Chapter 35

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Ethan looked around vigilantly for any signs of other students, or Professors, before stepping out of the castle. Miyuki was running around, supposed to watch out for potential eavesdroppers but being more busy enjoying herself running in the grass.

April had just come around, and the weather was starting to turn warm again. Kitsunes were used to cold weather, but perhaps because she was used to living with Ethan, Miyuki preferred this kind of weather as well.

As for the reason as to why Ethan was out of the castle after curfew, it was because of a letter he had received from Hagrid. The half giant's handwriting had been troublesome to spell out, as he was hardly literate, but Ethan still managed to get the gist of the message, which was that Hagrid needed some help and wanted to see Ethan.

Ethan wouldn't go so far as to say he and Hagrid were friends, but he had started coming to visit the groundskeeper once a month, both because Miyuki liked to go there to bully Fang, and because Hagrid was a good source of information.

Although Ethan was somewhat in the loop with the Philosopher's Stone, the Professors did not tell him much about what they knew. It was mostly him telling them about what he heard.

Ethan quickly arrived at the hut, and after once again making sure no one was spying on him, Ethan strongly knocked on the door. He heard some shuffling inside, before a crack was opened in the door. Seeing it was Ethan, Hagrid grumbled, "Come in, come in!"

Ethan stepped inside the hut, his eyes immediately darting around as he searched for a plausible cause for the letter he had received, and it did not take him long to find it.

Staring directly at the obsidian-black huge egg settled in the fireplace, a memory within Ethan was jolted as he asked, "Hagrid, what is that egg?"

Closing the door, Hagrid did not answer directly, seemingly searching for his words, before he finally said, "It's a dragon egg. A Norwegian Ridgeback."

Ethan shared a look with Miyuki, before asking, "And you thought bringing the egg of a giant, fire-breathing lizard within your hut was a good idea?"

Hagrid raised a finger, as if to tell Ethan he had thought of everything, before he took out a large book and said, "I got this from the library!"

Ethan glanced at the book, which was titled Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit. Shaking his head, Ethan told Hagrid, "Ignoring the obviously dubious nature of this book, raising an exotic animal is not so simple. I was able to form a bond with Miyuki because of extraordinary circumstances, but this is a dragon we are talking about. Miyuki and I can actually communicate. What you have is an incarnation of destruction."

Hagrid frowned, disagreeing, "Dragons are very smart! Some can even learn our language!"

Sighing as he sat down, Ethan found his gaze inexorably drawn to the egg as he said, "Elder dragons, yes. Not so much for hatchlings. Besides, even if it somehow came to think of you as kin, dragons are belligerent, and play… roughly. Rougher than humans can handle."

Ethan had learned quite a lot about fantastic beasts from Newt Scamander whenever the old man would come visit for Miyuki. Their main point of interest and discussion had always been Miyuki, of course, but Newt would very often drift onto other creatures.

Dragons were one of them, and it was one of the species Newt seemed certain was impossible to tame. Well, he thought the same for Kitsunes, but Ethan was aware of how unlikely it was it to happen again.

Besides, the bond between Hagrid and the dragon wasn't the only problem.

His eyes darting over to Miyuki, who was eyeing the egg restlessly, Ethan said, "Even if you want to, you cannot raise it here. Not with Miyuki in the castle."

Hagrid looked at the little Kitsune, and Ethan explained, "Dragons are territorial, and barely accept other dragons within their territory, and are even less compliant towards other species. Kitsunes are worse. If it is a lesser creature, then they will be charmed. If they can resist that charm, then they will represent a danger, and be killed."

It was something Ethan himself had witnessed when he first met Miyuki and her mother. The Oni, a formidable beast in its own right, had been allowed to live because it had been completely subjugated by Miyuki's mother. But there was not a single other magical creature around, simply because they had all been killed.

Since then, Ethan had never really come across this problem because he had mostly lived away from society, but ever since they had entered the hut, Ethan could feel Miyuki's instincts screaming at her.

Glancing back at Hagrid, Ethan added, "Dragons grow a lot faster than Kitsunes too. Maybe she will tolerate it when it is still a chick, but it won't take long for it to grow bigger than her. And believe me, Hagrid. She will kill it."

Unfortunately, all his arguments did not seem to be enough to convince Hagrid, as even without Legilimency Ethan could clearly see on the half-giant's face that he still wanted to keep it, so to hammer the nail in he said, "Besides, think of the school. Even if they decided to allow the Dragon to be kept, dragons are mighty beings, and a single graze would be enough to at least severely injure a student. What would happen then? Headmaster Dumbledore, who put his trust in you, would be reprimanded, and possibly lose his position. The same would go for other professors. And the problems will probably extend to more than one student, too."

As Hagrid's personal messiah was mentioned, he finally seemed to get a measure of what exactly he was doing.

And as the realisation settled in, Hagrid visibly deflated as he cupped his own face, groaning, "What am I to do?"

Lightly rubbing Miyuki's nape to break her out of her trance, Ethan grabbed her in his arms seeing it didn't work, something he hadn't done in a while because of her size, and said, "I'm afraid I can't do much about it, but you could try to contact the Potter Twins. I've heard you were chummy, and they always get out of problems with a tap on the hand, so that would be the safest bet."

As he thought of the issue, Ethan's first thought was actually to call Newt Scamander and have him handle the dragon. The old man was an expert Magizoologist, possibly the very best in the world, but Ethan decided against it.

As much of an expert as Newt could be, he could also be reckless, and knowing him, Ethan was worried the old man would try to bond with the dragon and end up seriously injured, or worse. It wasn't just pure fiction either as during one of their talks Newt had told Ethan about how he had once almost died to his Nundu.

So Ethan decided the risk was not worth it. The problem could be solved by simply stirring things in the way they should have been, by hinting at the Potter Twins, who had perfectly managed to deal with the draconic task in the original timeline.

Ethan didn't see why they would fail to do so in this one, considering they had more knowledge, more people and it wasn't exactly an inherently dangerous mission either. All they had to do was finish reasoning Hagrid, and send the dragon away.

So it was with his conscience clear that Ethan mentioned the Potter Twins to Hagrid. Not seeing any point in extending this discussion any further, as that would only be leaving Hagrid the opportunity to convince his way out of it, Ethan silently walked out of the hut, closing the door behind him.

As he did, Miyuki, whom he had been struggling to carry in his arms, finally completely woke up from her trance. As she rubbed her head affectionately against his chest however, he saw her point her snout towards the Forbidden Forest.

He could feel it in her. The dragon had roused something within her, and she was in a hunting mood.

Unfortunately for her, Ethan wasn't just about to head alone in the Forbidden Forest, especially at night.