After finishing a full day of classes and enduring the long dinner, the three children finally managed to sneak out of Hogwarts.
They ran straight toward Hagrid's cabin by the edge of the forest. Each of them wanted to confirm their suspicions. Hermione felt the same adventurous thrill she used to have in Gryffindor—but if she really had to go back to Gryffindor now, she wouldn't want to. Ravenclaw suited her far better.
They knocked on Hagrid's door, and the towering figure of Hagrid appeared, almost completely filling the doorway.
"Kids! I don't have time to play with you tonight. Go on, now! Off you go!"
Hagrid waved them away like shooing off a bunch of chicks, then moved to shut the door.
"We know about the Philosopher's Stone."
The three of them said in unison, stopping Hagrid in his tracks.
"Snape wants to steal the Philosopher's Stone."
Harry Potter rushed inside and blurted out his discovery, leaving Hermione slightly speechless.
"Snape! You're still going on about him?"
"Hagrid, it has to be Snape who wants to steal the Philosopher's Stone—we just don't know why."
"Snape is one of the professors protecting the Stone. He'd never try to steal it! Now then, I've got things to do…"
Hagrid, standing by the fireplace, once again tried to get them to leave—but he forgot how hard it is to get rid of guests once they've sat down.
"Wait a second, you said he's one of the professors?"
Harry was confused. If it wasn't Snape—the one who always seemed to be after him—then who could it be?
"That's right! There must be other protections around the Stone, right? Like enchantments! Magical plants! Oh my—four heads of house!"
Hermione had guessed that all four house heads had contributed to designing the traps and protections, and couldn't help but feel thrilled by her deduction.
"Good guess," Hagrid replied, "but I think it's all a waste of time. No one's getting past Fluffy."
Hagrid had full confidence in his pet—its size, strength, fangs, and three huge mouths were all guarantees. He even chuckled proudly at the thought.
"Only Dumbledore and I can handle Fluffy—oh! I wasn't supposed to say that…"
Knock knock knock knock knock knock!
A series of loud taps echoed as something inside the fireplace clanked. Hagrid, trying to cover it up, turned around. Hanging over the fire was a pot, empty and smoldering. From it, Hagrid carefully lifted a dragon egg and placed it on the table.
"Hagrid! What's that?"
"I know what it is—but why is it here?"
"I won it from a stranger in a pub. Seems like a hot potato now."
At that moment, Regulus Black was floating just outside Hagrid's hut. From his position and angle, he had a perfect view of the dragon egg through the window. Beside him, clinging to the wall, was a pale-haired boy—Malfoy.
Using the Sonorus spell in reverse, Regulus could clearly hear the conversation inside the room—though only he could. The moment Hagrid uttered "hot potato," it was supposed to mark the time when the dragon egg began to hatch.
Raising his hand, a beam of golden light shot forth. The sound of shattering glass rang out. As the four inside turned toward the window, the golden light struck the egg on the table, cracking it open. Then, as if soaked in radiant fuel, the dull grey-black shell was transformed into shimmering gold.
The Norwegian Ridgeback, "Norbert," had died before it was even born.
"Oh no! My Norbert!"
Hagrid cried out, lunging toward the table as if there were still hope for the egg.
"Golden Memory—Dragon Egg Secret Realm… Accio!"
There was no way Regulus Black would let Hagrid get his hands on the egg. With a single Summoning Charm, he pulled it into his grasp.
To summon something with Accio, you must know its name, owner, or at least have touched it before.
But once Regulus had infused the egg with the Golden Memory Soul Gem, a fusion of Dementor and Boggart essences, the dragon egg had already become a work of alchemy. Its only possible name from that moment on was:
Golden Memory—Dragon Egg Secret Realm.
The golden egg skimmed past Malfoy's face and flew out the window, soaring across the vast distance until it disappeared into the Forbidden Forest.
At least—that's what everyone in the room saw.
"Who's outside the window!"
Malfoy was startled by the words of Harry Potter and Ron, turning around and dashing back to Hogwarts Castle.
