Hogwarts: Nagini captured at the start

Chapter 82 Swollen Like a Giant Pig's Trotter

Harry's "time is of the essence" argument convinced Ron and Hermione, and the group agreed that after informing Hagrid first thing the next morning, they would write back to Roland.

However, the next morning, before dawn, the group encountered a major problem—Ron's right hand swelled up like a pig's trotter.

Robin suggested going to the school clinic, but Ron was worried that Madam Pomfrey would notice something was wrong with his teeth, so Harry took out his first-aid kit and gave him a simple anti-inflammatory and antibacterial bandage.

Afterwards, Robin, Harry, and Hermione, as they had previously agreed, ran to the hunting lodge.

After reading the letter, Hagrid stood there stunned for a long time. Finally, he hugged the little dragon's neck and said, sobbing, "Nober, Mommy can only stay with you for four more days. When you get to your new place and have a new dragon mommy, don't forget me. Mommy will never forget Nober."

"Hagrid, so you've agreed to send Norbert to Cornwall?" Robin asked in a low voice.

Hagrid nodded. "The adoption conditions mentioned in the letter make it hard to think of a reason to refuse. Nober, however intelligent, is still a dragon. It needs an adult female dragon to teach it various survival skills."

After saying that, he started sobbing again.

Compared to Hagrid's sadness, Norbert seemed much more carefree. He wriggled his tail, struggled to break free from "Mother Dragon's" embrace, picked up the bouquet of foxtail grass from the low table, and happily tucked himself into Robin's arms.

Today is Wednesday. There were no classes during the first period in the morning, so Robin spent a long time playing with Norbert.

He fed Norber flaming snacks, spanked its bottom, threw frisbees for it to fetch, and even wove a little rabbit out of the foxtail grass it gave him and tied it to its horn.

Finally, the three of them left the cabin before the bell rang for the second class, while Norber, perched at the window, watched them walk toward the castle, waving the rabbit on its horn.

For the group, like Hagrid, they only had four days left to play with Norber. They had planned to skip their afternoon nap and go to the hunting lodge one more time.

However, right after lunch, Ron raised his right hand and cried out in pain. Harry wanted to untie the bandage to see what was inside, but he realized that he had been too hasty in the morning and had tied his roommate's bandage in a knot that was impossible to untie.

Just as he was wondering what to do, Luo Bin found a small pair of scissors and snipped away a few times, untying the bandage.

"Oh my god, my hand. Hagrid never told me that Norber's teeth were poisonous."

Ron stared incredulously at his right hand, which was a bluish-purple color and looked like a pig's trotter.

"If you don't want to have your leg amputated, you'd better go see Ms. Pomfrey right away," Robin said quietly.

So, the group changed their plans to see Norbert and accompanied Ron to the school hospital instead.

Ms. Pomfrey said the situation was a bit tricky and would require some time to study before she could begin preparing an antidote. To prevent the injuries from worsening, she prescribed some medication to inhibit the spread of the toxins.

After Ron took his medicine and fell asleep, she urged the three to leave, saying that the patient needed to rest, and promised to give them an hour each day to visit their friend.

On Friday morning, after Potions class, Robin, Harry, and Hermione went to the school hospital to visit Ron, as usual.

Whoosh!

Robin pulled back the curtain of the ward and saw Ron staring angrily at the ceiling. On the bedside table next to his bed was a large paper package. He walked over and glanced at it. As expected, the package was full of chicken leg bones.

"Who's been here?" Harry asked.

"Draco Malfoy!" Ron gritted his teeth.

"Malfoy told the school doctor that he wanted to borrow a book from me, and the doctor believed his nonsense and let him in."

"When he came in, he mocked me as a loser, a penniless wretch, and a big jerk. He also threatened to tell Ms. Pomfrey and Dean McGonagall about the story of 'Hagrid raising dragons and Norbert biting people.'"

"I was so angry that I wanted to punch him, but my right hand was still swollen. After he snatched one of my books, he smugly walked away."

"Damn it, my favorite book is "Collection of Interesting Facts about Idiot Wizards". I have only read a third of it. When I am discharged from the hospital, I will definitely beat him until he returns the book."

"Don't worry too much about not having books to read. Here, I also brought you two books: 'The Secret of the Elf Rebellion' and 'The Founding History of the Ministry of Magic.' If you thoroughly understand these two books, you won't have to worry about the history of magic exam."

"Um, thank you, but I don't need it. You can take it back and look at it yourself!"

"Watch it or not, it's not like I'm the one who'll fail the exam."

Hermione picked up two books, sat down on a stool, and began reading them. Harry rushed to the bedside and asked anxiously, "Is it the one with the picture of a bald head and two standing Asian black bears with white fur on their chests, 'The Silly Wizards' Anecdotes'?"

"Hmm, I think so, right, Robin? The book, you gave it to me yesterday to read for entertainment."

"Yes, that's right. I was bored earlier and drew some things on the title page. Harry, is there a problem?"

"Robin, when you wrote back to Roland the day before yesterday, you casually handed me the note that Fatty brought back. I tucked it into 'The Collection of Funny Stories of Silly Wizards'."

"So, Malfoy knew exactly when and where we sent Norbert away?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm afraid so, unless he doesn't open the book," Harry said dejectedly.

"When he brags to Crabbe and Goyle about his achievements, he'll definitely open that book. The best way is to change the plan, but tomorrow is Saturday, and it's obviously too late to send an owl to Roland to say that we need to change the date for sending Norbert. So, we have to take a gamble and bet that Malfoy doesn't know about the Invisibility Cloak."

Hermione closed "The Secrets of the Elf Rebellion" and stood up to make the suggestion.

"Of course he didn't know Harry had the Invisibility Cloak, but could the Invisibility Cloak cover us and Norbert?" Robin asked doubtfully.

"It should be fine, I mean, if you fold up Norber's long tail."

"Leave the tail situation to me."

Using coercion and inducement, they are not afraid that Nobel will not comply.

After deciding not to change the original plan, the group chatted for a while, and then quickly left the school hospital before the school doctor came to the ward to urge them to come.

The next day, at 11 p.m., Robin, Harry, and Hermione, under the protection of the Invisibility Cloak, sneaked out of the castle and arrived at the hunting lodge.

Hagrid had prepared a crate (a box with gaps between the planks) containing dead rats, brandy, and a dirty teddy bear. Just as he was about to put Norbert in as well, Robin stopped him.

"Hagrid, the box you brought is too big. Don't forget, the agreed meeting point is at the Astronomical Tower."

"I just want Norber to have more space, so what do you suggest?"

After a cursory glance at the furniture in the room, Robin pointed to a four-legged stool next to the low table and said, "This will do!!"

"Use a stool to carry Nobel?"

Harry couldn't quite understand this idea.

"No, that's not a stool."

Robin walked to Hagrid's bed, pulled out ten planks from under the bed, found his toolbox, and with a few quick clicks, put the four-legged stool back into a crate.

"If I'm not mistaken, it used to be used to hold apples, right?"

Hagrid twitched his beard and said incredulously, "Are all young wizards these days smart enough to be private detectives?"

(End of this chapter)