The air in Hagrid's hut was molten — thick with heat, and the scent of brandy-soaked blood.
Every breath Cassius took burned faintly in his chest, but he didn't move from where he stood.
His gaze was locked on the trembling egg atop the table, black as obsidian and streaked with pulsing red veins that glowed brighter with each second.
Cracks spread like lightning across its surface.
Hagrid leaned forward, enormous hands trembling with excitement.
"There she goes! There she goes!"
The sound deepened — crrrrkkk… then crrr-ACK! — until the egg all but exploded in a flash of heat and shards.
The table shook.
Shell fragments, razor-thin and shimmering with molten light, flew across the room like shrapnel.
Cassius murmured something under his breath, wand flicking almost lazily.
in that instant the scattered dragonshell shard flowed silently through the air, before finding themselve all deposited in the expanded pocket of Cassius's robe.
Then came the first sound — a thin, rasping chirp that wasn't quite a cry.
A small shape, slick with glowing residue, stirred among the smoking remnants of its shell.
Its scales gleamed dark green under the firelight, and steam rose from its tiny nostrils.
Its wings — batlike, fragile — flexed once, scattering sparks into the air as it stumbled about.
"Blimey," Ron breathed. "It's a Norwegian Ridgeback!"
Cassius, his voice calm, corrected softly,
"She's a Norwegian Ridgeback. By the look of the ridges and the wing veining that is."
Hagrid's eyes gleamed.
"Ain't she beautiful? Look at 'er, lads — just perfect!"
Harry edged closer, eyes wide.
"Where did you even get the egg?"
Hagrid puffed up with pride.
"Won it! Had meself a right good game o' cards with a hooded feller down in the village. Said he'd been travelin', didn't want the little one anymore. Real friendly chap, that one."
Cassius's stomach turned cold.
He knew who that "friendly chap" was.
Quirrell — or rather, what hid beneath his turban — had outplayed the oaf perfectly.
Ron frowned.
"So… you gambled for an illegal dragon egg?"
Hagrid's grin faltered just slightly.
"Well, yeh make it sound bad when yeh put it like that…"
Cassius sighed.
But before he could even begin, the tiny dragon sneezed — a spark first, then a jet of flame.
"—Oh, bloody hell!"
The gout of fire struck Hagrid's beard, which erupted like a torch.
"AHHH!"
Hagrid was quick to patt it down with his oven mitted hands, The fire hissed out instantly, leaving behind the smell of scorched hair and a very flustered half-giant patting his chin.
"Right," Hagrid wheezed, laughing through the smoke. "Bit of a fiery one, ain't she? She'll hafta be trained up a bit."
Ron and Harry couldn't stop laughing, though both jumped when the dragon hissed again — sharp, questioning, almost plaintive.
And then Cassius heard it.
Not the sound.
The voice.
Almost like he was hearing ventriloquism
'Mama?'
Cassius froze.
The word was soft, almost childlike, though with a sort of strange quality to it he couldnt quite place his finger on when had he heard this before... His eyes darted to the newborn Ridgeback.
It was staring directly at him — head tilted, eyes glowing faint gold.
He swallowed.
'Mama? Hungry. Warm. Mama!'
It was undeniable now.
He wasn't imagining it.
He could understand her.
"Cassius?" Harry asked, frowning. "You all right?"
He blinked rapidly, masking the confusion behind a practiced calm.
"Yes. Just… listening."
To test a theory, Cassius crouched slowly, meeting the dragon's gaze.
"Easy, little one," he murmured, voice low.
And without fully realizing it, the words changed.
His tongue curled around sounds that weren't human — soft, grumbling, like a poorly oiled door being slowly opened.
"ᚨ'sha vethra. Ssleth nuu."
Was what the others in the room heard, causing them to tilt their head wonderin what the boy was doing, but the truly shocked one was the baby dragon.
Norberta's eyes dilated as she heard his response to her inquires.
She chirped, delighted, then waddled forward on trembling legs and pressed her smoking snout into his hand.
"Merlin's pants," Ron whispered. "It understood you!"
Hagrid's mouth fell open. "You... Ya just spoke to a dragon lad!"
Cassius blinked, momentarily caught off guard by how natural it had felt.
"I… suppose I did."
But inside, his mind was racing.
How?
He checked his system internally — the faint screen appeared when he called it up.
There it was: his Parseltongue skill, level three.
But this wasn't Parseltongue, was it?
Not snake language.
This was draconic, or whatever you call dragonspeech in the magical world.
Are snakes and dragons related just like in japanese myths?
Could his higher level Parseltongue skill have given him the basics of Draconic?
The thought was confirmed as while looking at the bottom of his skill list he found a new skill he hadnt possessed before 'Draconic Lvl 0 25/100'
If he had to put it into proper terms then his linguistic skills would only equally match that of the baby Norberta, but given even a month Norberta would become a full-fledge child and his vocabulary wouldnt keep up, so pulling a single Charms entry off his idle slot he instead slotted in the draconic speech skill.
Before he could analyze further, Hagrid boomed joyfully,
"That settles it! She's taken a right proper likin' to yeh, Cassius! Like a mother, she does!"
Cassius raised an eyebrow.
"I'd prefer 'handler.'"
But the title didn't matter.
Because as soon as Hagrid reached forward to pet her, the Ridgeback hissed — loud, sharp, defensive.
Cassius murmured a soft phrase — "Thresk na vethra" — and instantly, the hatchling settled.
"See?" Hagrid said, beaming. "She listens to yeh! Must think yeh her mummy!"
Harry laughed nervously.
"So Draconis house now has a proper dragon as well?."
Cassius wanted to retort that the dragon was Hagrid responsibility
But the dragon didn't seem to agree.
She crawled clumsily into his lap, curling up with a pleased, smoky purr.
Hagrid's smile faltered slightly.
"Er… maybe she could stay with yeh a bit, jus' till she's bigger?"
Cassius gave him a long, level look.
He wa after all only here to land himself into Detention to discover where Voldemort was hiding in the forbidden forest, not recruit a real dragon as his pet.
Ron snorted.
"Imagine Malfoy's face if he found out you've got a real dragon as a pet."
Cassius didnt want to find out, since if the dragon was his responsibilitiy that would mean he was a likely target to get expelled, followed by incarcerated for illegal dragon rearing.
If it was up to him he'd instantly report this and get the dragon sent to Romania where it could grow up in a dragon sanctuary, but at the same time it was like the dragon in his lap was calling to his very soul.
But it was at this moment the timeline reasserted itself.
"Whose that?"
"Malfoy!"
"Oh... Dear."
~
They had been spotted and since Norberta refused to let Cassius leave without her, he packed her away in his pocket along with all the chicken blood and brandy Hagrid had purchased for her feedings.
When they returned to the castle they were found by Professor McGonagal wearing her nightwere and robe.
After being admonished, Harry and Ron lost 50 hours points each, while Cassius had only lost 10, followed by showing her the dragon and his ability to tame it as it were.
Seeing his ability to commune witht he beast and keep it calm she begrudingly accept that it be allowed in the castle, so long as he properly cares for it but advises he speak with Lady Draconis regarding it.
As well as point loss the four of them would serve detention for a week.
Though Cassius didnt mind since he knew plot would only have him serve a single night of this detention.