"It's really ugly," Harry said instinctively.
The baby dragon was completely black, with a long snout, a scrawny body, but enormous, spiky wings that looked like a crumpled black umbrella.
"Hagrid, could you please move aside? I need to record the baby dragon's information." Hermione tried to get Hagrid to make room so she could photograph the Norwegian Ridgeback hatchling.
"Hagrid? Hagrid?" Harry clapped Hagrid firmly on the back.
But Hagrid was clearly oblivious to what Harry and Hermione were saying, gazing at the little dragon with a loving expression. "She's beautiful," Hagrid murmured, reaching out to stroke the dragon's head, only for the dragon to nip him. Even though it bit him, Hagrid didn't panic, as its teeth couldn't break his skin yet. "Heh heh heh, Harry, Hermione, did you see that? Little Fuzzy-Wuzzy is playing with Mum!"
"Hagrid, Hagrid—" Hermione kept calling Hagrid, trying to get his attention, while Harry simply raised his wand.
"Aguamenti!" A jet of water appeared out of nowhere and drenched Hagrid's head, finally making him realize he wasn't alone.
"Hagrid, move over! I need to take its picture!"
"Oh, oh, right." Hagrid reluctantly stepped aside, and Hermione finally got her photo of the Norwegian Ridgeback.
Harry handed Hagrid the brandy and chicken blood he'd prepared beforehand and asked if he'd named the dragon.
"Of course, I call him Norbert."
"But it's a girl." Hermione stared at him in disbelief. After all that preparation, Hagrid couldn't even tell the gender of the Norwegian Ridgeback!
"Then she's Norberta."
Seeing Hagrid's nonchalant attitude, Hermione truly panicked. "Hagrid, you must take this seriously! If the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures finds out you can't even tell its gender, Norberta will definitely be taken away!"
"No, they won't. Who could bear to take away beautiful Norbert... Norberta? Right, Harry?" Hagrid fed the brandy and chicken blood mixture to Norberta.
"Rubeus Hagrid! Are you joking?!"
Finally, Hermione forcefully put Norberta into Harry's trunk. Luckily, the space inside was large enough, or Humphrey would surely have gotten upset. "Hagrid, I won't let you keep Norberta until you've finished your paper."
"But she's still so little—"
"This isn't up for debate. You have to take this seriously. Ministry officials aren't Professor Dumbledore." Hermione handed Hagrid several books, warning him that if he couldn't recite the habits of Norwegian Ridgebacks by tomorrow, she wouldn't bring Norberta to his hut.
Hagrid then stuffed several large bowls of the brandy and chicken blood mixture into the trunk before reluctantly bidding Hermione and Harry farewell.
(The accompanying image shows an adult Norwegian Ridgeback.)
On the way back to the castle, Hermione complained to Harry as she carried the trunk. "I can't believe Hagrid is so irresponsible."
"The paper's due by Halloween. I don't know if Hagrid can even write it." Seeing Hermione even start discussing how to help Hagrid escape legal consequences, Harry tried to calm her. "Calm down, Hermione. You know Hagrid's like this. Besides, Professor Dumbledore is there."
"At this point, we can only trust Hagrid," Hermione sighed.
Before entering the castle, Hermione suddenly said, a little shyly, "Harry, could I keep this trunk for a few days? I need to record Norberta's growth data, and I'll feed Humphrey too."
"Of course, no problem. Wood's been pushing Quidditch practice like a madman, so I haven't had time to look after Humphrey. But you'll have to open the trunk first so I can say a few words to Humphrey."
Time quickly sped to Halloween Eve.
Norberta had already started devouring entire bowls of dead mice. Hermione said it wouldn't be long before she'd yearn to fly, and then the trunk wouldn't be a suitable home for her anymore. The deadline was fast approaching, but Hagrid's paper was still a mess.
Harry held the first draft of the paper, his mouth twitching as he read a passage. "...I reckoned Norwegian Ridgeback eggs could be hatched with a wood fire, so that's what I did... I thought Norberta would want a toy, so I bought her a teddy bear..."
Hermione tried to convince Hagrid to drop phrases like "I reckoned" and "I thought," but Hagrid insisted that's how he genuinely felt. "Hermione, I can't lie. What if the reviewers ask? I have to answer truthfully." This had left Hermione in a rather foul mood for the past few days.
On Halloween Eve, Professor Flitwick was teaching everyone the Levitation Charm. "...Remember the wrist movement, 'swish and flick'... and the 'wing' part needs to be pronounced long and clear..." Professor Flitwick invited Harry up to demonstrate.
Harry effortlessly cast the Levitation Charm, even showing off a bit with a silent, wandless version. The other students were numb to it by now; they'd grown accustomed to Harry's various silent or wandless spells.
"Excellent! Harry, I must award Gryffindor twenty points! Absolutely superb silent and wandless casting, something many adult wizards can't do." Professor Flitwick said, putting away his wand, and attempted a silent, wandless Levitation Charm himself. Instead, a wild ox appeared on the desk. If Harry hadn't been quick with a Levitation Charm, the ox would have squashed the diminutive Professor Flitwick flat.
"Phew, thank you, Harry. I haven't tried wandless and silent casting in ages. It seems that technique isn't quite for me," Flitwick said, panting.
Next was practice time. Hermione had already mastered the Levitation Charm after her first Charms class, having asked Professor Flitwick for extra help. Now she was trying to take it a step further with silent casting. Neville and Seamus waved their arms like two great apes, while Dean was daydreaming.
"Harry, how do you do it?" Ron asked, envious.
"It's simple. Just do as Professor Flitwick said."
"But I—"
"Harry already told you to do as Professor Flitwick said. Can't you understand?" Hermione rudely interrupted Ron.
"What are you barking about? I don't see your feather floating either!" Ron roared. Hermione merely gave a gentle flick of her wand, and her feather floated upwards.
"With your attitude, only Harry would be friends with you! Why don't you dare use that bossy tone with Harry? Because you're afraid of losing your only friend!" Ron shouted, losing control.
"Weasley, please call me Potter," Harry said coldly.
"Thank you, Harry." Hermione gave Harry a grateful look, then turned to Ron. "Weasley, listen up. It's because Harry knows everything that I don't need to use a bossy tone. Do you understand?"
Ron's ears immediately turned crimson, and he stood there speechless.
"Children, I hope you aren't quarreling." Everything happened so quickly that by the time Professor Flitwick realized they were arguing, it was already over.