Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 96 New Side Mission
Hagrid really did like dragons.

When Vaughn left with Norberta in his arms, he cried inconsolably, stood at the door waving his handkerchief desperately, and was unwilling to go back for a long time.

"It was crazy, he was crying like we had taken his baby away!"

After crossing the hillside, Ron took one last look at Hagrid's massive figure waving a handkerchief. He couldn't help but complain, "How long has this dragon been born? Ten hours? Hagrid treats it better than Fang."

"It is a dragon after all, Ron."

"I'll never like dragons again." Ron curled his lips, looked at Norbeta curled up in Vaughn's arms, and stretched out his fingers to tease it.

Nobeta showed her mouth full of sharp teeth and stared at Ron with her vertical pupils.

"What are you looking at!"

Ron imitated Vaughn's method, curled his fingers, and flicked Norbeta hard.

Norbeta fell down. Strangely, this little dragon, which was frightened by Vaughn's flick, was not afraid of Ron at all. It quickly straightened its slender neck again, stared at Ron with its bulging red eyes, and made a threatening hissing sound like a snake.

Ron wondered, "Why isn't it afraid of me?"

"A dragon is a magical creature, not a puppy or cat," said Hermione. "If you want to scare it, your magic must be at least stronger than its."

"You mean, with my size, my magic power is not as strong as its?"

"Obvious!"

"Bullshit!"

Harry chuckled to himself, and Ron blushed, still trying to teach Norberta a lesson.

Vaughn, showing rare kindness, reminded him, "Dragons are very smart and have good memories. Bullying them like this will only make them remember you."

Ron said nonchalantly, "What does it matter? You're taking it away anyway. If it still holds a grudge, will it fly to Hogwarts and bite me?"

Seeing Ron happily bullying Norberta, Harry couldn't help but join in. He was annoyed by this little thing all day long. It loved to bite people and was picky about food. Hagrid even fed it brandy, saying that it was a method taught in a book to increase the power of its fire-breathing.

Whether it could really enhance it, Harry didn't know.

He only knew that this little guy would burn things everywhere after drinking, and even burned a few clumps of his hair.

"Ah—as long as you're happy."

Vaughn stopped trying to stop him and smiled, suddenly looking forward to two months later.

As they were talking, they had already walked to the side door of the castle. Just as they were about to enter, they heard Malfoy's voice:
"...Professor, we are not causing trouble. We are tracking down those who violated the school rules. You must not know that Potter, Weasley and that dirty Hagrid actually kept..."

professor?

The trio were so frightened that their faces turned pale. Just as they were about to run away, they saw Vaughn already walking in with Norbeta in his arms.

Finished!

Harry and Ron sighed inwardly, but Hermione knew that Vaughan was not a reckless person. He must have done this by... casting a spell on Norberta?
She hurried in, and Harry and Ron had no choice but to follow dejectedly.

Inside the door, Malfoy and his two followers were explaining anxiously and slightly cunningly, and the person he was explaining to was Professor McGonagall.

The Vice-Principal's face was serious, ready to listen to Mr. Malfoy's excuses.

Then Malfoy saw Vaughan.

His pale face suddenly turned as white as snow. In a hurry, this quick-witted young man forced the word "Dragon" that was about to come out of his mouth to be changed to -

"Draco!"

"..."

"..."

The scene was a bit awkward.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who had just entered, opened their eyes wide, Goyle and Crabbe were in a daze, and Professor McGonagall frowned deeply.

"Mr. Malfoy, I'm not sure if I heard correctly. Are you saying that Harry, Ron, and Hagrid are raising... Draco at school? You?"

Malfoy's face turned from pale to red again, and he stammered and couldn't speak.

He suddenly felt very unlucky. When he learned that Potter and Hagrid were secretly raising dragons at Hogwarts, he had planned to keep it a secret.

Malfoy knew from a young age that a secret would completely lose its value once it was made public. Only by holding the secret in his hand as a handle could he happily appreciate the worries, torment and helplessness of the annoying Potter gang.

However, those two idiots, Goyle and Crabbe, said they had never seen a dragon and wanted to go to Hagrid to see for themselves.

As a result, when the three of them were about to sneak into Hagrid's hut, they happened to be bumped into by Professor McGonagall. Originally, this was nothing, after all, it was after school time, and the professor would not care if you were wandering around after class.

The problem is that those two idiots, Goyle and Crabbe, wanted to run away as soon as they saw the professor.

So it was no surprise that Professor McGonagall, who was just passing by, became suspicious.

Malfoy had no choice but to try to betray Potter to protect himself. Unfortunately, just as he started to speak, Vaughn Weasley, that terrible devil, also showed up. Why?

