't get rid of it while it's still small, not only will you be in trouble, but it will also be doomed. I heard Dad say that large dragons are difficult to deal with, and to avoid trouble, the Ministry of Magic usually destroys them on the spot."
Hagrid sobbed, but still refused to give in.
Hearing the chaotic noise inside, Vaughn rubbed his temples, pushed open the door, and the people in the cabin immediately looked over. When they saw it was him, they all showed joy.
Hermione was naturally the happiest. The girl dropped her notebook, ran over, and took Vaughn's hand.
The other three also came over, and Harry hurriedly said, "Vaughn, come and help us persuade Hagrid. This dragon can't stay with him. Malfoy saw it today, and he'll definitely tell everyone about it."
Malfoy?
Vaughn suddenly realized why the guy seemed strange when he arrived.
However, he knew that Malfoy would not speak carelessly.
Because Malfoy only cares about Harry; he doesn't care whether Hagrid keeps dragons or not. At most, he'll use that to manipulate Harry.
This is true love!
Hagrid also came over. No one knew how long Harry had been nagging him, but his black beetle-like eyes were already red from crying.
While talking to Vaughn, he was still wiping away tears: "Waaah... Norber was just born. How can such a tiny cub be separated from its mother? Even a mouse could kill it."
As he cried out, he released his enormous hand, revealing a small, emaciated dragon lying in his palm, gnawing on his fingers.
Just one day after its birth, the little dragon was already able to gnaw through Hagrid's rough skin, inherited from the giants, and trickles of blood seeped out.
Harry and Ron, watching from the side, became increasingly eager to get rid of it—their previous curiosity had only fueled their fear.
Ignoring their bickering, Vaughn moved closer to examine the small Norwegian Spinosaurus, asking Hagrid, "You call it Norber?"
Hagrid sobbed and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, look, what a fine young man."
Observing the little dragon, Vaughn said bluntly, "It seems you're really not suited to raising dragons, Hagrid. This little guy is a female dragon."
"..." Hagrid, who was sobbing, stopped abruptly. Harry and Ron also fell silent. All three of them stared wide-eyed. Only Hermione quickly took back her notebook and filled in "female" in the gender column for "Norber".
"How about we rename it Noberta?"
Vaughn first looked at Hagrid, and finding him still in a daze, then looked at Hermione.
Hermione thought for a moment and nodded: "It sounds nice."
Thus, the new name for the little Norwegian Spinosaurus was decided.
Vaughn extended a finger and tried to touch its head.
Seemingly sensing that Vaughn's skin was even more tender, the vicious little guy immediately released Hagrid's finger and bit Vaughn.
Then--
Snap!
Vaughn flicked his finger hard, and the little dragon's slender neck snapped back, its head lolling to the side with a miserable howl.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Hagrid finally snapped out of his daze and quickly protected it.
"This is how you should tame wild beasts. You can't spoil them. Otherwise, the better you treat them, the less they will recognize their place."
Ignoring Hagrid's protests, Vaughn silently cast a levitation spell without a staff, grabbing the little dragon in his hand from a distance.
This little guy, who had been particularly arrogant since birth, seemed to finally sense the danger, and the fine scales on his thin body stood up one by one.
It first let out a menacing growl, but when Vaughn's eyes lit up with a magical glow, Nobeta, as a magical creature, sensed the magical fluctuations and immediately collapsed into Vaughn's hands in fear.
Beside it, Guoguochao, who had somehow poked its head over and was eyeing it menacingly.
Watching Norbert—no, Norberta—who had been biting everything he could get his hands on all day, quiet down in Vaughn's hands, his ugly, dark body seemed to become a little more elegant.
Hagrid and the other two were dumbfounded. Ron quietly hid his swollen, bitten finger behind his back.
Harry said, "See, Hagrid? I told you you weren't cut out for dragons."
So Hagrid wiped away his tears again.
Vaughn held the now-quiet Norbert up to his eyes, his magical eyes gazing at its life force.
Compared to its previous state inside the dragon egg, Nobeta's life aura has become several shades brighter, and the colors have blended more deeply, with a hint of orange-red in the dazzling white light.
It was a very strange phenomenon, and Vaughn certainly knew what it meant—its magic seemed to have become part of its life... no, it should be said that a part of its body was originally made of magic.
Vaughn couldn't help but wonder, which part was it? The organ that produces venom, or the organ that breathes fire? Or perhaps the ability to fly?
