Hagrid’s hut was as hot as a sauna.
A roaring fire blazed in the hearth, and Hagrid was drenched in sweat as he poured tea for Harry, Ron, and Hermione with trembling hands.
“Look!
It’s coming out!” Hagrid pointed at the middle of the table.
A black egg the size of a bowling ball lay there, its shell already covered in cracks.
From inside came a series of clicking, scraping noises, like coins being dragged across metal.
Morrin stood beside the table.
Despite the sweltering heat inside the hut, there was not a drop of sweat on him.
His [Half Giant Bloodline] gave him extraordinary resistance to harsh environments.
He activated [True Sight — Activated!].
Inside the shell, a violent mass of fire elemental energy was gathering.
It was something more primitive and savage than ordinary magic.
Crack.
The egg burst open.
A creature resembling a crumpled black umbrella crawled out.
It had spiny wings, a long snout, and wisps of white smoke puffing from its nostrils.
A Norwegian Ridgeback.
“Oh, isn’t he beautiful?” Hagrid reached out one hand.
The baby dragon immediately clamped its jaws around his finger, revealing a row of sharp fangs.
“Look!
He knows his mummy!” “Hermione, remember this case study,” Morrin commented coldly from the side.
“This is a textbook example of blindly holding a high risk asset.
Raising a fire breathing dragon in a wooden hut without a licence or adequate fireproofing means Mr Hagrid is effectively shorting his own career.” “Stop it, Morrin.” Hermione glanced nervously towards the window.
“This is illegal!
If anyone finds out—” “For example…
a certain little rat who enjoys peeping through windows?” Morrin suddenly turned.
his cane snapped towards the gap in the curtains.
“Petrificus Totalus!” A grey beam shot from the tip, passed through the gap in the curtains, and struck the figure crouching outside the window.
Thump.
Something seemed to topple rigidly into the pumpkin patch.
Harry and Ron jumped.
“Who’s out there?” “An old friend.” Morrin opened the door and stepped outside.
Draco Malfoy lay in the pumpkin patch in an utterly ridiculous pose.
His hands were still hooked over the windowsill and his face had been pressed against the glass, but the rest of his body had fallen stiffly into the mud like a toppled statue.
Only his grey blue eyes could move, darting about in terror.
“Good afternoon, Draco.” Morrin looked down at him and lightly tapped Draco’s frozen cheek with his cane.
“Apparently Slytherin etiquette lessons neglected to teach you that spying on other people’s trade secrets is considered rather poor form.” Inside the hut, Hagrid caught sight of Draco and went white.
“Malfoy!
Oh, no, he saw Norbert!
They’ll send me to Azkaban!” Harry and Ron panicked as well.
If Draco reported Hagrid, he was finished.
“Don’t panic.” Morrin turned back towards the hut.
“I’ll handle this.” Then he looked down at Draco again.
A positively demonic smile spread across his face.
Morrin flicked his wand and released the spell.
Draco sucked in a huge breath and scrambled to his feet.
As he furiously brushed mud from his robes, he began shouting.
“I’m telling my father!
I’m telling Dumbledore!
That great oaf is keeping a dragon!
You’re all finished!
Especially you, White, you’re covering for him!” “Go ahead.” Morrin made no attempt to stop him.
In fact, he stepped aside and cleared a path.
“What?” Draco froze.
“I said, go and report him.” Morrin spoke blandly.
“But before you do, I’d like to go over some figures with you.” He drew a sheet of parchment from inside his robes.
It was the Slytherin Quidditch team’s financial statement.
“If Hagrid is arrested, the Ministry of Magic will confiscate the dragon.
As someone guilty of helping him conceal it, the worst I’ll suffer is a few lost House points and perhaps detention.
After all, there are still reasonable people on the Board of Governors.” Morrin stepped closer and lowered his voice.
“But Draco…
if you dare destroy my source of alchemical materials—” “Alchemical materials?” Draco blinked.
“Why do you think I’m letting Hagrid raise it?” Morrin lied without so much as changing expression.
“This is a confidential alchemical experiment.
I’m researching twelve new uses for dragon’s blood.
There are millions of Galleons in patent royalties involved.” “If you cause the Ministry to take that dragon away, I will charge the entire loss to the Malfoy family.” The tip of Morrin’s cane lightly touched Draco’s chest.
“I’ll withdraw my investment from the Slytherin Quidditch team, reclaim every Nimbus 2000, and take back your custom broom.” His smile remained perfectly pleasant.
“And for the next seven years, I will use every resource I possess in the financial world to attack your father’s businesses.” “Tell me, Draco.
Do you think Mr Lucius Malfoy cares more about whether a gamekeeper keeps his job…
or whether half the gold in the family vault disappears?” Draco’s face went from pale to deathly white.
Spoilt though he was, he had grown up surrounded by family wealth and business dealings.
He understood perfectly well what ‘losing half the family vault’ meant.
“You…
you’re insane,” Draco hissed through clenched teeth.
“That’s illegal!” “That’s business,” Morrin corrected.
Draco stood there struggling with himself for a long time before finally stamping his foot.
“Fine!
I won’t tell the Ministry!
But I-I’m telling Professor McGonagall!
This breaks school rules!
I refuse to believe even you would dare threaten Professor McGonagall!” With that, Draco fled.
“Let him go.” Morrin watched Draco disappear without making any attempt to stop him.
Because the plot required it.
If Draco never reported them, there would be no detention in the Forbidden Forest later.
And without that detention, Morrin would have no opportunity to encounter the murdered unicorn, or to meet Voldemort again on that particular night.
A unicorn was not something one could simply arrange to encounter whenever convenient.
The Ministry prohibited private trading in them, and Morrin had already tried to purchase one before the school year began without ever finding a supplier.
Only the ‘Procurement Forest’ offered such an abundant selection of resources.
Everything was going according to plan.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Back inside the hut, Hagrid was still trembling.
“Thanks, Morrin.
But I’ll still have to send him away…
He grows too fast.” Morrin looked at the little dragon, who was already breathing small bursts of flame.
Norbert.
“Before you send him away, Hagrid,” Morrin said as he approached the table.
“Would you mind if I examined his development?” “Course, course.” Hagrid wiped the sweat from his brow.
Morrin extended a hand.
This time, he wore no glove.
The baby dragon saw his hand, and the aggression in its eyes suddenly gave way to confusion.
[Magical Creature Affinity — Activated!] To the young dragon, the human before it carried the scent of one of its own kind.
And not merely one of its own kind— a particularly strong one.
Norbert did not bite him.
Instead, he stretched out his head and rubbed it against Morrin’s palm, his scales almost burning to the touch.
[Contact Successful!] [High-Tier Magical Creature Detected: Norwegian Ridgeback (Juvenile).] [Consume an Extraction Attempt?] Morrin hesitated for one second.
He was saving his extraction attempts, but dragons were simply too rare.
If he passed up this opportunity, the next time he wanted to lay a hand on a living dragon, he would probably have to travel all the way to Romania.