Chapter 7 First Year, Spring Term
Harry resumed his schedule as if he had not left. Course work was busy, but not too difficult. Study groups formed easily when necessary. Neville was the herbology expert. Hermione could give assistance in nearly every subject at any time. If she could not assist immediately, she was second to none in library research. Harry would help anyone with course work if he could. He found out that by helping others, he understood the material better than if he had studied alone. Harry became much more comfortable with his immediate study group.
A week into the spring term, Harry started using his invisibility cloak to go on exploration trips with Ron and/or Hermione. He had been all over the castle. One night he found a mirror that didn't show his reflection. It showed Ginny's animagus form. He thought it was so odd that he showed it to Ron early the next night. Then it became even stranger. It showed Ron's reflection, but he was wearing the badges of Head Boy and Quidditch Captain. Harry never took Ron back again, but he went back himself a couple times. He wanted to take Hermione, but she was spending her spare time reading, and didn't want to risk a curfew violation for an odd mirror.
The last night Harry visited the mirror, Dumbledore caught him in front of it. He had been working on the mirror for months to use as his ultimate protection for the Sorcerer's Stone. Albus was absolutely gobsmacked. He told Harry that the mirror showed people what their greatest desire was, even if it wasn't possible to attain. People had been known to waste away in front of this mirror, forgetting even to eat. Harry's greatest desire was a tiger house cat. Albus could not have that at all. After all, the boy is human. He told Harry that he was moving the mirror, and that he should not try to find it again. Harry told Hermione what had happened the next day, but he didn't tell her Ginny was the cat in animagus form. He hadn't told anyone about Ginny. The mirror worked. It made sense, really. Ginny was his first, and best, friend.
The mirror incident caused Hermione to shine the light of her intense scrutiny on Harry. No one operated on less sleep than Harry. He never went to bed before Ron, and he was always out of bed when Ron woke up. A few naps once in a while, and he was just fine. How could he do it? That mirror showed a person their deepest desires. Ron wanted to be Head Boy and Quidditch Captain. She thought that was a bit shallow, but that was Ron. She was a little afraid to see what her greatest desire was. But Harry's image floored both Hermione and Ron. How could Harry's deepest desire be a tiger house cat? The quiet boy had instantly become a puzzle more intriguing than what Fluffy was guarding.
Hermione knew Harry was a good study partner. He never spoke of home, family, dreams, or desires. Speaking about his experience with the mirror was unusual. He would mention a topic from class, and off they would go into the details of magic. Hermione knew the story of The Boy Who Lived, of course. He lived with the Figgs. Harry practiced defense with Darrell Figg once a week. Harry was never upset by what anyone said, or did, whether it be a student or professor. She had cried her eyes out, the day of the troll fiasco. She knew Ron would never have searched for her if Harry hadn't made the decision. Harry liked working with Hagrid, helping animals, and roaming the grounds. Harry had described some of his trips into the forest, and taken her and Ron to visit Hagrid. This was about all she knew of the boy she went to every class with, ate with, and studied quite a bit with. Hermione earned her reputation of being a bookworm, and it was easy for Harry to lead her into study topics. She might start asking Harry an occasional question that was non-school related.
Harry found a book in the library on winged cats. It is likely an Incan wizard was involved in their creation, since they had fur, feathers, and their wings were situated on the back as a completely separate set of appendages. They were small, weighing less than one stone. The wing span was a bit more than two feet. They were native to South America, and so rare they were nearly extinct. The book gave Harry details on skeletal and muscle structure. Harry thought this was going to be difficult to visualize, since it would be like growing another set of arms or legs. Harry wondered if he would ever see one.
