Norbert's behaviour immediately made the tiny dragon seem far less terrifying.
Unfortunately, Harry, Ron, and Hermione still had absolutely no desire to touch him.
"Exactly how fast do dragons grow, Hagrid?" Hermione asked nervously.
A tiny sneeze from Norbert had already burned one corner of the wooden table black.
And the dragon had only existed for five minutes.
"Well, if they're fed properly, they can reach the size of a grown man in just a few months!" Hagrid replied proudly. "I'm sure—"
"Hagrid," Harry interrupted carefully, "the faster it grows, the easier it'll be to notice…"
Hagrid clearly didn't consider that a serious issue.
Especially after Ethan had already mentioned there was "somewhere in the castle" capable of housing dragons.
After leaving Hagrid's hut, Harry, Ron, and Hermione became extremely curious about the secret room Ethan mentioned.
So Ethan decided to show them.
Naturally, not his actual hidden base.
Instead, he demonstrated what the Room of Requirement looked like when configured as a dragon sanctuary.
After pacing past the blank wall on the eighth floor three times, a door finally appeared.
When Ethan opened it, an enormous wilderness stretched out beyond the threshold.
"Well," Ethan said casually, "here it is."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared in complete shock.
The endless plains beyond the doorway looked like an entirely separate world.
Once everyone stepped inside, Ethan quietly closed the door behind them to prevent passing students from seeing anything unusual.
A bright sun hung overhead.
Soft clouds drifted lazily through a blue sky.
Without Ethan's explanation, they would have assumed they had actually stepped outdoors.
"This has to be advanced magic," Hermione whispered in awe while looking around. "I've never even read about anything like this before. Does it have limits?"
"Probably."
Ethan casually fired a spell toward the distant horizon.
The red curse flew an incredible distance before suddenly colliding with an invisible wall, exploding into sparks.
"But it's definitely large enough for a dragon," Ethan continued. "Hagrid could visit often too. Feed it, take care of it, whatever."
"This must've originally been some kind of magical farm," Harry guessed while staring across the endless grassland. "How did you even discover this place?"
"Hogwarts is full of hidden rooms and secret passages," Ethan explained. "Whenever you encounter something strange, you should experiment a little."
Then he added casually:
"For example, the staircase near the fifth floor only carries you directly to the seventh floor if you shout 'idiot' at it first."
"I didn't know that either…" Ron muttered suspiciously.
Then he suddenly froze.
"Wait—that explains Astronomy class!"
"You were behind us on the stairs but somehow reached the tower before we did!"
"…Correct."
After confirming the Room of Requirement could safely house Norbert, Harry and the others finally relaxed.
Using Harry's Invisibility Cloak, they would simply transport Norbert here secretly before he grew too large.
If nothing unexpected happened, the plan should proceed smoothly within two weeks.
Unfortunately, the plan encountered one major obstacle.
Albus Dumbledore.
Apparently, some ghost or enchanted painting somewhere inside Hogwarts had overheard suspicious phrases such as "raising dragons inside Hogwarts" from what was rapidly becoming known as the Gryffindor Disaster Squad.
Because three days after Norbert hatched, Ethan discovered a book placed neatly on his bedside table.
A single phoenix feather rested beside it.
"I want to go home," Ethan complained furiously later that evening while sitting inside the Room of Requirement. "A perverted old man sent his bird to sneak into the boys' dormitory at night."
"Then I'll help expose him," the Count replied lazily while sitting on top of a white owl egg. "Tomorrow morning I'll fly into the Great Hall and publicly condemn Dumbledore's inappropriate interest in male students."
"You really are a genius," Ethan praised sincerely.
Unfortunately, doing that would probably force Dumbledore into taking drastic action to preserve his reputation.
Ethan himself likely wouldn't die.
The Count, however, would almost certainly become roast Scottish chicken.
The book Dumbledore sent was titled:
The Application of Undetectable Extension Charms in Architecture.
Ethan actually recognised the title.
Mr Ollivander had once mentioned it after Ethan asked why the wand shop appeared larger on the inside than outside.
A short note also rested inside the book, written in Dumbledore's elegant thin handwriting.
I heard you enjoy magical creatures, so perhaps this book may help you. It once assisted one of my students, Newt Scamander, in creating a magical suitcase capable of safely housing fantastic beasts.
Then, below that:
Also, please refrain from keeping dangerous creatures inside Hogwarts Castle where they may harm your classmates and friends. If you encounter any research difficulties, you are welcome to visit my office for assistance.
Password: Cockroach Cluster.
Ethan summarised the message simply:
You are not allowed to keep dragons inside Hogwarts.
Honestly, Dumbledore's concern was perfectly reasonable.
No one could guarantee some random student wouldn't accidentally wander into the dragon sanctuary one day.
And Norbert would probably swallow them whole immediately.
"I really don't want to admit I'm wrong," Ethan muttered stubbornly, "but this time I'm reluctantly accepting it—"
Then he suddenly froze.
"…Wait."
His eyes slowly shifted toward the Count.
"…What exactly is under you?"
Only now did Ethan realise the Count seemed to be protecting something.
Something white.
Round.
Egg-shaped.
"You're actually a catgirl."
"Fuck your grandmother!"
The Count exploded instantly.
"I'm male! I didn't lay this egg!"
Like all future parents, however, he also sounded extremely defensive.
"So you finally succeeded with Hedwig?" Ethan asked curiously. "Honestly, I thought you weren't very capable in that area."
"That's because Hedwig didn't want children during winter," the Count explained with complete seriousness. "Now that spring is approaching, we've decided to raise several sons and daughters."
As for why the Count himself was incubating the egg instead of Hedwig…
The Count explained that "Hedwig's living conditions were too simple and therefore unsuitable."
Still, there was one major advantage to the Count becoming a father.
He finally stopped talking constantly.
Ethan's reading environment improved dramatically overnight.
Since keeping Norbert permanently inside Hogwarts was no longer realistic, Ethan faced two choices:
Send the dragon away.
Or follow Dumbledore's suggestion and create a magical suitcase similar to Newt Scamander's.
Honestly, the second option sounded vastly more appealing.
A mobile hidden base was practically every child's dream.
Including Ethan's.
Previously, Ethan had experimented with using expanded bags and old trunks as portable safehouses.
Unfortunately, the magic always destabilised over time.
The internal dimensions gradually shrank without warning, and the interiors remained permanently dark and unpleasant.
Fine for temporarily storing giant spiders or unicorns.
Terrible for actual long-term living.
Ethan still wanted his base to feel like a proper base.
Fortunately, Dumbledore's book provided countless solutions involving alchemy and ancient runes.
Combined with Dumbledore's invitation to seek help directly from the Headmaster…
Creating such a suitcase suddenly seemed completely achievable.
Ethan slowly opened the book.
"Let's begin."
....
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