56 Norbert the Loveless

"I just gave it some training," Ivan explained, trying to hide his two-handed sword, which was not much smaller than his own, behind him, since it was too late to remove the Transfiguration Charm.

Hagrid's mouth twitched at the sight of the three-foot-tall sword, and he was relieved to see that there were no visible cuts on Norbert.

Knowing that she could not hide it from Hagrid, Ivan waved his wand and transformed the sword back into a broom.

"Hagrid, you spoil Norbert too much. We must find a way to discipline him, or he will tear your house down within days."

"And we have to train it to know how to hunt and fight," Ivan added.

"But…Norbert's too young. You'll scare him." Hagrid hesitated.

"Norbert, get down!" said Ivan suddenly, wanting to show Hagrid the results of his training.

After a few hours of training, Norbert's first instinct was to lie down until he realised he had someone to rely on. He then got up, hid behind Hagrid and bared his fangs at Ivan.

This husky-like behaviour made Ivan want to laugh.

Hagrid saw the change in Norbert, and was both pleased and disappointed, as if he had finally seen his child grow.

"How 'bout when Norbert's a bit older?" Hagrid whispered to Ivan.

"If you want to keep Norbert for a while longer, you'd better train him now!" Yvonne shook her head firmly. You've got to be kidding me. Any older and Yvonne doubted she could beat Norbert.

Ivan's words were like the final straw that broke the balance in Hagrid's heart, because he knew that Ivan was right, and Norbert would soon be exposed if he went on like this.

"All right then, but don't hit him too hard in training," Hagrid said, his heart aching.

"Hagrid, if you're free, we could train Norbert together," Ivan suggested to Hagrid.

With a half-giant like Hagrid at his side, there would have been no need to use the Transfiguration Charm to play with the bound PLAY during training. Hagrid would have been strong enough to physically incapacitate Norbert.

Hagrid was moved by Ivan's command of Norbert. He thought Norbert was very lively and cute when he was tearing down houses, but who wouldn't want a lively and obedient child?

"All right," Hagrid said. "But I'll be patrolling the Forbidden Forest soon, so I only have time in the evening."

"The Forbidden Forest? Did something happen there?" Ivan asked, his chest tightening.

Hagrid hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should tell Ivan about this, but Ivan kept asking, and Hagrid eventually gave him some information.

"It was a unicorn that was attacked…"

"Fortunately, it managed to escape in time and was only slightly injured. I was patrolling the Forbidden Forest to find out what attacked it. Since it didn't succeed this time, it's likely to return."

Hagrid's tone was subdued. He could not imagine what kind of evil creature would attack a holy unicorn.

Ivan fell silent, knowing full well that Chino must have attacked the unicorn, but unable to stop it.

He had previously made a tentative report about Chino with Harry Potter and the others, but Dumbledore apparently had no intention of disposing of him now, and would have the same result if he did.

Ivan was already regretting his decision to change the plot so as not to be disturbed, as Hagrid's frequent visits to the Forbidden Forest would have put him in danger.

Unaware of Ivan's concerns, Hagrid muttered curses about the unicorn's killer before turning his attention to discussing ways to train dragons with Ivan.

Ivan had no choice but to put aside his worries for the moment and explain the situation to Hagrid.

Norbert, who still felt as though he had found a patron, looked at Hagrid's changing expression and shuddered…

For the next few days, Ivan's fears were unfounded, and with Hagrid's help, Norbert lost the last of his resistance…

Hagrid found new joy in the training, teaching Norbert to lie down, roll over, breathe fire, and enjoy the instructions.

It made a certain Norwegian Ridgeback, who was used to tearing down houses, sleeping, and roasting every day, feel very uncomfortable and even hopeless…

Only when you eat grilled fish every day can you feel a little warmth in your cold life…

…

"Ivan, we can't go on like this!"

In the quiet library, Hermione's angry and resigned voice suddenly rang out, attracting the attention of the other young wizards, including Madam Pince.

The little witch blushed and lowered her voice.

"It's almost time for our exams. We should be revising now! Not reading books that have nothing to do with exams!"

"It's just an exam. Do you need to revise? You should have learned everything by now, right?" Ivan asked curiously as he put down his copy of The Taming of Magical Creatures.

"It's not easy to get an O (Outstanding) on an exam." Hermione's anxiety grew as the day of the exam approached.

In the past, she would discuss dragon breeding methods with Ivan in her spare time, but in the past two days, Hermione had been preoccupied with her revision.

"Especially since my Transfiguration spell is nowhere near as good as yours, Ivan. I can't imagine what it would be like if I flunked my Transfiguration exam and only got an E (unexpected)," Hermione said gloomily.

Next to her, Harry and Ron, who were trying to carry their knowledge behind their backs, looked up innocently, having no idea what Ivan and Hermione were talking about, as long as they didn't score P (bad) or D (bad) on their exams.

The O's were too far away…

"Hermione, you're actually quite good at Transfiguration," Ivan said, closing the book. "That's how many senior students do it. They have no problem passing Transfiguration exams."

He did not console Hermione with these words.

The last time Hermione used the Transfiguration Charm, Ivan estimated that Hermione's Transfiguration Charm had been upgraded to Level 2, a level that most third and fourth year students could achieve.

Professor McGonagall could be very fastidious, but she was not stingy with her praise.