Chapter 72

"Ethan, I have something to tell you."

After buying the Buraffio's Brain Elixir, Harry pulled Ethan to a deserted corner.

"What's the matter?"

"It's about Hagrid. Malfoy followed me yesterday and saw Hagrid's dragon. I'm worried that he will report it. I wonder if you have any solution." Harry's face looked a little grim. If he had been more careful at that time, Draco wouldn't have followed him to the Forbidden Forest.

But this has already happened, and Harry just wants to fix it as much as possible.

If he goes to talk to Malfoy, he will definitely not agree, but Ethan is different. Last time, I heard someone say that Draco took the initiative to apologize to Ethan.

If Ethan talks to him, it might be feasible.

But this is obviously Harry's problem, and he still feels a little embarrassed to ask someone else to solve it.

But if he doesn't do this, Hagrid may be arrested and imprisoned in Azkaban. Dragons are not allowed to be privately raised.

Although Ronald suggested that Hagrid hand the dragon over to his brother, who works at the Romanian Dragon Reserve, as long as Draco doesn't find the dragon when he reports it, there should be no problem.

But Hagrid is unwilling to do so, fearing that it will be bullied by other dragons wherever it goes. After all, the baby dragon is still a little weak now.

"No, Hagrid's dragon is kept in the Forbidden Forest. Did Malfoy follow him in?" Ethan asked, a little confused. Draco was so timid yet he dared to run into the Forbidden Forest?

In the original book, when Draco heard he had to help patrol the Forbidden Forest, he was scared to death.

With Ethan's reminder, Harry remembered that Hagrid's dragon was not in his own hut at all but was kept in the Forbidden Forest.

One reason was to avoid being discovered, and the other was to help the dragon adapt to life in the Forbidden Forest in advance.

For this reason, Hagrid found a previously abandoned hut in the Forbidden Forest to raise the dragon and spent most of his time there every day.

Harry didn't know that Hagrid had raised a dragon, but Ethan told him so that he could detect if someone tried to trap Hagrid using the dragon.

"Well, Ronald and I went to the Forbidden Forest to see the dragon yesterday evening. Malfoy followed us, and we didn't notice until we got to the dragon. Then he was discovered by Fang."

Harry didn't know what was wrong with Draco, why he always had to keep an eye on him.

He had been like this since the first time they met—self-righteous, always finding faults, and now it had evolved into stalking.

Harry shuddered, wondering if Draco had any special hobbies.

"Leave it to me; I'll talk to him."

Ethan nodded in agreement. His fire dragon, which had not yet hatched, would also be kept in the Forbidden Forest in the future. With two fire dragons, they could have companionship.

"There's one more thing, Ethan. Did you know that Hagrid's fire dragon was deliberately given to him by someone in order to get information about the three-headed dog in the corridor on the fourth floor, or maybe to plot against whatever is hidden inside?"

"Didn't I ask you about Nicolas Flamel last time?"

"The things hidden inside are related to him, and it's very likely the Philosopher's Stone, but I don't know who is after it."

This was what Harry and Ronald inferred yesterday based on what Hagrid said.

They knew how precious the dragon was. No one would lose it in a card game. He couldn't imagine how big a scheme this would require.

And he also suspiciously inquired about the three-headed dog. The three-headed dog was now guarding the thing that Hagrid took out from Gringotts. Harry knew this before.

He didn't care too much at first, but yesterday he connected everything together. Someone was trying to get the Philosopher's Stone, and this person was probably at Hogwarts.

Before Christmas, Harry suspected that Snape was not a good person. He must have ulterior motives at Hogwarts. He might have been the one who attacked Gringotts, but now Harry had thought about it all night and couldn't find anyone else to suspect.

Ronald still suspected Snape because he hated Snape.

Ronald didn't let Harry tell anyone, but his brain couldn't compare to Ethan's. If Ethan hadn't reminded him who Nicolas Flamel was last time, they might not have known until now.

"Who do you think is the most suspicious in the school?"

"Professor Snape?"

Harry said cautiously, mainly because Ronald was sure it was him.

"You can also think about Professor Quirrell and the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. You can ask the seniors about these. And think about this: Why did Professor Quirrell return to Hogwarts to teach after being so badly injured recently?"

After saying that, Ethan patted Harry on the shoulder and left.

It's enough to plant a seed for this kind of thing. Let him think and doubt the rest by himself.

After dinner, Ethan intercepted Draco, who was going back to the Slytherin common room.

Looking at the arrogant guy in front of him who now lowered his head and didn't dare to look at him, Ethan always felt a sense of dominating the younger students.

"I hope you don't tell anyone about Hagrid raising a dragon."

"Well, I won't tell anyone."

Draco nodded without hesitation. He was really afraid of Ethan and didn't dare to provoke him.

