"What are you staring at?" asked Hermione.
"This dragon's egg," replied Christian.
"So, it is a dragon egg," added Ron. "Hagrid, don't you know that's illegal?"
Christian tuned out the rest of this conversation as he thought deeply. He had a brilliant idea and wanted to know if it would work. Without hesitation, he summoned his journal to add Entry 29. Hermione observed him but did not say anything as she knew he did not like to be bothered when writing in that notebook that was always with him. Once Christian finished, he took out his Two-Way Mirror to call his mother.
"Am I bothering you?"
"No, I'm on a break. What do you need?" asked Tiara.
"Is it possible for us to buy a dragon farm?" asked Christian, making his mother pause briefly.
"Why are you suddenly interested in raising dragons?"
"I had a brilliant idea. Do you know of a wizard called Paracelsus?"
"Not that I can recall."
"He's credited with discovering Parseltongue despite only living in the 16th century, but that's unimportant. The crux of my idea is how Paracelsus learned Parseltongue; he used his Legilimens to peep into snakes' minds while recording the sounds they make when interacting with each other. He then matched their thoughts with the sound, thus learning the language."
"So, you want to do the same for dragons?" asked Tiara.
"Yeah, so what do you think?"
"Your idea is good, but not as simple as you think."
"Dragons are the creatures with the highest level of magic resistance, and this protection is also for their mind."
"So, Legilimency won't work on them?"
"You're very talented in that field, so it might work, but the information you want to acquire might be minimal."
Christian frowned, "What if we use baby dragons? They are small, and their magic resistance should be weaker?"
"That might work, but their mind is also more fragile."
"Yes, that is an issue," nodded Christian.
"I will get the farm, and we will find a solution."
"Thanks," said Christian. "And have a good day."
Christian put the mirror away, feeling happy and satisfied. Although Parseltongue granted him only one slight advantage (Snake Summoning Charm), he would be more than satisfied if it were the case of the Draconic Language.
"Huh? Why are you staring at me? Do I have something on my face?" Christian wiped his face but did not find anything.
"I wish I were rich enough to ask my parents to buy me a dragon farm," said Ron, sitting on the side, feeling dejected.
"Oh," said Christian, not knowing how to respond to these words; he did not mean to flaunt his wealth. He changed the subject, "Hagrid, how about you give the dragon egg, and I'll keep it on the farm for you."
"I don' want yeh to experimen' with my dragon."
"You can't keep it here because of how fast they grow and how illegal that is," persuaded Christian. "Plus, after learning the dragon language, I can teach you. Don't you want to speak to dragons?"
Hagrid's decision immediately faltered, as shown by his expression.
"On top of everything else, I can give you a pass to the farm. You can use Floo Powder to go there and play with all the cute dragons."
"I-I-I," stuttered Hagrid. "Give me some time."
Christian did not continue to persuade him, and soon after, he and the others left. They separated because he had a meeting with Professor McGonagall to write their paper about conjuring elements in the periodic table, which will be published in Transfiguration Weekly. Such an experience has drastically increased his understanding of Transfiguration—specifically, conjuration.
As time passed, Harry and Ron stressed out about exams, especially since Hermione had made study guides for them and forced them to study. Professor Flitwick and McGonagall's spell was almost completed, and he could only wait.
"Happy Birthday, Christian," said Hermione, Ron, and Harry.
With one breath, he blew out all twelve of his candles. The four then separated the cake and ate it.
"Hmm, this is bloody delicious. What's this flavor?" asked Ron, and Harry shrugged.
"It looked like Red Velvet, but I'm not sure," said Hermione.
"Red Velvet Truffle — my favorite," explained Christian. "However, it seems my aunt went above and beyond for this cake." He could feel the richness of the chocolate made from the truffle, and the taste was unlike anything he'd eaten before.
"This looks expensive. Is your family well-off?" asked Hermione. She knew not to ask this kind of question, but felt relaxed since they were amongst friends.
"My aunt just became a billionaire," he replied casually.
Hermione laughed, but then she saw his face, "Wait, you're serious?"
"Yes. So, if your parents ever need help, you can ask me for help, and my aunt will be more than happy to assist."
They all looked at him in shock before Ron said, "Sometimes, I feel like the world loves you too much; you seem to have everything."
"I agree," said Harry.
"I second that," added Hermione.
"But I envy you and Hermione— especially you, Ron."
