Harry Potter: Magic and Guns

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After the Christmas holidays, time seemed to accelerate. In just a few months, Hogwarts' seventh-year students would be leaving the school and entering society—becoming proud members of the workforce. However, many graduates would find it difficult to secure a job.

Wizards typically live long lives. Many wizards remain active in their professions well into their 80s or 90s. If they don't leave the country after graduation and stay in England, the job placement rate for Hogwarts graduates can be as low as 30%.

Given how small England is, there simply aren't enough positions for fresh graduates. The entire country has only about 3,000 permanent wizards, fewer than the population of a small Muggle town.

This underlying anxiety didn't vanish with the melting of winter snow, but it had little impact on Harry. After all, despite not having a wealthy godfather or substantial inheritance, Harry was confident he could easily find a job in the magical world based on his skills alone.

Not everyone could be like him, able to endure the dull routine of constant studying.

Dormitory, Great Hall, classrooms, the clock tower's secret chamber, and the professors' club—Harry lived his life on this five-point schedule. He had given up all social and recreational activities. Even his time in the battle group was limited to one day on the weekend, when he would let his body relax and relieve the mental fatigue caused by his intense studies.

After finishing his special tutoring session for Transfiguration Club that weekend, Harry had a whole afternoon of relaxation ahead. Compared to studying, physical exercise didn't require much mental effort. Relying purely on muscle memory, Harry could push his body to the limit even in a half-drowsy state. As physical exhaustion set in, his rested mind regained its vitality, ready to face another week of heavy, tedious coursework.

However, today, as soon as Harry stepped out of the castle, he heard the sound of flapping wings. Hedwig, who had been left to roam for a while, gracefully spiraled above him, then dove down to land steadily on Harry's outstretched arm.

"I envy you, Hedwig!" Harry said, gently holding the owl, who responded by playfully rubbing its face against him. After a moment of struggle, Hedwig gave in and allowed Harry to embrace her, as it had been a while since they had hunted together in the forest. She seemed to miss Harry, too.

But as an excellent messenger, Hedwig didn't forget her mission.

She didn't bother grooming her slightly ruffled feathers. After Harry released her, she raised her left leg, where a neatly folded parchment was tied.

"Whose letter is this?" Harry, feeling a bit drowsy, lazily stifled a yawn before unsealing the letter.

*[The egg's about to hatch, Harry! Come quickly!]*

Hagrid's hasty handwriting was a little hard to read, but as soon as Harry recognized the message, his tired mind immediately snapped to attention!

"Hedwig, could you take this letter to Rolf?" Harry quickly scrawled a note on the back of Hagrid's letter and handed it to Hedwig, who took off with the parchment in her beak.

Thinking about it, little Thunderbird Neil was the father of the soon-to-be-born creature. If Rolf missed witnessing the hatching, it would be a huge regret. After all, witnessing the birth of a new species was a significant moment for any magizoologist.

In what seemed like a blur, Harry dashed to Hagrid's hut. In less than a minute, he arrived at the door, just in time to witness Fang being startled by the sudden shadow overhead. With a yelp, Fang leapt into the air, leaving behind a trail of urine.

"Breaking new records with your 'accidents,' Fang. Truly impressive," Harry chuckled as he watched Fang's offended expression, which seemed to say, "Why scare the poor dog on such a nice day?"

But now wasn't the time to admire Fang's acrobatic antics. Harry knocked loudly on Hagrid's door, and without waiting for a response, he pushed it open.

"Shh—"

Hagrid raised a finger to his lips, signaling Harry to be quiet so as not to startle the child.

"Right," Harry nodded, lowering his voice as he cautiously stepped forward. In a nest about a meter in diameter, a magnificent silver-blue bird was quietly perched.

It had been a while since Harry last saw Neil, the little Thunderbird. Under Hagrid's careful care, Neil had grown significantly. He was now almost two meters wide when he spread his wings, a far cry from the tiny ball of fluff Harry had first met.