After comforting Hagrid with a few words, the three children hurriedly returned to the school. Heaven knows how much Malfoy had seen.
"I saw it clearly; that person must be Malfoy."
"I think we're in big trouble."
Harry Potter and Ron bickered noisily all the way, completely unaware that they were out wandering at night, until Professor McGonagall appeared holding a candelabra. Only then did they realize Hermione was no longer with them. And the person accompanying Professor McGonagall was none other than Malfoy, wearing a smug grin.
"No matter what… I repeat, no matter what, students are not allowed to roam around in the middle of the night. I must punish your behavior. Fifty points will be deducted from each of you, and to ensure you don't repeat this, you three will perform labor service."
Wearing a nightcap, Professor McGonagall was on duty for the first half of the night's patrol. She had just reached the entrance hall to check the curfew when she ran into Malfoy. Before she could even speak, she received news of two more Gryffindor students sneaking out at night. Heh! Professor McGonagall felt like she was dreaming.
Why couldn't these troublesome kids ever give her some peace of mind?
So, a heavy punishment was in order—fifty points deducted from each of them, and naturally, Slytherin would be included too. It was a rare and perfectly fair opportunity.
Malfoy had just mentioned Hermione as well, but since she wasn't seen, Ravenclaw dodged a bullet.
Just as the three children stepped through the school gates, Regulus Black suddenly appeared, covering Hermione's mouth and pulling her aside.
From a distance, they watched as Professor McGonagall disciplined the three boys.
"Guess what I saw tonight—a dragon egg! Hagrid's always wanted to raise a dragon; he told me that the first time we met."
Hermione gave Regulus Black a look that said, I know it's you, certain that the missing dragon egg had something to do with him.
"Raising dragons is illegal. I'll send the dragon egg to the dragon sanctuary in Romania."
With a casual lie, he brushed off all of the little girl's dissatisfaction. It sounded reasonable enough!
"Can you put me down?"
Hermione shyly gave Regulus Black's chest a gentle push.
Their position was somewhat awkward at that moment. After covering her mouth and whisking her away, Regulus Black had been holding Hermione the entire time.
The little girl was only eleven, barely reaching half his height. To avoid being spotted by Professor McGonagall and the others, Hermione had instinctively wrapped her legs around Regulus Black's waist, which left his hands resting directly on her hips.
They say lolis have three charms: a soft voice, a tender body, and easy to push over.
Only through personal experience could one truly understand the meaning of those words.
Kneading the soft little loli, their faces close together, Hermione's cheeks quickly flushed red. Her breathing grew uneven, and the warm, moist air brushed against him. Even if Regulus Black were made of ice, he couldn't cool the burning heat of that moment.
"Not here, this isn't good!"
Hermione whispered, her last shred of rationality urging her to leave this open space.
Regulus Black smiled faintly, still holding Hermione as he turned and opened a secret passage in the wall.
Hogwarts is full of secrets, and the hidden passages connecting various places are one of them. No one dares claim to know them all.
Even this passage was something Regulus Black had stumbled upon during his student days. It linked the first floor directly to the eighth, saving a lot of stair-climbing time.
Passing through the dark passage, Hermione instinctively clung tighter to him.
When they reached the Room of Requirement, Regulus Black didn't set down the little loli clinging to him. Instead, he opened a cabinet and pulled out a scroll.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The scroll floated in the air and slowly unfurled, revealing an illustrated guide to magical creatures—a griffin!
Regulus Black continued holding Hermione, though he turned her around to face the scroll.
"There's a spell called the Patronus Charm, and this is a variation of it—the 'Love Guardian Charm.' If you say that you'll love only me for this lifetime, this spell will be yours."
Regulus Black pointed at the scroll's contents, explaining it to Hermione.
Hermione, a girl with a strong sense of self, knew this was a moment of choice: swear to love one person for her entire life, or…!
"Of course, I only love you! I, Hermione, hereby swear that in this lifetime, I will love only Regulus Black."
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