Chapter 56 Is this the end of it?
Draco was sprawled outside the window, watching the battle inside with great interest, completely oblivious to the figure behind him.
Whap!
A hand suddenly clapped Draco's shoulder, making him jump.
But before he could even cry out, Aaron covered his mouth, "Don't get excited, it's me."
"Aaron, you're finally here," Draco whispered.
"What's the situation?"
"It's incredible, Hagrid actually raised a Norwegian Ridgeback.
But what I never expected was that Abey actually had wings, and they weren't just any powerful wings; it could actually fight a young Dragon."
"Holy crab!" Aaron shook his head, pressing a hand to his forehead, "It's still exposed."
With that, he walked to the wooden door, preparing to kick it open.
"Wait a moment." Draco hastily stopped him, smiling meaningfully, "A sacred war between magical creature young is happening in this hut right now. I suggest we wait until they decide a winner before we go in."
"There's also a Giant and three Gryffindors inside. By then, my Abey might be bullied beyond recognition." Aaronignored him and kicked the door.
Bang!
The wooden door trembled violently, and a layer of dust floated down from it.
The sound instantly alerted everyone in the hut. Hagrid first glanced at Norbert and Abey fighting in mid-air, then gestured for Harry and the others to be quiet.
"Who is it? I'm sleeping in the middle of the night. If it's important, come back tomorrow."
"Aaron Gaius. My pet should be in the house right now. I advise you to open the door for me, or don't blame me for being impolite."
"This is it." Hermione's face instantly turned ashen upon hearing this, and she slumped weakly into a chair.
Harry and Ron were also anxious, but more than that, they felt guilty.
They had only abducted a… well! A magical creature's young was much more valuable than a cat.
But it had only been a little over an hour! They were caught red-handed. This was illogical!
"Everyone calm down, don't speak." Hagrid comforted them, "He might not know you're here too.
Harry, quickly get out the Invisibility Cloak and take the two of them inside.
I'll stun Norbert and Abey. As long as he doesn't find them, we have a chance to hide it."
"Hagrid, even self-deception needs to be within limits!" Hermione said with a wry smile, "I don't know how we were exposed, but Aaron wouldn't have come at this time if he wasn't sure."
Bang!
The sound of kicking the door rang out again, striking heavily in their hearts.
"Well, at least we should try first. My door here is quite sturdy; they won't get in that quickly.
Harry, hurry up."
"Okay!"
Harry immediately nodded and took out the Invisibility Cloak.
Hagrid also drew his wand. Although he didn't want to harm magical creature young deep down, he couldn't worry about that much now.
If they were caught, not only him but Harry and the others would also be punished.
So, these two little guys should sleep a bit longer!
However, the next moment, a spell sounded outside the door, and everyone's movements instantly froze.
"Alohomora."
Alohomora, as the name suggests, this spell can open locks.
Although it has no offensive power, it can work wonders in certain situations, like now.
After casting Alohomora, the wooden door's bolt quickly dislodged. Everyone in the hut watched the bolt fall, and a pall of gloom settled over their hearts.
Outside the hut, Aaron sneered and kicked again, pushing the door fully open.
He ignored the messy room and the stunned group, fixing his gaze directly on the two Dragons fighting above, and then his mouth twitched involuntarily.
Abey, having switched to combat mode, was mercilessly thrashing the Norwegian Ridgeback, punching and kicking, making the other party suffer terribly.
The dark skin was covered in purplish bruises, and even its wings were somewhat asymmetrical. It was clearly bullying a smaller creature with its size advantage.
"Abey, come here."
Aaron called out, and Abey, who was enjoying the fight, suddenly paused, kicked Norbert onto the table, and then flew to the ground.
It quickly retracted its wings, its white scales rapidly faded, and its fangs and claws simultaneously withdrew, adopting a harmless and cute appearance.
Abey looked at Aaron with some apprehension, lowering its proud Dragon head in a display of grievance.
Its master had repeatedly warned it not to reveal its identity, but it had forgotten this admonition less than two hours after leaving.
"Alright, who are you putting on this act for!" Aaron said with a wry smile, then picked it up, carefully examined it, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he confirmed it wasn't injured.
"Woof!"
