"Someone's peeking outside!"
At Hagrid's exclamation, Harry immediately dashed out, trying to chase the person down.
After a while, Harry returned, looking dejected.
"That person ran off. It looked like…"
"It looked like Malfoy," Ron said uneasily.
"Th-then will he report Hagrid?"
Lucien, who was busy mixing the chicken-blood brandy, heard this and gently shook his head.
Although all of them had received tutoring from him, Malfoy still hadn't become friends with Harry. He was only a bit more restrained during lessons; otherwise, he behaved much the same as always.
Lucien didn't think it was a serious issue. It was just a matter of children's friendships.
Bullying and isolation were naturally not allowed in his small class, but there was no need to worry too much about everyday matters. There was still plenty of knowledge to learn and many things to stay busy with.
The conflict between different Houses, especially Gryffindor and Slytherin, had existed for a long time.
Only when he truly became a Hogwarts professor—or even Headmaster—would he have the time and energy to address issues of school discipline.
Tsk. Malfoy—how did he get the news? He had actually followed Harry all the way.
Such persistence.
He wanted to be friends with Harry but didn't know how, and of course, Malfoy's usual attitude and way of making friends were indeed a bit… well.
"Lucien, what about Malfoy?"
Hermione looked at Lucien with a worried expression. She believed that since Malfoy was also studying under Lucien, he would surely be able to handle this problem.
Lucien waved his hand as he stirred the brandy and chicken blood.
"It's fine. I'll just have a word with him."
While preparing the baby food, Lucien also observed the eagerly waiting little dragon, Norbert.
A normal Norwegian Ridgeback should be completely black after hatching, without any variegation on its scales.
But Norbert's body gleamed with streaks of gold. Was this a change brought about by incubating the egg with the Qilin's Net Fire?
Its body also looked plump and sturdy. It was a healthy little dragon.
This was another time watching a hatching; the last time had been with the young Qilin, which made the moment feel rather nostalgic.
As Lucien observed Norbert, the little dragon stared back at him with its large orange-red eyes. Within them were the fear and curiosity unique to a newborn, along with a faint, inexplicable sense of familiarity.
"All right, time to eat."
Lucien carried the wine barrel over to the little dragon, drew his wand with his free hand, made a show of waving it, and began to chant a spell.
A nearly pure golden flame drifted out of the fireplace, hovering steadily in front of Norbert.
The chicken blood mixed with brandy was only supplementary food. A young dragon's first proper meal had to be fire—whether ordinary fire or magical fire—though the best choice was naturally dragon flame provided by its parents.
For now, Lumen's Net Fire would serve as a substitute. The incubation had been successful, so this should work as well.
Norbert stretched out his long snout and sniffed, his pale nostrils twitching, then leaned closer to the golden flame.
"Awoo."
Without much hesitation, Norbert swallowed the Net Fire in one gulp.
A few seconds later—
"Burp—"
A rather loud burp came from Norbert's small mouth, accompanied by a few sparks shooting from his mouth and nose.
Seeing this, Lucien finally let out a sigh of relief.
After Lumen had lowered the temperature of the Net Fire, it could indeed be used as food for the little dragon.
Otherwise, Lucien would have had to feed it ordinary magical fire, which was certainly less effective than dragon flame and would have put Norbert at a disadvantage from the very beginning.
Now it was perfect. The Divine Beast Qilin's Net Fire was even stronger than a dragon's breath.
After finishing his first meal, Norbert suddenly looked up at the roof. Finding nothing there, he then fixed his gaze on the wine barrel in Lucien's hand, staring at the liquid inside as strands of drool dripped from the corners of his mouth in disappointment.
Lucien ladled out a large bowl first and brought it to Norbert's mouth. The little dragon immediately buried his head in it and began to lap it up.
Watching Norbert eat with such enthusiasm, Lucien smiled, then looked up toward a beam in the roof.
Lumen, having shrunk himself down, poked his head out and gave Lucien a knowing wink.
"Master, after that little dragon ate the flame, I feel like I've formed a sort of… special connection with it."
"Actually, I've had that feeling ever since it hatched, but it wasn't very obvious. I only just confirmed it now."
A connection?
Was it because Lumen's flame had been used to incubate Norbert, and then Norbert had consumed that flame, forming a bond between them?
Was this a trait of dragons, or something unique to the young Qilin?
"Hmm, we can study it slowly later."
Norbert quickly finished the bowl of chicken blood mixed with brandy, so Lucien refilled it for him.
Lucien couldn't help wondering how such a small body could drink so much alcohol.
It was an entire barrel.
Magic—wasn't it amazing?
"Hehe… um, Lucien, can I—can I try feeding him?"
Hagrid, sitting off to the side, rubbed his large hands together. He had clearly been wanting to do it for a long time.
But thinking about how Norbert already belonged to Lucien, and how Lucien himself had provided the flame for incubation and cared for him the entire time, the meaningful act of feeding the very first meal should naturally have been done by Lucien.
Then again, wasn't this already the second or third meal?
Lucien nodded, indicating it was fine, and handed the bowl to Hagrid.
However, when Hagrid held the bowl with both hands and brought it toward Norbert, the little dragon's gaze shifted back and forth between the bowl and Lucien.
With a flap of his wings, Norbert suddenly leapt forward, gliding straight to Lucien's feet. His four claws scrambled rapidly as he climbed onto Lucien's lap, chirping and squeaking as he did.
Hagrid and Harry, of course, didn't understand and only thought the little dragon was playing around. But Lucien, who carried the unicorn's blessing, heard it clearly and understood exactly what Norbert was saying.
"Mommy, don't you want me anymore, Mommy…"
"I—I don't want anyone else to feed me, Mommy…"
Lucien had been about to pick Norbert up, but his outstretched hand suddenly froze.
"What did you just call me?"
"Mommy."
Norbert stared at Lucien with his round eyes and even stretched his neck on his own initiative, rubbing the small horn on his forehead against Lucien's hand, which was still hanging in midair.
Lucien felt a bit awkward. How had he suddenly become a mother?
Well, most young animals in nature essentially had the concept of a mother. After birth, they instinctively sought one out.
Because he was the first creature the little dragon had seen, and the first to feed it, had it taken him for its mother?
Or was it also because the young Qilin had used Net Fire to hatch the dragon, and he was the Qilin's master, creating some kind of connection… No, that didn't make sense either. In that case, the little dragon should have gone to the Qilin.
"Ahem, I'm not your mommy."
Norbert froze, looking at Lucien blankly.
"Then who is my mommy?"
The question left Lucien speechless for a moment. He didn't know where Quirrell had gotten the dragon egg either.
He probably hadn't stolen it directly from a dragon mother, but had instead acquired it through illegal channels.
"Well… never mind that. You can still call me Mom—uh, call me Daddy."
Norbert didn't really understand what Lucien meant, but he did understand that he wasn't being abandoned. He shook his little head.
"Okay, Mommy."
"Uh, it's Daddy."
"Mmm, Mommy."
"…"
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