After class, the professor smiled and handed the glass jar to Ethan Jones after the girls had taken several more reluctant glances at the Salamander before leaving.
"Jones, this Salamander is yours to take care of. Judging from your performance in class, you are also someone who loves magical creatures. I think you can take good care of it."
Ethan Jones was overjoyed, holding the jar in both hands: "Thank you, Professor! I will take good care of it."
"Hmm." Professor Kettleburn, leaning on his cane, walked away slowly.
Ethan Jones looked at the empty classroom but didn't leave. He knew that the Salamander had been away from the flames for at least an hour, and although the professor was feeding it peppers, he didn't know how much longer it had to live.
To prevent the Salamander from harming him, he slightly reduced his restrained charm before opening the jar.
The Salamander crawled out, up his fingers to his palm, and coiled up head to tail, remaining motionless.
A small fireball appeared in Ethan Jones's right palm, attracting the Salamander.
"Eat up, eat up."
He watched as the Salamander gradually devoured the small ball of flame, then curled up into a ball again.
He carefully put the Salamander in the jar and hurried towards his dormitory.
Ethan Jones planned to keep the Salamander in the fireplace of the Slytherin Common Room.
Because he had considered all the places that were convenient for him to go, he found that only there could provide a stable source of fire in the long term, making it a suitable habitat for the Salamander.
However, before he could return to his dormitory, the accident happened.
The Salamander that ate the fireball he provided soon began to bang and clang against the glass bottle.
Not knowing what had happened, he quickly took the jar out of his backpack.
The once pristine white Salamander now had black spots appearing on its body, and these spots were spreading rapidly, seemingly about to cover all its scales.
The Salamander struggled in pain, its body twisting and turning, its tail slapping against the glass jar with a "thump, thump" sound that he heard.
He didn't know what was going on, but he thought it probably wasn't a good thing. He wanted to find an expert familiar with magical creatures to ask, preferably Professor Kettleburn.
"Where is the professor's office?! Can anyone tell me?!" He was all alone, and naturally couldn't ask any upperclassmen who might know the address for help. He could only run quickly toward the back gate of the castle; he had to find Hagrid for help!
He put the jar into his bag, listened to the fading "thump-thump" sound, and ran quickly away from the castle, across the grounds, and finally arrived at Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
He ran breathlessly to the front of the cabin, and before he could even call out, he heard several barks of dogs.
"Hagrid! Hagrid!" he called out, panting.
"Who's outside!" The voice gradually approached the wooden door.
"Fang, back off!" The door opened a crack, revealing a large face covered in a beard.
"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Hagrid asked warily.
"I'm Ethan Jones, a first year. I have a problem with my Salamander, but I don't know where Professor Kettleburn's office is, so I can only ask you for help." As he spoke, he took out the jar containing the almost completely black Salamander and held it out in front of him so that Hagrid could see it clearly.
"Is this a Salamander?" He examined it closely for a while, confirming that it really was a Salamander. "What a strange color. Besides blue and red, there are actually black Salamanders?"
"Wait a moment, I'll subdue Fang before you come in."
After a low bark and a few struggling groans came from inside, Hagrid called out, "Come in!"
Ethan Jones quickly pushed the door open and saw Hagrid holding onto the collar of a huge black Boarhound, preventing it from lunging at him.
But Hagrid soon realized something was wrong. His big dog, which he had raised for a long time, was not barking to scare strangers, but rather making a soft, affectionate bark.
He tried to loosen his grip, and Fang stuck out his tongue, jumping out to lick Ethan Jones's face.
"Looks like you're quite popular with Fang." Seeing this, Hagrid stopped controlling its freedom.
Ethan Jones was the only one who suffered; he couldn't stand the stench of the dog's saliva on his face, but since he needed Hagrid's help, he was too embarrassed to chase Fang away.
In the end, Hagrid couldn't stand it anymore and stopped it.
No longer licking his face, Fang curled up at Ethan Jones's feet, very docile. Ethan Jones, taking advantage of the situation, anxiously stroked its smooth fur.
"Give me that Salamander, I want to see what's going on." Hagrid asked Ethan Jones for the Salamander's jar after seeing that Fang had calmed down.
He opened the jar, poured out the lifeless Salamander that barely struggled, and examined it closely in his large hand.
"Where did this Salamander come from? What happened to it before it turned into this form? And it's still alive."
"Huh? It was white before?!" Before Ethan Jones could speak, Hagrid suddenly noticed a small scale that was turning black.
"Yes, Professor Kettleburn gave it to me as a reward during class just now. It was pure white at the time, and I was worried that it would die, so I fed it a small ball of flame. Then black spots started to appear on its body, and eventually it turned into this."
"Hagrid, do you know what happened? Has this ever happened before?" His face was full of self-reproach.
"Just feeding it fire caused this? That shouldn't be the case. How could a Salamander that feeds on fire be harmed by fire? Could it be that you fed it some kind of special fire?"
Hagrid found it hard to believe. How could a minor wizard possibly possess a special flame, and then happen to feed it to a Salamander?
"It's this kind, from my bloodline." He hesitated for a moment, and a small ball of black fire appeared in his hand.
"It's really true!" Hagrid's eyes widened.
"That makes sense. I think it should be fine. It's just that your flames have altered some of its characteristics, and there might be other changes, but they are all unknown for now."
He carefully placed the Salamander in his palm, glanced at his fireplace, picked up his pink umbrella from behind the door, and pointed it at the fireplace, causing flames to rise instantly.
"Don't tell anyone I used magic," the large, hairy face warned Ethan Jones.
"Of course," Ethan Jones nodded in agreement.
"Very good." Hagrid carefully picked up the Salamander and placed it in the fireplace flames.
"Don't worry, the flames won't harm them, not even the one that mutated," Hagrid reassured Ethan Jones, seeing his worried expression.
"Would you like some Rock Cakes? I made them myself, they taste really good." Hagrid took out a few Rock Cakes and placed them on a plate, warmly inviting Ethan Jones to try them.
"No, I'm a little worried about the little guy's condition right now, he doesn't have much of an appetite." Knowing the power of this kind of culinary disaster, Ethan Jones refused half-jokingly.
"What a kind and loving child." This refusal was exactly what Hagrid wanted to hear. He liked magical creatures, and he also liked people who liked magical creatures, because he believed that such people were definitely not bad people.