"My father disappeared when I was one year old, and my mother spent the next decade looking for him; she was rarely home, leaving my aunt and a few butlers and servants to raise me. I don't blame her, but I often wish she had spent more time with me. That's why I envy your large family. Everyone is present and obviously loves each other."
The room became quiet, so Ron tried a joke: "Do you see how Percy treats me?" He chuckled.
"Hey, at least you're better than me," added Harry.
"Now you're making me feel bad for having parents," added Hermione, and Christian laughed. They ate their cake before opening presents. Christian returned to his room and chatted with his mother and aunts through the Two-Way Mirror. They wished him a happy birthday before ending the conversation.
Then, Christians started to stretch.
"My body does feel weird." Ever since he woke up at Midnight from his meditation, his body felt weird. He was not in pain, but Christian felt it was weird, as if something was happening, but he could not understand.
'Is it because of my birthday? But why would that have any effect on my body?' He grunted as he could not explain the situation, so he just added it to the list of things wrong with him. Since his eyes glow when he uses magic, it's not strange for something to happen to his body.
Hagrid finally called them to see the dragon's birth a few days later.
"Beautiful," commented Christian as he saw that poor creature breaking out of its shelf. He resisted the urge to read its mind as he did not want to accidentally turn this young creature into a vegetable.
"Right? I cal' him Norbert," said Hagrid.
"It should be Norberta since it's a woman," said Christian. He did not say this because he knew the plot. He read a few books about dragons in his leisure time, wanting to know as much as possible about them.
"Yeah," nodded Christian. "Did you decide?" His mother told him they found a middle-level farm in Romania whose owner wished to sell. They are now discussing a fair price and are expected to come to an agreement soon.
"I did, and I won' give it to yeh."
"I don' want you to be experimentin' on him, I mean her," said Hagrid.
"That's fair. But you should also understand that you can't keep her."
Things then proceeded as they should. Hagrid chose to send Norberta to Charlie. Christian gazed at the window and did not see signs of Malfoy. Whenever he participates in certain events in the books, he has this strange feeling that some unknown force is trying really hard to ensure that these people experience certain events. However, his existence seemed to disturb that force, but only subtly and not always to success.
'Is there really a sinister force behind Harry's story and his status as the Chosen One?' thought Christian before shaking his head and not thinking about it. He needed to prepare for something important—his fight against Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest.
He wanted to do this for multiple reasons. Firstly, he wanted to save that poor unicorn. Knowing it would die, he decided to try to save it, especially after forgetting about the first one due to his busy schedule.
Secondly, Christian wanted a real challenge to see how far his skills had come, and he chose Quirrell for it. Thirdly, he wanted to show Voldemort using dark magic and further the persona he had created during their exchange. Although it seems counterintuitive to actually attack the latter, Christian has a plan.
As Christian prepared for this fight, including stealing one of the Slytherin students' wands (he did not want any records of him using dark magic on his wand), things proceeded as they should, with some differences. The trio, Neville and Draco, were caught trying to bring Norberta to Charlie despite Christian's warning not to forget the Invisible Cloak.
However, a slight change to this event was that Hermione was not caught. As they heard Flich's rapidly approaching, she hurriedly cast the Disillusionment Charm on herself and Ron (which Norberta did not bite but still revealed the news to Draco). Sadly, she did not have time to do the same for Harry, so he was caught and deducted 50 points each, including poor Neville, who wanted to warn them of Draco's doing.
Christian secretly tracked Quirrell by borrowing the Marauder's Map from the Weasley Twins, who were shocked at how he knew of its existence. On that fateful day, he donned a black robe that covered his face and identity before secretly flying behind Quirrell. After Voldemort had absorbed some blood, he appeared before the latter and attacked.
Christian's body involuntarily trembled as fear rushed down his spine; Quirrell's eyes were too scary.
'I was right. Wizards on Dumbledore and Voldemort's level have a natural, intimidating aura. People fear the Dark Lord not only because of his cruelty but also because of this ability. Maybe all his senseless violence also added to that aura,' thought Christian.
After figuring this out, he had a greater respect for Harry. It's not easy for anyone to ignore Voldemort's fear, let alone face it, which Harry did even as a child. Christian secretly exhaled as he told himself to calm down.
"Damn bastard, this unicorn was my prey. I was supposed to absorb his life energy," said Christian in a modified voice. Quirrell focused on him, on guard with his wand.
'This battle needs to be quick and loud. Otherwise, this poor creature won't survive,' thought Christian. He had now realized his plan was too complicated, too many things could go wrong, and he might have done something stupid. Sadly, it was too late to regret it.