Chapter 61: Norbert Recalled a Message

Because of the news of the little dragon hatching, even the first Charm class of the afternoon seemed much less interesting—even when Professor Flitwick began teaching them the new spell to conjure flames, Harry and Ron didn't pay much attention.

Cohen, having already mastered it long ago, spent the entire class browsing his system store, trying to find props that would make it easier for him to raise wild magical creatures.

However, there didn't seem to be anything like a "Succubus Collar" that could make small animals obey him...

So Cohen could only try relying on his personal charm.

After the Charm class, they quickly packed their school bags, rushed across the grounds, and hurried to Hagrid's hut.

Hagrid excitedly welcomed them inside.

The temperature here was much higher than last time; Hagrid had poured all his enthusiasm into keeping the dragon egg warm. It was hard to imagine what a wonderful life the little dragon would have after it hatched.

"If dragon diets included human flesh, I suspect Hagrid would feed himself to it without hesitation..." Harry whispered uneasily to Cohen.

"You should be grateful that we aren't the backup rations," Cohen comforted him. "Hagrid is enough to feed the dragon for many days."

"It's about to come out!"

Hagrid said with a glowing face, completely missing their conversation.

The egg lay on the table, a deep crack running across its dark shell, emitting a clicking sound from time to time, accompanied by the shifting of the baby dragon inside.

[ Soul Strength: 20 ]

The dragon possessed an extraordinarily tenacious soul right out of the shell; dragons truly were troublesome creatures—both physically and mentally.

Still, its soul strength was lower than Cohen's, so Cohen won.

"Will it breathe fire the moment it hatches?"

Harry swallowed hard, watching the sparks emerging from the crack.

The scent of sulfur began to waft from the egg.

"I suppose so—" Hagrid said uncertainly, "but—wait, it's pushing against the shell—shh..."

Another set of fine cracks began to form around the original fissure, as if a little fellow were tapping from the inside out with a small hammer.

Everyone held their breath, watching the egg intently—Cohen was staring right at that new circle of fine cracks.

Cohen suddenly knew what was going to happen next.

"Click—"

The egg shell fractured into an irregular circular hole, and a dark little head poked out—in the very first second of hatching, it opened its mouth and yawned, but upon finishing the yawn and opening its eyes, the little dragon's gaze met Cohen's directly opposite it.

Cohen saw an emotion of pure terror flash across it—perhaps that was the reason it had suddenly frozen.

The air fell into an eerie, stagnant silence. Not only Cohen and the baby dragon, but even Hagrid and Harry beside them stood motionless.

"Pat—"

The little dragon silently pulled its head back inside the shell, then reached out a tiny claw from the hole, and with a soft pat, dragged the piece of shell it had pushed aside—which was still sticky—back over the opening, sealing it up once more.

The little dragon had recalled a message.

"?"

Hagrid certainly hadn't seen this scenario in any of his dragon-breeding books.

"Maybe there were too many of us and it got scared," Cohen fabricated smoothly. "Or perhaps a little dragon needs a little help hatching..."

With that, Cohen reached out, intending to help the little dragon emerge—staying hidden inside would only waste time, and they had their final class of the afternoon shortly; they had only run over to watch the hatching during the break.

[ Ding! Sin Value +10 ]

[ Note: You aren't even going to spare a newborn dragon, are you? ]

As Cohen helped pry open the shell, the baby dragon inside let out a whimper-like grunt.

"Resisting? Resistance is futile!"

Cohen felt its resistant emotions—but no matter how much it resisted, it couldn't give up being born!

Unable to feel Cohen's goodwill, the baby dragon could only desperately block the irregular opening with its body, trying to stop Cohen from breaking the shell.

It was useless, however; it was facing a magical half-breed Dementor.

"Careful!"

Hagrid cried out in alarm as Cohen cast "Reducto" on the eggshell.

When the shell shattered into pieces, it could no longer hide.

Now, the little dragon's entire body was exposed to the outside air.

It looked like a crumpled black umbrella, its spiny wings and pitch-black, wrinkled wing membranes several times larger than its body. Bony lumps grew on its dragon head, its nostrils were pale, and its orange-red eyes bulged outward.

Even with the shell reduced to rubble, it still tried hard to bury itself in the pile of fragments that had once protected it, pulling its head under its wings—

This made it look quite pitiful and made Cohen look thoroughly evil.

"It's so beautiful..."

Hagrid said, his eyes misting with tears.

He reached out a hand and stroked the little dragon's wing.

Instantly, the little dragon reacted defensively and bit Hagrid—because through the gap under its wing, it saw that the one touching it wasn't that terrifying monster.

"Goodness! It recognizes its mother!" Hagrid said, deeply touched.

"I think it just had a stress reaction," Cohen reasonably deduced.

"Do you want to touch it? It's so lovely—and feels wonderful too," Hagrid enthusiastically invited the others.

However, after seeing the fingers bitten by the baby dragon swelling and turning green at a visible rate, Harry and the others stood up and took a synchronized step back.

Cohen, however, did not retreat—he reached his hand out toward the little dragon.

Harry and the others cast respectful glances at Cohen.

Unlike when Hagrid was bitten, when Cohen reached out to pet the little dragon's back, although it shook violently, it did not turn around to bite him.

During the very first second Cohen touched it, the little dragon trembled so severely that it tried frantically to drill its head into the wooden table beneath its wings like an ostrich, attempting to bury itself in the wood.

Yet, after Cohen stroked it several times, it seemed to realize with pleasant surprise that it had survived—the terrifying monster was not going to harm it.

"It doesn't feel all that great, actually..."

Cohen withdrew his hand; the dragon's body was cold and hard, resembling a metallic block with numerous sharp angles.

"Still, it seems quite obedient for now."

"It probably thinks of you as its mother too!" Hagrid said excitedly. "You were the first thing it saw!"

"Wouldn't that mean it has five mothers, then?" Ron pointed out the flaw in the logic. "We're all standing right here, Hagrid—yet none of us look remotely like a fire-dragon."

"I've decided to call him Norbert!" Hagrid selectively ignored Ron's point. "Found it in a book—*Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit* features a baby Norwegian Ridgeback named Norbert."

Convinced that Cohen wasn't going to hurt it for the time being, Norbert finally folded away the wings it had been covering its head with. It faced Cohen, its head nearly pressing against the tabletop, its back and tail cocked high in the air, twitching from side to side as if trying to ingratiate itself.

"Why does this look so much like..." Harry said with a peculiar expression.

"A dog," Cohen added.