Ron was truly terrified; after learning that Hagrid had once raised an Eight-eyed Giant Spider, he no longer cared about the Fire Dragon. He just wanted to hurry back to the castle.
As long as he could go back, he wouldn't mind even writing a whole... uh, half day's worth of homework.
Yet that small request was never responded to.
Harry and Hermione were still trying various reasons to convince Hagrid to release Norbert, there's surely no leaving just yet.
Ron had considered leaving Harry and Hermione here and going by himself, but he quickly dismissed the idea, as it would make him look cowardly.
Unable to leave, too scared to act, Ron could only withstand his fear of spiders, standing there in anxiety.
"The Forbidden Forest is too small, Hagrid," Hermione advised, "It might be able to hide a Three-Headed Dog, but it definitely can't hide a dragon. Don't forget Norbert can fly; with just a slight flap of his wings, he could reach fifty feet into the air. These trees wouldn't be any use."
"But... I just got him," Hagrid hesitated.
"Do you want him staying in the Forbidden Forest forever, never flying?" Hermione continued, "Norbert is a dragon, Hagrid; he was born to belong to the sky."
"I... I know I can't keep him forever," Hagrid murmured, biting his lip, "But yesterday, when he was eating, he brushed against my hand; he must think I'm his mom... I can't just throw him away, I can't."
Ah?
Kael raised his head, puzzled, looking at Norbert pretending to be dead on his arm.
What is going on? How did I become the male mom just by not paying attention for a while...
Besides, I've never heard of any Fire Dragon having a "brushing hand bonding" tradition; how did Hagrid come to this conclusion?
"Charlie!"
At that moment, Harry suddenly shouted, grabbing everyone's attention.
Excited, he said, "Ron, I remember your brother Charlie studies Fire Dragons in Romania; we might as well send Norbert to him."
Ron didn't speak, only nodding stiffly.
"That's a great idea!" said Hermione, "What do you think, Hagrid!"
"I believe Charlie would take good care of him!"
Hagrid was silent for a moment and did not agree right away, only saying he would consider it.
No matter how much Harry and Hermione said afterward, he didn't relent.
Only after the three left did Hagrid slump into a chair, ran fingers through his hair, and asked, "Kael, do you think I should've agreed just now to send Norbert to Romania? Maybe it's already the best choice."
"Honestly, there's no need."
After making sure the trio was far, Kael finally said, "Charlie is reliable, but I have a better option..."
Kael stayed in Hagrid's wooden cabin for a long time, leaving only when it was noon.
...
The next day, when Harry and Hermione came again to try persuading Hagrid to hand Norbert over to Charlie, they received a surprising piece of news.
"You mean you've already found a solution?" Harry said incredulously.
"Yes." Hagrid looked much relieved; while handling a fish, he said, "You're right; we can't keep a dragon here, so when he grows a bit bigger, he will leave."
Hearing Hagrid say this, Harry also breathed a sigh of relief.
I don't know where he sent Norbert, but as long as he's not at Hogwarts, it's fine.
"Oh, where's Ron?" Hagrid asked, looking up, "Why didn't he come with you?"
"Oh, he has other things today," Harry said.
Since learning they had to come here today, Ron left the common room and never returned, and Harry had no idea where he was.
...
"Hermione, don't you think it's a bit strange?"
On the way back, Harry glanced back at the direction of the cabin, asking, "It's been just one day; why did Hagrid suddenly agree to send Norbert away? Did something happen that we don't know about?"
"There's nothing strange about it; maybe Hagrid figured out that he really can't raise a dragon at Hogwarts."
"Besides, we have more important things to attend to now."
Hermione seemed a bit anxious, speaking rapidly, "Final exams are coming up soon; we need to hurry and catch up on the time we've lost."
"Exams, aren't they still far away?" Harry said nonchalantly.
"Only twenty days!" Hermione retorted, "Or you could say next month is exam week, do you still think it's far?"
"Twenty... days?" Harry suddenly stopped in his tracks, staring blankly at Hermione.
Last time they discussed exams, there were still ten weeks left, how come it's suddenly down to twenty days?
But he felt it had only been a few days... has someone stolen his time?
What made Harry feel more desperate was that he couldn't remember what they learned in class at all, his brain felt like a blank canvas.
And when they returned to the castle and told Ron waiting at the auditorium doors, he presented the same expression.
It seemed in an instant, exams ceased being some distant task.
During the period afterward, Harry and Ron had no more time to think about Hagrid and his Fire Dragon.
Night after night, after finishing a heap of homework assigned by the teachers, they desperately worked through the revision plans formulated by Hermione; it nearly drove them crazy.
"This is terrifying..."
In the library, Ron stared at the never-ending pile of thick books before him, saying despondently, "Even in my dreams, all I see is Automatic Stirring Cauldrons."
"Did you dream the answer?" Hermione glared up, unsatisfied. "Which wizards invented them?"
She had even more books before her, nearly covering the whole table.
"I only remember those cauldrons lining up to smash onto my head…" Ron said unhappily, "But Hermione, why are you still revising? You already know everything."
"Did those cauldrons knock some sense out of your head?"
Hermione anxiously said, "Just knowing isn't enough to get an O (Outstanding) on the finals.
If the questions are hard, I can hardly imagine, if I only manage an E (Exceeds Expectations) when the time comes, what then."
Harry and Ron looked at each other; frankly, if they got an E, they'd probably jump for joy.
"But you're already the best in the entire grade," Ron said softly, "In class, you always finish the professors' tasks first."
"A lot of people can do that... like Kael in our second year," Hermione shook her head, "And I've learned his scores last year were perfect."