#48 - Section 48

Back in the Ravenclaw common room, his three roommates were nowhere to be seen, and Ethan immediately dove into the trunk that had been expanded with an Undetectable Extension Charm...

"Ethan, we're going to run out of frogs tomorrow!"

Michael swiftly brought down his knife, severing a frog's head directly. Then, with skillful movements, he used a small knife to scoop out the frog's brain, discarding the frog's body into a nearby trash can.

This was an improvement upon Ethan's original method of extracting frog brains, making it more convenient and faster. At this speed, it only took twenty seconds to process a frog.

By the time Michael and the others graduated, they could very well say, "I've been killing frogs at Hogwarts for seven years. My heart is as cold as my knife."

"Mm, tomorrow I'll have Fred and George make a trip to Hogsmeade."

Ever since they started brewing the Baruffio's Brain Elixir, Bruce's Pet Shop in Hogsmeade, which sold frogs, was making a fortune. Originally intended as food for magical creatures, they were now specially stocking up for Ethan to use as ingredients.

One dose of the potion required four frog brains, and a batch needed twenty. Not counting rest days, they needed to consume one hundred and eighty frogs a day.

"I calculated that by the time summer vacation arrives, the money we've saved should be enough to buy a Nimbus 2000. It's the latest model."

Next year, he could bring a flying broom to Hogwarts, but the brooms at home were old models from over a decade ago. The latest Nimbus 2000 cost three hundred Galleons, and the money he earned here, plus his previous allowance, was more than enough.

This was the motivation driving Jean.

Ethan gave him a pitying look. Right now, the Nimbus 2000 was indeed the best-performing and newest model of flying broom.

But in their second year, the Nimbus 2001 would be released sometime, followed by the Firebolt and others.

At ten o'clock in the evening, Ethan, carrying frogs and oil, arrived at the entrance of the Gryffindor common room.

Hermione was already waiting there.

"Alright, come with me!"

Seeing Hermione, who was a bit nervous about her first night out, Ethan directly grabbed her hand and walked out.

This first time nervousness was inevitable; she would relax after getting used to it.

"How many times have you snuck out at night?"

"It started on the second day of entering Hogwarts."

Ethan replied with a smile, not feeling ashamed at all.

"You…"

Hermione was somewhat speechless. Was this the good student in the eyes of several professors?

"Okay, remember this place, silently think of the room you need, walk back and forth three times, and it will appear. Now, follow me first."

After speaking, he pulled Hermione into a doorway of light ahead.

"You… you're all here?"

Hermione was dumbfounded when she saw Penelope and Cassandra.

Now, only Cho Chang was missing.

Hermione suspected that if Cho Chang didn't have Quidditch training tonight, she might be here as well.

She thought this opportunity would allow her to spend more time with Ethan, but it turned out that she was the one who arrived the latest.

Was I the clown all along?

"Granger, you've come too!"

Cassandra turned her head to greet her, and also gave her a provocative look.

When the Potions class ended, Cassandra heard that Hermione was going to help Ethan brew potions, and she knew that she was coming, and prepared for it.

"I came with Ethan right after Halloween ended. Why did you come so late?"

Hermione froze on the spot, her face turning ashen.

I was clearly here first!

[Thank you to the big boss exia for urging me to update and for the reward, thank you big boss!]

Chapter 73: Did the Green Dragon Cheat, or Did the Black Dragon Get Dumped?

Room of Requirement, inside the Dragon Hatchery.

Scorching white flames continuously emitted high temperatures. Ethan, Cassandra, and the others were already sweating through their robes from the heat, but they still stayed here, unwilling to leave.

"Ethan, it should hatch today, right?"

Hermione looked at the constantly shaking black dragon egg, her face full of excitement.

This was a dragon. Any child who knew that dragons really existed in this world would want to raise one.

Even Hermione, who was extremely rule-abiding, couldn't refuse, although she was quite afraid of being discovered.

"It should be about time."

Three days ago, this dragon egg started to shake slightly, and today it was particularly strong.