Originally, he had planned to get Harry, Ronald, and the half-blood giant in trouble together by reporting the matter to his headmaster and let him handle it. He wanted Gryffindor to suffer the most.

Unfortunately, the plan was shattered before it even started.

"If you don't provoke me in the future, I won't cause you any trouble, so there's no need to be so afraid of me."

Ethan was really speechless at this submissive Draco in front of him.

He had just gained the temperament of a sunny and warm boy during Christmas, making him more popular at school.

Even though a few young wizards were still afraid of him after he beat up the seniors bullying him, they were back to normal in two days.

But in front of Draco, he still seemed like a bully who liked to pick on classmates.

It was obviously Draco who caused the trouble at the beginning.

"I know."

"My dad wants to invite you to visit our house during the summer vacation."

This was the task assigned to him by Lucius.

After he sent a letter back last time, saying that he had obtained Ethan's forgiveness, Lucius mentioned the invitation to Ethan in his reply.

Draco just hadn't found a suitable opportunity to say it, or he was a little afraid to tell Ethan.

"We'll contact each other then. I'm not sure if I'll have time during the summer vacation now."

Dumbledore promised to introduce Nicolas Flamel to me during this holiday. I don't know when or how long that will take, so I can't promise anything.

As for the Malfoys' invitation, Ethan wasn't worried. To be frank, if they had any ideas, he could just burn them and the manor to ashes.

In the wizarding world, the power of individuals is infinitely magnified.

There is no such thing as ants biting elephants.

Grindelwald, Dumbledore, and Voldemort could challenge the Ministry of Magic of a country alone.

When they wanted to retreat, they could just leave.

No one could stop them at all, provided they weren't foolish enough to get caught.

But Draco was a little confused. Did Ethan agree or not?

Back in the Ravenclaw dormitory, Ethan's three roommates were nowhere to be seen. Ethan immediately got into the box with the traceless expansion spell cast...

"Ethan, these frogs won't be enough tomorrow!"

Michael chopped off a frog's head with his knife, then dug out the frog's brain, and threw the frog's body into the trash can beside him.

This method of extracting frog brains was more convenient and faster, taking only 20 seconds to process a frog.

When Michael and his friends graduate, they can say, "I've been killing frogs at Hogwarts for seven years, and my heart is as cold as my knife."

"Well, I'll ask Fred and his friends to go to Hogsmeade tomorrow."

Since they started making the Buraffio's Brain Elixir, Bruce's Pet Shop in Hogsmeade Village, which sells frogs, has been making a fortune. Originally, they were only used as food for magical animals, but now they are being specially purchased for Ethan to make potions.

A potion requires four frog brains, and a pot needs 20 frogs. If you don't count the rest days, you need to consume 180 frogs a day.

"I calculated that by the time summer vacation comes, the money I've saved can almost buy a Nimbus 2000, which is the latest model."

Next year, I can bring my flying broom to Hogwarts, but the brooms at home are all old models from more than ten years ago. The latest Nimbus 2000 costs 300 gold galleons. The money I earn here, plus the pocket money I've saved, is enough.

This is Gene's motivation to keep going.

Ethan looked at him with pity. Now, the Nimbus 2000 is indeed the best-performing flying broom and the latest model.

But who knows when the Nimbus 2001 will be launched in their second year, and there's also the Firebolt to consider.

At ten o'clock in the evening, Ethan brought the frog and oil and came to the door of the Gryffindor common room.

At this moment, Hermione was waiting there.

"Okay, come with me!"

Looking at Hermione, who was a little nervous about her first night tour, Ethan took her hand and led her out.

It's natural to be nervous the first time, but you'll relax once you get used to it.

"How many times have you been on a night tour?"

"It started on the second day after I entered Hogwarts."

Ethan answered with a smile on his face, not ashamed at all.

"..."

Hermione was a little speechless. Is this the good student in the eyes of several professors?

"Okay, remember this place, silently recite the room you need, walk back and forth three times, and it will appear. Now follow me."

After saying that, he pulled Hermione into a light-filled doorway ahead.

"You...you all, are all here?"

Hermione was dumbfounded when she saw Penelope and Cassandra.

Now the only one missing was Cho Chang.

Hermione suspected that if Cho Chang hadn't had Quidditch training in the evening, she might have been here too.

She had thought that with this opportunity, she could spend more time with Ethan, but she ended up being the last to arrive.

The joke's on me, isn't it?

"Granger, you're here too!"

Cassandra turned around and greeted her, showing a provocative look.

When the potion class ended, Cassandra had heard that Hermione was going to help Ethan make potions, so she knew she was coming and prepared for it.

"I came here with Ethan just after Halloween. Why are you so late?"

Hermione suddenly felt a pang of jealousy. "I met him first!" she muttered inside her mind.

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