From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 86 Mother Dragon

Ivy was thinking.

The 1st-level wizard spell scholar's touch allows the caster to read an entire book in a few seconds simply by touching it.

If he removed the covers and tables of contents of the books and stapled several books together, could he read several books at the same time with one Scholar's Touch?

But after looking at the feather duster in the hands of the librarian, Madam Pince, he rationally gave up the idea. A vigilant librarian should not be disturbed at any time.

Ivy put this thought behind his mind and pulled out a book with blood seeping out of its cover from the shelf in the restricted area.

The cover felt strange, reminiscent of some kind of leather, but finer than sheepskin and softer than cowhide. The name of the book was written in scarlet letters on the cover - "Bone of Blood". Only Ivy's favorite black magic book would be named with such evil words, so Ivy planned to borrow it through Professor Quirrell's note.

Only when using this note would Ivy call Quirrell "Professor" with reverence for knowledge.

When checking in at the counter, Madam Pince stared at Ivy with a wary and regretful look, as if he was a dark wizard who was going astray. However, with Professor Quirrell's approval from the restricted area, Madam Pince had no reason to stop Ivy from borrowing books from the restricted area.

To be honest, Ivy had long been immune to Madam Pince's gaze. If all the first-level spell slots for today had not been used up, Ivy would definitely stay here for a while longer.

"Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

Ivy and Mrs. Pince turned their heads and saw Hagrid, wearing a moleskin coat, clattering towards a long table where his three little wizard friends were sitting. He had his hands behind his back, holding a book concealedly.

"'Raising Dragons for Pleasure and Profit.'" Ivy whispered the title of the book, and Madam Pince gave him a surprised look.

"You have a pair of bright eyes, Mr. Doom." Madam Pince lowered her head and let her eyes show from under the thick lenses. "I was the same when I was young, but later, my thirst for knowledge made me accidentally wear these heavy lenses. As someone who has experienced this, I have a piece of advice to tell you. You must maintain a good sitting posture when reading. The light should not be too bright or too dim. Only by protecting your eyesight well can you read more books."

"Thank you for your advice, Madam Pince." Ivy nodded. Although he used magic to finish his reading most of the time, he would occasionally read something else to pass the time. "Does Hagrid come to the library often?"

"Not often." Madam Pince returned her gaze to the borrowing table. "But every time it appears it is very memorable, and it is always related to magical creatures. Last time it was a Chimera, this time it was a dragon, who knows what it will be next time?"

"Thunderbird or purple-horned beast?" Ivy agreed casually.

However, Madam Pince shook her head firmly and said, "Impossible, they are all XXXX-level magical creatures. Hagrid usually prefers XXXXX-level ones that are more dangerous than them. Dragons and Chimeras are both at this level. Okay, Mr. Doom, sign here, and you can leave with the book."

Chimaera, a more familiar name for everyone, is a magical animal that combines the characteristics of multiple creatures. It appears in many fantasy worlds and can also be translated as a chimera. The Chimaera in the HP world specifically refers to a monster with a lion's head, a goat's body and a dragon's tail. It is an egg-laying, dangerous and brutal beast.

In the DND world view, Chimera beasts usually appear in the form of multi-headed monsters, mastering a variety of spell abilities, being able to spit fire from their mouths, and even fly. They are usually created by evil wizards who live in seclusion to guard their own wizard towers or particularly important treasure houses.

As it happens, there is an evil wizard in Hogwarts now, and he happens to have a particularly important chamber of secrets. Perhaps one or two terrible monsters should be placed in the map chamber to enhance its security.

After thanking Madam Pince, Ivy left the library's front desk with "Blood in Bones". The reason why Hagrid came to the library to borrow the dragon-raising manual was very simple: Quirrell had taken action.

I have to say that among the many professors who set levels for the Philosopher's Stone, Hagrid is indeed the easiest one to break through.

As long as you treat the beast with the right medicine, this enthusiastic half-giant is willing to tell you all his secrets.

