"Look, what is that thing?"
"A black cloud?"
"That black cloud is moving so fast!"
At Hogwarts, many students saw Quirrell escaping from the fourth floor, but they didn't know what it was and just thought it was a black cloud or some student's prank.
"What are you looking at?" Snape heard the commotion and immediately appeared at the window.
"Professor Snape, look over there, there's a black cloud, flying so fast, heading toward the Forbidden Forest," Malfoy immediately said.
He felt that cloud seemed somewhat strange, but he couldn't tell exactly what was happening.
"Black cloud?" Snape's gaze focused, and he immediately looked in the direction Malfoy was pointing. Sure enough, he saw a black cloud flying rapidly, having already crossed over Hogwarts castle to the grounds outside, heading straight for the Forbidden Forest.
"This is bad!" After seeing that black cloud, Snape's expression immediately changed.
He could tell at a glance that it wasn't some cloud but rather a rapid flying spell commonly used by dark wizards. Hogwarts had special enchantments that made Apparition impossible in this area, so obviously a dark wizard was fleeing from Hogwarts.
Snape almost immediately realized the problem and without any hesitation, ran straight for the fourth-floor corridor.
"Professor, what's wrong?" Malfoy asked in confusion.
"Go find Professor McGonagall, tell her the thing we're protecting might have been stolen, and have her pursue along the direction of the Forbidden Forest," Snape shouted to Malfoy before leaving.
Snape wasn't sure who that fleeing figure was, but this could be a trap, since that person was escaping too brazenly. This might very well be to lure him into pursuit, while the real situation was that the person would only act after everyone left.
So he had to go check the situation at the fourth-floor corridor. As for that fleeing dark figure, he could only leave it to Professor McGonagall.
"What's happening?" Malfoy was somewhat confused, but he quickly reacted and ran toward Professor McGonagall's office.
At the same time, in the Forbidden Forest, by the pond where Norbert nested.
"I never thought there would be fish in this little pond, and they've grown so big already," Ron said happily.
They had already interacted with Norbert and knew that under Dudley's training, this fire dragon was no longer dangerous, so they had relaxed considerably.
After discovering there were fish in the pond, Harry and Ron directly jumped into the water to catch fish, and the area was filled with their laughter and joy.
Although the weather was still somewhat cold and the pond was chilly, with Norbert there, a fire had already been lit by the pond. If they felt cold, they could completely go to the shore to warm up. So they were having great fun by the pond and had caught several large fish.
"Come on, I'll grill fish for you all," Dudley said, preparing to show off his skills.
After killing the fish Harry and Ron had caught, he skewered them on wooden sticks.
"Come on, Norbert, give us a little flame!" Dudley said to Norbert.
Norbert looked at Dudley with some resentment in his eyes. A magnificent fire dragon, actually grilling fish for humans here? Was this something a dragon should be doing?
"Hurry up! Don't make the flame too big," Dudley urged.
Norbert felt his throat was a bit itchy, coughed lightly, and breathed out some flames that landed perfectly on the fish in Dudley's hands.
"Well done, Norbert!" Dragon-grilled fish was something ordinary people could never eat.
Hagrid had already gone back to get seasonings. When the seasonings arrived, the grilled fish would be about ready.
"It smells so good!" Hermione watched from the side with amazement as the rich aroma of fish was already spreading under Norbert's flame roasting.
"Are you really treating the Forbidden Forest as your own territory?" Suddenly, a voice came. Firenze emerged from behind a large tree, looking somewhat helplessly at Dudley and the others who were having so much fun here.
"Uh... just grilling one fish, that should be okay," Dudley said.
He knew there were some dangers in the Forbidden Forest, but they weren't afraid. What could be more terrifying than a fire dragon?
With Norbert here, its aura spreading out, those dangerous creatures in the Forbidden Forest wouldn't dare approach this place. And the most dangerous person was currently stealing a non-existent Philosopher's Stone at Hogwarts.
"As far as I know, you entering the Forbidden Forest should be against school rules," Firenze said.
"Yes, but I can break school rules to a certain extent," Dudley shrugged.
Hermione beside him looked a bit pale but wasn't too scared. After all, during this time following Dudley and the others, she had already broken countless school rules, and it had even gone beyond just breaking school rules to breaking actual laws.
"Want to join us for some grilled fish?" Dudley invited.
"No thanks." Firenze shook his head in refusal.
But he didn't leave either, just stood quietly not far away, watching Dudley grill fish and Harry and Ron catch fish in the pond.
Norbert glanced at this centaur. He recognized Firenze but only knew him. There was no communication between them.
"Norbert, keep going, don't stop!" Dudley urged.
This guy Norbert was slacking off again, stopping after breathing out just two flames.
Norbert reluctantly continued breathing fire.
"Truly amazing, he actually tamed this fire dragon," Firenze looked at Dudley and Norbert. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed a human could tame a fire dragon to this extent.
"It seems he indeed has some secret methods," Firenze thought to himself.
Among wizards, many possessed unique abilities, such as shape-shifting or mind-reading. That Dudley had some talent in taming magical creatures was also possible. This wasn't rare, and Firenze wouldn't be particularly surprised by it.
"The Forbidden Forest has never been as lively as it is now," Firenze said, looking at this scene.
Two little boys happily catching fish in the pond, another boy grilling fish on the shore, and a girl smiling as she watched it all. It was truly a beautiful picture.
Of course, this was only part of the scene. The other part was a Norwegian Ridgeback breathing fire nearby, helping the boy grill fish.
The first part was like some Muggle children camping and grilling fish, but adding the second part instantly made it incredibly magical. A strange beauty revealed through the incongruity.
Wind came, rustling through the forest treetops. Everyone looked up and happened to see the sunlight just right, with a black cloud quickly drifting past.