Ethan had obtained this dragon egg for more than six months, and after such a long time, any egg should have hatched.

"Ethan, have you thought about where to raise it?"

Penelope looked at Ethan with some worry. Secretly raising a dragon was no small crime. He might be expelled from Hogwarts and even imprisoned in Azkaban.

"First, I'll raise it in this Room of Requirement. During the holidays, I'll take it back in a trunk with an Undetectable Extension Charm. Later, I'll raise it in the Forbidden Forest. I'm expanding the space in the trunk whenever I have time now, but it's still far from enough to house a dragon."

Speaking of which, Ethan sighed. Just how big was Newt Scamander's suitcase!

If the dragon only needed to ensure its survival, without considering other things, the area wouldn't need to be that large, just like a tiger cage in a zoo.

But if you add the activity area and the hunting area, then it's not good.

An adult dragon needs a territory of one hundred square miles (one square mile is 2.58 square kilometers).

Even if Newt's suitcase didn't need to consider hunting, it still needed an activity area, at least ten square miles, to avoid overlapping with the territory of other magical creatures and to be able to stretch its body and move around.

You should know that there are quite a few magical creatures in his suitcase. The ones I know about that are XXXXX include Zouwu, Occamy, and Diricawl. Although the dragon hasn't been released, Ethan doesn't believe that Newt doesn't have such a classic creature, and there are even more XXXX and below. Among them, Thunderbird needs an activity area no smaller than a dragon.

To fit all of these in and establish an independent ecological environment, Ethan estimates that it would require at least half the area of London.

"Look, it's cracking!"

Cho Chang's loud shout attracted everyone's attention.

On the black eggshell, a thin crack appeared. If you didn't look carefully, you wouldn't be able to see it at all; it was too inconspicuous.

Crack!

In the quiet room, this sound was particularly obvious.

That thin crack suddenly expanded and spread, as if it was going to split the egg in half.

The scorching white flames were also absorbed by the dragon egg in an instant, so that only the dragon egg remained on the sunken stone platform.

A jet-black tail took the lead in breaking through the restraints of the eggshell, the arrowhead-like tip of the tail still dancing excitedly in mid-air, as if it had been holding back for too long.

With a whoosh, the tail retracted, and a large piece of the eggshell, recently pierced by the tip of the tail, was pushed open, and a somewhat wrinkled, jet-black dragon head, topped with a small piece of broken eggshell, stretched out.

Then the eggshell shook violently twice before cracking completely, allowing the Hebridean Black Dragon cub, which Ethan had been anticipating for so long, to hatch completely.

Its overall appearance was a bright black, with small spikes on its back, a sharp, arrowhead-like tail, bat-like wings, purple eyes, and small bulges on both sides of its head.

What surprised Ethan the most was that it actually had two front legs. Except for the Welsh Green Dragon, the fire dragons in this world only have hind legs, standing on the ground like a walking chicken. (The Welsh Green Dragon drawn in the "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" movie has four legs, while other dragons that appear only have two hind legs.)

Of course, the wings can also replace the role of the front legs to help the fire dragon run, just like Hagrid's Ukrainian Ironbelly.

Dennis had said that this was a genuine Hebridean Black Dragon egg, so this situation shouldn't have occurred, right?

Did the Green Dragon cheat, or did the Black Dragon stray?

"Ethan, I remember you said this was a Hebridean Black Dragon egg. The appearance matches, but what's with these legs?"

Hermione had also researched a lot of information after learning that Ethan had a dragon egg, but she had never seen such a strange fire dragon.

"Perhaps it's a hybrid. Records indicate that fire dragons also mate with each other, producing rare hybrid species."

"It's just that, although the Hebridean Black Dragon and the Welsh Green Dragon are both in Great Britain, their habits are different, and their sizes are even more disparate. Is it really a hybrid?"