"Wow, Neil has grown so much!" Harry exclaimed in surprise.

At the sound of Harry's voice, Neil flapped his wings with excitement, sending a jolt of electric energy through the air. His eyes shone with exuberance.

'I'm not that little Thunderbird you could bully anymore! I, Lord Neil, have grown up!'

Harry could almost imagine himself being fried, blackened and twitching on the floor from the electric shock. But before Neil could let out another triumphant chirp, his enthusiasm quickly dampened.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp~" Neil lowered his head, blinking his big eyes pitifully, his tone now oozing with exaggerated flattery.

"Uh, is this pre-hatch depression?" Harry was taken aback by the dramatic mood swing of Neil, who had gone from arrogance to humble submission in an instant. "But isn't Neil male? Could the egg hatching actually change his gender?"

After being struck by a bolt of lightning with no lasting effects, Harry's fingertips were now tangled in a strand of heavy lightning. Having spent five hours every day working in the secret chamber on his armor, Harry had become quite proficient with the Qo (lightning) incantation. Compared to his initial attempts, the lightning elements he now created were roughly seven times heavier than what Serti had originally achieved.

The lightning that Neil had triggered moments ago was immediately absorbed by the fine thread of lightning Harry was controlling.

"Do you want this?" Harry asked, noticing the eager look in Neil's eyes. With a smile, he raised the lightning thread in his hand.

"As long as you're serious about incubating the egg, I'll give this to you."

Neil nodded quickly, as if fearing Harry might change his mind. Once again, sparks of electricity erupted from his body, all of which were absorbed by the massive dragon egg beneath him. While a fire dragon egg required flames to hatch, the Gale Dragon egg, naturally, needed the power of lightning. As a living lightning generator, a Thunderbird was the perfect incubator.

"Has it hatched yet? Has it?" Rolf's hurried footsteps preceded his voice as he rushed into the room, grabbing Harry's arm and shaking it anxiously.

"I'm not too late, am I?!"

"Shh—" Hagrid raised a finger to his lips, lowering his body to lean closer to the dragon egg bathed in lightning.

"I heard Thor's hitting the shell."

"Look!"

With a sharp crack, a fissure appeared on the surface of the massive Gale Dragon egg. It resembled a crack opening underwater. The lightning energy emitted by Neil's body was immediately absorbed by the gap in the shell, sucked in like a storm.

The violent surge of electricity flowed from Neil's body in chaotic waves. The previously excited Thunderbird, now drained by the forceful absorption, started to appear a little sluggish. Despite being almost a year old, Neil was still very much in his infancy—only just learning to fly. The large amount of lightning extracted from him in such a short time left him struggling to recover.

As Neil's once proud head slowly drooped, Harry's heart ached a little. Although he enjoyed teasing Neil and occasionally bullying him, Harry genuinely cared for his young Thunderbird.

Harry stepped into the storm of lightning, gently scratching Neil's neck. He then brought the thin thread of lightning closer to Neil's mouth. Perhaps Neil needed this?

Neil simply nuzzled Harry's hand gently, then took the thread's end in his beak, pulling it towards the crack in the dragon egg.

The violent lightning storm immediately ceased. The sucking motion of the storm stopped abruptly. A soft, full belch followed, and a cloud of crackling "smoke" shot from the crack, a telltale sign of the Gale Dragon's unique lightning breath.

Neil seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, his body trembling as he shakily rose to his feet. He nearly stumbled, but Harry was quick to catch him, gently rubbing the exhausted little bird's head.

"Tired, huh?" Harry said, letting out a deep breath. Once his magic had recovered, he formed another delicate strand of lightning.

The small Thunderbird, Neil, chirped happily, mimicking the sound of a chicken as he grabbed the lightning thread and swallowed it whole. With a surge of crackling electricity, a massive flash of lightning erupted from his body, and in a heartbeat, Neil was revived and energetically flapped his wings, darting out the door. Thunder rumbled furiously outside as Neil released the excess lightning energy that had built up inside him.

