Chapter 105: Renaming Arnie, the House Cup
"Growl..."
Dylan felt his stomach rumble, and Dumbledore also stopped explaining the charms at just the right time.
Dylan smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Professor."
"It's alright, it's about time for a meal anyway," Dumbledore said nonchalantly, waving his hand to dissipate the silver phoenix.
—That's right, he had been maintaining the Patronus Charm throughout the process of teaching Dylan.
"No wonder Minerva likes you so much. You are indeed a very talented and intelligent young wizard."
"You flatter me."
Dylan stood up. "Then I'll go eat first?"
"No problem," Dumbledore nodded, not getting up to see him off.
But just as Dylan was about to open the door and leave, he suddenly said, "Dylan, I hope you can remember one thing."
Dylan stopped and turned his head. "Yes?"
Dumbledore pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Truly powerful magic always comes from inner belief and courage."
"If one day you need to face the darkness, don't be afraid. Awaken the light within your heart, and your Patronus will always accompany and protect you."
Dylan pursed his lips, then nodded earnestly.
This time, he finally raised his eyes and met Dumbledore's gaze.
"I will, Headmaster Dumbledore."
Old Dumbledore chuckled. "Minerva told me that you once made a prediction to her that she would become the Headmistress of Hogwarts?"
Dylan was taken aback, then nodded. "Yes."
"Did you truly see this?"
"...Yes."
Dumbledore was silent, then nodded. "I understand. Go eat quickly, don't starve yourself."
"Goodbye, Professor."
Dylan opened the door and walked out.
After closing the office door, he looked at the two small notebooks in his hand.
"I originally just wanted to ask a question, see if I could get some benefits, and find out some knowledge I didn't know. I didn't expect Old Dumbledore to directly teach me these two spells without reservation."
Dylan sighed inwardly, then quickly left, heading towards the dining hall.
It was noon now, and it was time to eat.
And since Old Dumbledore didn't plan to go to the dining hall with him, it meant the other party wasn't hungry, so he naturally wouldn't ask him to come along for no reason.
What if Old Dumbledore directly agreed? Wouldn't he have to walk the whole way with him?
While walking, he couldn't possibly ask more about magical knowledge.
And if Old Dumbledore wanted to ask him some strange questions, he didn't want to waste energy dealing with them.
"Among magical creatures, some are magical beasts, just like Little Coal Ball and dragons."
Dylan walked along the road, recalling the phoenix in Old Dumbledore's office. He couldn't help but wonder if Old Dumbledore, as Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration teacher, was an Animagus himself.
Generally speaking, everyone's Animagus form is the Patronus they can summon.
But usually, an Animagus cannot be a magical creature.
So Dylan couldn't be sure whether Dumbledore was an Animagus or not.
"I can ask Professor McGonagall about this next time."
After eating lunch, Dylan returned to the library in the afternoon and began to look through the books he hadn't finished reading before.
Until late at night, Dylan returned to the dormitory. After lying down for a while, he waited until everyone was asleep, then directly put on the Shadow Ring and concealed his figure.
Then, using Coal Ball's ability, he kept passing through walls, directly leaving Hogwarts and venturing deep into the Forbidden Forest.
He wasn't sure yet whether he wanted to go home for the summer vacation, but there was no rush about this matter anyway.
—Anyway, even if he went back, he might not necessarily see anyone.
—Or he might see three people.
"I wonder if Mom and Dad have activated their alts."
Dylan curled his lip.
However, although he wasn't sure whether he would go back for the summer vacation, Hagrid was worried that he would leave directly after the vacation and also worried that after the vacation, there would be fewer people at school, so if anything happened in the Forbidden Forest, it might attract the attention of the professors.
So a few days ago, Hagrid had asked Ron to pass on a message to him, and the two had agreed to meet in the Forbidden Forest tonight.
—As for why not write a letter, it was naturally because they were afraid that the letter would be intercepted and read by certain people.
Coincidentally, the fresh meat Dylan had just bought for Arnie had also arrived.
Although most of Arnie's food was prepared by Hagrid, Arnie was after all his pet, so Dylan would naturally prepare some more high-nutritional food to help it grow.
Even if Hagrid didn't have enough money and wasn't willing to hunt creatures in the Forbidden Forest, Dylan had provided a large portion of the funds specifically for Hagrid to secretly purchase things that young dragons could eat elsewhere.
"One item after another, my current funds are still too little."
