Saturday morning, in front of the gamekeeper's hut.
Mid-September was already autumn, and the autumn wind carrying traces of coolness swept across the grounds. In this wind, two people stood facing each other. One wore a pure white windbreaker with a blue and white bird perched on his shoulder; the other was draped in a fur jacket and carrying a suitcase.
Eyes meeting, after a long moment, a low voice spoke:
"You came?"
"Yes, I came."
"You shouldn't have come."
"But I already came. Wait, why are we talking like this?"
Hands in his pockets, Evans looked speechlessly at the tall figure before him, who was feeling dejected while carrying a case.
"It's just sending it to the depths of the Forbidden Forest. It's not like we'll never see it again for the rest of our lives. What are you so down about?"
Hearing Evans's words, Hagrid shrank his neck, but his expression remained somewhat dejected.
"I'm just afraid that after it goes to the Forbidden Forest, it won't be able to eat enough, or if it'll get bullied."
Evans: "...?"
Get bullied after going to the Forbidden Forest?
"What are we sending exactly?" Evans asked with a speechless expression.
"Norbert, of course. Didn't we agree to send it to the Forbidden Forest today?" Hagrid asked strangely.
"And what species is Norbert?"
"Um... Norwegian Ridgeback?"
"You mean one of the strongest XXXXX-class species would get bullied in the Forbidden Forest?"
Evans couldn't understand Hagrid's thinking at all. It would be good enough if it didn't bully other magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest. What could possibly bully it?
"But what if it can't get enough to eat?" Hagrid's expression was still somewhat worried.
"Don't worry. Unless the Forbidden Forest has no living creatures from now on, that absolutely won't happen."
Hearing Evans's words, Hagrid finally felt somewhat reassured, but his expression remained a bit dejected.
However, this parting sadness didn't last long. Soon he looked up, observed Evans, his eyes showing some surprise.
"Why did you only bring Alice today and not Nana?"
In his memory, Evans would definitely bring Nana when going to the Forbidden Forest. That Niffler's abilities were impressive. It could search for treasures or seals within several kilometres.
Why didn't Evans bring it today?
"Nana? She's studying right now." Thinking of how the Niffler had wailed when he sent it into the Sphinxes' box last night, Evans felt a surge of satisfaction.
Making trouble for him every day! It deserved a good lesson!
Shaking his head and stroking the Diricawl on his shoulder, seeing that Hagrid had brought everything, Evans said softly:
"Let's hurry up. Finding a good habitat for it won't be easy, and I have my first club meeting tomorrow."
Two hours later.
Above the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid sat on a broomstick while Evans floated beside him in mid-air, holding a map.
It was a map covered in mist, with only a section in the lower left and a strip extending west having colour. A red dot was drawn on the map, which had now approached the northern mist.
Looking at the red dot on the map, Evans said: "Going further ahead, we'll enter areas I haven't explored. Should we rest for a bit?"
Since they were looking for a place to release Norbert, they definitely couldn't choose familiar areas.
Dragons needed large amounts of food and space to survive. In areas he was familiar with, there were too many of his friends. Norbert's activities would be very restricted, and tragedies like "friend, delicious" might accidentally occur.
Places he hadn't explored wouldn't have such risks.
Looking at the unfamiliar jungle around them, Hagrid also nodded.
Although he'd been a gamekeeper for decades, his familiarity with the depths of the Forbidden Forest wasn't much greater than Evans's. Many places he only knew about after Evans had explored them first.
Going further ahead would also be beyond his explored range.
"Then let's rest here for a bit. It's almost Norbert's lunchtime anyway."
Finding an open area nearby, Evans pulled out a small picnic cloth from his pocket and placed it on the ground. With a tap of his wand, the picnic cloth instantly unfolded, occupying half the clearing.
On the other side, Hagrid gently opened the case in his hand, pointing the opening toward the area not covered by the picnic cloth.
A moment later, accompanied by an excited roar, a huge head emerged from the case, followed by claws and wings. Within seconds, a massive dragon appeared before Evans's eyes.
Compared to when it was small, Norbert hadn't changed much besides its size. But due to the dramatic size difference, what was once a cute dragon had become a terrifying beast.
However, this terrifying beast's expression and movements didn't quite match its form.
Those eyes, larger than a child's head, were full of curiosity. Its mouth was open in a grin, and hot, sulphur-scented drool dripped to the ground, corroding huge holes in the earth.
The next second, Norbert finally noticed Evans sitting not far away. Its eyes lit up, it flapped its wings and charged toward Evans like a gust of wind, extending its tongue to lick him.
Alice on his shoulder panicked and vanished as a silver streak, hiding behind Evans's leg. Evans silently drew his wand and held it in front of him.
A translucent barrier blocked the dragon's huge tongue. Norbert's eyes showed some grievance as it rubbed its head against the barrier, seemingly wanting Evans to change his mind.
But Evans couldn't possibly remove the barrier in front of him.
What a joke. A dragon's saliva was probably as hot as boiling water, and Norwegian Ridgebacks were among the rare venomous dragons. Getting licked once would probably cost him a layer of skin!
Heartlessly ignoring Norbert's aggrieved expression, Evans pulled out over ten frost-covered iron boxes from his pocket. With a tap of his wand, massive chunks of raw meat floated out of the boxes and landed beside Norbert.
"Eat first."
Seeing that Evans wouldn't remove the barrier, the dragon huffed grievously again, then lowered its head and began feasting.
Time passed slowly. Soon Norbert finished its lunch, then looked at Hagrid's open case and shook its huge head like a rattle drum.
It had only been out for less than half an hour. It didn't want to go back!
Seeing Norbert's appearance of refusing to return no matter what, Hagrid looked at Evans with pleading eyes.
"How about we continue riding it from here?"
Ride a dragon?
Looking at the huge dragon whose eyes held anticipation, Evans pondered for a moment and nodded.
"Alright."
They were already far from the castle anyway. Probably no one could see them.
Hearing Evans agree, Norbert roared happily again, flapping its wings and stirring up dust.
Then it brought its head close to Evans again.
It really liked this human. Time to go in with the tongue!