[212] What Hatched Before

Five hundred years? A dragon egg?

Putting those two words together, Hall felt a row of question marks above his head.

"Are you sure you're saying..." Hall hesitated.

Little nodded. "Just as you guessed, young Master Slytherin. It's a dragon egg. It's existed since I began serving Mistress Helga. Even the potions here were prepared for the little one inside that never hatched."

Hall glanced at the densely packed precious herbs. A toothache appeared on his face. Who would have thought Lady Helga Hufflepuff was such a doting mother?

"It never hatched before Mistress Helga passed away." Little sighed, revealing complex emotions. "So all these years I've been caring for this forest and garden, waiting for the day it would hatch."

"Could you take me to see it?"

Little walked forward. Hall followed.

The dragon egg wasn't in the cabin. They returned to the forest and came to the thickest, most gnarled tree. Tucked beneath swirling tree roots lay a huge, exquisitely woven grass nest, inside which was a dragon egg about half Hall's height.

"It's huge."

Hall took a step forward. Little followed, as if worried about what Hall might do. But Hall's attention was elsewhere — on the translucent white shell, where a faint, almost imperceptible array was formed with silver-edged white lines.

With his extraordinary alchemical talent, Hall deciphered it. "Time... stopped?"

No. He shook his head. This was an incredibly intricate multi-layered array. He identified no fewer than ten arrays on the eggshell. Leaving aside their combined power, an ordinary wizard might not learn ten arrays in a lifetime.

"Did Lady Helga know about this?" Hall looked at Little. "Did she know the real reason the egg hasn't hatched?"

"Mistress Helga..." Little trailed off, then realisation dawned on his aged face.

"What did you remember?"

"She never seemed to worry."

For Hall, that was enough. Helga never worried that the egg wouldn't hatch. He stared at the dense silver-white patterns on the eggshell, thoughts bubbling up.

"Hall is missing!"

"Could he be lost in the Floo Network?!"

"Go find Professor McGonagall!"

"Go find Headmaster Dumbledore!"

"Oh, and don't forget to take this guy!"

Fred and George, each grabbing Lockhart by one leg, rushed out of the kitchen towards the Headmaster's office. People stared as they passed.

"What are you doing!" A sinister voice rang in their ears.

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Fred and George looked up, their faces lighting up with ecstatic joy.

Snape, his face darkening. "?"

When did Gryffindors become this excited to see him?

"It's the Great Bat!"

"No! It's Snape!"

"Hall is saved!"

Before Snape could argue about how they'd addressed him, he heard Hall's name. His face darkened further. The Weasleys — every last one — were trolls.

Hearing that Hall had disappeared because of Lockhart, Snape's gaze towards the unconscious man turned venomous.

"How do I get out of here?" Hall didn't know the chaos outside, but he could guess — his disappearance in front of the twins meant something must have happened.

Little glanced at him. "I don't know how to get you out."

"?"

"Mistress Helga's chamber isn't intended for anyone to enter. I can come and go freely because I'm a house-elf contracted to Hogwarts Castle. In a sense, I belong here, so the chamber doesn't exclude me."

The hidden fireplace in the kitchen? Little explained it was a passage he'd modified later for his own convenience. No one else should be able to use it.

"Actually, I was quite surprised to see you here."

"So you don't know how to get me out."

"Correct."

A secret room you can only enter but not exit. He'd stumbled into one.

Hall rubbed his forehead. "Let's discuss what makes me special."

Because of his Slytherin blood? He didn't think so. Fred and George also had Slytherin blood.

He pulled a book from his robes: 101 Magical Kitchen Tips.

"This?" Hall's tone was one of shock. He'd considered it before, but hadn't expected it to actually be the reason. Most importantly, he couldn't see anything special about the book.

Little paused when he saw the book. "That's not a book. It's a key."

Headmaster's Office.

"Missing?"

Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall had all heard Fred and George recount what happened. Their expressions were serious.

"The hidden fireplace in the kitchen... I know about it. We'll find Hall immediately," Dumbledore said.

"What about this man?" Snape's gaze fell on the unconscious Lockhart. "Two Gryffindor students have shown us their memories. What he did is undeniable."

Fred and George were eager to share everything. The more irrefutable evidence, the better.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts..." Dumbledore sighed, thinking of the accursed position. "Remus Lupin is very competent, but this position..."

His gaze shifted to Snape. "Severus..."

Snape's face darkened. "I don't think you need to worry about the professorship, Headmaster. We have a stupid dog as an assistant teacher for this class. He hasn't caused trouble in months, so he's doing a passable job."

Want him to substitute? Out of the question. Snape's attitude was firm. Dumbledore could only give up.

He wondered if he should pay Hall to take the position again. But Hall wasn't short of money. If Hall refused, did he have other options? A name suddenly appeared in Dumbledore's mind.

Perhaps from dealing with Hall so much, he felt that compared to Lockhart, this candidate didn't seem so unreliable after all.

Calm down. Dumbledore composed himself.

"Let's go to the kitchen first. I also want to know where the Floo Network sends you when you speak a founder's name."

Hall stared at the book in his hands. A key?

He felt like he'd grow another brain. "I used to think Lady Ravenclaw was the biggest riddler, but after meeting Lady Hufflepuff, I realise I was wrong." Hall's face showed genuine exhaustion. Hufflepuff was a riddler!

A book of kitchen spells — what did it have to do with a key?

He looked at Little for a hint. But Little remained silent, just watching him. Hall wondered if Little didn't know either — from the dragon egg incident, it was clear Little didn't know everything about his mistress.

"What can I do next?" Hall muttered, rubbing the book. He looked at the egg, unsure what to do.

"I'll record these spells first."

With his memory palace, he hadn't encountered hurdles except with runes. He could memorise all the magic circles easily. But identifying each one would take time — and since he couldn't leave, he didn't mind deciphering them.

He didn't know how much time passed before he successfully analysed all the circles.

"This is something!" Hall completely forgot about his earlier worries. He looked at the circles he'd redrawn, filled with shock. A single eggshell had twenty-one circles engraved on it! And they were inscribed in sequence.

Not all the circles were benevolent. Three formations at the very bottom exuded an ominous aura — cursed formations. Weakness. Reduced power. Hardened shell. Combined, they caused an unexpected change, impossible to break with a simple counter-array.

"This is truly..." Hall wondered what this unhatched dragon egg had gone through.