Dragons also need magic to fly; otherwise, their enormous bodies, weighing several tons, would hardly be able to take off using only the lift generated by flapping their wings.
Norbert trembled under Vaughn's scalpel-like gaze.
After observing for a while longer, Vaughn reluctantly looked away.
He was afraid that if he continued watching, he would lose control of his curiosity and dissect Norbert.
Vaughn casually placed the little dragon on his lap and glanced at Hagrid, who was still wiping away tears.
Harry and his friends thought Hagrid was stubborn because they hadn't found the right approach.
He said, "Harry and the others are right. Keeping dragons is illegal, especially at Hogwarts. Even if the Ministry of Magic doesn't punish you, the Hogwarts Board of Governors will make trouble for you."
"Moreover, the Minister of Magic, Mr. Fudge, is currently searching everywhere for dirt on me and Dumbledore because of the Werewolf Affairs Committee. If he finds out that you keep dragons, he'll be overjoyed."
Hagrid, with his childlike nature, might not care about himself, but he certainly cares about Dumbledore.
Sure enough, upon hearing Vaughn's words, Hagrid hurriedly wiped his face and asked nervously, "Then, what should I do?"
"There are two options." Vaughn curled his fingers. "The first is that I write to Charlie and ask him to come over in the next few days and take Nobeta to the dragon farm in Romania. There are professionals there who can legally take in and care for Nobeta."
Harry and Ron were delighted; it was a good idea. Hagrid, however, remained silent. He didn't like it because Romania was too far away and Norberta was too small.
Vaughn was not surprised and curled up his second finger: "The second option is that I will arrange a place for it. You don't need to know what place it is, just know that it is safe there. During the first three weeks, when it is still relatively weak, I can often bring it back to your place so that you can feed it."
this...
Hagrid hesitated.
Ron whispered to Harry, "If I were Hagrid, I would never leave my beloved pet with Vaughn. Maybe what he meant by'safety' is turning it into a potion... Ouch!"
Harry silently elbowed him to keep him from causing trouble.
Compared to Hagrid, who treated the dragon like a child and called himself his mother, Harry thought Vaughn was a million times more reliable. At least in their interactions, Vaughn, even with his occasional quirky humor, always kept his word.
Either way, it's better than leaving the dragon with Hagrid.
After thinking for a while, Hagbaba looked at Vaughn: "Do we really have to choose one?"
"Yes," Vaughn said calmly. "It can't stay here."
Seemingly realizing that this conversation would determine her fate, Norbert mustered her courage and called out to Hagrid, but the pitiful sound was only half uttered before Fruit Tea's huge paw pressed down on her head and choked her back down.
Poor Norbert, it huddled on the Demon King's lap, not even daring to struggle.
Hagrid's heart ached terribly, and large tears streamed down his face: "Just... just let me stay with it for three more weeks..."
Chapter 96 New Side Quest
Hagrid really likes dragons.
When Vaughn carried Norbert away, he cried uncontrollably, standing at the door waving his handkerchief frantically, unwilling to go back for a long time.
"He's gone mad! He's crying like that, as if we really took his child away!"
After crossing the hillside, Ron took one last look at Hagrid's imposing figure waving a handkerchief and couldn't help but complain, "How long has this dragon been born? Ten hours? Hagrid treats it better than he treats Tooth."
"This is a dragon, after all, Ron."
"I will never like dragons again." Ron pouted, looked at Nobeta nestled in Vaughn's arms, and reached out to tease it with his finger.
Norbert revealed a mouthful of sharp teeth, his vertical pupils fixed on Ron.
"What are you looking at!"
Ron, following Vaughn's example, bent his finger and flicked Norbert hard.
Norbert fell to the ground with a thud. Strangely, this little dragon, which was terrified by Vaughn's flick, was not afraid of Ron at all. It quickly straightened its slender neck again, its bulging red eyes staring at Ron, and it hissed like a snake.
Ron asked, puzzled, "Why isn't it afraid of me?"
"Dragons are magical creatures, not puppies or kittens," Hermione said. "If you want it to be afraid, your magic must be at least stronger than itss."
"You mean, even though I'm this big, my magic isn't as strong as its?"
"It's obvious!"
"Nonsense!"
Harry chuckled to himself, while Ron blushed and wanted to continue lecturing Norbert.
For once, Vaughn was kind enough to remind it, "Dragons are very intelligent and have excellent memories. If you bully it like this, it will only make it remember you."
