Be Discreet

Barnaby stared speechless at the dragon egg on the table and then at his father, whose face was flushed, either from the excitement of finally getting his own dragon or from having drunk a bit too much the previous night.

It wasn't that he didn't have some dragons occasionally, but his father had always dreamed of having one of his own, so to speak.

But the point that interested him most at this moment was...

"Dad, what did you wager to match the dragon egg?"

The flustered Hagrid suddenly froze, caught off guard by the question, as he had expected many things, but not precisely that.

"Oh, just some unicorn tail hairs..." Hagrid responded evasively, looking with great interest at the beams of the ceiling.

Barnaby sighed exasperatedly. His father might have a knack for some things, but his ability to lie was a particularly obvious weak point. Not that he cared too much about the occasional bets his father made to entertain himself, usually amounting to just a handful of knuts and rarely a couple of sickles on a particularly exciting night with a few extra pints. It was simply to keep the spirit of the game, nothing serious.

But he didn't like big bets, and he was sure that driven by the excitement of the dragon egg, his father had stepped out of his usual limits. At least he won, so he'd leave that issue for another time.

"Did the egg at least come with a certificate from the Ministry?"

Dragon materials were already strictly regulated, so one could imagine how many restrictions there were on a hatchable dragon egg circulating.

Hagrid rummaged through his pockets to see if he had forgotten something but shook his head. In fact, the man seemed quite relieved to get rid of the egg...

"So it's an illegal and unregistered egg..." Barnaby pointed out as he returned his gaze to the egg. "Fantastic!"

"Huh?" Hagrid was stunned by the unexpected turn until he realized what was happening.

If there was one thing Barnaby detested apart from Dumbledore, it was some of the Ministry of Magic's nonsensical regulations and laws on obsessive control over certain creatures, aimed essentially at maintaining a lucrative monopoly rather than real protection or safety for the magical or Muggle world.

Something he agreed on with Mr. Scamander, and one of the reasons they got along so well, besides the unique creatures he had.

"Did the man say what kind of dragon it is?" Barnaby asked while inspecting the size, color, and weight.

There was a huge variety of dragons around the world, and apart from some very recognizable breeds, the rest were too similar to each other.

Even Sanshi felt a bit curious about the dragon egg from his hiding place.

"Well... it seems he didn't mention it," Hagrid was instantly attracted to the egg, so he didn't ask for other details. "But I'm sure I can find something in the library."

"Just try to be discreet," Barnaby nodded as his father washed his face with cold water to refresh himself and left the cabin, hoping to find a book that would allow him to identify the dragon egg.

Barnaby glanced at the clock absentmindedly and realized he was late to help Aunt Pomona with the greenhouse.

"Sanshi, please take care of the egg while I'm out," the redhead requested as he also left the cabin quickly.

As soon as Barnaby left and the cabin was empty of people, Sanshi emerged from the floor and held the egg while looking at it from top to bottom. An expression of intrigue blossomed on his face as his eyes lit up, and he asked Calcifer:

"Do you think this egg would make a tasty omelet?" he asked innocently.

"I don't know, but that eggshell looks delicious," Calcifer knew he would probably have to warm the egg, so he was calculating how to subtly ask for the dragon eggshell as compensation.

Sanshi nodded as he placed the egg back on the cushion on the table and sat down next to the fire demon to watch it.

Without Hagrid or Barnaby knowing, a culinary debate ensued on how best to cook a dragon egg.

Both sides were dead serious!

Several days later, in the Keeper of the Keys' cabin at Hogwarts.

Barnaby stared speechlessly at the trio of students he knew, sitting on the couch while drinking hot tea his father served, using the water in which the dragon egg was submerged.

Did that qualify as an uncommon luxury or as something unhygienic?

"Dad?" Barnaby called. "Didn't I tell you to try to be discreet?"

"They ambushed me in the library!" Hagrid defended himself, pointing at the students with his gloved hands.

"No, we didn't!" Hermione denied, defending her and her friends' innocence.

They had only checked what Hagrid was looking at in the library out of mere curiosity, which was totally different. Then they came and...

Forget it, drink tea.

"And was it necessary to explain the whole story?" Barnaby facepalmed.

Not only had he let some kids discover the illegal dragon egg they had, but he had also explained that he got it by gambling while drinking with a stranger!

There were too many bad messages for such young people there!

What if Ron suddenly starts gambling?

Oh, wait, he's a Weasley, he can't gamble anything even if he wants to...

No, what if Hermione suddenly goes off with a stranger, thinking she can also get a dragon egg for herself?

Barnaby looked her up and down secretly for a moment.

Forget it, no one would be interested in a girl like her.

But what if Harry starts getting curious about drinking, and things get out of hand?!

"Be good kids and don't imitate anything my father has done," he reminded them kindly.

"Hey!" Hagrid protested, but everyone selectively ignored him.

The three nodded, although Hermione for some reason felt annoyed without an apparent reason. Something about Barnaby's look didn't feel right...

"You're only a few years older than us!" Hermione grumbled while crossing her arms.

"I'm also a Hogwarts graduate," Barnaby nodded naturally. "And you'd do well to remember that."

"Save the chatter for later," Calcifer interrupted and pointed at the egg that started to thump. "It's ready to hatch!"

Hagrid took the egg and removed it, placing it carefully on the table. Moments later, the egg "exploded," and a small dragon wriggled on the wooden table.

Barnaby picked up some pieces of the egg that fell to the ground and tossed them to Calcifer, who ate them with a delighted expression.

It had been ages since he last ate dragon eggshells!

Mmm, this species has a nutty aftertaste...

Even if the baby dragon didn't like it, what could it do, breathe fire on him? Ha!

"Look, it recognizes its mommy!" said Hagrid when the dragon turned to him, before his eyes went wide as the baby dragon set his beard on fire with a sneeze.

"Hagrid, how fast do dragons grow?" Harry asked, a bit worried.

"Yeah, you can't keep it," added Hermione. "In a week it'll be able to breathe fire at will, and you live in a wooden cabin!"

"I think in a month it'll be even bigger than your cabin..." added Ron, who knew the most about dragons of the three, thanks to his brother Charlie, who worked at a dragon reserve.

"That won't be a problem, my son can take care of it," Hagrid had a solution for that problem thought out for a long time.

"Barnaby?" the three turned and looked at Hagrid's son, puzzled.

"You don't think all the creatures in the castle sleep in a shoebox, do you?"

Just as they wanted to ask about it, they saw Ron pale as he pointed to the window.

"Malfoy followed us!"

Barnaby looked at the blond boy who had been spotted and was now running away, feeling that no one here understood the meaning of the word discretion...