Hogwarts lazy snake

When Carlo, with a determined mood, led Fudge, Professor McGonagall and others to the secret place where he had secretly followed Hagrid and discovered the fire dragon last time, the scene before them made everyone stand still with looks of astonishment on their faces.

To be exact, the ferocious fire dragon that they were expecting or fearing did not appear in the cave.

There is an object that looks like a "dragon" lying here, but it is just a huge and lifelike model of a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon carefully made of paper.

But fake is fake after all.

When Fudge witnessed this scene, his face instantly became as gloomy as water and looked extremely ugly.

His thick eyebrows were twisted into a knot, his deep eyes were filled with displeasure and anger, and he glanced at Carlo coldly.

Carlo was immediately anxious when he saw this. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead uncontrollably. He explained in a panic, "Last time, I definitely followed Hagrid here secretly. There was indeed a living fire-breathing dragon here. I swear on Merlin's honor!"

As he spoke, he eagerly pointed to his hair, which had become slightly curly and messy due to the so-called "fire dragon attack", trying to use the burnt hair as solid evidence to prove that everything he said was true:

"My hair was burned by the flames of the fire-breathing dragon, Minister, you must believe me!"

Harry, Draco, and Hermione, who were at the end of the team, exchanged knowing glances with each other when they saw the exquisite and lifelike paper model of Norberta, and then turned their heads to look at Horn.

They knew clearly in their hearts that this must be a masterpiece carefully planned and crafted by Horn. Hagrid also secretly blinked at Horn, his eyes full of gratitude and tacit understanding, as if silently expressing his admiration and trust for Horn.

Fudge's eyes moved back and forth between the dragon paper model and Carlo. After a moment, he had a clear judgment in his mind. He turned to Professor McGonagall and said:

"Perhaps Carrow has been studying too hard recently, and he is exhausted both physically and mentally, which may have caused hallucinations and led to his misconceptions. Professor McGonagall, I am deeply sorry for disturbing you this time. I remember that I have something else to do at the Ministry of Magic, so I will leave first."

Although his words seemed to be exonerating Carlo, the dissatisfaction and disappointment in his tone surged out like a flood that broke through a dam and could be clearly felt by everyone.

After saying this, he was too reluctant to even give Carlo even one extra glance, and hurried away along the same path he came from, accompanied by two stern-looking Aurors. His back revealed an indescribable determination and indifference.

In fact, Fudge was extremely angry with Carlo at this moment. If he was not afraid of the family power behind Carlo, and if he was not trying to get close to Carlo's father, old Carlo, he would never let Carlo's serious deception go so easily and embarrass himself.

As for Hagrid, Fudge naturally didn't take his feelings to heart.

Carlo still stood there in a daze, staring blankly at the paper model in front of him, muttering to himself, as if he was caught in some kind of crazy obsession: "Impossible, this can't be true, I clearly saw it with my own eyes..."

Suddenly, he seemed to be struck by a flash of inspiration, and the unusual scene of Horn making an excuse to go to the toilet and not coming back for a long time instantly emerged in his mind. He turned his head abruptly, his eyes burning with rage, and fixed his eyes on Horn who was chatting and laughing with Harry and others.

He pointed at Horn with a shaking finger and shouted at the top of his lungs, "It must be you, Nicholas Horn! You must have hidden the real dragon!"

His voice became sharp and piercing due to extreme anger, echoing for a long time in the empty forbidden forest, startling a group of birds perched on the branches.

Seeing Carlo's hysteria, Harry raised the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a hint of sarcasm, and said, "Carlo, have you become stupid from studying, as Minister Fudge said? You can't even distinguish between truth and falsehood. In my opinion, don't you also need a pair of glasses to correct your disordered vision?"

Ron was not to be outdone and joined in the fun, "Yeah, I thought all of you Slytherins were very smart, but after seeing you today, I didn't expect that your eyes don't seem to be that good."

After Ron finished speaking, he laughed out loud without any scruples. His hearty laughter spread wildly in the silent Forbidden Forest, causing waves of echoes.

However, a moment later, he was shocked to realize that his own laughter was the only sound echoing around him, while everyone else was staring at him calmly, with a look in their eyes that said, "Are you okay?"

He glanced at Harry, Horn and the others in confusion, and subconsciously cast his gaze at Horn, Carlotta and the others, who were wearing the same Slytherin uniforms as Carlo. In an instant, he came to his senses and realized that what he had just said had touched a minefield, and he swallowed hard.

He was filled with remorse and secretly blamed himself. He wished he could travel back a few seconds and cover his mouth tightly. He thought to himself: Damn it, how could I have completely forgotten that Horn and Carlotta also belonged to Slytherin House?

It’s all my fault for being carried away by the momentary excitement. Now I’m probably getting into big trouble.

So, he looked at Horn's always smiling face with trepidation, and his mind couldn't help but emerge with all kinds of horrible scenes of Horn tripping him up and making things difficult for him during future training. His body couldn't help but tremble slightly, and a chill ran up from the soles of his feet to his heart.

Seeing this, Professor McGonagall spoke at the right time to interrupt Ron's already confused thoughts.

She looked serious and pointed at Carlo, and said, "Carlo, you have entered the forbidden forest without permission, which is a serious violation of school rules and regulations."

"As punishment, I will deduct fifty points from Slytherin House and put you in detention for a week. I hope you can reflect on your mistakes during the detention period."

When Carlo heard the punishment decision, his face turned pale as paper in an instant, without a trace of blood, and his lips trembled slightly, as if he wanted to explain himself. However, under the stern gaze of Professor McGonagall, he swallowed his words back into his stomach, and could only lower his head helplessly, silently accepting the punishment.

Then, Professor McGonagall turned her gaze to Hagrid and said in a slightly slower but still serious tone, "Hagrid, I will make a decision about your matter after Headmaster Dumbledore returns."

Then, she slowly glanced at Horn and the others, and said in a low but clearly audible voice: "Don't be so optimistic that you can escape punishment."

"I'll punish you by making you organize the library books for a day. I hope you can take this opportunity to reflect on your actions. Don't think that your little actions can be concealed from the world. I know exactly what you have done."

Of course, Mag knew that something was strange, but she was even more angry at Carlo's behavior at the time.

Upon hearing this, Horn and the others nodded in agreement. They all knew that Professor McGonagall's punishment this time was already lenient, so they were all grateful and did not dare to complain at all.

Afterwards, everyone slowly returned along the winding path towards Hogwarts Castle.

Hagrid couldn't help being curious, so he quietly approached Horn and asked in a low voice, "Horn, how is Norbeta now? Where is it? Is it safe?"

Hermione, Harry and the others also gathered around, their eyes gleaming with the same fiery curiosity.

After all, they all knew that Horn had a briefcase with a silent extension spell cast on it, but they had also personally entered it to explore.

But the suitcase that had previously served as Horn's temporary alchemy studio had extremely limited internal space and was simply unable to accommodate a large Norwegian Ridgeback.

Horn looked at their eager and anxious expressions, a faint smile appeared on his lips, and he deliberately kept it a secret and said, "Of course..."

At this point, he paused for a moment, enjoying everyone's anxious gazes, and then continued slowly: "I hid her! You can rest assured that Norbeta is in a safe place now, unharmed."