"Hey Hagrid," Harry said, his face filled with concern as he lightly patted Hagrid's arm after hearing the chaos outside. "Do you think the little one inside the egg will be okay? Did he overeat?"

"What did you just feed him?" Hagrid asked, though he had a feeling it was something powerful. But without knowing its purpose, he couldn't make any assumptions.

"Solidified lightning," Harry explained. "I made it with a special technique. The magic used in that thread is enough for me to cast a few hundred blasting curses."

"Solidified lightning?" Hagrid scratched his head, unable to fully comprehend. "Well, if it's lightning, I don't think it'll upset his stomach. Fawkes loves all sorts of strange magical flames. He even had a go at a fire-breathing contest with Norbert last time."

"Maybe we should take a look inside? Perhaps the little guy is just full and fell asleep?" Harry suggested, leaning closer to the dragon egg and listening carefully. There was indeed a faint sound of breathing. The baby dragon was still alive, not dead inside the shell.

Just as they were about to make a decision, Neil, now finished discharging his surplus lightning energy, flew back into the room. He landed on the nesting area, poking his head toward the crack in the egg. Without hesitation, he used his sharp beak to break open the gap further. Then, he grabbed the tiny, wrinkled dragon with his beak and placed it gently into Harry's hands.

Neil flapped his wings happily, as if telling everyone that he had completed his task. He was no longer stuck sitting on the nest, trying to be like a mother hen.

"Now, this breed... what to say?" Harry was unsure how to describe what he saw. He had seen pictures of full-grown Gale Dragons before—they were majestic, with golden dragon horns, soft green scales, thin membrane wings, and a long body. But the creature in his hands wasn't like that at all.

The tiny creature had no hard scales, no membrane wings, and wasn't covered in feathers. Its body was smooth and bald, and the only thing that remained unchanged was the golden dragon horn on its head.

'Could this be a hybrid with all the flaws from both parents?' the three of them thought to themselves in unison.

"Maybe it will look better as it grows?" Rolf hesitated, clearly not impressed by the appearance of the newly hatched Gale Dragon. This wasn't what he expected at all—he thought it looked more like a wrinkled, baby lizard than a majestic dragon.

"Regardless of how it looks later on, whether it's pretty or not…" Harry said with no trace of disdain in his eyes, "At least we succeeded, right? Hagrid, you succeeded! The cross-species breeding between the Gale Dragon and Thunderbird!"

"You've done something incredible, Hagrid!" Harry praised.

Hagrid, slightly embarrassed by the compliment, smiled sheepishly. In truth, he didn't feel particularly accomplished. He had been hoping for a dragon that was both fierce and handsome, but this little one seemed far from ideal.

"Harry's right, Hagrid," Rolf added. "We succeeded! Maybe this little guy isn't exactly what we imagined, but at least we've witnessed the birth of a new life!"

"This journey was full of uncertainty, and one failure doesn't define it. Besides, doesn't the little one look cozy and content?" Hagrid said with a grin.

"Maybe we should give him a species name. I plan to feature him in the first volume of my Magical Creatures Guide, and he'll definitely be the first creature featured!"

"Then let's take a picture!" Harry exclaimed.

Reaching into his dragonhide bag, Harry pulled out a brand-new camera. Since a film camera wouldn't be affected by magical fields, he had already asked Aunt Petunia to buy it for him as soon as he knew the egg was about to hatch.

The tiny Thor slept peacefully on the eggshell as Harry snapped pictures with the camera, preserving the moment for posterity.

"Since it's a mix of a Gale Dragon and Thunderbird, let's call him the Thunder Gale Dragon," Harry said thoughtfully.

He then used a few inexpensive unicorn hairs and, with a spell, wove them into a soft bed. Hanging the small creature around his neck, he let it sleep soundly, oblivious to the world around it.

And so, the new life of the Thunder Gale Dragon was brought into the world. The journey of discovery and the unknown continued.

(End of Chapter)