The King of Flags at Hogwarts

Chapter 37 The Butterfly Effect: Norbert is Gone

As soon as Bobby opened her eyes, she saw the older catgirl sitting at the head of her bed, smiling at her.

Good morning, Mama McGonagall!

Although Bobby can now sleep alone thanks to the bracelet, her long-standing habit still leads her to take turns sleeping in the four houses. Last night, it was Professor McGonagall's turn.

McGonagall gently patted her head. "Get up, it's getting late. Otherwise, I'll have to consider turning you into a chicken so you won't stay in bed."

In Britain, chicken is just chicken, it's just food, nothing more.

Bobby sat up. Early spring was indeed a bit chilly, but for a wizard, that was no problem at all. Bobby simply pointed at himself, and warmth flowed through his entire body, as if he were soaking in a hot spring.

After washing up, Bobby went to the auditorium for a meal, looking refreshed.

At the entrance to the auditorium, she was cornered by Neville Longbottom.

Neville looked expectant, yet very reserved: "Bobby, I...my..."

Bobby understood; this was something he had promised Neville three days ago.

"The medicine? Wait a minute."

Bobby reached into his pocket, rummaged around for a while, and pulled out a bottle of medicine.

"Give."

Neville took the bottle with a puzzled look. Although it might be impolite, he still asked, "Poppy, isn't the Magic Activation Potion purple?"

He shook the glass bottle, which contained an orange-yellow liquid with granular suspended particles floating in the clear liquid.

Poppy laughed, "You're not really a Squib. If I gave you a magic-enhancing potion, I'm afraid you'd explode on the spot."

She patted Neville on the shoulder. "Hurry up and drink it. This is a potion I specially modified for you."

Neville nodded emphatically, said thank you softly, and drank the entire potion.

It's orange flavored, a bit sweet, and surprisingly delicious.

Neville's face suddenly turned red, and when he opened his mouth, a burst of sparks shot out.

He tried to cover his mouth, but Bobby quickly shouted, "Don't cover it, let it spray!"

Hermione and Jady had just arrived at the entrance to the Great Hall, and they were both looking at Neville with curiosity.

The sparks only lasted for half a minute before stopping. Neville asked uncertainly, "Is that all?"

Bobby nodded confidently, "Try taking out your wand?"

"Fluorescent flash!"

Perhaps it was Bobby's incredibly confident smile that infected Neville, for a soft orb of light appeared at the tip of Neville's wand, steady and bright.

"It really works!" Neville was overjoyed and took out the red memory orb, casting a levitation spell.

The memory orb floated steadily in the air. Neville excitedly pumped his fist, then weakly pumped it again. It wasn't that he was overly excited, but rather that he was a little shy. The memory orb's red color was so striking, yet he couldn't remember what he had forgotten.

Finally, the excitement of successfully casting the spell outweighed the embarrassment of forgetting, and Neville sincerely thanked him again: "Poppy, thank you so much! I was able to cast the spell successfully! Merlin's beard! I'll write to my grandma right away! She'll be so happy!"

Hermione and Jady were both incredulous as Neville ran into the Great Hall with a big smile on his face.

They know better than anyone what Bobby has been up to these past two days.

This guy somehow got hold of a bunch of dragon scales and just hid in his room tinkering with them, without even touching the potion!

"Bobby, what exactly did you give Neville to drink?" Hermione asked seriously. "You haven't brewed any potions these past two days!"

Bobby shrugged. "Detoxified Peruvian venomous dragon blood mixed with Muggle orange soda..."

Both girls looked surprised.

Bobby laughed and said, "Navi's problem is that he lacks confidence. Once he believes that his problem has been solved, he will naturally be able to cast spells smoothly."

As Bobby gracefully stepped through the auditorium doors, she didn't forget to add, "Make sure it's a secret!"

Hermione asked expectantly, "Do you have any more soda?"

Jady then asked, "What is soda? How does it taste?"

Bobby: Granger, as the daughter of a dentist, you should know that drinking too much sugary soda is bad for your teeth!

----------

Quirrell was very depressed. Dragon eggs were extremely expensive, and his savings were far from enough. He started working frantically at multiple jobs to save enough money for one dragon egg. But at the current rate, it would probably be the end of April before he could raise enough.

He was so worried about this that his hair stopped growing. Several months passed, and his hair was still only a little bit long.

But suddenly, luck fell from the sky, and a batch of Peruvian Viperosaurus eggs, which could be described as cheap, flooded the British market. Quirrell was overjoyed and even bought two—after all, Viperosaurus are small and might not suit Hagrid's taste, so he made up for the lack of quality with quantity!

-----------

Miss Hermione Granger ruthlessly abandoned her two useless men and followed Bobby and Jady to the Black Lake.

Bobby cooked a type of meat she had never seen before today.

The cooking method was quite peculiar; Bobby even added a lot of herbs, as if he were brewing a magic potion.

Once the meat was cooked, Hermione and Jady enjoyed the best meal of their lives.

Bobby generously pulled out a case of soda from her pocket. Eating dragon meat with soda—she really knows how to have fun.

The lake water suddenly parted, and a strange humanoid creature with iron-gray skin and yellow eyes emerged from the water, revealing its upper body.