Ivy once had an opportunity to raise a Hebridean black dragon, but he missed it. Now, Hagrid has a Norwegian Ridgeback egg, and Ivy has to join in the fun.

"Hagrid." Ivy greeted with a smile, stood up from the chair in front of Hagrid's cabin, and easily turned the chair back into stone with his wand.

"Ivy!" Hagrid was obviously surprised. He didn't expect to see Ivy at this time.

"Why, you don't welcome me?" Ivy asked with a smile as he stuffed the "Bones and Blood" in his hand into the Grimoire of Destruction.

Hagrid looked around guiltily and said hesitantly, "Of course... you are welcome... but my room is a bit messy, maybe... maybe it's not suitable for entertaining guests..."

"So... you really plan to raise a dragon?" Ivy asked in a low voice, staring at the large book that was sticking out from the pocket of Hagrid's moleskin coat.

"No way!" Hagrid looked back in horror, as if someone was going to kick him out of school. "Don't talk nonsense!"

"Then why do you draw the curtains tightly and burn the fireplace so brightly?" Ivy looked back at Hagrid's hut. Even on such a warm spring day, no light could get in, and the stone chimney on the wooden roof was emitting black smoke.

"Come on." Hagrid squeezed his beard and eyebrows together with difficulty, and reluctantly invited Ivy, "Don't tell this to anyone else!"

Hagrid pulled out a brass key and fiddled with the lock of the wooden door for a while, then pushed the door open and let Ivy in.

After Ivy slipped out from under his arms and entered the room, Hagrid poked his furry head out and looked around for a while. After making sure that no one was following him, he closed and locked the door.

The room was as hot as Ivy thought, but the first thing Hagrid did after entering the room was to squat in front of the fire and check the black egg.

Unlike the dragon eggs Ivy had seen in the Fire Ash Snake Arena more than a hundred years ago, this black egg did not have bright colors or glowing circles. Perhaps it was because of the lack of light in the room, but Ivy preferred to believe that the fire had left a layer of carbon deposits on the eggshell. "Isn't it beautiful?" Hagrid's smiling face looked kind against the firelight. He stared at the egg in the fire in a trance, seeking approval from Ivy beside him.

Ivy couldn't figure out what was so beautiful about this black egg. Maybe for someone like Hagrid, the fact that it was a dragon egg was beautiful enough?

"Norwegian Ridgeback, right?"

"Oh! Yes, but how did you recognize it?" Hagrid stood up from the fire and hung his heavy moleskin coat on the wall. It seemed that even if Hagrid had half giant blood, it could not prevent him from sweating in the high temperature of the fire.

"Remember? I saved many dragons more than a hundred years ago." Ivy sat on Hagrid's sofa, twisting his butt to find a comfortable position, "At that time, I thought I had a chance to raise a dragon."

"Oh..." Hagrid's eyes sparkled, as if he had seen a like-minded friend, "I told you no one could resist their charm!"

"But the dragons in the Fire Ash Snake Arena are too big, wild and hard to tame, and they are also very wary of humans. Letting them return to nature should be the best solution." Ivy looked at the huge egg under the kettle again. "It's better to raise dragons from hatching eggs like you did. After all, feelings should be cultivated from childhood."

Hagrid nodded frequently as he spoke, as if raising a dragon was not a spur-of-the-moment decision but something he had planned long ago.

"But Hagrid, have you ever thought about where you would keep it when it grows up?" Ivy motioned for him to look at his wooden furniture. It was obviously not a smart decision to put a fire-breathing dragon in a wooden house.

Hagrid suddenly became hesitant and said hesitantly: "...Maybe the Forbidden Forest would be a good place... Never mind, it's just a harmless egg now! You can't deprive it of the right to hatch and be born just because it may be dangerous in the future!"

Ivy doubted whether the "danger" Hagrid mentioned was the same as the word he knew, and he didn't expect that Hagrid, who was not good at speaking, could speak so coherently on magical creatures.

