In the following days, Dudley visited Hagrid's hut whenever he had free time, even taking several sick days and claiming he wasn't feeling well.
The professors all expressed their concern for Dudley and suggested he visit the hospital wing for a proper checkup. Of course, Dudley wouldn't dare attempt this with Professor McGonagall's or Professor Snape's classes. He attended those honestly and punctually.
The Norwegian Ridgeback, Norbert, grew at an extraordinary rate. In just a few days, the dragon had grown significantly larger, now standing almost as tall as Dudley himself.
"Still no news from Firenze?" Dudley asked while stroking the knobby horn on Norbert's head.
"Not yet," Hagrid shook his head with a worried expression.
He had already come to realize that his modest hut would soon be unable to contain this rapidly growing dragon.
Even though Dudley had been doing his best to teach Norbert not to breathe fire indoors, dragons were naturally fierce creatures. When Dudley was present, everything was manageable, but when Dudley wasn't there, Hagrid simply couldn't control the dragon's fiery temperament.
If this situation continued, Norbert being discovered was only a matter of time.
"Let's wait a bit longer. If nothing comes through, we'll have to think of another solution," Dudley said thoughtfully, his mind already working through various contingency plans.
"Perhaps..." Hagrid started to say something but then shook his head and didn't continue, clearly troubled by some unspoken worry.
The next morning, when Dudley and the others were having breakfast in the Great Hall, an owl swooped in from outside and dropped a letter directly in front of Dudley.
"It's from Hagrid," Dudley said, glancing at the crooked handwriting and immediately recognizing it as Hagrid's distinctive scrawl.
He opened the letter, which contained only a few brief lines written in Hagrid's hurried hand.
"Firenze wants to talk with you. Hope you have time this morning."
Dudley looked up at Harry and the others, his expression suddenly serious.
"We have Herbology this morning!" Hermione immediately pointed out, checking her class schedule.
"Ask for leave for me!" Dudley said urgently.
"But you just took sick leave recently," Harry reminded him with concern.
"Just say I'm still not feeling well," Dudley replied, already standing up from the table.
Dudley didn't have time to explain further. He grabbed several donuts from the breakfast spread and ran out of the Great Hall.
"He's completely mad. He's really lost his mind," Ron said, watching Dudley's rapidly departing figure with bewilderment.
"I honestly can't understand why Dudley wants to help Hagrid raise that dragon. What do we do now?" Hermione frowned, looking at the two boys with genuine concern.
"What else can we do? Help him ask for leave," Harry said, shaking his head helplessly.
He found that he understood Dudley less and less with each passing day.
Or rather, he had never really understood Dudley, whether in their childhood or now at Hogwarts.
Dudley rushed all the way across the grounds to Hagrid's hut, his breath visible in the cold morning air.
"Dudley, you're finally here! Firenze is waiting for you in the Forbidden Forest," Hagrid called out loudly from a distance, having spotted Dudley running toward him.
"Alright!" Dudley called back.
"Brought you some donuts!" Dudley tossed the pastries to Hagrid and continued running toward the dark edge of the Forbidden Forest without stopping.
"Good morning, Mr. Dursley," Firenze said, emerging gracefully from behind a large oak tree.
"Good morning, Mr. Firenze," Dudley replied politely, though he was slightly out of breath from his rush.
"You look... injured?" Dudley noticed several wounds on Firenze's body and even a dark bruise on his noble face.
"As you can see, our herd holds different views about me helping you," Firenze said calmly, his expression showing little emotion, as if he were discussing someone else's troubles entirely.
Dudley frowned deeply. He hadn't expected this matter to bring such serious trouble to Firenze.
"I'm very sorry. Perhaps I shouldn't have asked you to do this," Dudley said, genuine regret in his voice.
"No need to apologize. You convinced me, so this was my own choice, not something you forced me to do," Firenze said with quiet dignity.
