Chapter 21. Chinese Fireball
After Professor Kettleburn had admired his new prosthetic for a good while, he suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Come and have a look at this, Little Ade."
He picked up the suitcase he had tossed aside and set it gently on the table.
Under Adrian Wesson's puzzled gaze, Professor Kettleburn opened the lid.
Inside was a thick layer of soft cloth wrapped around a plump, rounded object.
The professor carefully drew the cloth aside, revealing an egg-shaped object within.
"A dragon egg?" Adrian blurted out.
"A Chinese Fireball egg," Professor Kettleburn explained succinctly. "I traded a large piece of fresh dragonhide for it."
The Chinese Fireball was a dragon breed from the East, rare even among dragons.
Adrian had seen plenty during his travels in the East.
But to Kettleburn, this was a treasure not often encountered—he was so enamoured of magical creatures, especially the dangerous, massive, aggressive kinds.
Dragons, naturally, were among them.
Adrian was still a little perplexed; his eyes lingered on the egg for a few seconds, then turned to the professor. "Professor, why are you showing me this? To show off?"
Professor Kettleburn smiled without answering directly; instead, he carefully set the egg back into the suitcase and covered it with the cloth.
"That's only half the reason," he said.
"And the other half?"
"The other half is, I'm not quite sure how to deal with this egg," he said. "I've recently heard the Ministry of Magic is tracking a missing Chinese Fireball egg."
Adrian froze for a moment. He had nearly forgotten that privately owning a dragon egg in Britain was illegal.
Probably because he did rather a lot of things that weren't strictly legal.
"So, is this the one the Ministry lost?" Adrian couldn't help asking.
Professor Kettleburn glanced at Adrian and blinked. "I'd wager it isn't."
"…"
Adrian was momentarily at a loss for words, inwardly marvelling at how colourful the old man's retirement was.
He shrugged, a touch helpless, and looked at the professor again.
What a bother, he thought.
Even so, he couldn't very well refuse to help his own professor.
"All right," Adrian agreed. "I'll take care of this dragon egg. Chinese Fireball egg powder is an extremely precious potion ingredient…"
Professor Kettleburn's expression changed; he cut Adrian off before he could finish, speaking anxiously: "No, Adrian, this egg is alive! It's still incubating—don't even think about any improper handling."
"All right," Adrian replied, with a hint of regret.
Though he said so, he still decided he would quietly grind a little powder from the shell later—not much, an ounce would do.
After receiving Adrian's promise, Professor Kettleburn looked relieved.
He stood, stretched, and finally gave the Chinese Fireball egg—now carefully settled in the suitcase—one last glance, a faint worry flickering across his face.
"All right, Little Ade," he said as he headed for the door, "I've got to find someone to help and see how to sort out this mess. In the meantime, you'll have to look after it for me. Ah, right—about a week from now it should hatch. Remember to contact me then."
Seeing the worry on Professor Kettleburn's face, Adrian couldn't help asking, "Professor, why don't you look after the dragon egg yourself? You're the authority on this!"
Professor Kettleburn paused, then frowned, looking somewhat displeased.
"The Ministry has already searched my home—blast it. How could they suspect a just-retired old professor? Unbelievable!"
Adrian chuckled dryly and said nothing more.
If he were with the Ministry, he would have focused on investigating Professor Kettleburn, too.
A prime suspect, indeed.
"Don't worry, Professor," Adrian said at last. "I'll hide it properly. And if there's any issue with your prosthetic, write to me at once."
…
After seeing Professor Kettleburn off, Adrian stared at the Chinese Fireball egg on the table in a daze.
About a week left?
Just then, the egg on the table gave a sudden wobble.
"?
"
Adrian instinctively leaned closer, carefully extended a finger, and lightly touched the surface of the egg.
Hmm—chilly. For summer to have it this cold was asking a bit much of it.
Perhaps sensing Adrian's presence, the egg suddenly shook violently and nearly rolled off the table.
Looked like it knew it was close to freezing to death.
Dragon eggs needed extremely high temperatures to hatch—everyone knew that; Adrian was no exception.
"High temperatures, then…"
Murmuring to himself, Adrian closed the case with the egg inside, picked it up, and carried it into the plantation.
For Lupin's convenience, the doorway had been set to open into Greenhouse No. 3.
It had to be said—making the door freely movable was very wise.
The plantation covered a large area; if it were fixed, he'd have to run a long way every time.
No sooner had he entered than Adrian saw Lupin crouched in the toxic dittany plot, carefully harvesting.
With his previous experience, Lupin now moved with great caution. His thick dragonhide gloves were particularly eye-catching.
To avoid skin contact with toxic dittany, Lupin had bundled himself tightly from head to toe.
Toxic dittany's medicinal effect was optimal at the moment of ripening—just like people, whose bodies are at their best in adulthood.
As it aged, toxic dittany's efficacy gradually decreased.
So once the toxic dittany was harvested, Adrian would promptly process it into Essence of Toxic Dittany.
No—more precisely, toxic dittany essence.
Once made into Essence of Dittany, its efficacy increased dramatically; toxic dittany was no exception. Moreover, Essence of Dittany had a very long shelf life. Properly stored, it hardly ever failed after a period of time.
Each year, Adrian usually planted a batch of dittany and toxic dittany, which meant his storeroom had accumulated quite a lot of Essence of Dittany and Essence of Toxic Dittany.
Essence of Dittany was a commonly used potion.
As for Essence of Toxic Dittany, Adrian had never found a suitable occasion to use it.
But never mind—better to have it and not need it. Adrian believed he would find a use for it one day.
Noticing Adrian's arrival, Lupin carefully set the toxic dittany in his hand into a basket and quickly turned his gaze toward him.
Almost at once, Lupin's eyes fixed on the case in Adrian's hand.
"What is it?" Lupin asked, his voice tinged with curiosity. "What have you brought over?"
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