After a long grunt, Malfoy had to bite the bullet and burst into laughter under Vaughn's smiling gaze: "I'm kidding, Professor, Bo... Harry and I are as close as half-brothers. I mean, such a good relationship, he often brings me delicious food from Hagrid, it's like he's supporting me... That's right!"

The wrinkles on Professor McGonagall's face deepened. She pondered for a moment and then tactfully suggested, "Mr. Malfoy, I suggest you go to the hospital ward to see Madam Pomfrey. You may have been cursed..."

How could a normal person talk nonsense like this?
After speaking with Malfoy, Professor McGonagall looked at Vaughan and the others: "Mr. Potter, the two Mr. Weasleys, Miss Granger, good evening. And, Mr. Vaughan Weasley, what is that in your arms?"

Harry's face was pale, as if he had already foreseen that the four of them would be expelled from Hogwarts for carrying a dragon cub with them.

Just as he was desperately trying to hold his head, Hermione kicked him. Harry looked up and saw her mouthing to him: "Quiet, Vanishing Spell..."

Vanishing spell?
Memories that had been buried for months suddenly flooded Harry's mind.

He eagerly looked over and sure enough, there was nothing in Vaughn's arms.

Although Professor McGonagall, who was a master of magic, still noticed this magic, Harry, who had witnessed Vaughn cast a spell and had learned about the Vanishing Spell before, knew it.

Professor McGonagall could only sense magic and had no way of knowing what had disappeared, which gave Vaughan room to cover up easily.

As expected, Vaughan said calmly, "I'm practicing the Vanishing Charm, Professor. I vanished a wild Kneazle and am testing how long the spell can last."

After hearing his answer, Professor McGonagall looked into his arms again. Then, the nervous Harry was surprised to find that Professor McGonagall actually smiled, which was rare for her:
"Your spells are excellent, Vaughan. I was worried that you might become rusty after missing a few months of classes, especially Transfiguration subjects like the Vanishing Charm. They are complex and precise, and there is no room for error."

"But it seems you're maintaining your form quite well. Unfortunately, it's almost the end of the semester, and the Transfiguration Club has suspended its activities to make room for exams... Well, if you have any questions during practice, you can come directly to my office."

"Okay, Professor."

Professor McGonagall, who was meticulous about etiquette, nodded to everyone present and turned to leave. Before leaving, she reminded Malfoy to go to the school hospital to have his brain checked.

It wasn't until Professor McGonagall's back disappeared that Harry came back to his senses and said admiringly, "Vaughn, when did you cast the spell?"

"Just before the door."

Vaughn said, flicking his wand and casting a silent counter-spell.

With a snap, Norbeta reappeared with a confused look in his eyes.

Creatures that were made to disappear by the Vanishing Spell actually had memories of the entire process, and Norbeta obviously also remembered the feeling of his body suddenly becoming nothingness.

Its small, ugly eyes were confused for a moment, then revealed a look of fear. It lay stiffly in Vaughn's arms, not daring to move.

On the other side, seeing the little dragon suddenly appear, Malfoy covered his mouth excitedly - he was afraid that he would not be able to help but call Professor McGonagall back!
He, Draco, is not mentally ill, but there are bad people among his classmates, and he is bullied and dares not speak out!

Vaughn didn't bother to pay attention to Malfoy. He restored Norbea and checked it. After finding that there were no missing parts, he said to Hermione, "I'll take it back first and deal with it later. You guys go back too. Remember to ask Ron to ask Madam Pomfrey to check his finger. Dragon teeth are poisonous."

"Well, be careful."

Hermione gently said goodbye to Vaughn, then glared at Ron: "Did you hear that? Why don't you go to the hospital ward? You're making your brother worry!"

Ron stared back at her in disbelief: "Do you understand? I'm the one who got hurt!"

"If you hadn't put your finger in Norbeta's mouth, you wouldn't have been hurt. Now all I can say is that you deserved it!"

The little girl snorted and left. She had wasted most of the day and she still had to go back to do her homework.

Ron was so angry that his chest hurt. To prevent him from getting mad to death, Harry quickly changed the subject: "It's a magical spell, isn't it? It can make a dragon disappear and then return to its original form. It's incredible."

Ron's attention was indeed diverted, but he was still quite resentful: "Isn't the most crucial 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 the spell on... Hey, Malfoy, what are you still doing here?" He looked at Malfoy, who was still covering his mouth and huddled with his henchman, and mocked, "Draco, so your parents named you that because they knew you'd slip up one day, and they were there to cover for you?"

"you you……"

"What are you talking about? Tsk tsk, you should really look at your face, it's as white as paper, you coward Malfoy who is afraid of Vaughn!"