Ron said nonchalantly, "What does it matter? You're taking it with you anyway. Even if it holds a grudge, is it going to fly to Hogwarts and bite me?"
Watching Ron relentlessly bully Norbert, Harry couldn't help but join in. He was thoroughly annoyed by the little thing all day; it loved to bite, was a picky eater, and Hagrid even fed it brandy, saying it was a method taught in a book to enhance its fire-breathing power.
Harry wasn't sure if it would actually enhance his abilities.
All he knew was that the little guy would burn things everywhere after drinking, and several clumps of his hair had been burned off.
"Ah—whatever makes you happy."
Vaughn stopped trying to stop him and smiled. He suddenly felt a little excited about two months from now.
As they spoke, the group had already reached the side gate of the castle and were about to enter when they heard Malfoy's voice:
"…Professor, we're not causing trouble. We're investigating someone who broke school rules. You probably don't know, but Potter, Weasley, and that filthy Hagrid are actually keeping…"
professor?
The trio were terrified and turned pale. Just as they were about to run away, they saw Vaughn carrying Norbert inside.
It's over!
Harry and Ron sighed inwardly, but Hermione knew Vaughn wasn't a reckless person; this must mean... he'd cast a spell on Norbert?
She hurriedly followed him inside, while Harry and Ron could only follow dejectedly behind.
Inside the door, Malfoy and his two henchmen were explaining with anxious yet slightly cunning expressions, and the person he was explaining to was Professor McGonagall.
The vice-principal looked serious, ready to hear Mr. Malfoy's sophistry.
Then, Malfoy saw Vaughn.
His pale face instantly turned as white as snow. In a moment of desperation, this quick-witted young man forcibly changed the word "Dragon," which he had only uttered halfway, into—
"Draco!"
"..."
"..."
The atmosphere was a bit awkward.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who had just entered, stared wide-eyed, while Goyle and Crabbe were in a daze, and Professor McGonagall frowned deeply.
"Mr. Malfoy, I'm not sure if I heard you wrong. You mean, Harry, Ron, and Hagrid are keeping… Draco at school? You?"
Malfoy's face went from snow-white to bright red, and he stammered, unable to speak.
He suddenly felt very unlucky. He had originally planned to keep it a secret when he learned that Potter and Hagrid were secretly raising dragons at Hogwarts.
From a young age, Malfoy knew that a secret loses all value once it is revealed. Only by keeping the secret in his hands as leverage can he leisurely enjoy the worries, torment, and helplessness of the detestable Potter gang.
However, those two idiots, Goyle and Crabbe, insisted that they had never seen a dragon before and wanted to go see Hagrid.
As the three of them were about to sneak off to Hagrid's hut, they were caught by Professor McGonagall. This wouldn't have been a big deal, since it was after class and the professor wouldn't bother with them wandering around during their free time.
The problem is that those two idiots, Goyle and Crabbe, want to run away as soon as they see the professor.
So it's no surprise that Professor McGonagall, who was just passing by, became suspicious.
Malfoy had no choice but to try to betray Potter to save himself, but unfortunately, he had barely started speaking when Vaughn Weasley, that terrible villain, appeared.
After stammering for a while, Malfoy, under Vaughn's stern, smiling gaze, had no choice but to force a laugh: "I was just kidding, Professor. My relationship with Bo... Harry is like that of half-brothers. I mean, we're so close that he often brings me delicious food from Hagrid's place, like he's taking care of me... That's right!"
Professor McGonagall's wrinkles deepened. After a moment's consideration, she tactfully suggested, "Mr. Malfoy, I recommend you see Mrs. Pomfrey at the university hospital. You may be under a curse..."
How could a normal person talk such nonsense and rubbish?
After speaking with Malfoy, Professor McGonagall looked at Vaughn and the others: "Mr. Potter, the two Weasleys, Miss Granger, good evening. Also, Mr. Vaughn Weasley, what is that in your arms?"
Harry's face was pale, as if he had already foreseen that he and his three companions would be expelled from Hogwarts for bringing dragon whelps with them.
Just as he was about to desperately clutch his head, Hermione kicked him. Harry looked up and saw her mouthing, "Quiet, Vanish Charm..."
Vanishing spell?
Memories that had been buried for months suddenly flooded back into Harry's mind.
He eagerly peered inside, and sure enough, Vaughn's arms were empty.
