The Admiral of Hogwarts

After Hugo arrived in the hall, he didn't have to wait too long. Only seven or eight minutes later, Veneto and Hermione came down the grand staircase together. Obviously, as a typical Brit, Hermione wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to soak up the sun.

"Let's just sit near the castle gate for a while," Hermione suggested. Considering they had to study in the afternoon, Hugo and the others didn't dare to wander too far, so they simply sat down on the lawn near the castle gate.

However, just as they had rested for five or six minutes, they suddenly saw Hagrid, wearing a mole-skin coat that was completely inappropriate for the season, walking out of the castle gate with a nervous expression. He also had his hands behind his back, as if trying to hide something.

"Good afternoon, Hagrid," Hermione said, noticing Hagrid and waving to greet him. "I remember you usually don't come into the castle. Is there something going on today?"

"Just—just looking around," Hagrid said, his voice evasive, making it hard not to be suspicious. "By the way, I thought you were usually in the library studying at this time."

"It's the weekend, and the weather outside is so nice. So, naturally, we want to come out and soak up the sun," Hugo said, shrugging. At this moment, Veneto took advantage of Hugo and Hermione distracting Hagrid to stand up from the grass and walk to Hagrid's side, trying to see what he was holding.

"—Well, the weather is indeed nice today. I hope you have a pleasant afternoon," Hagrid said. Although Veneto's movements were small, Hagrid still noticed her actions, so he quickly ended the conversation and left in a slightly flustered manner.

"Did you see what book Hagrid was holding just now?" Hermione asked Veneto, who was standing to the side, after Hagrid had walked away. "I find it a bit strange. Reading isn't something to be ashamed of, so why would Hagrid hide it at this time?"

"When Hagrid was talking to us, he was actually on guard the whole time. When I walked over, he covered the title of the book with his hand," Veneto said. Then, she raised her head, a proud look on her face. "But before that, I still saw the titles of two of the books. One was 'Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland,' and the other was 'From Egg to Inferno'."

Veneto's statement was half true, because Hagrid's hands were so big that she didn't see the names on the book covers at all. However, because she and Hugo had frantically digitized the books in the library and uploaded them to the Admiral Network, she judged what the two books were based on their relatively special appearances.

You should know that ship girls memorize things completely differently from humans. When humans record this information, they generally record the text. Ship girls are more like machines in this regard, and the process of memorization is the process of rescanning the books. This is why Veneto was able to determine the contents of those books based on the appearance of the book covers.

"Why is he looking up information about dragons?" Hermione asked with a thoughtful expression after hearing Veneto's words. "If I remember correctly, Hagrid seemed to always be interested in those big, fierce animals when we chatted before, and he also said he wanted to raise a dragon."

"Raising dragons is illegal," Veneto said, knowing the upcoming plot and developments. "According to the information I've researched, the Wizarding Congress officially passed a law banning dragon breeding in 1709. After all, dragons are creatures that need a lot of space to move around, and it's generally difficult for wizards raising dragons to ensure they won't be discovered."

"You're right. Creatures like Kneazles or Crups can be disguised as ordinary creatures and raised in the backyard. Most people wouldn't notice the difference between them and ordinary dogs or cats. But a dragon that's dozens of feet long and breathes fire can't be disguised no matter what," Hugo added.

"What do you think is the probability of a wild dragon suddenly appearing in the Forbidden Forest now?" Hermione asked after thinking for a while. "Because when I was researching information before, I discovered that Hogwarts' Forbidden Forest has the most diverse range of magical animal species in the entire northern part of the island of Great Britain, or even the British Isles. It's not impossible for dragons to appear in such a place."

"You have a point," Veneto nodded. "There are only two native dragon species in Britain: the Common Welsh Green and the Hebridean Black. But they basically only operate around their habitats and are usually closely monitored by the Ministry of Magic. Therefore, it's unlikely that they would travel a long distance to get here without being detected."

"Then what exactly does Hagrid want to do?" Hermione said. Of course, based on everyone's previous discussions, she already had a vague guess in her mind, but at this time, she herself had a sense of uncertainty about this guess.

For the next half hour or so, Hugo and the others enjoyed the rare sunlight on the Scottish Highlands, until Hermione suddenly stood up and said, "No, Hagrid may have his problems, but he's our friend. I can't just stand by and watch him go down a path of crime."

After speaking, she looked down at Hugo and Veneto, "I'm going to take a look at Hagrid's hut. If he's really doing something illegal, I'll try to stop him as much as possible. Are you coming too?"

"Of course, my dear sister. You definitely can't do something like this alone," Hugo said, pulling Veneto up after standing up. After all, this was a good opportunity to earn Fate Points and start a new plot, so he naturally wouldn't let it go.

"But it would be a little impolite to just show up like this," Hugo said, thinking for a moment, then whispered a few words to Veneto beside him. Then Hermione saw Veneto nod and run towards the castle.

"Let's wait here for a while," Hugo said to Hermione after watching Veneto run into the castle. "Veneto is going to the dormitory now to get the Hagrid's notes that she organized before. In a little while, we can use the excuse of asking about the questions in the notes to find him."

"That's indeed a good idea," Hermione said, nodding knowingly after hearing Hugo's words. Although she often overlooked some things in this kind of interpersonal interaction, it didn't mean she didn't understand them. Obviously, using the excuse of asking about the notes was much better than directly rushing into the room and questioning him.

A few minutes later, Veneto ran out with the notebook. Then, together, they walked to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut. Hermione's face was a little serious at this time, because she found that the hut was completely different from usual, with all the curtains drawn tightly.

"Who is it?" Hagrid's voice came from inside the room after hearing the knock. After Hugo identified himself, Hagrid opened the door reluctantly. After seeing that it was indeed them, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then asked them to come in and quickly turned around to close the door.