Dylan sighed.
Whether it was refining spells or trying to beautify his wand and wizard robes, it all cost money.
At the same time, he also had to buy a lot of magical ingredients to brew potions—this was also a considerable expense.
Other things used and eaten naturally didn't need to be mentioned.
"Otherwise, I should still go back for the summer vacation and urge Mom and Dad. They can activate their alts anytime, but I need to earn money quickly!"
They spent their days in their own little world, traveling everywhere, and didn't need to consider how to earn money, how much to earn, or how to earn it.
Dylan would prepare a detailed plan for them.
They could just throw their brains away and still earn money.
This life was simply wonderful!
"Damn it, when can Mom and Dad become wastrel rich second-generation?"
In the Forbidden Forest, the trees were tall and twisted.
The branches and leaves intertwined, almost completely遮蔽 the sky. Occasionally, a few strands of moonlight shone through the gaps, scattering mottled light and shadows on the ground.
Dylan stepped on the ground with one foot, then passed over it.
When he arrived in front of a hidden cave deep in the Forbidden Forest, Dylan pushed aside the half-covered vines and grass and walked in.
"Hey, Dylan, good evening!"
A dim yellow light shone over.
Dylan looked forward, and Hagrid's tall and sturdy figure appeared.
He held a lantern in one hand and waved at him with the other.
"I've been waiting for you! Come on in, I've prepared a lot of food for Arnie this time!"
Dylan looked at the large lantern in his hand. "Aren't you afraid of others noticing you hiding here? If you're discovered, how suspicious would that be?"
Hagrid scratched his head and chuckled. "I just got here not long ago. I just thought I'd light up the place first, so it wouldn't be pitch black. What if you couldn't see?"
"..."
Dylan's lips twitched. Under Hagrid's expectant gaze, he took out his wand and waved it gently.
"Swish!"
A large young dragon appeared out of thin air.
Along with it, a black creature resembling a lynx, also like a black cat, landed lightly.
As soon as the two little guys appeared, the originally quiet cave instantly became lively.
"Hiss! Moo!"
"...Don't imitate your Coal Ball brother's cry!"
Dylan glared.
Arnie instantly shrank his neck, but his head turned left and right, his black bean eyes darting around, his nostrils twitching slightly, not knowing if he had heard Dylan's words.
Coal Ball glared at Dylan unhappily, then looked at Arnie. "Moo moo! Moo!"
Arnie glanced at Dylan cautiously. "Hiss... Moo?"
Dylan curled his lip, a bit helpless.
"Never mind how it cries, it's quite cute like this!" Hagrid said with a delighted expression, striding forward and gently stroking the little dragon's head.
"Good lad, it grows so much every time I see it!"
Dylan waved his wand again.
Several boxes of high-protein, high-nutrition canned food appeared.
He opened the cans and took out Arnie's large iron bowl for eating, pouring the canned meat into it.
Hagrid also took out the chunks of meat he had bought for Arnie and stuffed them all in.
As soon as it saw the food, the little guy's eyes instantly lit up.
Coal Ball also stared straight at the large bowl of meat.
"You eat this."
Dylan took out a few more cans and poured them into the small iron bowl specially prepared for Coal Ball.
"Moo moo!" Coal Ball cried twice.
After Dylan announced that they could eat.
Arnie's nose twitched, and his head eagerly went forward, tearing at the chunks of meat with big bites, eating with relish, with meat juice occasionally dripping from his mouth.
Compared to Arnie, Coal Ball was much more reserved.
Its small iron bowl was a bit away from Arnie's large iron bowl, because if it got too close, it would get hit by the meat scraps that Arnie spat out.
Coal Ball licked the canned meat in small bites, its pink little tongue curling around the meat particles and sending them into its mouth.
While the two little guys were eating here,
Hagrid circled around Arnie several times. Seeing that it was in good spirits, he finally felt relieved and turned to look at Dylan.
"Has anything gone wrong at school recently?"
Dylan blinked. "Emm... no, everything's been quite normal."
"Arnie usually stays in my pet space, and no one has discovered that I'm keeping it."
Hagrid nodded, his expression becoming serious. "This must never be known by anyone. If it's discovered, we and it will all be in big trouble!"
Dylan looked at Hagrid. "As long as nothing goes wrong on your end, that's enough."
Today, Old Dumbledore had taught him the Fidelius Charm. He was considering whether to learn it and, after gaining some proficiency, make himself Hagrid's Secret-Keeper, so that he could lock this secret in his heart.