Abey pointed mournfully at the burnt parts of its hat and clothes, then pointed at the Dragon it had beaten almost to the point of being unable to stand, simply indicating that it hadn't meant to expose itself.
Aaron was amused by this gesture, then placed a new pet outfit in front of it, "Put this on first! This incident is forgiven, but don't let it happen again, understand?"
Abey nodded repeatedly, standing on its two hind paws and human-like putting on its new clothes.
"Draco, could you please close the door?"
"Alright!" Draco nodded with a smile, turned around, and bolted the door.
When Harry, Ron, and Hermione saw Draco Malfoy also there, some unclear points suddenly became clear.
It must have been this guy sneaking behind them and then tipping off Aaron; otherwise, there was no explanation.
Now they only hoped Draco had arrived late. If he had heard anything about the Philosopher's Stone and Snape, the trouble would be immense.
Aaron walked to a chair, casually wiped off the dust, and sat down expressionlessly, crossing his legs. The sense of pressure instantly intensified.
"Gentlemen, I am very angry right now, but I am still willing to talk to you calmly.
Explain yourselves! I'm giving you a chance to explain."
The few people exchanged glances but remained silent.
"No explanation?
Or are you saying you know what despicable things you've done and are too embarrassed to explain?"
"I'd say it's probably the latter." Draco said gleefully, "That's just how Gryffindors are; doing something and not taking responsibility is practically their norm."
"Aaron, please listen to my explanation first." Hermionegritted her teeth, "Actually…"
"Stop, don't speak yet.
No matter the reason, some things, once done, are done. No need for explanations.
And what you say might not be true. I can't trust you anymore." Aaron said with some disappointment.
Hearing this, Hermione's eyes reddened slightly, but she held back her tears.
She had indeed acted dishonorably in this matter, and there was nothing she could say.
"You explain!" Aaron looked at the other three, "Let me hear what excuses you can come up with."
A few seconds later, still no one spoke.
"Not speaking? How interesting!
Making a girl take the lead and shoulder the blame, you really are something."
"That's so true." Draco couldn't help but clap his hands in applause, "In this regard, I really admire Hermione Granger. Although she deceived Aaron, at least she showed more responsibility than celebrity Potter and Weasley."
"We…"
"What? Does Weasley have something to say?" Draco smiled provocatively, "When I arrived, you had already placed Abeyon the table. I know nothing about what happened before.
So I'm quite curious about your plan. Can you tell me how you abducted Abey?"
Upon hearing this, Ron clenched his fists in anger.
Being cursed at by Malfoy made him feel particularly aggrieved, but he didn't know how to refute it.
Was he supposed to tell them they had given Abey a sedative to bring it over? That would be too humiliating.
While feeling humiliated, Harry secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Judging by the timing, Draco had not heard the conversation about the Philosopher's Stone, which was a blessing in disguise.
"Enough, I made them do it." Hagrid said helplessly, "It was my uncontrollable curiosity; I wanted to see what species Abey was, that's why… Anyway, I'm sorry, I'm very sorry."
"If apologies worked, what would we need the Ministry of Magic for?" Aaron said coldly, "Besides, you're only apologizing because I caught you red-handed, aren't you!
So if I hadn't known, would you have just pretended nothing happened?
You should be glad Abey wasn't injured, otherwise, this matter would absolutely not be over just like this."
"Yes, exactly." Draco said, but his expression turned strange, "Aaron, do you mean you're just letting it go?
Isn't that too easy on them? They almost sold Abey!
No, to be precise, it was already sold, but a small accident occurred during the process."
"I know what you want to say." Aaron helplessly grabbed Abey's two front paws and lifted it, "Actually, I don't want to let it go just like that either.
But this little guy's identity has also been exposed. If we blow this up, do you think Abey's identity can be kept a secret?"
"This… I hadn't considered that.
But what exactly is it, this magical creature?"
"You'll know when it grows up; it's not convenient to say now." Aaron sighed deeply, his gaze sweeping over the others in the room, lingering for an extra second on the Norwegian Ridgeback, "Let's draw up a secrecy agreement! No one is to speak of what happened tonight."
Hagrid's eyes lit up. This was indeed the best way to solve the problem, and this way, his Norbert could also be saved.
"That's a good idea. How about a Fidelius Charm?
You can make Malfoy the Secret-Keeper."