Although Professor McGonagall, with her profound magical abilities, still sensed the spell, Harry, who had specifically learned about the Vanishing Charm after witnessing Vaughn cast it, knew about it.
Professor McGonagall could only sense the magic, not know what was disappearing, which gave Vaughn room to cover it up.
Sure enough, Vaughn said without changing his expression, "I'm practicing the Vanishing Charm, Professor. I've vanished a wild cat-like creature and am testing how long the spell can last."
Hearing his answer, Professor McGonagall glanced at the person in his arms, and then, to Harry's surprise, he saw a rare, faint smile on Professor McGonagall's face.
"Your spells are excellent, Vaughn. I was worried that you might have become rusty after missing a few months of classes, especially with Transfiguration subjects like Vanishing Charm, which are complex, precise, and allow no room for error."
"But it seems you're maintaining a good condition right now. Unfortunately, with the end of the semester approaching, the Transformation Club has to make way for exams and has been suspended... Here's what we'll do: if you have any questions during practice, you can come to my office directly."
"Okay, Professor."
Professor McGonagall, who was meticulous about etiquette, nodded to each of the people present before turning to leave. Before leaving, she reminded Malfoy to remember to have his brain checked at the university hospital.
Harry didn't come to his senses until Professor McGonagall's figure disappeared from sight. He asked admiringly, "Vaughn, when did you cast the spell?"
"Just before entering the door."
As Vaughn spoke, he flicked his wand, silently casting a counterspell.
With a snap, Norbert, his eyes filled with confusion, reappeared.
Creatures vanished by the Vanishing Curse actually retain memories of the entire process, and Nobeta clearly remembers the feeling of his body suddenly becoming nothingness.
Its small, ugly eyes looked blank for a moment, then revealed fear. It lay stiffly in Vaughn's arms, not daring to move.
On the other side, upon seeing the suddenly appearing dragon, Malfoy excitedly covered his mouth—he was afraid he wouldn't be able to resist calling Professor McGonagall back!
Draco isn't mentally ill; it's just that there are bad people among his classmates, and he suffers from bullying but dares not speak out!
Vaughn ignored Malfoy, reassembled Noberta, checked it, and after finding no parts missing, said to Hermione, "I'll take it back first and deal with it later. You guys go back too. Remember to have Ron go to Madam Pomfrey to check his fingers; the dragon fangs are poisonous."
"Okay, be careful."
Hermione gently saw Vaughn off, then glared at Ron: "Did you hear me? Hurry up and get to the school hospital! You've made your brother worry!"
Ron glared back at her in disbelief: "Don't you understand? I'm the one who's injured!"
"If you hadn't stuck your finger in Noberta's mouth, you wouldn't be hurt. You only have yourself to blame!"
The little girl snorted and left, having wasted most of the day; she still had to go back and do her homework.
Ron was so angry his chest ached. To prevent Ron from driving him crazy, Harry quickly changed the subject: "What an amazing spell, isn't it? To make a dragon disappear and then bring it back to life, incredible."
Ron's attention was indeed diverted, but he was still quite resentful: "Isn't the most important thing that Professor McGonagall didn't pursue the matter? That's so unfair. I bet if I had cast the Vanishing Charm, she would have forced me to tell her what I had chanted a spell on... Hey, Malfoy, what are you still doing here?"
He glanced at Malfoy, who was still covering his mouth and huddled with his henchman, and mocked, "D-La-Cho, so your parents named you that because they knew you'd let something slip one day, and they were there to cover for you?"
"You...you..."
"What do you mean, tsk tsk, you should really look at your own face, it's as white as paper, you cowardly Malfoy who's afraid of Vaughn!"
Malfoy, enraged, retorted, "Yes, I am afraid of Vaughn, but that's because I know how to be in awe. You all had better show respect to great power. I saw it, that dragon."
"When Vaughn took it away, the way it looked at you was very strange. You two must have bullied it." Malfoy sneered. The Malfoy family used to keep dragons and had quite a few books on dragon breeding.
"If I were you, I'd quickly think of a way to appease a monster that can grow to 28 feet long in two months, whose scales are almost immune to ordinary spells, can breathe fire, and is petty, so as to prevent it from retaliating!"
"Haha, cowardly Malfoy, Malfoy who's even afraid of dragon cubs!"
Ron didn't take it seriously; on the contrary, he was smug. How many people would dare to say they had ever bullied a dragon?
Harry also had a smile on his face.