"Hagrid mentioned you wanted to talk with me. Is there something wrong?" Dudley asked, sensing the weight of the centaur's gaze.
"Yes, because I discovered something... quite strange," Firenze said, looking at Dudley with profound, searching eyes.
"What?" Dudley asked with growing confusion.
"I attempted to read your stars. I wanted to see your fate, and then I discovered... nothing but complete blankness!" Firenze stared at Dudley intently.
"When I tried to attempt it again, I remembered the clan member who was severely injured from star-reading before."
"In the end, I chose to give up the reading entirely."
Dudley looked at Firenze thoughtfully, wanting to say that it was fortunate he had chosen to give up, otherwise he might not be seeing him standing here now.
But ultimately, he didn't voice these dangerous words.
"I'm wondering, is Harry's fate becoming unreadable partly because of you?" Firenze continued to gaze at Dudley with those ancient, knowing eyes.
Dudley pondered for a moment, weighing his words carefully, then nodded slowly.
"You're right. It's because of me."
Firenze looked deeply at Dudley and said with something like approval, "You're very honest!"
"Well, I have no other questions about that matter. I found a suitable place for that dragon to live, near a natural water pool deep in the forest."
"But before that, you must ensure that dragon isn't destructive to the forest ecosystem; otherwise, the Forbidden Forest cannot accommodate it."
Dudley looked at Firenze with some surprise. He hadn't expected the centaur to not continue questioning him about such mysterious matters.
"Curiosity is necessary, but knowing too much isn't necessarily a good thing. I already know the answer I wanted to know. As for the rest, it's not important," Firenze seemed to see through Dudley's thoughts and explained proactively.
"Alright, thank you very much for your trust," Dudley said with genuine gratitude.
"I'll go bring Norbert over now."
Dudley nodded respectfully at Firenze and turned to walk back toward the forest edge.
Soon, Dudley appeared before Firenze again with Hagrid and Norbert. The dragon had grown even more in the past few days, its scales gleaming black in the dappled forest light.
Looking at this Norwegian Ridgeback, Firenze was obviously quite alert, his hand instinctively moving closer to his bow.
"Norbert, this is Firenze. He's my friend. You cannot harm him, understand?" Dudley spoke to Norbert in a commanding tone that brooked no argument.
Norbert looked at Firenze curiously with its bright orange eyes and spat out a couple of harmless sparks, indicating that it understood the instruction.
"I hope it won't cause trouble for the forest inhabitants," Firenze said cautiously.
He could see that this dragon was indeed well-trained and could understand Dudley's commands with remarkable clarity.
"Let's go," Firenze said, leading the way deeper into the forest.
Firenze led them along winding paths, with Dudley, Hagrid, and Norbert following behind him into the mysterious depths of the Forbidden Forest. Ancient trees towered above them, their branches creating a canopy that filtered the morning sunlight into scattered golden beams.
About half an hour later, they finally arrived at a beautiful clearing with a crystal-clear pool several meters wide in the center. The water reflected the sky above, and the area felt peaceful and secluded.
"It can live here, but it cannot disturb the other groups in the Forbidden Forest. You understand what I mean?" Firenze said seriously.
"No problem at all," Hagrid immediately replied, already envisioning how perfect this spot would be for Norbert.
Firenze said nothing more. After a brief, formal farewell, he turned and left with fluid grace, quickly disappearing into the dense undergrowth of the Forbidden Forest.
Hagrid and Dudley worked together to create a simple but comfortable nest for Norbert in this secluded place, using fallen branches and soft moss to make it cozy. They let the dragon settle down and explore its new territory.
As for taking care of Norbert on a daily basis, that naturally fell to Hagrid. Dudley didn't have that much free time available, though at most he could come train the dragon a bit after his regular classes.
However, judging from the current situation, Dudley's training of Norbert had been quite effective and could be considered a complete success. The dragon was obedient, controlled, and ready for its new life in the Forbidden Forest.