So Ivy nodded: "You are right, we cannot deprive it of its right to be born. But I still want to remind you that raising dragons is illegal. As early as the Wizard Conference in 1709, a bill prohibiting the raising of dragons was officially passed."

"Well... speaking of that... I guess that's why that person wanted to get rid of it..." Hagrid hesitated and rubbed his hands together, looking at Ivy expectantly. "So you will keep it a secret for me, right?"

"Of course." Ivy agreed immediately, "After all, I'm not a law-abiding citizen."

"Great! I knew I was right about you, Ivy!" Hagrid smiled happily and immediately went to pour tea for Ivy. Yes, he used the kettle that was boiling above the dragon egg.

"But have you thought about how to tell Dumbledore?" Ivy watched Hagrid pick up tea leaves from a small cloth bag embroidered with a badger and put them into the cup. Maybe it was given to him by Professor Sprout. At least Ivy knew that many magical herbs required the excrement of magical animals as fertilizer.

"Not yet... but I think he will know... think about it, he is the headmaster of Hogwarts, nothing in this castle can be hidden from him?" Hagrid carefully folded the small cloth bag of tea, a little uneasiness on his face. He had already caused enough trouble for Dumbledore, and the three-headed dog now guarding the Philosopher's Stone was one of them.

There were still many things that Old Bee didn't know, including two terrible Dark Lords in the school, two of Voldemort's Horcruxes, an unregistered Animagus, and various secret passages in the castle.

However, Ivy believed that Dumbledore already knew about the dragon eggs. After all, Hagrid and Quirrell made the deal in front of his brother Aberforth.

"By the way, Hagrid, I have something I want to show you too." It was obviously still a long time before the dragon eggs hatched, and after satisfying his curiosity, Ivy also wanted to show off.

"What is it? Some kind of particularly cute magical creature?" Hagrid sat on his wooden chair creaking and looked at Ivy expectantly.

Ivy clapped his hands, and a ball of fire exploded out of nowhere in the cabin.

"Ouch!" Hagrid leaned back in fright, and the expensive-looking tea leaves spilled onto his messy beard. Judging from the oil stains on them, it was obviously not the first time they had experienced this.

"What a big - cat?" Hagrid didn't have time to wipe the tea off his beard, and stared at the huge flaming cat on the table motionlessly.

"It's called Howling Flame, and I created it using magic." Ivy introduced it proudly. After a period of running-in, Howling Flame had become a good helper in his life. At least in the winter, it could help him warm his feet in bed, and he didn't have to worry about igniting the sheets. This was very necessary in the dark Slytherin dormitory. After all, they lived next to the Black Lake.
Seeing Hagrid stretching out his thick fingers to tease Howling Flame, Ivy couldn't help but remind him: "Be careful, its claws are very sharp... Hey, Howling Flame, this is not fair! You didn't do this to me in the first place!"

Contrary to what Ivy expected, Howling Flame did not stretch out his scimitar-like claws to scratch Hagrid, but instead let him stroke his hair.

"It looks like a ball of fire. You said it was created by magic? Like a salamander?" Hagrid reached out to hug Howling Flame, but the latter disappeared from the table after a flash of fire.

"It's about the same, but it's much more complicated, requiring the blending of elements and stuff." Ivy looked around and found Xiaoyan squatting in front of the fire, stretching out his claws to fiddle with the dragon egg in the middle of the firewood.

"Be careful!" Hagrid also saw it and walked over to move the big flame cat to the other side. "It's just a baby! Wait until it hatches and then I'll play with you!"

However, Xiaoyan did not appreciate it and immediately jumped into the burning fireplace.

"Look! Ivy! It's hatching eggs!" Hagrid shouted, pointing at the fireplace.

"What? It's been less than half a year since Xiaoyan was born. How could he know how to hatch eggs?" Ivy couldn't believe his ears.

He walked to the fireplace and saw that, just as Hagrid had said, Howling Flame was in a farmer's pose, pressing the black egg under his soft collar fur.

(End of this chapter)