Harry enjoyed flying on the broom, and he thought it would be fun to fly with his own wings. Harry started the "Flying Kneazle Project' by trying to add a pair of shoulders while in human form and kneazle form. It wasn't working very well. He was familiar with his owl and her wings, but her wings were essentially arms. Bats were essentially the same. Flying squirrels really don't fly, but their tricks were effective. How could he start wings on his back? He helped Hagrid last month with an injured Thestral, and he remembered how that wing structure had felt. Their wings were supported behind the rib cage about a third of the way down the body. Heavy bone fused to the spine formed a saddle below the skin to support the wing. They had a twenty foot reptilian wing span that folded from the shoulder to just past the hip. Hagrid explained how they are actually too heavy to fly, but their native magic is similar to a levitation charm. Not only do Thestrals control movement with their wings, but they also manipulate their weight. They do not change direction rapidly because of their mass. Other flying magical creatures use different methods to assist in flight. This project was not going to be easy, but Harry had time. Harry spent a lot of time, at night, on his project.
One night while Harry was crawling the pipe tunnels, he came across an object wedged in the pipes. He didn't want to make the transformation to human, no matter how small that transformation might be. He couldn't pick up the object with his paw, and couldn't reach it with his teeth. He thought about it for a while, and it occurred to him that if he could make a partial transformation while learning to be human, he could do it now. He changed his right paw into a hand, and plucked the object from the pipes. It was an odd piece of construction debris. He paused to ponder how effective a partial transformation could be. Maybe wizards were a bit short sighted when it came to the animagus transformation.
One afternoon in late April, Ron, Hermione, and Harry were discussing what Fluffy was guarding. It was a nagging mystery. Hermione's mind was drifting over the various curiosities of the wizarding world. She had researched Flamel in the library, and the only thing of great value associated with him was the Sorcerer's Stone, used in making gold and the elixer of life. Why would Dumbledore put that object in a hallway that students had access to, and then tell them to avoid the hallway? Isn't there a dungeon somewhere? No one in their right mind would hide an object that valuable in a school. More than once she had thought that the wizarding world was odd. Children were carrying weapons. No weapon was worse than a wand, in her opinion. Children had access to very dangerous creatures. Ron was down by the pitch one night waiting on Harry after he had practice. Snape and Quirrell had been arguing heatedly about loyalty. Ron was convinced they were arguing about the stone. Ron hated Snape, and practically anything about Slytherin House. Was Snape involved in the mess of the Stone? She had more than one mystery, this year. She had always enjoyed mystery books, and now she had her own ... curiosities.
One day in May, Harry arrived at Hagrid's hut, and found him poking around in the fireplace. He noticed Harry after Fang the boar hound enthusiastically greeted him.
"Lookit this, Harry, "said Hagrid. "Won it in a poker game las' night. A dragon egg."
Harry was impressed. "When will it hatch?" Harry's core was reading the egg.
"I've bin doin' some readin', said Hagrid. "Got this book outta the library. It's all here. Keep the egg in the fire, when it hatches, feed it on brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. This egg's a Norwegian Ridgeback. Don' know when it will hatch."
Harry and Hagrid were thrilled to be working with the dragon egg. One Sunday morning cracks began to appear in the egg. Harry asked Hagrid if he could go get Ron and Hermione, and he agreed, as long as no one else found out. Off he went, and soon the three were watching with Hagrid as the baby dragon emerged. It's wings were huge, compared to the slim, reptilian body.
"Isn't he beautiful? I am going to name him Norbert," whispered Hagrid.
"Hagrid, how fast do dragons grow?" asked Hermione. "You live in a wooden house."
"It's against the law to breed dragons," said Ron. "Everyone knows that. My brother is a dragon keeper in Romania."
A week later, the baby had tripled in size. Another week, and it tripled again. It was growing like the proverbial weed. Hagrid was spending all of his free time with it. Harry played with it a bit also. The little creature was surprising fast with its jaws. It would have its head relatively close to its body, watching a bug, then snap its neck straight and jump if necessary to catch the bug. Harry brought the baby mice and rats to eat. It was already flying short distances in the house. Norbert had four legs and a set of wings. His wings were below an armored ridge in his back about midway between the front and back legs. The back legs were much larger than the front legs, which put the wings at a good balance point with the long neck and tail. The wings reminded Harry of a bat's wings. There was a heavy mass of muscle on the leading edge of the wing near the body that gave the wings a surprising amount of mobility. The dragon was more snake than lizard in its movement.
