Chapter 54 Let Them Fight
Hagrid's warning came a little too late; almost as soon as he finished speaking, a scorching blast of Dragon fire, carrying a destructive aura, surged towards Abey, much to everyone's horror.
Seeing this, everyone's hearts pounded wildly.
This was it; if Aaron found out Abey was hurt, they would definitely be in for it.
However, what happened next made their hearts, which had been in their throats, finally drop.
As Abey gnawed on its eggshell, it felt the terrifying heat from behind and instinctively ducked its head. The Dragonfire passed directly over its head, a close call but ultimately harmless.
A ball of fire flew over its head, and Abey, somewhat bewildered, touched the hat on its head with its right paw, finding a slight scorch mark. It immediately became furious.
These clothes were specially prepared for it by its owner's mother, one of the few that had an Undetectable Extension Charm on them, and it was its favorite item.
Its entire net worth, almost all its snacks, were in these clothes. What if they were burned?
Crack!
Abey crunched the eggshell in its mouth, turned around angrily, and, looking at Norbert, whose mouth was emitting black smoke, let out a cry that did not belong to a cat.
"Roar!"
A faint pressure quickly spread across the table, and Norbertinvoluntarily took half a step back.
But it quickly composed itself and took a step forward, unwilling to show weakness.
What if it had a grand presence? It was a Norwegian Ridgeback, a carnivorous Dragon, completely different from those herbivorous ones.
Wasn't it just a bit more attractive than it? With that silly, adorable look, it had no deterrent at all. It didn't believe it couldn't win.
"Holy crap! This is solid proof, this is definitely not a cat," Ron exclaimed in surprise.
"Never mind that now, quickly separate them, or something bad will happen," Hagrid said, picking up his umbrella and casting Stupefy at Abey.
At the same time, Hermione's spell also flew towards Norbert.
Norbert swayed for a second then staggered back to its feet; the spell's damage to it was almost negligible.
Dragon hide has great resistance to the Stupefy, even though it had just been born and was at its most vulnerable.
But Hermione was also just a first-Class student, equivalent to a young magic user. The spell she cast was even less of a threat to it than Hagrid's hand.
If Norbert's side was somewhat normal, Abey's side was quite outrageous. When the red spell hit it, a layer of sacred white scales appeared under its clothes, neutralizing the spell.
"How can this be?" Hagrid muttered to himself in confusion. "That makes no sense!"
He admitted he had held back just now; he cared for magical creature younglings too much to use his full power.
But even so, Abey should have swayed slightly, not remained completely unharmed as if nothing had happened.
This not only highlighted Abey's unusual nature but also made him, the gamekeeper, seem somewhat incompetent.
Hermione and Hagrid exchanged glances, intending to continue casting spells.
But before they could raise their wands, the two Dragons each roared, startling the two of them.
Abey bared its teeth at Hagrid, giving a simple warning, then unhurriedly walked towards Norbert.
Revenge also had an order; first, it would beat up this Dragon cub that damaged its clothes.
As for Hagrid, it would scratch him later if it got the chance! With its current physique, it probably couldn't beat him, but that didn't stop it from remembering this seemingly honest Giant.
Growing up, only its owner had used a Levitation Charm on it when it was still an egg; besides that, no one had ever used a spell on it.
"Hagrid, what do we do?" Hermione gripped her wand tightly, involuntarily swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
"We can't stop them now. Norbert's Dragon breath probably pissed Abey off.
If we don't let them fight it out, they probably won't be able to swallow this anger," Hagrid said helplessly. "And I think Abey seems to hold a grudge against me."
"This won't do." Hermione said, about to go forward and pick up Abey, but she was stopped by a thick arm.
"It's best not to interfere. This is like a conflict between children, just a small skirmish.
But if we don't let them resolve it themselves now, when these two magical creatures grow up, who knows what kind of fight they'll have."
"But Norbert is a Dragon after all, Abey can't beat it."
"You can't say that," Hagrid said with a smile. "Norbert has just hatched, so Abey still has the advantage in size.
Don't worry, I'll step in when I need to."
"But..." Hermione hesitated, "No matter what, Abey can't get hurt, or I won't be able to explain it."
Hagrid frowned. Protecting Abey meant he might have to act against Norbert later.