Malfoy was furious and retorted: "Yes, I am afraid of Vaughan, that's because I know how to be respectful. You'd better respect the powerful force. I saw that dragon."

"When Vaughn took it away, it looked at you with a strange look in its eyes. You two must have bullied it." Malfoy sneered. The Malfoy family had raised dragons before and had many books on raising dragons.
"If I were you, I'd quickly figure out how to appease a petty monster that can grow to 28 feet long in two months, whose scales are nearly immune to common spells, can breathe fire, and doesn't want to retaliate!"

"Haha, coward Malfoy, the Malfoy that even dragon cubs are afraid of!"

Ron didn't take it seriously, but was rather smug. How many people would dare to say that they had ever bullied a fire dragon?
Harry also smiled.

Anyway, Vaughn sent the dragon away soon, so what is there to be afraid of, stupid Malfoy!
Let’s not talk about the bickering between a few little wizards at the side door of the castle.

Vaughn brought Norbeta back to Slytherin. After finding some dried fish for Guoguocha to feed, he laid Norbeta flat on the desk.

Norbeta, who was unruly in front of Harry and others, now obediently let Vaughn manipulate him. If it was just a little afraid of Vaughn's powerful magic in Hagrid's Hut before, then the experience of being made to disappear by Vaughn really frightened it.

Although it is still a newborn cub and behaves very animalistically, the fire dragon actually has a very high IQ.

As a fire dragon, Nobeta knew since birth what his most powerful feature was - his scales!
It is dense, tough, and highly resistant to magic. This is the fundamental reason why it dared to make trouble in Hagrid's hut, because it knew that no one in the hut could break its scales at that time.

After Vaughn arrived, Norbeta smelled a dangerous smell for the first time, so when Vaughn tried to tease it, it would immediately become intimidated.

But it was not until the side door of the castle that Norbeta realized that Vaughn's strength was far beyond its imagination. Its scales had almost no ability to resist under Vaughn's magic.

Magical beasts are also animals. Animals have the instinct to seek good fortune and avoid danger. When faced with individuals stronger than themselves, their choice is usually not to resist to the end, but to obey!

Just like Norbeta now, it docilely allowed Vaughn to stretch it out straight. While Vaughn was busy looking for tools, it quietly turned over, exposing its belly, with its legs and claws on its wings curled up in front of it, and made a coquettish sound:

"Whoa-"

Vaughn didn't care much, but the fruit tea under his feet immediately pricked up his ears, and his huge cat eyes, with pupils squeezed into a dangerous straight line, looked at the bastard... dragon on the table!

Damn it!
It actually stole the unique skills from Master Guoguocha!

How can you tolerate this kind of thing?

So, when Vaughn heard the commotion and looked back, the two jealous little guys were already fighting.

Guoguocha relied on its huge size to temporarily win the victory, and Nobeta was pinned under its claws and unable to move.

But Nobeta didn't suffer any loss. Its hard scales broke Guoguocha's teeth. It was still coughing as if it was laughing.

It wasn't until it saw Guo Guocha meowing, jumping into Vaughn's arms, rubbing against him and acting pitiful and coquettish that it finally understood -

This big cat has something worth learning from!
...............

In the early morning, the Scottish Highlands were covered with mist. The dense and dark forests stretched into the distance in the mist, connecting to the clouds in the sky that were dyed red by the rising sun.

As the sunlight grew brighter and brighter, and the golden light pierced through the clouds and fell to the earth, the Black Lake, which had been silent all night, finally woke up.

Vaughn, who got up early in the morning and was doing research at his desk, was startled by a dull bang 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 glass.

Unfortunately, the glass in every room at Hogwarts was cursed, especially Slytherin's, which was located at the bottom of the Black Lake and needed to be reinforced and descaled with magic. An additional spell was also added to prevent aquatic plants, snails and other creatures from adsorbing it.

After trying for a while, the Lamora fish, which was regarded as a good omen by wizards in the ocean, had to give up regretfully and turned to swim to the depths of the lake.

"The Lamora fish seems to live in the Indian Ocean. I wonder who put it into the Black Lake..."

Vaughn's mind was wandering, his brain feeling a little tired after being focused for so long. He looked at the lake outside the window, which gradually turned from darkness to a faint light.

Soon, beams of sunlight shone through the lake, rippling the waves and making the view clear.

After resting for a while, Vaughn looked down and saw Norbeta lying on the desk with his legs spread out, snoring softly. As he breathed in and out, sparks spewed out of his nostrils, then were blocked by a transparent barrier.

It was a spell cast by Vorn, a kind of magic similar to a barrier. It didn't have much power, but it was enough to restrain the sparks released unconsciously by a young dragon.