Anyway, Vaughn will send the dragon away soon, so what's there to be afraid of, you fool Malfoy!
Leaving aside the bickering among the young wizards at the side gate of the castle.
Vaughn took Nobeta back to Slytherin, fed him dried fish and then laid Nobeta flat on the desk.
Norbert, who had been defiant in front of Harry and the others, now obediently let Vaughn do as he pleased. If it was only slightly afraid of Vaughn's powerful magic at Hagrid's hut, then the experience of being made to disappear by Vaughn truly terrified it.
Although it is still a newborn cub and shows a lot of animalistic behavior, the fire dragon is actually very intelligent.
As a fire dragon, Nobeta knew from birth what her greatest strength was—her scales!
Its scales are fine, tough, and highly resistant to magic, which is the reason it dared to wreak havoc in Hagrid's hut, because it knew that no one in the hut could break them.
After Vaughn arrived, Norbert smelled a scent that made it feel dangerous for the first time, which is why it immediately became intimidated when Vaughn tried to tease it.
But it wasn't until earlier, at the side gate of the castle, that Norbert realized that Vaughn's power far exceeded its imagination; its scales were almost powerless against Vaughn's magic.
Fantastic creatures are still animals, and animals have the instinct to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune. When faced with an individual stronger than themselves, their choice is usually not to resist to the end, but to obey!
Just like Nobeta now, it obediently allowed Vaughn to straighten it out. While Vaughn was engrossed in finding tools, it quietly rolled over, exposing its belly, its legs and the claws on its wings curled up in front of it, making a coquettish sound:
"Waaah—"
Vaughn didn't pay much attention, but the fruit tea that was always next to his feet immediately perked up its ears, and its huge cat eyes narrowed into dangerous straight lines as it looked at the wretched... dragon on the table!
Damn it!
It actually stole Master Guoguo Tea's secret technique!
How can we tolerate this?
So when Vaughn heard the commotion and turned around, the two little guys, jealous of each other, were already fighting.
Fruit Tea, relying on its enormous size, temporarily won the battle, pinning Norbert down under its claws and rendering him unable to move.
However, Norberta didn't suffer a loss either; its hard scales chipped off Fruit Tea's teeth, even though it was panting as if it were laughing.
It wasn't until it saw Guoguocha meowing and jumping into Warn's arms, rubbing against him and acting pitiful and affectionate, that it finally understood—
This big cat is something else; there's definitely something for it to learn from!
...…
In the early morning, a thin mist hangs over the Scottish Highlands, the dense, dark forests stretching into the distance, connecting with the clouds on the horizon tinged red by the rising sun.
As the sunlight grew stronger, and its golden rays pierced through the clouds and fell upon the earth, the Black Lake, which had been silent all night, finally awoke.
Vaughn, who had gotten up in the early hours of the morning and was hunched over his desk doing research, was startled by a dull thud outside the bay window.
When he looked up, he saw a Lamora fish trying to stick the suction cup on its head to the dormitory window.
Unfortunately, the windows of every room at Hogwarts were enchanted, especially those in Slytherin, which, being located at the bottom of the Black Lake, required magical reinforcement and cleaning, and were also enchanted to prevent aquatic plants, snails, and other organisms from attaching to them.
After trying for a while, the Lamora fish, which was regarded as an auspicious sign by wizards in the ocean, had to give up regretfully and turned to swim into the depths of the lake.
"The Lamora fish appears to be a marine fish that lives in the Indian Ocean. I wonder who put it into the Black Lake..."
Vaughn was lost in thought, his brain, which had been focused for a long time, was getting tired. He watched as the lake outside the window gradually began to glow faintly from the darkness.
Soon, beams of sunlight shone in from the lake, rippling the water and creating a clear, serene scene.
After resting for a while, Vaughn looked down and saw Norbert lying sprawled on the desk, snoring softly. As it breathed, sparks flew from its nostrils and were then blocked by a transparent barrier.
That was a spell cast by Vaughn, a kind of magic similar to a barrier. It wasn't very powerful, but it was enough to restrain the sparks that a young dragon unconsciously released.
Opening his notebook, Vaughn looked at the results of his work done late into the night:
"...The fire spewed by Nobeta contains a rich magical power, yet it is not a magical fire or celestial fire, nor is it a flame with special functions. I have set up multiple control groups to test whether its flames contain hidden magic..."
Next are the results of more than 20 control group studies.
