"Very good."
Looking at Avada's resolute and loyal attitude, Voldemort nodded in satisfaction. "Is there anything else?"
Ordinarily, those words meant dismissal. However, after carefully observing Voldemort's current mental state, Avada hesitated for a moment before asking cautiously, "Professor… you seem to be in quite a good mood today?"
—Voldemort's mental power was just a hair's breadth away from being fully analyzed. If he could stall for another five minutes—no, three minutes…
"All right, it seems you noticed."
Voldemort was indeed in high spirits. "I accomplished something very important during this Christmas holiday."
"Something important?"Avada echoed curiously.
"That's right. I acquired a dragon egg."
"A dragon egg?!" Avada exclaimed. "Are you planning to raise a dragon to attack Hogwarts? But if you did that, the school would—"
"Hahahahaha!"
Voldemort burst into laughter at Avada's foolish question, laughing for quite some time before finally calming down. "No, no, how could that be… To say nothing of the fact that a dragon would never obediently follow orders, half a year isn't nearly enough time for a dragon to mature. And even if an adult dragon truly invaded Hogwarts, any professor could take it down with ease."
"Fire dragons… are that weak?"
This time, Avada was genuinely curious. Fire dragons were magical creatures with a strong presence in wizarding lore, yet descriptions of their combat strength were surprisingly vague. They were classified by the Ministry of Magic as XXXXX-level magical creatures—the most dangerous rating. No matter how weak they were, surely they couldn't be that weak?
"They really are that weak," Voldemort said disdainfully. "Otherwise, where do you think dragon heartstring wand cores, dragon-hide gloves, powdered dragon claw, and dragon blood come from? Modern wizards even breed dragons on a large scale, treating them like livestock. Anyone who finds dragons terrifying—or fascinating—is either weak or stupid."
"I brought that dragon egg here precisely to deal with such a fool."
"I'm sorry, Professor, I don't quite understand," Avada said, blinking innocently. "If even dragons are so weak, what use could a dragon egg possibly have?"
"Have you been to the corridor on the fourth floor?" Voldemort asked instead of answering.
"No, Professor," Avada replied after a brief pause. "Dumbledore specifically warned about the danger there. I was afraid of attracting his attention, so I've never gone near it."
"Very prudent," Voldemort said approvingly. "And avoiding it was the correct choice for you. Behind that door is a three-headed dog—dangerous for you at your current level. With three heads, it happens to counter the Imperius Curse perfectly.
"Even Quirrell cannot defeat it quickly without causing a commotion. And what that dog guards is the very object that will allow me to regain my body. That item was originally stored in Gringotts, but Dumbledore grew uneasy, fearing I might break into Gringotts and take it, so he moved it to Hogwarts. Thus, even though Quirrell—under my guidance—successfully breached Gringotts, it was ultimately a wasted effort."
"You were able to break into Gringotts?!"Avada exclaimed in astonished admiration.
"There is nothing I cannot do," Voldemort replied coolly. "Quirrell spent an entire term investigating and discovered that the three-headed dog was bought last year by that oaf, Rubeus Hagrid. That brute has always had an unhealthy fascination with vicious beasts that bite on sight. Naturally, he should know how to get past the dog…"
"So the dragon egg is meant to be exchanged with Hagrid for information?"Avada quickly "understood."
"Sharp, but not entirely," Voldemort said. "That man is loyal to Dumbledore—more loyal than a dog. Anything Dumbledore orders him to keep silent about, he won't easily reveal. Unfortunately, he's riddled with bad habits, every one of them a weakness… and heavy drinking is one of them. Imagine it—an obsessive lover of giant beasts, dead drunk, suddenly confronted with a dragon egg… heh."
"He'd answer anything you asked—more honestly than if he'd drunk Veritaserum!"Avada laughed gleefully, then added, "But I know Hagrid. Like Dumbledore, he doesn't guard himself much around Hufflepuff students. Would you like me to help gather some information?"
"No need for unnecessary complications. The current plan is already perfect."
"Understood."
Avada nodded, ending the conversation. Voldemort's mental data had finally been completely recorded—there was no reason to linger any longer.
"Ah, Professor, may I take a look at the dragon egg before I go?"
In the end, curiosity got the better of him. Voldemort clearly harbored no suspicion toward him, and Avada was genuinely curious about what a dragon egg looked like. Besides, there was no harm in it—and squeezing a bit more benefit out of Voldemort cost nothing.
"Very well. Wizards your age are always prone to such trivial curiosities," Voldemort said, flicking his wand.
A large wooden crate floated out from the storeroom and opened in front of Avada. "That's it. Nothing special."
The crate was lined with thick, soft padding. In the center lay an egg larger than a human head. It was pitch-black, completely matte, without the slightest reflection. Its surface was rough, covered in scale-like patterns, crude and ferocious. It hardly looked like an egg at all—more like a ritual offering from some primitive tribe.
Avada leaned closer, blinked, then rubbed his eyes, scarcely believing what he was seeing.
Seeing him transfixed, Voldemort raised an eyebrow—Quirrell's eyebrow—and said indifferently, "What is it? Are you, like that fool Hagrid, also interested in this thing?"
"…My apologies, Professor. It's just my first time seeing a dragon egg," Avada said, tearing his gaze away, though his Magical Perception remained tightly fixed on it. "I always hear other students talk about how terrifying and dangerous fire dragons are. They even say that Gringotts acknowledges their power and specifically trained a dragon to guard their most important vaults…"
"Which only proves they are either fools or weaklings—and Gringotts was still effortlessly breached by me," Voldemort snorted.
With another flick of his wand, the crate containing the dragon egg floated back into the storeroom. "That's enough. You should return now."
"…Goodbye, Professor."
Avada stepped out of the office and closed the door, then rubbed his eyes again.
Must've gotten up too fast—seeing a magical structure specifically designed to counter Voldemort on something Voldemort himself produced… better go back and sleep some more…
Sleep, my foot!!
Avada immediately sprinted back to his dormitory at full speed, no slower than the day he'd obtained Voldemort's casting mental data!
The magical structure on that dragon egg was exactly what he had been desperately seeking just over half an hour ago—a spell designed to suppress mental power!
Merlin, the logic was absurdly simple. A dragon hatchling was naturally strong and brimming with energy—it would never stay quietly inside its shell. If it broke out too early, its development would be incomplete or mistimed. Naturally, a spell was needed to force the hatchling's mental power into dormancy!
Although the magic on the egg would rapidly dissipate after a fixed period and upon exposure to fire—allowing a mature egg to hatch almost instantly when placed in flames—that was no problem at all. With a few modifications, it could be perfected!
Thanks to that gulp of a luxurious Wit-Sharpening Potion, his mind effortlessly memorized the entire magical structure. While the potion's effects still lingered, he had to hurry back and record every detail and insight!
"But seriously…" Avada muttered as he ran,"Why is it that almost everything I use to deal with Voldemort comes from Voldemort himself?"
"Mental data, Horcruxes, knowledge about mental power—and now this spell…"
"…Is he actually my personal walking money tree?"
(End of Chapter)