The next morning, right after finishing her class, Kate was intercepted by the three little lions who had been staking out outside the classroom.
"We have to go see that egg!" Harry said, looking quite anxious. "Hagrid said there's a problem with the dragon egg."
Kate frowned. This wasn't in the original works.
However, considering she had even secretly engaged in a magical duel with Quirrell, it wasn't impossible for the plot to undergo some changes.
For the sake of the dragon egg, she immediately nodded and hurried with them toward the gamekeeper's hut.
She completely failed to notice Malfoy's probing gaze lingering behind her.
Half an hour later, the four of them knocked on the hut's wooden door. The moment they stepped inside, they were nearly suffocated by the sweltering heat.
Kate was fine; equipped with the Lover's Chain, she only felt slightly warm.
But this was enough to show to what extent Hagrid had altered the environment to care for the dragon egg.
A roaring fire burned in the fireplace. Hagrid retrieved a large, pitch-black egg from the very center of the flames, twirling his beard in an anxious fidget.
"I dunno what's goin' on. I followed every step strictly accordin' to the book, but touch the shell."
Kate reached out and touched the black eggshell, her brows immediately knitting together. "Why is it still so cold?"
Before a dragon egg hatched, one had to simulate a mother dragon's breath by placing it in a fire to maintain a temperature similar to that of a nest.
Yet the dragon egg before her, despite clearly being in a hot environment, showed no sign of its shell temperature rising.
"Judging by the thickness of the shell, it should hatch within this week..." Kate tapped her fingertips lightly against the eggshell, listening to the sound within and making a judgment based on the knowledge she had acquired.
At this stage, the eggshell's temperature should be slightly higher than human body temperature.
"I'll try a spell my Teacher taught me before to check it." She drew her wand and muttered an incantation under her breath. A massive surge of Mana instantly enveloped the dragon egg.
A moment later, she withdrew her Mana, her face turning slightly pale as she stared at it indignantly.
"The dragon egg will be alright, won't it?" Ron was the one who couldn't hold his composure, asking anxiously.
Kate felt a bit exasperated. "This is a premature egg. Damn it, I actually didn't notice it before!"
The atmosphere in the room froze for a moment.
Only Harry blinked and raised his hand like a well-behaved child to ask, "What is a premature egg?"
"It's a dragon egg that didn't absorb enough nutrients inside the mother dragon and was laid due to other abnormal reasons," Hermione explained to him in a low voice.
Kate unconsciously clenched her fists. "I need to notify the Headmaster and have him get my Teacher to come help."
Hagrid jolted in alarm and immediately moved to stop her. "Ye can't tell the Headmaster 'bout this! Breedin' dragons is illegal!"
"If my Teacher doesn't come to help, it'll die!" Kate forcefully shook him off. "Do you know what a premature egg means? It means the hatchling is highly likely to be a deformed dragon, and it won't survive!"
It was just like those teacup dogs and teacup cats that had once been popular; they looked tiny and became a huge trend because they were cute.
But in reality, cats and dogs born this way were deformed. Their life-sustaining hearts were only the size of peas, and they couldn't live long at all before dying naturally.
By the same logic, a premature dragon egg was the same. In fact, because the dragon race itself had a far more complex physiological system than cats and dogs, a premature hatchling would suffer even more pain.
Heaven knew where Quirrell had gotten this kind of dragon egg. Since the little dragon hadn't hatched yet, if she went to find Newt, she might still be able to save its life.
"At a time like this, the little dragon's life is more important," Hermione also chimed in to persuade him. "Hagrid, let her go."
Hagrid was hesitating, about to answer, when his face suddenly turned pale. He bolted straight toward the window in a few strides.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"Someone was jus' peekin' through the window outside. Looked like a little boy," Hagrid replied restlessly.
Kate pursed her lips. "We can't delay any longer. I'm going to find Headmaster Dumbledore right now!"
With that said, she bolted straight for the castle.
Thanks to over a month of physical training, she was able to bend over and gasp for air after sprinting madly all the way up to the eighth floor, instead of just collapsing flat on the ground.
Quickly reciting the password, she went up to the Headmaster's office. The inner door was shut tight. She hurried forward and knocked. "Professor, it's Kate!"
Shortly after, the door before her slowly creaked open.
Fawkes flew out from inside affectionately, rubbing its head all over her face.
Kate struggled to fend off its affectionate assault while walking into the office. "Professor, I have something I need to talk to you about—"
Her words came to an abrupt halt when she saw the old man currently conversing with Dumbledore.
"Teacher, why are you here?!" Kate ran over excitedly, while Fawkes obediently flew off her and perched on Dumbledore's shoulder.
Newt smiled slightly, leaning down to rub her little head. "Ever since you wrote to tell me about the dragon egg, I've been investigating its origins."
Kate paused. "So you're saying there really is a problem with it, right?"
"You running over here in such a panic must also be because of the dragon egg, right?" Newt asked in return.
She nodded immediately. "Yes, I discovered that the dragon egg is a premature egg. If we don't treat it soon, the hatchling will most likely die."
As she spoke, she looked at Newt expectantly. "Teacher, you definitely have a way to save it, right?"
The gentle smile on Newt's face faded slightly. "Unfortunately, that dragon egg is less than a week away from hatching. The timeframe is too short; it will be very difficult for me to do anything."
Not even a Master Magizoologist could save that unborn little dragon?
Kate felt her heart skip a beat. She lowered her head in disappointment, nodding only after a long while. "Mhm, I understand."
It was what it was, and she couldn't force the impossible.
"Thank you, Teacher, for traveling all this way," she said softly. "Why don't you take the little dragon away once it hatches? At least let it be comfortable during its limited days."
