Chapter -91.
"You have to believe me! I really saw a magical mirror! I saw so many people in it: Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, D-Bro, and a woman who looked familiar yet strange; that must be my mom—her eyes look just like mine!"
"Actually, it's your eyes that look like hers," Hermione chimed in, gently tapping her forehead. She could tell Harry was a bit mixed up at that moment.
Harry didn't want to get bogged down in the details. "The mirror had a name, something like Er. Er." He was really trying hard to remember but just couldn't get it right.
"Erised," Hermione helped out.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Harry nodded eagerly, then turned to Dudley with wide eyes.
"D-Bro, do you know what that is?" Of course, Dudley was the go-to guy for answers.
"You can call it the Mirror of Erised. It's a magical mirror that shows your deepest, most intense desire," Dudley said, sounding a bit down.
He hadn't seen anything in front of the mirror, which made him wonder if he didn't have any desires at all. How could that be?!
He was really curious about what he truly wanted; after all, facing your desires is how you grow.
"So, that's not real?" Harry's body tensed a little.
When he saw the image in the mirror, he thought his mom was still alive.
"Yep," Dudley replied gently, setting down the dumbbell. "The images in that mirror aren't real; we have to create our own future."
Harry nodded, starting to get it, but he didn't feel the urge to seek out the mirror anymore.
The fun holiday soon wrapped up, and Neville and Malfoy jumped back into training after their break. Neville had kept up the hard work, while Malfoy had been a bit lazy, probably because Lucius didn't think much of the training.
When Ron, who was jogging, heard he had to attend extra lessons with the professor every weekend, he let out a dramatic groan.
"I thought it would be easier once school started!"
"Ronlita, you could just lie on a comfy bed," Malfoy teased as he zoomed past Ron.
"Say that again! I'm Ron! Do you want to fight, Little Mouse?" Ron shot back. Draco's name means mouse, so Malfoy sometimes got called that.
"Alright, let's go! I'll teach you a lesson first, then I'll take on Potter," Dudley said, not bothering to stop them. In his eyes, a good fight could actually bring them closer together.
Dudley thought Malfoy and Ron had a pretty good friendship.
Ron only complained a couple of times; his friends were all working hard, and he didn't want to just slack off.
As the days went by, the morning exercise team started to see some real improvements in their fitness. Even Malfoy, who had been the weakest, was starting to show some muscle on his arms.
But the biggest change was Neville.
He had the biggest frame, second only to Dudley, so his transformation was really noticeable.
He had gone from a little chubby boy to a strong, chubby boy.
Every now and then, Dudley would organize a trip to the Forbidden Forest. Unlike when he went alone, bringing Harry and the others meant they only explored the edges of the forest.
Even just being at the outskirts was super exciting!
Wizards can't just stay stagnant; they need to broaden their horizons, the system told Dudley, so he shared this experience with the morning exercise team.
Everyone thought it was a great idea.
After a fun afternoon of picking herbs and meeting some small magical creatures, they left the Forbidden Forest and headed to Hagrid's hut to relax.
Malfoy initially hesitated, looking down on Hagrid's shabby home and mumbling about it, but he eventually followed Dudley inside.
Dudley, as usual, grabbed a rock cake and started munching on it, while Hermione and the others kept their distance from it.
Curious, Malfoy took a piece to try, but nearly broke his teeth.
'This thing is definitely a rock,' he thought, quietly pocketing a piece.
"Harry, do you think Hagrid seems a bit off today?" Ron whispered to Harry.
Hagrid was acting strangely; he didn't have his usual enthusiasm and was standing by the stove, trying to hide something. The more he tried to conceal it, the more obvious it became.
And the temperature in the room was ridiculously high, especially for this weather; it was really over the top, and he hadn't even opened the windows.
According to someone's Law, the more you worry about something, the more likely it is to happen.
He tried to block Harry and the others' view but forgot about Neville, and there were just too many visitors today.
"Is that... an egg?" Neville pointed at a large, blackened egg above the fire.
Leaning in closer, he examined it and exclaimed, "What kind of creature is this... Wait, this looks like a dragon egg!"
Magical plants and creatures had been Neville's recent focus, and he really had a knack for it.
"I think I heard you talking about dragons?!" Malfoy, who had been sitting next to Dudley, perked up at the mention of the word 'dragon' and leaned in closer.
Seeing that everyone had noticed, Hagrid stopped trying to hide it and let them see.
In fact, Hagrid mainly didn't want Malfoy to see it; Lucius didn't have the best reputation among wizards.
"It really is a dragon egg," Malfoy said, his eyes glued to the black egg, filled with envy.
"My dad never got me one." He had always dreamed of raising a dragon, but dragons are super dangerous magical creatures that wizards have never truly tamed.
His overly ambitious idea was quickly shut down by Lucius as soon as it came up.
"Hagrid, where did you get this? It must have cost a fortune?!" Ron was also staring at the dragon egg, his eyes wide; after all, what little wizard could resist a dragon egg?
"I won it." Hagrid said proudly, "Last night, I was in the village, playing cards with a stranger. Honestly, that guy probably just wanted to get rid of it."
"You do know it's illegal to raise dragons privately in the wizarding world, right? And dragon eggs are the same; buying and selling them is against the law too."
As soon as he said that, the little hut fell silent, and all the little wizards looked at him in disbelief.
Dudley gave him a strange look: "Hagrid, did you maybe overlook the word illegal when you brought this thing here?"
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Note : Guys, some power stones will be really helpful.