Hermione reminded Hagrid he had a wooden house, and the dragon was going to be discovered soon. Hagrid said he knew that, but the baby couldn't survive yet on his own. Ron spoke up and said his brother Charlie's dragon preserve was always looking for dragons to improve the diversity of the blood lines. Ron would write him a letter. Ron did, and Charlie would be at Hogwarts a week from Saturday at midnight to pick up the young dragon. The dragon just needed to be in a fire proof crate for carrying. They would meet by the lake, between the gates and the river, outside the wards of Hogwarts. They couldn't miss the lake from the air.
That Saturday morning came, and Ron was bouncing. He reminded Harry and Hermione at breakfast that Charlie was coming at midnight, and Malfoy overheard him. Malfoy was still trying to aggravate Gryffindors, and he especially wanted to humiliate those three. He hadn't been very successful during the year. He watched the doors like a hawk the rest of the day. They went to Hagrid's about an hour before curfew, and didn't return. This would do it.
While Malfoy was reveling in the perceived glory of seeing the Gryffindors embarrassed, Charlie arrived with his crew. After a warm greeting, Charlie mentioned he was pressed for time, and they must go. Hagrid said a tearful goodbye to Norbert, and off they went.
Malfoy couldn't find Professor Snape. He was past the point of no return now. He would be a hero in Slytherin house in the morning. He had to go to Professor McGonagall. McGonagall was not happy. Students don't come to her quarters after hours with tales of curfew violations, especially when they themselves are violating curfew. Indeed, her students were not in the dormitory. Malfoy smugly watched the pressure rise in the professor. The Gryffs were going to get it. It was past midnight now, and out the front door she went, to see if she could confirm Malfoy's allegations. They met Ron, Harry, and Hermione coming up the steps. Mount McGonagall blew.
"DETENTION!" she cried. "Detention for all four of you. One hundred points from Gryffindor. First years outside the castle after hours. Miss Granger, I never would have thought you would do such a thing. Twenty-five points from Slytherin."
"Points from Slytherin?", stammered Malfoy. "I discovered them."
"You, Mr. Malfoy, are out past curfew. I will be speaking to your Head of House. Return to your quarters," said the Professor.
"Miss Granger. Mr. Potter. Mr. Weasley. Follow me."
Not only were they out of the dormitory after curfew, but they were outside of the castle. McGonagall laid it down thick. Hermione was mortified. Ron was thinking about what was going to happen when his mother found out. Harry was completely unaffected. They had protected Hagrid's dragon. He could have worked with Hagrid alone, and never been caught out of the castle, but it seemed right to include Hermione and Ron, especially since his brother Charlie came to get Norbert. Points lost were not as important, and that was that. He knew none of them would mention the reason they were out past curfew. Hufflepuff does not have the monopoly on loyalty.
The next morning, in Slytherin House, Professor Snape was not a happy man. He had just returned from a breakfast discussion with Minerva McGonagall. He called the nearest student he could see.
"Miss Bullstrode. Please have Mr. Malfoy see me in my office."
A short time later, Malfoy said, "You sent for me, sir" He was going to receive congratulations for getting points removed from Gryffindor.
"Mr. Malfoy, do you think you belong in Slytherin House"
"Yes sir. My family has always been Slytherin."
"What does Slytherin personify?"
"Ambition and cunning, sir."
"Professor McGonagall told me what happened last night. Can you tell me what was ambitious and cunning about your performance? You lost points for Slytherin. What did you gain?"
"She shouldn't have taken points from me. I was the one who reported the infraction!"
"Mr. Malfoy, we have Prefects in Slytherin House, who had been on patrol by the way, for just this reason. What was CUNNING about your performance? NOTHING! You went straight to a Professor, and asked if you could please have a detention, and, oh by the way, please take some points too."
"My Father will here of this!"
