The story begins.
In the far north, in a frigid land, there lurked a ferocious dragon.
Gray scales covered almost its entire body. From its torso to its horns and claws, the colour gradually transitioned from gray to black. The scales extended down its spine, where an enormous pair of powerful wings suddenly spread outward. Many of the scales were turned upward, as though sharp blades were growing directly from its bones.
Its green eyes resembled clear jade gems, while the markings around them looked like countless black rocks weathered by the passage of time.
With a single flap of its wings, a violent snowstorm would sweep across the snowfields.
With one swipe of its talons, towering snow-capped mountains would crumble and collapse.
It did not need to eat. It could sustain itself by drinking snow and consuming ice.
This made it a creature of the same lineage as the various subspecies of dragons, possessing an intelligence that was close to, or perhaps even surpassed, that of humans.
However, it was greedy by nature.
It loved wealth and was cruel and bloodthirsty.
With its seemingly endless magic and powerful physique, the dragon recklessly invaded everything in its path.
Prosperous villages and towns, even entire nations, were destroyed beneath its claws. Countless buildings collapsed, cities were engulfed in flames, and thousands of miles of land were frozen solid.
In the process, it amassed countless riches and erected a magnificent palace in the middle of the once-pure, snow-white wilderness.
The palace was made entirely of gold.
Every night, the dragon would return to its palace and sleep soundly, occasionally using its sharp claws to pick up one of its treasures and gaze smugly at its own reflection.
Like all dragons, it loved shiny things and would use every possible means to plunder them.
Its palace was filled with countless treasures.
Its pillow was a square cushion made from countless strings of pearls.
Its bed was constructed from pure gold and reinforced with magic.
The ever-burning light above its head was the largest luminous pearl in the world.
In short, it had acquired every luxury in the world for its own enjoyment.
It didn't care whether others mocked its so-called "vulgar" tastes.
All it knew was that these things brought it pleasure, and that was enough.
You cannot discuss ice with a summer insect, so how could these inferior creatures possibly understand its happiness?
Their only value was to collect treasures so that the dragon could plunder them more easily.
Countless warriors, knights, and even entire armies charged forward one after another.
Dragon-slaying parties were assembled, swords raised high, but they could not even scratch its skin.
With a single breath, those poor humans were transformed into ice sculptures.
The more beautiful ones became part of its collection, while the uglier ones were perhaps buried deep beneath the frozen earth.
Like every clichéd story, it destroyed yet another country and seized the wealth of its royal family.
Just as the dragon was preparing to leave, a sorrowful-looking girl stood firmly in its path.
"Oh, another one who slipped through the net."
The dragon opened its enormous jaws, revealing rows of sharp teeth as it prepared to breathe out and kill the human girl.
However, just as it inhaled…
Its emerald-green pupils contracted slightly.
The girl's icy gaze pierced straight into its heart.
It had never imagined that it would one day see such stubbornness and deep-seated hatred in the eyes of a human.
For some reason, this aroused its interest.
Perhaps there were no female dragons nearby.
Or perhaps the girl's gaze was simply too clear.
A strange greed suddenly began growing wildly within its heart.
It suddenly felt that all the wealth it had accumulated could be discarded, as long as this girl was willing to follow it.
It was an instinct inherited through its blood, something that could not be resisted.
"Conquer me."
The black dragon opened its blood-red maw, staring at the girl with its deep-blue, ferocious eyes as it issued its command in the human language.
The girl was extremely stubborn.
Even when faced with death, she refused to submit.
"You're too cruel. I cannot be conquered by you unless you stop killing. Then I might consider it."
The girl spoke coldly.
"Forever? That's unrealistic."
The dragon shook its head.
"Ten years. Ten years, how about that?"
The girl stubbornly raised her head.
It was merely a chance occurrence, a sudden impulse.
For a fleeting moment, the dragon felt compassion.
"Ten years? That's nothing more than a dream."
"But you must remember this oath."
The dragon spoke.
Then the air atop the city wall suddenly became cold.
Layers of ice began freezing around the girl's feet, spreading upward until they completely encased her from head to toe.
Staring at the ice sculpture, the dragon suddenly felt that everything else was meaningless.
It pierced one corner of the ice with a sharp bone spike and left with the frozen girl.
It convinced itself that it had merely shown the girl some leniency because it was bored.
It wasn't for any other reason.
Certainly not for something as ridiculous as "love."
Perhaps it had simply grown a little tired of this kind of life.
The dragon abandoned its palace.
Its enormous body plunged beneath the glacier, where it entered a deep slumber.
For a long-lived dragon, ten years was nothing.
But when it awoke again…
It was horrified to discover that its claws had become dull and its teeth were no longer sharp.
Its wings were no longer powerful.
Once, a casual flap of those wings could stir up enormous northern winds.
Now, they were silent.
The dragon rapidly weakened.
And then it died.
It died in boundless despair.
It had lost its power and died a death worse than that of a dog.
As the ice gradually melted, the girl remained indifferent.
She stared blankly at the dragon that had imprisoned her for more than a decade.
Then snowflakes began to fall once again, gradually covering her body.
It seemed that there was no one in this world who could ever conquer her.
The story was over.
"Doesn't that sound like it isn't dramatic at all?"
"Yes. There are many things in this world that make no sense. Abrupt twists and turns can be even more ridiculous than the poems written by us bards."
"For example, a dragon might fall in love with a human girl who was probably ugly in its eyes, and then release her."
"I don't know what lesson I am trying to convey through this story, because there are many things in the world that are far-fetched and forcibly interpreted. People only want to see what they want to see and ignore objective facts."
"What are your thoughts on this story?"
"Perhaps the answer you receive in the future will depend on how you choose to interpret it."
On the final yellowed page of the book was what appeared to be a self-portrait of the bard.
The wizard stared out at the reader beyond the pages with a mocking expression, his cunning eyes darting from side to side.
"What does this mean?"
Ron scratched his red hair and frowned, staring intently at the book before him.
He turned the page, then closed the book again.
Hermione arrived at the library and found the two boys among a row of bookshelves.
She showed them the story.
"Does evil receive its due punishment?"
"The dragon gave up its evil ways, but in the end, the girl didn't fall in love with it, and it died."
Hermione frowned.
"There must be another meaning."
She shook her head and decided to stop thinking about it for the time being.
She was beginning to feel sleepy.
She turned her head toward the rows of dark bookshelves filled with books, raised a hand to cover her lips, and gave a slight yawn.
"By the way, Harry, where's your Invisibility Cloak?"
Harry had been silent the entire time.
He was staring at the floor, seemingly lost in thought, and hadn't even noticed Hermione's question.
"Huh? What did you say?"
He seemed to have only just come back to his senses.
"Your Invisibility Cloak," Hermione repeated.
"Maybe it was stolen by the person who knocked you unconscious."
"What?"
Hermione's face filled with surprise.
"Was your Invisibility Cloak in Dumbledore's office?"
"It's possible that it isn't there."
Harry shook his head.
"Maybe it fell through the other side of the Veil with the Headmaster. He borrowed it from me once, but I couldn't find it among his belongings."
Harry spoke with disappointment in his voice.
Disappointment quickly appeared on Hermione's face as well.
Another lead had gone cold.