Dylan was always worried that Hagrid would be tricked into revealing the secret.
Hagrid laughed heartily and patted his chest. "Don't worry, I guarantee nothing will happen!"
Dylan's eyelids twitched.
The flag you just raised makes me not believe it at all!
"It seems I still need to find an opportunity to use this Fidelius Charm..."
"Huh? What? What did you just say?"
Hagrid was squatting beside Arnie, watching it eat, and didn't hear Dylan's quiet mumbling clearly.
"Nothing."
Dylan shook his head, then walked over to Arnie.
"Arnie has grown so big, and its features are quite obvious. It doesn't seem to be a little boy, but a little girl."
Hagrid was taken aback, then looked seriously at Arnie, who was eating with its backside sticking up.
After observing for a while, he nodded gently. "Looks like it."
Dylan blinked his eyes. "Since it's a little girl, the name Arnie is obviously not very suitable as its formal name. How about we call it Norberta from now on? We can use Arnie as its nickname, or just Beta as a nickname is fine too."
Hagrid nodded again. "Of course, it should have a more proper-sounding name. Norberta sounds good to me."
As he spoke, he took out a piece of cake from his pocket again.
"Little Beta, eat this too. Eat more so you can grow up quickly!"
Dylan glanced at it. It was a rock cake cooked by Hagrid himself.
"..."
Who feeds such things to a baby?
However, when Hagrid threw the cake into Beta's large iron bowl, the little creature seemed to like it very much, actually not even biting the meat anymore. Instead, it immediately dipped the cake twice in its iron bowl and then took big bites.
"..."
It turns out that you can't teach children with others, you have to do it yourself!
Dylan rubbed his head.
But after calming down, he looked at Hagrid and Beta again.
This harmonious scene...
"Sigh! What a sin."
Dylan didn't ask Beta to borrow any scales or dragon blood today.
He hadn't had much need to brew potions during this time. Studying spells and other knowledge had been his main focus these past few days.
It was precisely because of this that Beta had been peaceful for a while.
Beta ate very quickly. After feeding it all the food, Dylan also prepared to leave with the two pets.
Hagrid was reluctant to part, but there was nothing he could do.
Before leaving, Dylan said to Hagrid, "Don't be sad, it's not like we won't see each other again. After you go back, remember to prepare more delicious food for Beta."
Hagrid immediately promised, "I'll spend most of my wages on it!"
"...That won't be necessary."
It made it sound like he, the dragon owner, didn't feed his own pet and instead treated others like an ATM, constantly dropping gold coins.
—Of course, he had indeed had such thoughts.
But now, although he was short of money, he wasn't that poor yet, and wouldn't skimp on feeding his own pet.
Putting Beta and Coal Ball back into the pet space, Dylan said goodbye to Hagrid, quickly left the Forbidden Forest, and returned to the dormitory.
—Harry hadn't returned yet and was still in the hospital wing.
—Ron was keeping him company.
Until dawn.
Dylan woke up.
And went to the library to study for another day.
He conducted an in-depth study of the Fidelius Charm.
When the end-of-year feast arrived, Dylan finally went to the Great Hall.
At this time, the entire Great Hall was covered in silver and green.
—Slytherin had won the House Cup for seven consecutive years.
Even behind the teacher's table, a huge banner was hung.
—It depicted a very vivid and lifelike Slytherin serpent.
Dylan casually found a seat.
Hermione had already arrived.
Until almost everyone was present.
Harry finally arrived late.
—Clearly, Madam Pomfrey finally felt that Harry had no other problems and let him go.
The moment Harry stepped in here,
The originally noisy and lively Great Hall suddenly fell silent.
But soon, an even more clamorous discussion erupted.
Dylan heard people discussing Harry's fainting.
And the Gryffindor's point deduction.
—Because the baby dragon was directly taken away by him, even if Professor Snape usually tried to target Gryffindor in class, he didn't deduct too many points from them.
However, because he and Harry and the others had trespassed into the forbidden area, and their actions were clearly not the first time, they were ultimately deducted one hundred points.
Regarding this, Dylan really felt quite wronged.
He had never entered with Harry and them before. This was truly his first time!
Unfortunately, under the professors' questioning, Ron, with his quick mouth, still revealed that they had been to the forbidden area before.
So the points were definitely deducted.
But Dylan didn't care too much.