Penelope also fell into thought. Hebridean Black Dragons reach thirty feet when fully grown, while Welsh Green Dragons only reach eighteen feet. In the eyes of a Black Dragon, even a fully grown Green Dragon is probably just a cub who has barely reached adolescence, like a six-foot adult and a four-foot child.

However, Ethan still leaned towards the idea that the bloodline had mutated. After all, apart from the front legs, there wasn't a trace of the Welsh Green Dragon's appearance.

After all, it was a dragon born in black magic flames, so the possibility of genetic mutation was still very high.

"Now it's time to give it a name, but we have to see if it's a boy or a girl!"

Cho Chang wasn't interested in these academic questions. With a look of excitement, she was about to grab the fire dragon cub to see what it had under its belly.

"Ah!"

Just as Cho Chang's right hand was about to touch the fire dragon, she was bitten hard by the fire dragon's sharp teeth without any courtesy.

Seeing this, Ethan quickly stepped forward and separated them. The fire dragon, held in Ethan's hand, no longer struggled, but rubbed its slightly rough head against Ethan's hand a few times, appearing docile, cute, and sensible, not at all like it had just bitten someone.

Looking at her bloodied middle finger, Cho Chang felt like crying.

"Cho, how does it feel?"

Except for the Welsh Green Dragon, which is relatively docile, other fire dragons are more belligerent, but not to the point of being so ferocious.

Generally, when a fire dragon hatches, it will become attached to the first creature it sees, although it may have seen a few too many at first glance.

"It stings!"

Saying that, Cho Chang also showed her middle finger, which was still bleeding.

"Quickly heal!"

Ethan pointed his wand at Cho Chang's wound, and a burst of white light enveloped it, healing it as good as new in just a few seconds.

This was a spell that Ethan had deduced from Sectumsempra. Snape's potions book recorded Sectumsempra, but not the counter-curse.

And Ethan happened to know this spell. When Harry almost killed Draco with Sectumsempra, Snape used Vulnera Sanentur to stop Draco's bleeding.

Based on the healing spell Vulnera Sanentur and Sectumsempra to deduce the reverse, and knowing the incantation, the difficulty was not too great.

Moreover, this special healing spell had a good effect, not only able to heal wounds caused by Sectumsempra, but also useful for other external injuries.

"Ethan, quickly see if it's a male or female dragon."

After her finger was healed, Cho Chang urged Ethan. She didn't dare to touch it with her hands, it was too fierce.

"It's a little girl!"

Ethan turned it over and said very certainly.

"If it's a girl, how about calling her Catherine?"

Cassandra was the first to suggest.

"Forget it, that name is everywhere, might as well call her Isabelle!"

Hermione immediately complained.

"How is that any better than mine?"

Ethan hadn't really thought about what to call it. After all, Ethan hadn't given the Winged Serpent or the Swooping Evil names before.

"Let's just call her Onyxia!"

Ethan ignored the arguing pair and directly made the decision. If he let them decide, he was afraid there wouldn't be a result by the end of the semester.

Onyxia, a very classic name for a black dragon in a game, and also a little girl dragon.

"I didn't expect you to have a talent for naming. This name is quite nice."

Penelope glanced at Ethan with some surprise. In her impression, men's names always revolved around those few words.

After deciding on the name, Ethan turned around and left the dragon hatching room to get the food he had prepared in advance.

Two days ago, after the dragon egg showed signs of hatching, Ethan had specially captured a deer in the Forbidden Forest, brought it back to Hogwarts, and raised it in the Room of Requirement. Now he would slaughter it.

Deer are the favorite food of Hebridean Black Dragons. In addition, they also prey on cattle.

Of course, brandy and chicken blood are also essential.

After cutting the venison into strips and placing them on a plate, and pouring in a small basin of chicken blood brandy, Ethan sprinkled in the powder ground from the energy cube.

This was pre-made by Ethan, using dragon blood and Ashwinder eggs as the main materials, which could enhance the flames and physique.

When he brought these to the fire dragon, Onyxia couldn't wait to trot over, flapping her wings, but unfortunately, she was too young to fly.