Chapter 88: Fierce Hagrid and First Meeting
Experiencing that terrible squeezed-through-a-tube sensation once more, he and Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts.
Once he recovered, Ethan slapped his forehead. "Crap, I sent a letter! I hope they don't misunderstand. I need to send another one right away."
Dumbledore looked understanding. "Go handle that first. We'll meet again tonight."
"Thanks, Headmaster. I'll be going now." Ethan thanked him and hurried away.
Standing outside the Owlery, he flattened a parchment against the wall and wrote a quick note explaining his previous letter.
He tied the note to the leg of a swift-looking owl, placed the payment in its leather pouch, and sent it off.
Hopefully it arrives before Edward does. Although he knew the odds weren't good, he still hoped.
When he returned to the Great Hall for lunch, his mood had improved considerably, though the Side-Along Apparition had left him without much of an appetite.
That afternoon, he skipped the library and the Room of Requirement, opting to nap in the dormitory instead to shake off the lingering discomfort.
Draco, Goyle, and the others had all gone home for the break. He wondered if they'd finish their homework, or if they'd have their families do it for them.
Lying in the quiet dormitory, Ethan fell asleep quickly.
When he woke up, it was already afternoon.
He stretched, splashed water on his face, and made his way lazily to Hagrid's.
Holding a cup of hot tea, Ethan sat outside Hagrid's hut, chatting with him. "What do you plan to do? Dragons grow fast. Once it hatches, it won't fit in your hut for long."
Hermione had said as much earlier, but Hagrid was completely wrapped up in his dragon and hadn't listened.
Hagrid didn't answer. He kept glancing at his hut, its doors and windows shut tight.
"You should tell Dumbledore about this. If something goes wrong, he can cover for you. This is Hogwarts, after all." Seeing how upset Hagrid was, Ethan couldn't help suggesting the last resort.
Hagrid shifted nervously, setting aside his barely touched tea. "I absolutely can't tell Dumbledore!"
"He's never approved of me raising dragons. If I tell him, it's all over. Ethan, you can't tell him, you can't." Hagrid was practically begging.
"I can hold off on telling Dumbledore for now. After all, it hasn't hatched yet and hasn't caused any trouble."
"But Hagrid, you have to consider what kind of trouble raising a dragon would cause for Hogwarts and Dumbledore."
From Hagrid's expression, Ethan knew he hadn't listened at all.
"Alright, Hagrid. I won't tell Dumbledore for now."
"Thank you, Ethan. Raising a dragon has always been my dream. I know it might get me into trouble, but I still want to raise it." Hagrid wiped tears of excitement from his eyes.
"Since you like dragons so much, why don't you go work at a dragon reserve like Ron's brother does? I think they'd be thrilled to have you, wouldn't they?"
Ethan didn't understand. There was an easy way to fulfill that dream. Why didn't Hagrid just do that?
"Ethan, I was expelled from Hogwarts. I don't have the proper wizarding certificates. Dragon reserves won't hire someone like me."
Hagrid looked gloomy. "If Dumbledore hadn't taken me in, I might have starved to death in some forgotten corner long ago."
"Does the wizarding world really place that much emphasis on credentials? Even after all your years caring for magical creatures and guarding the Forbidden Forest without incident, that still isn't enough?" The realization caught him off guard.
He'd previously thought Hagrid stayed at Hogwarts to repay Dumbledore's kindness. He also wanted to persuade Hagrid to spend a month or two working at a dragon reserve over the summer, so Hagrid could finally fulfill his dream.
But now he realized he'd been wrong. It wasn't that he didn't want to go; it was that people looked down on him.
"Academic discrimination in the wizarding world," he said, sipping his black tea thoughtfully.
That brought him to the question of employment. "Hogwarts graduates about seventy to eighty students each year. Where do most of them find work?"
He wasn't sure if the Ministry of Magic hired new staff every year, but he knew they didn't recruit Aurors annually.
And the shops lining streets like Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade couldn't hire outside help for every storefront, either.
"I really don't understand where most of those students end up. Wizarding world factories?"
When he finished his tea, he asked Hagrid about dragons.
Actually, Ethan was curious about these creatures he'd never seen before.
At the mention of dragons, Hagrid's earlier gloom vanished. He spoke excitedly, spittle flying, about dragon classifications and breeding methods, and, at Ethan's prompting, he also recounted his previous attempts to find wild dragons in Britain.
Hagrid lamented, "What a pity. The Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Black in Britain are territorial and don't welcome strangers."
"I once tried to approach a group of greens, but their fire drove me away."
Ethan let out a low whistle. Hagrid was still fierce, as one would expect from a half-giant who had raised a Class XXXXX Acromantula as a pet.
Dinner was approaching. Ethan declined Hagrid's offer of a stoat sandwich and headed back to the castle to eat.
Ethan was eating when Hermione came over.
"I haven't seen you all day. What have you been up to?"
"I met with Dumbledore this morning, rested this afternoon, and tried to talk some sense into Hagrid. You know how stubborn he is, so I got nowhere." Ethan gave her a look.
Hermione knew it was about the dragon. She was also worried, afraid that Hagrid would be arrested for it and that Dumbledore, who had been protecting him, would be implicated.
"We'll try again another day. This is wrong anyway." Hermione sighed.
"Are you going to the library later? How's your study plan going?"
"No, I have to go to the Headmaster's office later. I didn't finish what I started this morning." He took a spoonful of pudding.
"All right, then I'll head to the library first. Harry and Ron haven't finished their homework, and we've only just started studying. Oh my God, I'm really afraid they're going to fail their exams!"
Hermione left in a hurry. Ethan finished the last dessert, checked the time, and went back to the dormitory to freshen up.
At six fifty, he knocked on the Headmaster's office door and met his biological grandfather, Cyril Shafiq, for the first time.
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