Jady and Hermione were startled, and they both pulled out their wands at the same time.

Poppy smiled calmly and said, "Relax, this is Razam the mermaid, he's my friend."

Then Poppy said to the mermaid, "Razam, ￥%#￥@￥%&……&?"

Mermaid Lazam took a deep breath, then pointed to the still-boiling broth, "Poppy! @￥……￥￥*&……%"

Bobby shrugged nonchalantly: "...%￥%？%……&&#@@%*!"

Seeing that Razham nodded, she threw the large chunk of dragon meat that was still in the pot at Razham.

Razham caught the dragon meat, eagerly opened his mouth, and took a bite.

The mouth, covered with countless sharp teeth, really startled the two little girls.

Razham quickly finished the dragon meat and then looked longingly at the soda at Poppy's feet.

Bobby chuckled: "&￥%……？#￥#￥#&&（……￥#。"

This time, instead of throwing the soda, she opened the bottle cap, pointed at the soda, and it floated to Lazam's face.

Thump thump thump... The bottle of soda was quickly finished, and Razam let out a satisfied burp. She felt a little dizzy and swayed a few times.

Bobby laughed out loud. How could this kid be drunk on soda?

Razam, annoyed by Bobby's mockery, spat at Bobby twice before diving back underwater.

Jady scolded, "Why did you give all the food to that mermaid? Now we can only drink soup."

Hermione didn't say anything, but her expression probably conveyed the same meaning.

Poppy pulled out another large piece of fanged dragon tail meat from his pocket and said with a grin, "I have plenty of meat here, but don't you guys find it boring to just eat meat?"

The new dragon meat was only half-cooked when a huge rainbow trout was thrown out of the water and landed in front of Bobby and the others.

Poppy cheered and immediately cast a spell to cut the rainbow trout into eight pieces.

The orange-red fish flesh, interspersed with white fat, is neatly arranged.

Bobby cut a thin slice, eagerly put it in his mouth, and closed his eyes in satisfaction.

The rainbow trout from this Black Lake taste so much better than those farmed in Muggles!

Before Bobby could continue preparing the rainbow trout, another bundle of things was thrown out of the lake.

Bobby laughed, "This is a discount for the soda!"

Upon closer inspection, the three of them saw several translucent, egg-shaped objects, each about the size of a fist.

Bobby licked his lips and said, "These are unfertilized eggs laid by the horse-headed, fish-tailed sea monsters raised by the mermaids! These can't be eaten raw, but they're incredibly delicious in soup! You're in for a treat today!"

Just as Bobby had said, the dragon meat soup became exceptionally delicious after the eggs of the horse-headed fish-tailed sea monster were added!

Bobby heard heavy footsteps behind him and knew immediately it was Hagrid.

"Hagrid, did you come here following the scent?" Bobby asked without turning around.

“Yes, Bobby, I couldn’t find you in the castle, and nobody knew where you went, so I looked everywhere,” Hagrid sniffed, “until I smelled something sweet!”

"Hagrid, you've come at the right time. I happened to make a good soup today, but it's a pity that the portion is a bit small for you..."

"No, Bobby, no. I need to talk to you about something else. Could you come with me for a moment?"

Bobby gave him a questioning look, then said to his friends, "I'll go with Hagrid first. If I'm late, you guys should pack your things and go back."

She followed Hagrid to his cabin, where he led her inside. He then nervously watched from outside for a while before finally entering.

"Bobby, so here's the thing, I got two eggs, um... well, dragon eggs." Hagrid thought Bobby would be very surprised, but Bobby calmly waited for him to continue.

Dragon eggs are just food; what's the big deal?

“Oh, I’ve checked a lot of books, and these two eggs are from a Peruvian Venomous Fang Dragon… The books say that Peruvian Venomous Fang Dragon eggs, like those of other dragon species, need the help of their parents’ dragonfire to hatch… I thought about roasting them with fire, but Venomous Fang Dragon eggs are obviously not as sturdy as those of other dragon species, I’m afraid…”

Bobby looked at the two eggs, overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

What a coincidence! What a coincidence! She had already left Peru to return to England, and these two little ones still traveled all the way to be with her.

Just minutes ago, she was eating dragon meat. The person stewing in the pot might be the two little ones' uncle or aunt? Or perhaps their parents?

"Hagrid, what makes you think I'll have a solution?"

“I heard from Argus that your newly developed medicine uses the venom of the Peruvian fanged dragon, so I thought you might have a deep understanding of the fanged dragon.”

Hagrid suddenly felt uneasy: "You're my best friend, you won't tell on me, will you?"

"How could I! Hagrid! Why would I report you?" Then she looked at the dragon egg with a grin, "Don't worry! Nobody knows more about the Peruvian Venomous Fang Dragon (its methods) than I do!"

"I'll show you how to hatch an egg with dragon flames right now!"

Poppy took a deep breath, and the next moment she spewed out bright red dragon flames from her small mouth.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Hagrid yelled. "Let's go outside! My cabin can't withstand your fire-breathing!"

Hagrid wasn't surprised at all that Bobby had some strange skills; over the years, Bobby had honed his composure to remain calm even in the face of adversity.