Chapter 45

Not long after, Hector and the others stood at the door of Hagrid's hut. All the windows of Hagrid's hut were closed tightly, and the inside of the windows were covered with gray cloth. The whole hut was wrapped tightly, and not even a little sunlight could get in.

Harry went forward and knocked on the door, and soon Hagrid's voice came from the room,

""Come, come!"

Not long after, the door was opened a crack. Hagrid looked out through the crack and found that it was Harry and the others. Then he carefully opened the crack a little wider.

"You are here," Hagrid held the door like this. He looked behind the five people, fearing that someone was following Hector and the others.

"Come in, one by one, don't be in a hurry.

" Hagrid held the door, and Hector and the others could only enter his hut in order through the crack under Hagrid's armpits.

Hagrid quickly closed the door when Neville entered the room at the end of the team.

It was very hot in the room.

Although it was a sunny day, the fire in the fireplace was still burning.

This hut was not only hot, but also stuffy.

The smell in the air was also quite unpleasant.

Hector felt that it became difficult for him to breathe in this room.

He stood up and removed the cloth covering the window, thinking of opening the window to take a breath.

But not long after he opened the window, Hagrid rushed over and closed the window tightly without saying anything.

"So, you have something to ask me."Hagrid just closed the window and turned around to get busy. Before long, five cups of strong tea and freshly made ferret sandwiches were served to them - Hagrid seemed to have not noticed the five little wizards' red cheeks, his mind was all on the blazing stove.

Harry paused for a while, then he spoke, he asked Hagrid,

"Hagrid, can you tell us, besides Fluffy, what other mechanisms are there to protect the Philosopher's Stone?"

Hagrid frowned and shook his head firmly.

"Of course I can't tell you," Hagrid frowned, his voice was as low as if it came from his nose.

"First of all, I don't know, and secondly, you know enough, so even if I knew I wouldn't tell you. Dumbledore had his reasons for putting the Philosopher's Stone there, and it was almost stolen from Gringotts - I think you guys have figured this out, right? I don't understand how you know about Fluffy."

"Let me tell you this," Hector was squeezed to a position close to the stove. He could only turn his body sideways and stay as far away from the heat source as possible.

"If it wasn't for his luck, Fluffy might have changed his taste that night."

Hermione nudged Hector with her elbow. Neville had been sitting here before, and when he saw Hermione coming, he decisively gave up his seat. She said to Hagrid in a sweet, flattering tone,

"Oh, Hagrid, you probably don't want to tell us. You must know, after all, nothing that happens in Hogwarts can be hidden from your eyes."

Hagrid was very pleased with this, his beard trembling, and he looked like he was smiling happily. Hermione took advantage of the victory and did not ask directly what levels there were, but chose a more tactful way of asking,

"We just want to know who Dumbledore can trust besides you."

Hagrid laughed even more happily. He had no resistance to such words, not to mention that it came from Hermione's mouth. Hagrid's chest was high. Hector knew that he would start to speak his mind soon.

Why would Dumbledore choose such an unreliable secret keeper? It must be to train Harry. It seems that his grandfather Albus did put in a lot of effort.

"Well, it's okay to tell you - let me think, Professor Dumbledore borrowed Fluffy from me, and then asked several teachers to cast magic - Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, Professor Quirrell, and of course Dumbledore himself cast magic - no, there's another person, let me think. Oh, yes, it's Professor Snape"

"Professor Snape?"Harry and Ron stood up from their chairs at the same time, and Harry almost shouted. It was obvious that they were very surprised by this clue.

"Yes, he is also a teacher in the school after all - you are not still doubting him, are you? You didn't expect that Snape also helped to protect the Philosopher's Stone, he would not steal it."

Harry and the others looked at each other. They had similar ideas. Since Snape also participated in the work of protecting the Philosopher's Stone, he must be well aware of the traps set up by other teachers.

Snape may know everything, except for the method through Fluffy and Quirrell's magic - if Quirrell can still hold on and not tell him.

Harry and the others became anxious all of a sudden. Hector was much better. He was not so concerned about the matter that he already knew. His attention was now more attracted by the big black egg in the fireplace.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" Harry asked eagerly.

"And you won't tell anyone, right? No one, not even the teacher, right?"

"No one but Dumbledore and I should know." Hagrid said proudly.

"I keep my mouth shut, you know that."

"That's good, that's good." Harry and the others murmured quietly. Although they were skeptical about Hagrid's words, they could only put their hopes on this big guy.

"Hagrid, what is that? Hector pointed to the big egg in the fireplace and asked Hagrid. Harry and the others also looked in the direction of Hector's finger.��——In the middle of the fire, under the teapot, lay a blackened egg.

"Ha," Hagrid showed an unnatural expression on his face. He twisted his beard and thought quickly about what to say in response.

"That's - um."

Ron went straight to the stove, as close to the fire as he could get, trying to get a closer look at the big egg.

"I wonder why it's so hot in this room?" Ron squinted his eyes and looked for a while before he turned to look at Hagrid.

"This is a dragon egg. Where did you get it, Hagrid? It must have cost you a fortune."

""Oh, I won it. I went to Hogsmeade last night to drink and play cards with a stranger,"

Hagrid rubbed his hands nervously, and he continued,

"I was lucky last night. He lost this egg to me. I guess he was eager to get rid of it."

"But what are you going to do when it hatches, Hagrid?" Hermione asked with great concern.

"Oh, I've been reading a book?" Hagrid pulled out a thick book from under his pillow. He patted the cover of the book.

"Borrowed from the library——《Raising dragons for pleasure and profit》——It's a bit outdated, but the content is very comprehensive. The book says that putting the eggs in the fire is supposed to simulate the mother dragon breathing on the eggs."Hagrid turned the book to a certain page familiarly and handed it to Harry and the others.

"Right here, you see, after hatching, give it a bucket of chicken blood brandy every half an hour - this will help them grow - and here, teach you how to distinguish different eggs, it looks like this is a Norwegian Ridgeback, a very rare species."

Hagrid couldn't help showing a proud expression when talking about his dragon egg. He showed everywhere that he was ready to be a dragon mother, but Hermione didn't think so. She kindly reminded him,

"Hagrid, don't forget, you live in a wooden house."

Hagrid seemed not to hear, his attention was all on his precious dragon eggs. Hagrid followed the instructions in the book, he carefully fiddled with the fire, and hummed happily. Hermione clapped her head, now there was something new for them to worry about: Hagrid seemed determined to illegally raise dragons in his hut, which was too dangerous, what would happen if someone discovered his secret?

The little wizards didn't know, all they could do was to persuade Hagrid to be as careful as possible.