He intended to raise this young Dragon as his child, so he naturally couldn't bear to hurt it.
But recalling that the situation had developed to this point partly due to him, plus Hermione's almost pleading gaze, Hagrid still nodded, "I promise you, alright!"
"Thank you!" Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.
By this time, Abey had walked up to Norbert, coolly looking down at the Norwegian Ridgeback, relying on its size advantage.
Norbert naturally refused to be inferior to a Dragon and flapped its wings, about to fly up.
However, Abey acted first. Before Norbert could even take off, its white paw, carrying the force of a thunderclap, slammed down hard.
Bang!
A strong gust of wind hit Norbert's face, making it unable to open its eyes. Without reacting, it stumbled back several steps.
Feeling the sharp pain on its Dragon face, Norbert's eyes were filled with fury, and a blast of Dragon breath was about to erupt.
But Abey quickly rushed in front of it, delivering an uppercut that lifted its neck by dozens of degrees.
Being able to breathe fire was indeed impressive, but it was useless if it couldn't hit anything.
Although Abey was quite envious of this skill, it wasn't jealous. As time went on, it would acquire more and more skills, and Dragon breath was just one of them.
Boom!
The scorching Dragon fire shot straight to the ceiling, but Norbert was still young, and its lung capacity was quite limited; the Dragon breath dissipated into the air after less than half a meter.
"Oh my goodness!" Ron's eyes widened, and he said incredulously, "Norbert won't lose, will it? It's a Dragon!"
"Is this the time to be concerned about that?" Harry said, annoyed. "Hagrid, you'd better stop them quickly!
You live in a wooden house. Abey is fine, but if Norbertcontinues, we'll have to prepare for firefighting."
"Wait a little longer, my Norbert will definitely not lose." Hagrid's eyes gleamed. Dragons were the most dangerous magical creatures, and he didn't believe his Dragon would lose to an unknown magical creature.
Harry's mouth twitched. Hagrid would lose his usual composure when facing these magical creatures.
If it weren't for his insufficient ability to stop them, he would have gone in himself long ago.
The battle between the two young Dragons continued, but the process was surprisingly one-sided.
Norbert had almost no power to fight back, being pummeled by Abey several times in a row.
When Norbert's eyes were seeing stars, Abey flipped over and pressed onto Norbert's back, its two hind legs stepping on Norbert's wings, then it swung its front paw and slammed it hard on its head.
Thump!
Norbert shook its head and lay weakly on the table.
The battle ended, and Abey, in a victor's stance, strutted proudly to Hermione, then turned and gave Hagrid a contemptuous glare, as if to say, 'Your Dragon is not as strong as me.'
Hagrid acted as if he hadn't seen it, walking to Norbert and gently stroking the whimpering young Dragon.
"Hiss! Why are you pinching me?" Ron complained, looking at Harry.
"Nothing, it seems it's not a dream." Harry chuckled. "But how is it possible? A Norwegian Ridgeback actually lost."
"It must have been Norbert's carelessness," Hagrid said, somewhat unconvinced, trying his best to find some comforting reasons for his Dragon. "Firstly, Norbert is still young, less than an hour old, so it's bound to suffer a bit when encountering Abey, who is more than twice its size.
Secondly, this was close-quarters combat, the space was too small, and Norbert couldn't fully utilize its abilities.
More importantly, Norbert's wings played no role at all. It's a Dragon; fire combined with flight can perfectly unleash its combat power.
In short, given the same Class, Norbert would definitely win."
"It seems that makes sense," Ron nodded. "Judging by Abey's size and how much it eats, it must be at least three years old!"
Just as everyone thought the matter was over, Norbertsuddenly, without regard for martial ethics, spat out a blast of Dragon breath, knocking the victorious Abey flying.
Sneak attacks were despicable, but it had been beaten too badly.
A complete defeat, and a thorough one at that.
Dragons were all arrogant. Experiencing such a nightmare right after birth, which Dragon could endure this?
"Oh my God!" Hagrid's eyes widened as he watched the white figure fly off the table, suddenly at a loss.
Harry and Ron were also somewhat bewildered. Wasn't it over?
But what was this? Can't handle losing, resorting to a sneak attack?
"Abey!" Hermione cried out anxiously, rushing over to check on Abey's condition.