Good or bad, does it matter?{HP}

[Hogwarts. A few days later.]

In front of Severus lay a huge, almost a meter in height, deep crimson shaking egg with golden specks, from which at that moment came shuffling and knocking.

Nagini and Lucky also watched this with curiosity from the bed, because the snake had never seen anything like this, and the kitten was simply interested in what his new friend would be like, but besides this, he also wanted to show his dominance.

The sounds from the egg became louder, and the shaking became more intense and after a few minutes there was a crack, followed by another and a web of cracks appeared on the surface, which quickly covered the upper part of the shell.

"It's good that I decided to put a barrier over it," the carpet around the egg began to blacken right before their eyes, and the air was filled with the smell of burning, not to mention the magic "splashing out" like flames from the egg, "It was not for nothing, that this type is called "fireball", because if I hadn't put up a barrier, the whole school would have turned into an improvised bathhouse, and my room would have simply burned down," but feeling how the temperature in the room was gradually rising, Severus, on the contrary, smiled and, pointing his palm at the egg, began to feed the barrier surrounding it.

As soon as he did this, the next moment, the heat inside increased sharply and even the stone floor slowly began to turn red, and nothing remained of the carpet except gray ash, through which it was possible to observe this.

"Such strong fire magic..."- Nagini couldn't help but shudder as she saw the stone start to melt and burn right before her eyes.

"Mmmmyaow…" the kitten began to feel somewhat unsure, realizing that he would most likely have to fight for supremacy and that the battle would not be easy.

Severus was already watching this with interest, because the dragon had managed to pleasantly surprise him. "The beginning of the fifth rank... although I expected only the top of the fourth, and when he grows up, he will at least rise to the seventh... another monster at the rank of "Archmage" in the upcoming battle will definitely not hurt, if of course he has time to grow up, which I doubt....." Severus watched as a small red scaly paw covered in transparent mucus burst out of the shell with a crunch, and a few moments later, with the upper part of the egg, which was gradually falling apart due to a huge number of cracks, a small muzzle appeared, with large, brown eyes, small horns on the top of the head, and from his nostrils he breathed out flame, looking very cute, unless of course you know that this fire can burn a person in a split second.

"Lucky, it seems you have a competitor," grinning, he glanced at the kitten, who "menacingly" looked at him in response,

"Okay, okay, relax, your fur is unmatched in softness," the Prince patted him on the head encouragingly, turning his gaze back to the dragon, who had already managed to crawl out completely and show himself in all his glory: It was a creature almost thirty centimeters long, with four paws, at the ends of which small claws were still visible, but in addition to them, it had a massive tail, as well as something that distinguished it from other underdragons.

Still small, but separate, membranous wings, making it a real thunderstorm both in the sky and on the ground. The gaze of the magical creature never left Severus, from the very moment he hatched, feeling in him the familiar magic that he felt all the time while in the egg and which fed him incredibly tasty food.

'Apparently, because of the blood of that dragon, which was very different from the usual one, it became so unnaturally long, but I think it should not harm it in any way, and the general appearance ... It looks nothing like the normal "fireball", with the exception of fire magic …' his thoughts were interrupted by a squeak and, looking up, he met a pair of pitiful eyes, and another pair was looking at his back, filled with pure and undisguised envy.

"I offered you to feed it with magic, so blame your TV shows for this," Severus chuckled indifferently, not even turning to the snake, still burning his back with its envious gaze, although understanding that he was right, well, she did not expect that the dragon would be so cute!

The baby himself continued to squeak, scratch the walls of the barrier and breathe flame into it, trying to destroy it.

"Meow!" Seeing Nagini's reaction and Snape's cheerful grin, the kitten meowed resentfully and turned away from both.

Severus did not succumb to the dragon's charms,and first he decided to protect everyone in the room, he connected the space in the barrier with the window, getting rid of the hot air inside and waited until the floor returned to its original state, and then, after a few minutes, he removed it and the baby, with shining eyes and a joyful squeak, almost immediately rushed to Severus and crashed his forehead into his chest, happily growling, began to rub against him.

"Calm down, I'm glad to see you too, but let's go easy," with one hand stroking his head, and with the other, restoring the floor and carpet, the Prince said with a smile.

