Knock! Knock! Knock!
Harry anxiously knocked on the door of Hagrid's hut.
A moment later, Hagrid pushed the door open and came out. He looked down and saw three little lions had come to his house late at night, and he said sternly, "Whoa! What are you doing here at this hour?! Don't mind me, but you should be back in your dorms, and I'm too busy to play with you today." With that, he tried to close the door.
Seeing this, the three of them immediately shouted in unison, "We know about the Philosopher's Stone!"
Hearing this, Hagrid instantly reopened the door. He scanned the three of them with a look of shock on his face, then stepped aside to let them in.
"We think Snape is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone," Harry said resolutely as soon as he entered the house, without a shred of doubt in his judgment.
"Sigh... You're still suspicious of him!" Hagrid sighed helplessly, first putting on an oven mitt to fiddle with the copper pot that was dry-roasting in the fireplace, then he turned and looked at the three of them seriously. "You listen to me. No matter where you heard about the Philosopher's Stone, Snape is one of the professors protecting it. Your suspicions are completely unfounded."
"What?!" The three of them looked at each other in dismay. They never would have guessed that the thief in their minds was actually one of the protectors of the Philosopher's Stone.
"Alright, you should go now, before anyone finds out you snuck out! I have important things to do today." Hagrid was uncharacteristically impatient today, and he was eager to get the trio to leave.
But since they had already come all this way, there was no way the three little lions were going to give up. Hermione sat down directly on Hagrid's huge sofa and, latching on to the key point in what Hagrid had just said, began to ask, "Wait, Hagrid! Did you say 'one of'? Does that mean more than just the three-headed dog is protecting the Philosopher's Stone?"
"Of course! If you ask me, it's completely unnecessary, since no one can get past Fluffy anyway." Hagrid proudly patted his chest. "Besides me and Dumbledore, no one knows how to deal with Fluffy."
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Just as Hagrid was in the middle of his proud moment, there was a loud metallic crash from the copper pot hanging in the fireplace behind him. Hearing this, Hagrid quickly put on the oven mitts, took out a round object from the pot, and carefully placed it on the table.
"Merlin's beard, it's a dragon egg!" Ron said in shock as he walked to the table, looking at the still-steaming dragon egg. "I saw one at my brother Charlie's place during the holiday. It's a Norwegian Ridgeback egg!"
"But, Hagrid! How did you get it?"
"I won it from a stranger," Hagrid replied, with a slightly puzzled look on his face. "It's strange, I don't know why he seemed so eager to lose to me."
While the two were talking, the dragon egg on the table began to shake. A moment later, the eggshell burst open, and a Norwegian Ridgeback, still covered in egg fluid, let out a cry like a crow and slowly crawled out.
Hagrid was immediately captivated. He reached out and gently teased the baby dragon's chin, saying, "Oh, it's so beautiful! Look, this little one thinks I'm its mum!" He had wanted to raise a dragon himself for a long time, and now his wish had finally come true!
"Hi, Norbert."
"Norbert?"
"It needs a name, doesn't it?" Hagrid said to Harry as if it were obvious, his finger still teasing Norbert, making strange clucking sounds.
Gradually, perhaps annoyed by Hagrid, the little Norwegian Ridgeback named Norbert tilted its head back and breathed a hot jet of fire, which directly ignited Hagrid's thick beard.
The smell of burnt protein instantly filled the room. Hagrid quickly used his glove to put out the flames on his beard, and his face showed a hint of embarrassment. He said to the three of them in his defense, "Haha, of course, it still needs some training…"
But just as Hagrid was feeling both embarrassed and excited, he suddenly saw a figure flash by the window. He frowned and shouted, "Who's there?!"
Harry followed Hagrid's gaze and immediately recognized his archenemy, Draco Malfoy, peeking through the window.
"Oh, no!" The three of them looked at each other and, without a word, ran frantically out of Hagrid's hut. They had to get back to their dorm before Malfoy did. At the same time, Hagrid sat stunned in his hut, looking at the still-shaking door, with a look of "we're doomed" on his face.
The next day, the news that the three little lions of Gryffindor and a little snake from Slytherin had been given detention spread throughout Hogwarts. The reason was that the hourglasses that tracked the house points had suddenly dropped by a significant amount. Gryffindor was docked 150 points, and Slytherin was docked 50 points. A perfect trade, one for three.
Late at night, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy, three little lions and one little snake, trudged along behind Filch, looking both anxious and scared.
Filch walked in front, holding a lantern, and he showed his black, crooked, ugly teeth as he spoke to the four young wizards behind him in a sinister voice: "What a shame, that we can't use the old methods of punishment on you anymore."
"Back in the day, when a student was given detention, they'd be thumb-tied and hung from the dungeon ceiling. That screaming was something to remember."
Just two sentences were enough to scare the four of them witless.
A moment later, Filch led the four of them to Hagrid's hut, where a huge figure was already waiting.
"Tonight, you'll be serving detention with Hagrid. He has a little errand to run, and you'll be going into the Forbidden Forest with him," Filch said to the four of them, then he turned to Hagrid, who was holding a huge crossbow. "Here come the troublemakers, Hagrid."
Hagrid nodded. "Alright, little ones, we should get going! I don't want you to stay in the Forbidden Forest for too long. The later it gets, the more dangerous it becomes." With that, he raised his lantern and, with its dim light, led the four of them into the forest.
For some reason, the Forbidden Forest was unusually quiet tonight. Not even the usual wolf howls could be heard. Hagrid held his crossbow alertly, scanning the surroundings, and occasionally shone his lantern on the ground, as if looking for something.
Harry followed behind Hagrid. He looked at the darkness all around and felt a sense of tension and fear. To ease the bad feelings in his heart, he took the initiative to ask, "Hagrid, how is Norbert?"
"Norbert is doing well. If all goes as planned, you might be seeing him more often," Hagrid replied calmly, but Harry could see a hint of joy in his eyes.
"Are we looking for something?" Hermione said, quickening her pace.
Hagrid sighed at the question and didn't explain, just looking at the four of them briefly. "You'll know soon enough…"
After some time, the tall Hagrid suddenly saw a strange puddle of silver liquid on the ground not far away. He led the group forward, knelt down, and dipped his finger in the liquid. He rubbed it a few times to confirm that it was what he was looking for, then he stood up and said to the four of them, "This is why we're here! It's unicorn blood. I found a dead one somewhere else a few weeks ago, and now it looks like another one has been injured, and badly. Our mission tonight is to find this poor unicorn!"
"So, now Ron and Hermione, you're with me. Harry and Draco, you're a team. We'll split up and go looking."
Ron instantly looked timid but didn't dare to refuse, so he just nodded with a pained expression. "Alright!"
Draco, next to him, was also very scared, so he pointed at the dog Hagrid was holding and said, "I'm fine, but what about Fang?"
Hagrid nodded nonchalantly. "Of course, he's with you, but I warn you, he's a coward…"
These words instantly made both Draco and Harry's faces turn green. They had hoped that Fang, who looked very strong and mighty, would protect them in a crucial moment. They had no idea he was just a dog with a menacing appearance but a timid spirit.
"Then, Hagrid, what if we do this? I'll be with Harry and Fang, and Malfoy can be with you," Hermione suddenly suggested.
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