"Mr. Malfoy! Draco ... you are my Godson. I have a significant portion of responsibility for overseeing your training, especially now that you are at Hogwarts. I am your Godfather and your Head of House. All you proved last night is that you are a simpering, spoiled, aristocratic brat. Your desire to go running to your father just underscores the truth of the matter. I see that I should be spending more time with you discussing ambition, goals, and methods to achieve what you desire. My door will be open for you, should you be willing to discuss such topics. I expect there to be no repeat of last night's debacle."
"Yes sir. Thank you. May I go now?"
"Yes, you may go. Good day, Draco."
Draco was stunned. Instead of being exalted, he had been reamed, well reamed, in fact. He had to give this some thought. He also had detention. He wondered what it would be. Writing lines? Cleaning floors without magic? His day was not going well.
It is ironic the four of them were assigned detention with Hagrid. Hagrid had found a dead unicorn in the Forest earlier in the day. He shouldn't have taken first year students into the Forbidden Forest when there was something lurking dangerous enough to kill a unicorn, but Hagrid has a tendency to underestimate danger from creatures. Hagrid's mother was a giantess, and Hagrid's skin has the consistency of leather. He weighs fifty stone, with well toned muscles and the strength of a gorilla. Hagrid had never been fragile at any time of his life. He actually thought this was a class field day, to reward the three for helping him with Norbert. Draco was just along for the ride.
Hagrid, with his trademark crossbow and Fang, led the students into the Forest. The full moon cast murky shadows on the ground. Hagrid was obviously at home in the woods, and stopped to discuss several points of interest. The came upon a clearing with a pool of shining liquid on the ground.
"Hagrid, this is unicorn blood. One of the herd is injured," said Harry.
"Harry, I found one dead this morning. I thought it was an unusual event. No animal preys on unicorns," stated Hagrid.
"We should leave. We shouldn't be here. There might be werewolves. This is dangerous. I am going to tell my Father," rattled the anxious Draco.
"Where is Harry?" asked Hagrid. "Stay here with Fang, and keep your eyes open. I am going to have a look about."
Hagrid took off to find Harry. He wasn't worried. He had taught Harry enough to be safe in the woods. He knew the boy was fond of the unicorns. Hagrid would follow the trail of unicorn blood. There wasn't a lot of it, so he was moving slow. Harry, on the other hand, was in kneazle form, and moving fast and quiet. This was a new feeling for him. He was angry, but it wasn't exactly anger. He was outraged that his herd was in danger. Something was still attacking the herd, and he was going to find it. He was a kneazle on full battle alert, more quiet than the whispering wind.
Harry saw the dark figure of a man bent over backwards on top of the injured unicorn making slurping noises. Harry instantly decided to kill this thing that harms his friends. Ears laid back, Harry accelerated quickly in the short distance. The man must have heard something at the last second, because he lifted his head in Harry's direction. Two and a half stone of determined kneazle bit him in the throat at forty miles an hour, canines reaching the spine, claws sank as deep in the body as he could sink them. They tumbled off of the unicorn in a mass of clutching arms and legs. They stopped in a jumble with Harry's back legs churning. He had lost his throat hold, but it didn't matter. The attacker passed out because his brain had lost its blood supply. Blood was everywhere, and none of it was Harry's. His front legs clawed the man's head as he died seconds later. A ghostly form rose above the body, and took off quickly in an easterly direction.
Harry immediately took human form, and went to attend the quietly suffering unicorn. He was able to stop the flow of blood, but he wasn't sure of the best treatment. Once the young unicorn was stabilized, Harry 'kneazled', and ran to find Hagrid. Harry jumped a small stream and noticed a fairly deep pool nearby. He jumped in and thrashed around. This removed most of the fresh blood from his fur. Harry took off again. Harry saw Hagrid coming through the woods, made the quick change, and walked on. Hagrid and Harry ran to the unicorn. The big man could move when he wanted to. Hagrid saw what Harry had done to stop the flow of blood, and he didn't think he could have done any better. Hagrid glanced over at the dead man, and muttered something about good riddance. Hagrid gently picked up the young one, and headed back toward Hogwarts with her cradled in his arms. They met up with the students, and soberly filed through the woods. They didn't notice the centaurs watching the procession.