Newt straightened up, looking at his disciple who was brimming with disappointment yet forcing herself to remain calm. He then turned his head to look at Dumbledore, who had remained silent on the sidelines the entire time.
Seeing the White Dark Lord give him a nod, Newt finally let a smile surface again. He lowered his hand and rubbed Kate's head.
"What if I said there was still one way to let it survive safely?"
Kate snapped her head up. "What way?"
"Right now, this Norwegian Ridgeback is a premature egg. We just need to find someone who was also born premature and managed to survive successfully, to pour a massive amount of Mana into it and artificially accelerate its maturation."
What did a premature egg have to do with a premature infant?
It was probably some kind of metaphysical mysticism unique to the magical world.
Kate pondered for a moment. "But a premature infant's body is generally very weak, and their Mana capacity wouldn't be very high due to their physical condition either. Where are we going to find a premature child with a massive amount of Mana?"
"That would be you, Kate," Newt said with a chuckle.
...?
Meaning...
This was the first time Kate had ever learned that she was a premature child.
So her problem with being susceptible to the cold was brought about by being premature?
However, looking back at the old butler's hesitant demeanor from before, it seemed there were other hidden circumstances behind her premature birth.
Come to think of it, whose premature birth didn't have some underlying cause?
She didn't have the time to dwell on those reasons right now. After digesting this fact for a bit, she asked, "Won't forcibly accelerating its maturation carry risks or side effects?"
There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
Newt nodded gratifyingly. "There are risks, of course. If we fail, the little dragon might not even live to see the day it hatches and will die instantly on the spot.
"You yourself will also suffer a backlash. Your body might end up weakened for several months.
"And even if we succeed, the little dragon will be weaker than naturally developed dragons and will be much more reliant on its mother dragon's care.
"However, since you will be the one accelerating its maturation, it will view you as its mother."
Ah, this...
It sounded pretty normal during the first few sentences, but upon hearing the last line, Kate was a little dumbfounded.
If she remembered correctly, there was already a Hungarian Horntail that treated her as its old mother. Why was there another one now?
She wasn't the Mother of Dragons; why were so many dragons treating her as their mom?!
Kate raised her hand shakily. "Excuse me, but if I save it, will I need to continue raising it?"
"That won't be necessary," Newt shook his head. "The little dragon's body will be weak and will require meticulous care from professionals. However, since it will recognize you as its mother, you'll naturally have to visit often."
"Then where did its biological mother go?" She was practically on the verge of tears.
Newt's expression turned slightly serious. "This is what I wanted to tell you from the start. You should be aware of the profession known as dragon hunters, right?"
Dragon hunters were akin to animal poachers from her previous life, except the animals they poached were dragons.
Although dragons were incredibly powerful, it couldn't change the fact that their entire bodies were composed of treasures. From head to tail, even down to their saliva and dung, every single thing had a use.
Such a highly lucrative creature naturally became the target of dragon hunters' poaching.
"I investigated for over half a month before discovering that a wild dragon nest in Norway had once been stealthily infiltrated by dragon hunters.
"At the time, there was only a pregnant female Ridgeback in the nest. It was only after the dragon hunters killed and dissected her that they realized she was pregnant.
"Later, the people from the dragon taming reserve discovered the mother dragon's skeletal remains. They urgently notified the Ministry of Magic, and the Ministry dispatched Aurors to investigate."
Newt couldn't help but sigh as he reached this point. "I traced the path they fled along and found that over the past year or so, they passed through Albania and several other small countries. It was only recently that they were apprehended by the Aurors."
Kate's body gave an imperceptible shudder.
Albania. That was the place where Quirrell had encountered Voldemort.
She raised a hand and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. "Teacher, if I save it, will there be any impact on me?"
"As long as it's successful, you'll only be weak for two or three days. It'll be like drinking a fortified version of a magic-suppressing potion; you'll be fine once those few days pass."
Say no more. Just thinking about the taste of a magic-suppressing potion made her want to gag.
She pulled a bitter face. "Teacher, Professor, are you sure just relying on me alone is enough?"
Sob sob sob... She was still just a child, and she only had that tiny bit of Mana. If she poured it all in, her insufficient firepower phobia would act up!
Newt smiled gracefully. "If you are unwilling, I can go look for someone else. However, I don't know if there will be enough time."
She actually did want to wait for someone else, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught Old Man Dumbledore's deeply meaningful smile beside them, and a chill ran down her spine.
She was afraid this was the White Dark Lord's test for her.
Kate was very clear that Dumbledore most likely knew she was deliberately maintaining a disguise.
Having only spoken with him a few times, she had already realized just how meticulous and thorough the mind of the greatest wizard in history, the man who defeated Grindelwald, truly was.
She knew Dumbledore had likely already guessed part of her disguise, and Dumbledore also understood that she was already aware of all this.
Although it sounded like a Russian nesting doll situation, that was the truth of the matter.
It was just that her current strength and intellect were no match for arm-wrestling with Dumbledore, and she fundamentally didn't want to clash with him anyway.
Then the only option was to pass his test so she could cling to this thick thigh.
That way, when the White Dark Lord and the Dark Lord eventually dueled in the arena, she could hide safely behind Old Man Dumbledore and Harry and survive.
This year of the Philosopher's Stone was Dumbledore's testing ground. It was a test for Harry, and it was also a test for her.
If she wanted someone's protection, she had to show some sincerity of her own.
Thinking up to this point, Kate could only clench her fingers with a hesitant expression. "If it really can save it... I will work hard!"
The worst-case scenario was just being weak for a few months. Given the premise that only she could save the little dragon right now, this could also increase Dumbledore's affinity for her a bit.
Killing two birds with one stone. For the sake of living to graduation, she'd risk it all!
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