Dudley observed Quirrell, whose face appeared extremely pale, almost bloodless. The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor also looked gaunt, appearing somewhat malnourished, as if a gentle breeze could topple him over.
"Professor Quirrell, your turban is crooked," Dudley said with a cheerful smile.
Quirrell had originally tried to force an awkward smile, but upon hearing Dudley's words, his expression immediately changed. He hurriedly raised both hands to straighten his turban with nervous, jerky movements.
Fortunately, it wasn't too askew.
"Th... thank you... for the reminder," Quirrell stammered, his face growing even paler.
"You're welcome, Professor Quirrell. I think you should rest more. You look very unwell," Dudley continued with apparent concern.
"Good... good, thank you... for your... reminder," Quirrell muttered, seeming unwilling to say more. He gave a brief response and hurried away down the corridor.
Only after the corridor was completely empty did Dudley drop the smile from his face, his eyes becoming much more serious and calculating.
"Voldemort's condition is deteriorating rapidly. He should be making his move soon," Dudley murmured to himself, having already made his assessment.
Just moments ago, Voldemort couldn't even properly conceal his own malevolent aura, which had stimulated Harry and caused his scar to react so violently.
At the same time, Dudley had also detected the evil presence emanating from Quirrell's body, which was even more concentrated than before.
"Dudley, just now..." Harry frowned, pressing his fingers against his forehead. He didn't know what had happened, why his forehead had suddenly felt such burning pain.
He remembered the last time this occurred was at the Sorting Ceremony, when he saw Snape and his forehead suddenly felt that same burning sensation.
But this time, although Snape had also been present, the burning pain didn't come after seeing Snape but seemed to occur when he looked at Professor Quirrell.
"Your forehead hurt again?" Dudley looked at Harry with concern.
"Yes, I'm not sure what caused it, but it might be related to Professor Snape or Professor Quirrell," Harry said with a grave expression, his voice tight with worry.
"Let me take a look," Dudley said, moving closer to examine Harry's scar. Apart from the evil aura still hidden deep within it, Dudley didn't find any other immediate problems.
"Nothing serious for now. Let's not worry about it," Dudley said reassuringly.
Fortunately, the scar didn't continue to cause burning pain afterward, so Harry didn't dwell on it further.
The four friends quickly left the castle and made their way across the grounds to Hagrid's hut. The evening air was crisp, and their footsteps crunched softly on the frost-covered grass.
"Hagrid, we're here! Open the door quickly!" Ron called out eagerly, rushing ahead to knock on the wooden door.
"Coming!" Hagrid's booming voice came from inside the hut.
The door creaked open on its hinges.
"Hagrid, Norbert..." Ron began excitedly.
Whoosh!
A burst of orange flame suddenly erupted, heading straight for Ron's face.
"Ahhhh!" Ron let out a terrified scream as his hair caught fire instantly.
"Aguamenti!" Dudley reacted with lightning speed, immediately drawing his wand and casting the spell.
A powerful stream of clear water shot out from Dudley's wand, dousing Ron's head and extinguishing his burning hair with a loud hiss.
"Oh! Sorry, Ron! Norbert is a bit hard ter control!" Hagrid quickly apologized, his beetle-black eyes wide with concern.
In his massive arms was the Norwegian Ridgeback, Norbert! The dragon had already hatched.
Cough, cough...
Norbert coughed several times, spitting out tiny sparks that glowed like embers.
The dragon looked like a crumpled black umbrella, with spiny wings folded against its jet-black body. Its snout was large and prominent, with white nostrils that flared with each breath. A knobby horn protruded from its head, and its orange eyes bulged outward, giving it an extremely fierce appearance.
"Look, isn't it beautiful?" Hagrid said while gently stroking Norbert's scaly hide.
"Hagrid, are you absolutely sure this thing can be described as beautiful?" Harry asked, his face pale as he stared at the dragon.
Ron, whose hair had been partially burned and was now soaked from head to toe, had all his previous romantic fantasies about Norbert completely shattered in that terrifying moment.
Dragons were truly fearsome creatures!
Hermione, having witnessed the earlier scene, didn't dare approach either. She stood a full ten meters away from the hut, hesitating nervously.
"Come in quickly, come in and talk," Hagrid said, stepping aside and gesturing for Dudley and the others to enter his cozy hut.
"Let's go in first. Ron needs to dry his clothes, and it's getting quite cold outside," Dudley said practically.
The group somewhat reluctantly followed Dudley into Hagrid's warm hut, the fireplace crackling welcomingly.
Their first impression of Norbert had been decidedly poor.
"Hagrid, forgive me for being direct, but this dragon will burn down your hut sooner or later," Ron said resentfully while warming himself by the fireplace, steam rising from his damp robes.
"I also think keeping a dragon here is far too dangerous. If Dudley hadn't reacted so quickly just now, Ron might have been seriously burned," Hermione said seriously, her voice filled with concern.
"Oh my, look! It recognizes me! It recognizes its mother! Isn't it just adorable?" Hagrid completely ignored what Ron and Hermione were saying, completely immersed in his role as Norbert's surrogate parent.
Harry and the other three exchanged meaningful glances, all feeling extremely helpless. Hagrid in this state was simply obsessed beyond reason.
"Hagrid, let me see Norbert," Dudley said, walking over with purpose.
"This... be careful, it might breathe fire," Hagrid said reluctantly but still handed Norbert to Dudley with obvious hesitation.
"Hey there, do you remember me?" Dudley asked softly, holding Norbert carefully while touching its head with his finger.
Norbert's orange eyes examined Dudley intently. The dragon felt this person's aura was somewhat familiar, stirring vague memories.
The next moment, it opened its mouth wide, preparing to unleash another burst of flame.
"Silence!" Dudley's voice carried unmistakable authority and pressure, and his gaze toward Norbert was no longer gentle but cold as steel.
Norbert was startled by the commanding aura emanating from Dudley and began struggling violently in distress, small whimpers escaping its throat.
"Oh! Norbert, Mother is here! Mother is here!" Hagrid immediately rushed over, seeing the dragon's distress.
"Hagrid, remember what I told you? If this dragon can't be properly tamed, then it must be sent away!" Dudley's voice was full of authority, forcibly pulling Hagrid back to reality from his role as Norbert's doting parent.
"But..." Hagrid wanted to protest but was gently pulled away by Harry.
"Hagrid, I think in the current situation, it's better to let Dudley handle this. Otherwise, Norbert will definitely have to be sent away," Harry said diplomatically.
Dudley paid no more attention to the others, focusing all his concentration on the dragon in his arms.
"Behave yourself, and I'll give you the finest food," he whispered coldly in Norbert's ear. "Misbehave, and don't blame me for being unkind."
"The Interrogator's authority, combined with his previous gentle approach, finally made the Norwegian Ridgeback settle down quietly in Dudley's arms."
The dragon's feelings toward Dudley were now both fearful and affectionate, creating a very contradictory but effective bond.
"Well then, let's begin with the basics of training!" Dudley announced. "You'll need to properly control your fire-breathing ability."
Dudley began using his extraordinary abilities to train the newly hatched Norbert. This stage was the optimal time for such training, when the dragon's instincts were still malleable.
Although Dudley's extraordinary abilities didn't directly involve taming magical creatures, the manipulation and distortion of natural laws from both the Justiciar and Black Emperor pathways could greatly assist him in his initial training of Norbert.
"Simply put, Norbert was just an ordinary Norwegian Ridgeback. Even though it was among the more powerful magical creatures, when faced with Dudley's extraordinary abilities from both the Justiciar and Black Emperor pathways, the newly born dragon had little power to resist such overwhelming authority."