Hagrid, Dumbledore, and a couple aurors returned in the morning to see who had attacked the unicorns. They found Quirrell's turban near a pool of unicorn blood, and what was left of Quirrell about twenty feet away. His throat was a mess, and his face had been devastated. Quirrell's robes had been ripped to shreds in places. The curiosity was a face on the back of Quirrell's head that was normally covered by the turban. Hagrid said it looked like a large cat had killed Quirrell, and Dumbledore kept his thoughts to himself. The aurors portkeyed the body away, Dumbledore apparated to the gates, and Hagrid started walking back to Hogwarts.
Later that day, Dumbledore sent for Harry. He asked Harry what happened in the forest. Harry told him he discovered a man in a dark cloak feeding on a unicorn, and killed him. He asked Harry if he knew who the man was and he said he didn't pay any attention to who it might have been. Albus asked what the man had said. Harry told him he had not spoken to him at all. This bothered Dumbledore. He asked why Harry had not tried to subdue the man. Harry told him he had killed one unicorn, and was in the process of killing another. Albus asked if Harry should have killed a man in defense of a unicorn. Harry said, "The unicorns are my friends. He had to die."
Harry had killed a man for attacking a unicorn. The ministry would give Harry a life sentence in Azkaban for that. Albus knew Quirrell was possessed when he examined the body. He wasn't positive it was Voldemort, but it was highly likely. Voldemort had to be stopped when ever he was encountered. He was evil incarnate. No one else would have drank raw unicorn blood. Albus decided he would try to have more conversations with Harry regarding morality and wizarding law. He was afraid Harry would be put away, if circumstances were different. Poachers are not uncommon in the wizarding world, but they seldom get more than a fine for breaking the law. Occasionally, they get a few years in the minimum security section of Azkaban. Harry had not hesitated to kill, in a most savage manner. Now Dumbledore had more worries about Harry. Harry was so young, and he was crucial for the future. He had to talk with Xavier soon.
The young unicorn healed quickly, and Harry escorted her back to the herd a couple days later. She thanked Harry for saving her life. The herd was appreciative as well. It never occurred to Harry to do anything differently. The herd would never forget.
The term was nearly finished, so Dumbledore canceled DADA classes for everyone except fifth and seventh year students taking ministry exams. He taught those classes himself. The students were told that Quirrell had been found dead in the Forbidden Forest, and nothing else. The Daily Prophet barely made mention of it. Dark Arts teacher found dead in Forbidden Forest. The Forbidden Forest is forbidden for good reason. Quirrell was not a well liked teacher, and discussion about him at Hogwarts soon stopped.
It seemed obvious to Albus that Voldemort had wanted the stone. He contacted Nicolas Flamel, and gave him the mirror, stone and all. They would find a different place to store it. They discussed Quirrell-Voldemort possession, and speculated on how Voldemort might resurface. Now that the stone was encased in the mirror, the pair thought the stone was as safe as possible. It had taken Albus months to accomplish, but it was some of his best work.
Once again Harry had no trouble with the end of term exams. Hermione had quickly immersed herself into her study routine and put detention behind her. She would claim top marks in most classes this year. Ron was no scholar, but he did all right. Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup and Slytherin won the House Cup. Harry's first year at Hogwarts came to an end.
Draco sat on the train back to King's Cross deep in thought. His marks were third in class, behind Granger and Potter. He wouldn't have minded being beaten by Ravenclaw, but by two Gryffs? Top marks went to a mudblood. He wasn't looking forward to telling his performance driven father, Lucius. He also had to tell his father how he lost the points and earned a detention. It would not be in his best interest for his father to find out from someone else. He remembered his conversation with Severus Snape. Was he not worthy to be Slytherin? He would make a point of spending time alone with his godfather this summer. He was a Malfoy. Malfoys were leaders. He would be Slytherin personified.