The three stared at him almost breathlessly for several heartbeats. It's like they were trying to gather whether they had heard him right.
Hagrid was the first to break the tense atmosphere with a squeal of pure joy.
"Merlin... yer think so... he is growin' the second head!" he boomed as he knelt next to Magnus for a better view.
"You... are we mad mate or did you just say a second head?" Fred asked in apparent confusion as the two of them joined them in their positions.
"Sssh," Magnus shushed them as they crouched next to them. "He is in a bit of pain and the noise makes it even more furious... just watch," he whispered.
The three of them watched the scene unfolding with all of them barely breathing.
With the noise having disappeared, the Deino had stopped lunging blindly but it was still snarling menacingly... Fang had clearly decided he wanted nothing to do with whatever was unfolding and had moved a good distance away from the scene.
The skin around the bulge on the Pokémon's neck was now too tight that there was no longer any doubt.
"Blimey... I can see the mouth," Hagrid boomed, and before Magnus could remind him that they were supposed to stay silent, the twins had joined in.
"this is insane, I think it's gonna tear its way out."
Magnus gave up but still remained in his position.
He had known that the Deino would grow a second head at some point but he hadn't known it would be this dramatic.
Mostly, the anime portrayed the Pokémon in its fully evolved form, which was the Hydreigon complete with its three heads. Naturally, he had never spent much time contemplating how they came to be, but watching it right now it looked fascinating if a little sensitive. Watching this gave him a jittery feeling like the process was happening on his neck.
"Wait until we tell Lee what he missed..." Fred was in the middle of saying when suddenly the skin broke on the Deino's neck and the second head popped out.
They all had been anticipating this but at that moment all of them recoiled... Magnus actually stumbled and fell on his butt as he tried to pull back to avoid the absent blood that he thought would have splashed out.
"Bloody hell bro, am I hallucinating?" Magnus heard a slap ring and turned to see George rubbing his right cheek then just as quickly slap back his brother.
"Guess it's real," George said. "It's freaking real." The wet bluish head had now also begun snarling and the noise now grew twice as menacing.
The new head seemed to pack twice the anger from the first. In fact, after the second head had popped out, the first one had calmed down a bit, it was however being forced to respond to the aggression from its new partner who was trying to blindly bite everything in its reach.
"Yer were right, Magnus... yer knew from the first time," Hagrid beamed as he patted Magnus on the back.
Well, what was supposed to be a gentle gesture of congratulations almost sent him crashing into the Pokémon but Hagrid pulled him back at the last minute.
"Aah... sorry about that," he said, pulling him to his feet like he was a feather.
"Just happy seein' the heads coming... almost thought I had been scammed."
Hagrid was too happy to even care about his injury, which had now soaked the rag he had tied on the wound. He was now excitedly moving around the Pokémon as if trying to get the perfect angle to observe it.
"Is the third head coming...? Don't seem to see nothin'," He asked, making the twins who were also revolving around the Pokémon stop.
"What... there is a third head?" Fred glared at him hopefully. Magnus however shook his head.
"Yeah, there will be a third head... more like mouths extentions, but that is only if it evolves into a Hydreigon," he said, still observing the two fighting heads.
"...When... when will it become her-dragon?" Hagrid jumped in, cutting the next question the twins had been about to ask.
"It's Hydreigon, Hagrid, and it depends," he said then paused for a while.
"Can't recall what exactly triggers that evolution but my bet is that it will happen if your bond with it becomes strong and it becomes loyal to you."
It was a guess, but Magnus had a feeling that Pokémon-trainer bond still applied here. I mean, it did on most Pokémon he had encountered thus far.
"He knows his stuff," Hagrid beamed delightedly on hearing his verdict. "Always told me it gonna happen," he said to the twins before bending and gently poking the new head.
"Hello Deino... it's daddy here." Both heads lunged at the finger in unison but Hagrid pulled it before he lost it... he looked too happy to care.
"Yer hear that? Yer grow third head... gotta feed yer more now, don't I?"
Magnus wanted to tell him that just feeding wouldn't do it but decided not to. Watching his happiness, he did not wish to be so cruel.
"I have never seen any Pokémon with three heads," Fred said in awe.
"Neither have I bro, and we have been to hundreds of Pokémon League battles," George added.
Hagrid's chest swelled proudly. "Cos ye haven't... no one in England has. He is goin' to be the first one, ain't he?"
"Wow," Fred went on with that dreamy look. "Just imagine it in a battle... three freakin' heads!" He slapped George on the back. "No Pokémon can stand a chance!"
Magnus wasn't sure about that... Hydreigon would be big and vicious with its three heads and wings, but honestly even a well-trained Pikachu could hold its ground against such intimidating opponents. He however realized they were moving too fast.
"That is if the Ministry does not confiscate it in the first place."
Hagrid looked up immediately at Magnus's statement.
"There will be no Ministry..." he paused, turned to the twins... "You two, whatever ya saw here stays here."
The twins slid two fingers across their lips. "We are sealed."
Hagrid relaxed but Magnus did not.
He was wondering at what point would Hagrid realize this was more than he could handle. In fact, even just the fact that he had managed to keep the Pokémon from prying eyes was impressive.
They had now however gotten to a serious point. The Pokémon would now start feeding twice as much and in a period of one month, Hagrid's cabin would just be too small to handle it. What would he do then...? I mean, had he even stopped to think about it?
"I honestly think you should let Dumbledore know," Magnus began, and from the cold glance he received he knew Hagrid wasn't reading from the same script. Still, he went on.
"Hagrid... this is getting dangerous, not just for you," he said, pointing to his maimed foot. "You also have to think of other people within the castle."
"I will tell him... just been waitin' for the right time," Hagrid said while avoiding looking at him.
Magnus knew that 'right time' wasn't showing up anytime soon. Hagrid would first end up in the Hydreigon's belly before he decided that time had come.
He reached into his pocket and fetched out his Pokéball... for the first time since the incident, Magnus noticed that his Zorua had clung to his shoulder like a silent shadow... so silent that even he had forgotten it was there...
"Come on, boy," he said, picking it and placing it gently on the ground in front of him. At this point, the least he could do was introduce Hagrid to the Pokéball... there was no doubt he would be needing it quite soon.
"What was its name again?" Fred asked, risking his finger as Magnus demonstrated to Hagrid how to use the Pokéball.
"Deino, ain't he?" Hagrid said.
"No... not Deino," Magnus said as the ball split into half and he yelled, "Accio Zorua!"
Hagrid let out an "Ooh!" as he stepped back in surprise.
Magnus opened the ball once again and the Zorua jumped out looking quite surprised. He handed the ball to Hagrid and turned to the two fighting heads.
"Deino is when it has one head. Now it's a Zweilous."
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