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Hogwarts Castle was under magic, and inside it, precise electronic devices made by Muggles did not work. Not even a flashlight could be used. Only older tools, like classic cameras, such as Colin's in the original story, were unaffected by that kind of interference.
At that moment, Dudley was walking through the Forbidden Forest with one finger raised. A bright light shone from its tip, as strong as a high-powered flashlight, illuminating the path as he moved naturally through that forest filled with danger.
The Lighting Spell.
The only spell Dudley could really cast.
But by now, he could already use it in all sorts of ways.
It was not just his fingertip.
If he wanted to, he could make any part of his body emit light.
Under normal circumstances, Dudley rarely came to the Forbidden Forest at night. Not only because it became full of dangers, but also because there were fewer magical plants to gather at night than during the day.
But this time, he had not come because of materials.
Dudley walked into a more isolated, open area deep in the forest. Then he pointed the light on his finger up at the sky and waved it around a few times.
"Rooaar!"
It did not take long for a deep roar to echo down from the distant sky. Soon after, a winged creature nearly as tall as Dudley descended slowly from above.
"You've grown again, Fire-Spitting Dragon."
Dudley spoke in a low voice and lightly patted the creature's scaled body.
Its scales were hard and sharply defined.
The creature Dudley called Fire-Spitting Dragon was none other than Norbert, Hagrid's dragon.
"Rooaar!"
The little dragon let out a dissatisfied roar.
'Ugly.'
Using the simplest vocabulary possible, it expressed its complete dislike for the name Fire-Spitting Dragon. In truth, it didn't particularly like Norbert either.
In its mind, it should have had a far more imposing name.
Something like Neltharion, for example.
The moment it once heard Dudley say that name, it fell in love with it.
Unfortunately, its opinion was very conveniently ignored by Dudley. After all, Neltharion was already dead, while Fire-Spitting Dragon was the better name.
In this world, dragons were not as intelligent as they were in other fantasy universes, but they still possessed a certain degree of wisdom. They were not mindless beasts. At the very least, it knew exactly what it was, and it had never mistaken Hagrid for its mother when it first saw him.
That displeasure lasted right up until Dudley pulled a small sack out of his bag.
"Rooaar!"
'Give it to me!'
The little dragon fixed its eyes on the small bag in Dudley's hand. The smell coming from it made its mouth start producing saliva nonstop.
Magical Creature Feed — Reptile Formula.
The little dragon wanted it desperately.
But it did not dare try to snatch it by force.
Because... the human standing in front of it possessed enough power to crush it with ease.
It still remembered very clearly what had happened the first time it tried to forcibly snatch that delicious food out of Dudley's hand.
Dudley had simply pinned it to the ground with one hand and kept it there for quite a while.
That monstrous strength was deeply engraved in its memory.
Even now, after having grown quite a bit, it still did not dare act rashly.
'When I'm fully grown, I'll teach this bastard a lesson for daring to toy with me...'
"Want to eat?"
Dudley loosened the opening of the little sack slightly, and the aroma immediately spread everywhere.
"If you want to eat, then next time say please. And remember that I'm your master."
'Despicable human. Don't think you can make me submit. It's just food. Even if I die out here, I'll never...'
Dudley opened the bag a little wider.
The smell grew even stronger.
"Rooaar!"
'Master!'
That little dragon Hagrid had never been able to part with had now basically been kidnapped by Dudley.
Well, Hagrid had injured him once before.
So getting a dragon as compensation did not seem unreasonable, right?
Eat, eat, eat.
That was the only thing the little dragon could think about.
Plap, plap, plap...
Its tail kept smacking the ground, messing up all the grass around it.
At that moment, rather than looking like a dragon, it looked more like a starving puppy waiting for its owner to feed it.
There was no creature capable of resisting food made by Dudley.
It had worked on Trevor.
It had worked on Mrs. Norris.
It had worked on Fawkes.
And now it was working on the little dragon too.
At that point, Dudley's cooking talent seemed even greater than his talent for Potions.
'So good.'
Chewing down huge bites of that delicious food, the little dragon felt that it probably would not be able to live without it anymore.
It was the best thing it had ever eaten in its life.
It was not as if it had never hunted in the Forbidden Forest.
But those prey only filled its stomach.
They had never tasted anywhere near as good as this feed.
It was almost like an addiction.
If it went more than three days without eating it, it started feeling miserable, and nothing else tasted good anymore.
Humans really were terrifying creatures.
Too strong.
And they even knew how to cook.
That was what the little dragon was thinking.
One human had pulled it from the egg.
Another human was the one feeding it now.
And both of them were frighteningly powerful.
After licking even the last crumb from the corners of its mouth, it let out a satisfied burp. A small flame popped out of its nostrils.
Being full really was wonderful.
The little dragon had its eyes half-closed, basking in that moment, when it heard Dudley's voice beside it. Dudley lightly patted its increasingly sturdy body.
"Fire-Spitting Dragon, you're developing well. Before long, you'll be able to carry me through the sky."
That, in truth, was the real reason Dudley had convinced Hagrid to release it into the Forbidden Forest.
From the very first moment he laid eyes on the little dragon, he had already decided.
He wanted to be a dragon rider.
The moment it heard that, the little dragon's great red-gold eyes widened in pure terror. Its short little forelegs started flailing frantically, and it shook its head like a mad rattle.
That brought back terrible memories.
At first, the dragon had thought carrying Dudley would be no big deal. One human. Please. If it wanted to, it could carry three.
Until the moment Dudley climbed onto its back...
At that instant, it had felt as though an entire mountain had come crashing down on top of it.
Fly?
It could not even stand up.
It had been flattened against the ground, completely immobile, unable to move at all.
From that moment on, the little dragon had never again dared let Dudley climb onto its back whenever he pleased.
Dudley was just about to keep teasing the little dragon when his expression changed slightly and his brows drew together.
At the same time, both he and the dragon turned their eyes in the same direction.
Dudley had caught a faint smell of blood in the air.
Whatever it was, it was getting closer.
The range should have been around one kilometer...
No.
Now it had already closed to just over nine hundred meters.
It was running.
Very fast.
Closer.
And the target was clearly the exact place where Dudley was standing.
The dragon let out low, deep growls, while the scales around its neck rose on end.
This was something dangerous enough to make even a magical creature at the top of the food chain feel threatened.
Without saying a word, Dudley began entering deeper meditative states.
His left hand also moved toward the pouch at his waist, gripping several potions.
Less than five hundred meters.
There were not many magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest capable of reaching that kind of speed.
Three hundred meters...
One hundred meters...
It's right ahead!
Perhaps because it sensed danger, the entire surrounding environment fell completely silent. The sounds of insects and birds disappeared altogether.
Then, with a sudden whoosh, accompanied by the noise of branches and leaves being torn apart, a horse-like creature with a single horn on its forehead and a body emitting a faint white glow burst out of the woods.
A unicorn.
It was a unicorn.
Although the mane around its neck looked thinner, Dudley recognized it instantly.
It was one of the members of the unicorn herd living in the Forbidden Forest.
And the reason was simple.
It was the very patch he had torn out himself.
The ground behind the unicorn was stained with silver blood.
It was obvious that it was injured.
And it was not a light injury.
But Dudley did not have time to focus on the unicorn.
Because the real danger both he and the dragon had sensed was not coming from the unicorn.
It was coming from the thing following it.
A dark green light began to rise behind the unicorn.
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