Faced with Hagrid's complete lack of resistance, Louis could only smile helplessly.
"By the way, you said its name is Norbert, right?" Louis patted Fang's big dog head, then sat down at the table and reached out to scratch the baby dragon's chin.
"Careful, baby dragons are dangerous," Hermione whispered nervously, afraid to raise her voice lest she startle it.
"No, no, not at all—Norbert's adorable!" Hagrid thumped his chest confidently.
"That may be true for you, but to anyone else, even a baby dragon is deadly," Hermione said with unease.
But to their surprise, the little dragon showed no hostility at all. It even stretched out its neck, rubbing happily against Louis's fingers.
"See? It really is cute," Hagrid chuckled. "Look how much it likes Louis. Don't you want to pet it too, Hermione?"
"I… better not. I'm a little worried." Hermione hesitated, though Norbert's behavior did make her itch to touch it.
Still, all the books said dragons were dangerous, and her fear held her back.
Louis noticed her hesitation. He gently took her hand and said, "Don't worry, I'm here."
With his achievement as a Magical Beast Tamer, making a baby dragon behave was child's play.
Blushing, Hermione let him guide her hand to stroke the dragon's head.
Norbert sniffed at their fingers, then let out a cheerful chirp.
"Come on, show us a trick," Louis said, tapping the dragon's little head.
Norbert tilted his head at Louis—then suddenly opened his mouth and blasted fire straight at Hagrid.
The high-temperature dragonflame instantly set Hagrid's beard ablaze. If Hermione hadn't quickly doused it with a gush of water charm, he might have been scarred for life.
"Don't go around setting people on fire," Louis said awkwardly, patting Norbert on the skull. "I said a trick, not that."
Norbert gave two pitiful little whines, immediately stirring Hagrid's heart. He rushed to shove a chunk of bloody meat into the dragon's mouth as comfort.
"He's still young, he doesn't know any better," Hagrid muttered—the classic excuse of every parent spoiling a brat.
The baby dragon was cute, sure, but as they watched Norbert gnaw noisily at the meat, everyone present had to face the bigger problem.
"Hagrid, have you thought this through?" Louis asked gently, watching Norbert with fondness. "With how fast dragons grow, your hut won't hold him for long."
At that, Hagrid's eyes grew red.
"No—you can't say that! I'm this child's mother, I'll raise him myself!" His voice cracked, close to sobbing.
"But keeping a dragon is illegal," Hermione said firmly, recalling Ministry law she had read. "You could be arrested, and even drag Professor Dumbledore down with you."
The mention of Dumbledore left Hagrid speechless.
"You're right… I can't bring trouble to Dumbledore." He sighed. "Louis, how long can I keep him?"
"See your door? Once Norbert's too big to squeeze through, that's when he has to go," Louis estimated. That would be around Easter.
"But how do we send him away?" Hermione raised the key issue. "By then, he'll be too large to hide in a pocket. And where do we even send him?"
Both she and Hagrid looked at Louis. He spread his hands. "Don't look at me. I don't have any connections."
"True enough. Your family are all Muggles, no way you'd know," Hagrid sighed.
"But really, Hagrid, don't you know someone who does?" Louis asked slyly. He refused to believe Ron had never bragged about his brother working with dragons in Romania.
"Let me think… Oh! Ron! He said his brother's in Romania studying dragons!" Hagrid exclaimed. "But if Norbert goes there, won't he be bullied?"
"Don't worry about that yet. Just tell Ron to write to his brother. Otherwise, you'll run out of time," Louis advised.
Of course, Louis didn't mention that Norbert would never actually make it to Romania—because he intended to intercept the dragon himself. Right now, though, he was playing the part of the helpful friend, not the scheming villain.
And so, with much weeping and reluctance, Hagrid "happily" agreed to send Norbert away.
"Happily" enough that he was bawling his eyes out.
....
"Almost forgot—I still have a Legendary Draw left."
Inside the Room of Requirement, Louis slouched on the sofa, idly polishing the Tiger Talisman as the thought crossed his mind.
That draw was his reward from Christmas Eve, when he healed Fluffy, the three-headed dog. No one had noticed that Chuan had secretly irritated the beast by jabbing its ear, and Louis had reaped the credit. Most likely, the reward had come from Dumbledore himself.
Since he remembered, he might as well use it.
Louis yawned, half-closing his eyes as he initiated the lottery.
To be honest, ever since he'd pulled that useless Rod, he'd been wary of the draws. Sometimes he suspected his supposed "European luck" was a lie and that he was actually some poor chief smuggled in from Africa.
"Please, don't let it be another useless piece of junk…" Louis muttered, not even sure which deity he was praying to.
His storage space was already piled with "precious trash."
For example:
- The Legendary waste item, the Spark Prism Rod.
- The Perfect-grade trash, mountains of Holy Relics.
- Devil Fruits, currently classified as "temporary waste."
And there were other things that weren't trash, but weren't useful either—like high-tech gear from the science side. From plasma grenades to exoskeletons, he had enough to outfit a futuristic super-soldier.
But what use was that inside Hogwarts? And he definitely wasn't going to hand them out for Muggles to study.
If they were to be given away at all, they'd have to be shipped East.
The draw began. Seven-colored lights flashed brilliantly before him. Louis cracked his eyes open a slit, watching the process—just to give the system a little respect.
Finally, the radiance faded. A colossal shadow appeared before him.
Damn it—don't tell me it's another Ultraman!
Louis's eyes widened in alarm. Luckily, it wasn't a giant of light, but the phantom of an enormous tree.
The shadow condensed, transforming into a tiny seed that landed in his palm, making his hand tremble.
It was just a seed, no larger than a fingernail—yet it felt as heavy as a world, as though it carried an entire cosmos within it.
> You have drawn a Legendary Special Item: Fast-Grown Seed of Yggdrasil.
> Plant it to rapidly grow into a World Tree.
> Due to the accelerated growth, it cannot generate a full macrocosm, but it can stabilize a space and transform it into a true world.
A World Tree seed—though an "instant" version.
Louis opened his eyes fully now, starlight flickering in their depths as he stared at the seed.
He could already see countless possibilities upon it. His Eyes of Fate pierced the veil of time, glimpsing the near future—
In a Reality Marble wreathed with flowers, a World Tree swayed like a forest in the wind, its leaves whispering. And upon its crown, a great dragon stood tall, raising its head and roaring at the sky.
---
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