"The results show that the Norbertus Spinosaurus's breath does not have any special function. Its purpose of evolution is combustion. The only amazing thing is that its fire is very 'viscous' and sticks to objects, looking like lava."
"This unique adhesiveness greatly enhances the adhesion of the flames, allowing the Norwegian Spinosaurus's breath to burn on enemies or prey for longer, maximizing its power."
"Based on this viscosity, I originally guessed that the breath of the Norwegian Spinosaurus might be a substance similar to napalm, but after testing, I found that at least at the moment when Norbeta opened its mouth and the flames came out, it still spewed out a hot and simple plasma jet, rather than some kind of chemical substance."
"In other words, its flames and viscous properties are bestowed by magic, which explains why the fire it spews contains concentrated magical power. Their existence is to maintain a certain kind of magic..."
Behind the fire-breathing experiments were further studies on the dragon's flight, toxin production, and scales.
But like the fire-breathing attacks, the progress is stuck on guessing it's some kind of magic. What kind of magic is it? Does it exist as some kind of magical organ? Where is it hidden? How is it activated?
I have absolutely no idea!
All we know so far is that those spells are the dragons' instincts; they don't need to learn them, just like wild beasts are born with claws and teeth.
Closing his notebook, Vaughn rubbed his temples. Although his research on Norbert was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, it didn't have to be done in such a rush.
However, just yesterday, after he finished testing the properties of Norbert's Breath using the control group, a new message popped up on the system panel.
[Side Quest 3: Research all the magic of the dragons and figure out their basic principles (Activated)]
[Progress: 0/10]
[Rewards: 100 Magic Scales, Spell Development Module]
Once again, Vaughn opened the system panel and looked at the newly appeared tasks, lost in thought:
"Based on the current tests on Nobeta, the basic form of fire dragon magic should be the magic organ I guessed. The basic principle required by the mission may not be the basic principle of magic—that would be too difficult and too broad, the difficulty is not right—it is more likely the structure and operating principle of the fire dragon's magic organ."
"The quest description calls for all fire dragons, but the progress bar only lists 10. Does that mean that, according to the system's standards, there are currently only 10 pure fire dragons in the world?"
This is not too different from Vaughn's understanding. Although some books in the magical world now include subspecies of fire dragons that are hybrids of different types of fire dragons in the category of fire dragons, in the eyes of fire dragon fundamentalists, those guys are heretics.
Even though the phrase "dragon fundamentalism" sounds silly, from a purely biological perspective, since hybrid dragon subspecies have not formed stable populations and stable traits (their offspring will revert to their ancestral forms), they cannot indeed be considered new species.
"Ten types... This is another long and arduous task. Not only is the workload enormous, but achieving it will also be quite difficult..."
Vaughn was a little worried. To study the magical organs inside the dragon's body, live dissection was essential. Otherwise, it would be impossible to understand the structure and operating principles of the 10 magical organs of the dragon using only simple observation methods.
That would probably be a long time coming.
The difficulty of this task lies precisely in the live dissection. Dragons are not werewolves, and due to the hunting by wizards and the implementation of the International Law of Secrecy, it is now very difficult to find wild dragons.
The dragons living in protected areas are key targets of protection by the magic ministries of various countries, so there's no way you can sneakily hunt a few.
"No rush, this can't be rushed. I need to think of a good reason..."
Vaughn comforted himself.
In truth, he knew he wasn't as calm as he appeared; at least in the early hours of the morning, he had many times wanted to dissect Norbert, who was trying to please and fawn over him.
It all started with the "Enchanted Module" given by this side quest.
The moment it appeared in the prize pool, Vaughn vaguely understood its purpose—it could help him develop new spells!
Since obtaining the system panel, Vaughn has increasingly felt that... the biggest help the system has given him is actually saving him a lot of time.
Whether in the magical world or Muggle society, the same dilemma has always existed in the learning of knowledge and the creation of new knowledge.
It took too long!
The world is not lacking in geniuses; what everyone lacks is time. And time, in many ways, can extinguish all enthusiasm and hope, stifling any potential new knowledge at its inception.
Even if the magical world has alchemical artifacts like the "Time Converter," it only allows you to travel through time, but it cannot stop time from passing through you.
Conversely, the more time a person uses a time converter, the faster time seems to pass through their life.
Vaughn's thoughts drifted, and he suddenly wanted to go see Dumbledore, because there, a time-related level he had designed was being built.