His gaze fell on Dumbledore behind the head table in the teacher's section.
"Go ahead, Old Dumbledore, it's your show time!"
Let him boldly divine a wave—
He wouldn't dare to say too much, but within the next seven years, this Great Hall would not see a speck of green, but would be covered in vibrant red!
Dumbledore looked very happy, full of energy. After everyone had arrived and the Great Hall doors were closed, he stood up from the head table and looked around.
"Another school year has come to an end."
"And now it's time to listen to my old man's clichés again."
Dumbledore chuckled as he spoke.
"Many things have happened in the past year, and I think everyone present has certainly learned a lot of knowledge. So, regarding the performance of each house—"
"Let's see who the House Cup will go to!"
"Now I will announce the scores of each house as follows—"
Old Dumbledore's voice echoed throughout the Great Hall.
The result was not surprising.
Originally, due to Dylan's bonus points in various classes and Harry's performance in the Quidditch matches, Gryffindor had once ranked first.
—This was something Professor Snape couldn't deduct enough of in normal times.
But given that after Harry fainted, the Quidditch Cup was won by other houses,
The scores were once again pulled apart.
At the same time, because Dylan and Harry and the others had entered the forbidden area, they were deducted a full one hundred points.
This caused Gryffindor to directly become the bottom-ranked house.
—Fortunately, Slytherin was in third place.
—Because Malfoy had sneaked out during curfew and even attempted to spread rumors that Harry was raising a dragon, he was severely deducted points.
This allowed Ravenclaw to unexpectedly win first place.
When Old Dumbledore announced this,
The Slytherin and Gryffindor tables were silent—even bordering on deathly quiet.
While Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff burst into enthusiastic applause.
Dylan's expression was calm, not flustered at all.
Sure enough, he heard Old Dumbledore clap twice for Ravenclaw, then suddenly change the subject.
"Congratulations to Ravenclaw, however, recent events must also be taken into account—"
The Ravenclaws, who were happily applauding, were all stunned.
"I must point out—Miss Hermione Granger, when terrifying flames burned before her eyes, she was still able to deduce the correct logic—for this, Gryffindor gains fifty points!"
As soon as the words fell, the Gryffindors, after a moment of silence, instantly erupted into thunderous applause.
Hermione lowered her head somewhat embarrassed.
—If she had really solved it, it would have been fine, but when she and Harry and the others entered that room, the correct answer had already been solved by someone else!
—Although she had indeed deduced something at the time.
But...
This could actually be counted towards her?
Dumbledore pressed his hand down.
The Great Hall quieted down.
He then said, "And—Mr. Ron Weasley, he displayed extremely high chess skills, the most outstanding in Hogwarts for many years!"
"—Awarding fifty points!"
Gryffindor was ignited once again.
Clapping sounds echoed non-stop.
—Ron also lowered his head.
What was that? The chessboard was a mess, and he just moved a few pieces randomly and won.
Such praise made him feel truly overwhelmed...
"Third—Dylan Hockwood and Harry Potter!"
Dumbledore's voice echoed again, and the lions suddenly closed their mouths, all blinking and looking over.
"Their courage and ability, boldness and wisdom, are truly moving!"
"For this—Gryffindor gains one hundred and twenty points!"
Instantly, Gryffindor exploded again.
"What? Oh my god! One hundred and twenty points?!"
"Merlin's beard! How many points do we have now?"
"I don't know, but it's definitely first place! Our score was originally first! Add back one hundred points, and then add one hundred and twenty points, if it's not first, what is it?"
"That's right!"
Amidst the cheers, Dylan looked at the smiling Old Dumbledore on the head table and imperceptibly curled his lip.
—Old Dumbledore, oh Old Dumbledore, as expected of you!
A mere one hundred points deducted? So what?
You not only directly made up for the one hundred points but even added more than that!
However, this time Gryffindor didn't just surpass Slytherin, but overtook Ravenclaw to become first!
As for Slytherin—
Now they had become the bottom-ranked fourth place, which was almost unprecedented.
At this time, not a single snake at the Slytherin table had a smile on their face.
They all looked as if something had happened, expressionless.
—Just like Professor Snape.
(End of chapter)
[author]
I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to those who support me on this journey. Your contribution make a real difference!
As a patron, you unlock:
Exclusive Access: Get advanced +70 chapters ahead of everyone else.
👉 Join now: patreon.com/Chaos_God
[/author]