"I thought he would be bigger…" the snake hissed with a hint of discontent in her voice, looking at them.

'All dragons are born small and for the first ten years they grow very quickly," he explained calmly, lifting the shell with telekinesis and putting it in his pouch, "And after that, the growth rate slows down, for example: up to thirty years old they are considered children and their height does not exceed five meters; from thirty to seventy, they are still considered children, but more independent, their size by this time is about eight to nine meters; from seventy to one hundred fifty these are teenagers, their height is on average around fifteen meters; and from one hundred fifty to up to two hundred fifty are called young adults, in their case the size usually starts from twenty meters, but it depends on genes; and they become truly adults at three hundred, this is the peak of their strength," stroking the almost purring baby, Snape explained, looking at the snake.

"People created another class of dragons, a kind of stage of growing up - "ancient", usually this is the time of their withering, only the age was unknown, because dragons were able to live for thousands of years, so it is impossible to even approximately determine this age, but it was not difficult to recognize such dragons: slight inhibition, fading scales, a faded look…"

"Now it is clear why you did not make an "army" of dragons, but limited yourself to only one for study."

"That's right, it's unknown when the Devils will break free, and caring for a whole pack of uncontrollable little dragons, who may not even be able to reach the peak of the fifth rank before the events begin, is a waste of resources and time, and sending cubs into battle... I may be a rather cruel person, but I can't…" Snape sighed with a half-smile, continuing to stroke the head of the happy baby, who did not yet understand his words.

"Meow!" the kitten nodded, agreeing with his words, although not knowing who the Devils were.

"I also agree with you," she looked down at the dragon with a shudder, imagining how creatures like him die in the clutches of those creatures that Severus once showed her.

"And dragons will be useless in battle, at least until they are seventy. The Devils will simply break them... physically, they are real monsters. Besides, they are almost unaffected by magic below the rank of "Archmage", so it is simply useless to grow them, unless of course I decide to take over the world someday…"

"You? Take over the world?" Nagini looked at him with such an eloquent look that even Severus was a little embarrassed, "Merlin would sooner crawl out of his coffin and give you a flick than you would do that."

"Okay, we're getting off topic," coughing into his fist a couple of times, a bowl of milk appeared in his hand, which he put on the floor, "Go, eat," he patted him on the top of the head.

"Grrrrryy…"

Each such dragon was worth at least three people of the same rank. Once, even he himself was unlucky enough to encounter such a monster.

At that time he was only a simple "Archmage" and barely emerged victorious from that deadly battle, by piercing its brain through the eye, and the flame simply did not work on the dragon's skin.

It was this incident that became an incentive for him to develop his fire, so as not to feel so weak in front of creatures of this level anymore.

And now, seeing how the dragon, very similar to the one that once almost killed him, looked at him with adoration, Severus experienced rather mixed feelings.

"Okay, there will be no more lessons today anyway, so let's go home and I'll introduce you to everyone, as you will live there for now," stroking his head, Snape lowered his hand and allowed the cub to jump on it.

"Rrrrrrrr!" although the bady did not understand what Severus meant, but the baby happily climbed up the arm, onto the mage's shoulder and began to rub against his cheek, like a puppy, and Severus continued to be devoured by the envious gaze of a snake, and Lucky looked at the cub who dared to take his place, as if he were a sworn enemy.

And when these two met eyes, they almost immediately disliked each other, seeing each other as rivals, all that was missing was lightning from the eyes to complete this picture.

"Enough, let's go," having given each of them a weak flick, from which both looked at him offendedly, he extended his hand to Nagini, who just as quickly climbed up it, to her rightful place and only Lucky remained, drilling the dragon with a very displeased look.

"You are older than him, and you behave like a child."

"Meow! Meow-meow! Meow!" pointing his paw at the baby, he meowed indignantly.

"Eh... what kind of kindergarten is this…" sighing tiredly, he picked up the disgruntled kitten in his arms and began to stroke his head to calm him down, and in a moment he began to purr contentedly, and there was no trace left of the former offense.

"Little manipulator."

"Severus…"

"What?"

"Can I bite you once? I'll be gentle…"

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