Julian had also been occupied with his own private study of the fundamental principles behind nearly every subject available to him at his current level. Attack magic, defensive magic, occlumency, legilimency, magizoology, potions, transfiguration, and even divination had all claimed portions of his time, though his progress in that last subject was minimal. That was not because the books were written in some sort of code, but because nearly all of them read like the deranged mutterings of lunatics. Apparently, trying to forcefully peer into the future had a tendency to drive wizards insane. Who would have guessed. The subject causing him the most difficulty after that, however, was occlumency, since even now his first mental shield had yet to fully solidify.
He could not begin building a second layer of defense inside his mind until that first shield finished stabilizing. At the same time, he had improved a great deal in hand to hand combat under Celebrimbor's relentless instruction, or beatings, within his mindscape. He had also learned why Celebrimbor was unaffected by any changes in the mindscape. Unlike Julian, who was present there with only one aspect of his being, Celebrimbor existed there through two, mind and soul. Even so, the system kept the elf under such strict restraint that the possibility of Julian being possessed simply did not exist.
...
Today had begun much like most recent days, with most of Julian's friends gathered in the library to study. This time, however, Hagrid was there as well. Julian knew that because the half giant was the complete opposite of stealthy, and because Julian himself was also in the library. Realizing this was probably his best opportunity to come into contact with a dragon before the Triwizard Tournament, he made his way over to where his friends were sitting. He arrived in time to catch the middle of their conversation about the stone and the protections around it before the discussion shifted to why Hagrid had been in the library in the first place.
"Just doing a bit of studying is all," Hagrid said defensively before retreating from the library with a couple of books tucked inside his coat.
Julian appeared just as the group was preparing to head down to Hagrid's hut and said he would come with them. None of them found that strange, since he tended to be rather whimsical whenever they spent time together. He was great fun to have around, but he also had a habit of doing whatever struck his fancy, even when it seemed odd.
"Why were you in the library anyway? Aren't you already set for the exams?" Ron asked curiously as they walked.
Julian nodded. "I am as far as the exams go, but that doesn't mean I can't study things beyond what we're being taught," Julian replied with a shrug.
"What was it this time? Illusions, or some other bloody weird topic?" Ron asked, rolling his eyes.
"Don't get upset with me just because your brothers have been tormenting you with those spells I gave them for Christmas," Julian said with a grin and a chuckle.
"It's not just me, mate. Bloody everyone has been hit with those spells, and we all hate them," Ron complained.
"You should just be grateful he didn't give them any of the really nasty ones," Daphne said, sending Julian a knowing glance.
Julian's grin only widened. "I'm not apologizing," he said without a trace of remorse.
"The least you could do is show some concern for the consequences of your actions," Hermione said disapprovingly.
"What is this, gang up on me day? Because if it is, five against one really doesn't look very good. For you, that is," Julian said with a laugh, smiling like a madman.
They talked cheerfully the whole way to Hagrid's hut, which was saturated with magical energy connected to fire. Julian noticed that immediately, though he did not find it all that strange, since dragons were creatures of fire. An incubating dragon egg would naturally leak a great deal of magical energy into the area around it. Hagrid seemed pleased to have visitors and had apparently come to accept that their group had taken an interest in the stone hidden within the castle. He outright told them who had contributed to its defenses in an effort to make them leave the matter alone, but that only made them even more determined to interfere because of their suspicions about Snape.
"Could you open a window or something? I'm boiling," Ron said, wiping away sweat.
Hagrid shook his head. "Can't do that, I'm afraid," the half giant replied, flicking a glance toward the fireplace, where a large round black object sat among the flames.
"Hagrid, what is that?" Harry asked, even though he clearly already suspected the answer.
Hagrid swelled with pride. "Oh, that's a dragon egg. Norwegian Ridgeback, if these books are right. Won it off a bloke in the pub yesterday in a card game," he said proudly.