Opening his notebook, Vaughn looked at the results of his late night work:

"...The fire Norbeta spews is rich in magical energy, but it's not a flame with special properties like demonic fire or fairy fire. I set up multiple control groups to test whether its flames contain hidden magic..."

Next are more than 20 control group results.

"From the results, we can see that the breath of Norbeta, or the Norwegian Spinosaurus, has no special function. It evolved solely for combustion. The only surprising thing is that its fire is very 'sticky' and sticks to objects, looking like magma."

"This unique adhesive force greatly improves the flame's adhesion, allowing the Norwegian Spinosaurus's breath to burn on enemies or prey for longer, unleashing its full power."

"Based on this viscosity, I originally suspected that the breath of the Norwegian Spinosaurus might be a substance similar to napalm. However, after testing, I found that at least when Norbeta opened its mouth and the flames escaped, it still spewed out a scorching, pure plasma jet, not some chemical substance."

"In other words, its flame and stickiness are magically imparted. This also explains why the fire it spews out contains such a strong magical power. Their existence is used to maintain a certain kind of magic..."

Behind the fire-breathing, there are also experimental studies on the fire dragon's flight, toxin production, and scales.

But just like the fire-breathing, progress was stuck on guessing it was some kind of magic. But what kind of magic was it? Did it exist in the form of some kind of magical organ? Where was it hidden? How could it be activated?

I don’t know anything about it!
At present, we only know that those magics are the instincts of fire dragons. They don’t need to learn them, just like wild beasts are born to use claws and teeth.

Closing the notebook, Vaughan frowned. Although his study of Nobel was not a whim, it didn't have to be so urgent.

However, just yesterday, after he finished testing the characteristics of Norbeta's breath through the control experimental group, a new message popped up on the system panel.

[Side Quest ③: Study all fire dragon magic and figure out their basic principles (activated)]

【Progress: 0/10】

[Reward: Magic Scale 100, Spell Development Module]

Opening the system panel again, looking at the newly appeared tasks, Vaughn pondered:
"Based on the current testing of Norbeta, the basic form of Fire Dragon Magic should be what I suspected was the magical organ. The basic principles required by the mission may not be the basic principles of magic—that's too difficult and too broad, and the difficulty level is not right—but it is likely the structure and operating principles of the Fire Dragon Magic Organ."

"The quest description says to obtain all fire dragons, but the progress bar shows 10. In other words, according to the system's standards, there are only 10 pure fire dragons in the world right now?"

This is not too different from Vaughn's understanding. Although there are some books in the magic world that classify subspecies of fire dragons that are hybrids of different types of fire dragons into the category of fire dragons, in the eyes of fire dragon fundamentalists, those guys are heretics.

Even though the phrase "dragon fundamentalism" seems silly, from a purely biological perspective, hybrid dragon subspecies have not formed a stable population and stable species (offspring will revert to their ancestral origin), so they cannot be considered a new species.

"Ten species... This is another long-term task. Not only is the workload enormous, but it's also somewhat difficult to accomplish..."

Vaughn was a little worried. If he wanted to study the magical organs in the fire dragon's body, live dissection was essential. Otherwise, he would have to use simple observation methods to clearly study the structure and operating principles of the 10 fire dragon magic organs.

I'm afraid that will have to wait until the end of time.

The difficulty of this matter lies precisely in the live dissection. Fire dragons are not werewolves. Due to the hunting by wizards and the implementation of the International Statute of Secrecy, it is now difficult to find wild fire dragons.

The fire dragons living in the protected areas are the key protected objects of the Ministry of Magic of each country, so don’t even think about hunting a few of them secretly.

"Don't worry, this can't be rushed. I need to think of a good reason..."

Vaughan consoled himself.

In fact, he knew that he was not as calm as he looked. At least in the early morning, he wanted to dissect Norbeta who was trying to please him and act coquettishly many times.

All this is because of the "Spell Development Module" given in this side quest.

The moment it appeared in the prize pool, Vaughn vaguely understood its function - it could help him develop new spells!

Since getting the system panel, Vaughn has increasingly felt that...the biggest help the system provides him is actually saving him a lot of time.

Whether in the wizarding world or the Muggle society, there has always been the same problem in the learning of knowledge and the creation of new knowledge.

It takes too long!

The world does not lack geniuses. What everyone lacks is time. Time can often extinguish all enthusiasm and hope, and kill any new knowledge that may be born at the very beginning.

Even though there are alchemical artifacts like the "Time Converter" in the magic world, it only allows you to travel through time, but cannot stop time from passing by you.

On the contrary, the more a person uses the time converter, the faster time passes for him.

Vaughn's thoughts wandered a little, and he suddenly wanted to go to Dumbledore's place to have a look, because there, a time-related level designed by him was being built.

(End of this chapter)