One Missed Traffic Light
a continuation of "One Traffic Light" by witowsmp
This story is not written with that writers permission, nor the permission of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, etc. who own the rights to Harry Potter.
"One Traffic Light" by witowsmp may be found at s/7058158/1/One-Traffic-Light on fanfiction. (After / paste/type the s etc)
Chapter 8—Dragons at Hogwarts
Harry didn't try to find the Mirror again, Ginny noticed. He was very upbeat, though Ginny thought that might have been because of what she'd seen in the mirror.
When Hermione came back from Holiday, she was rather horrified that Harry had been out of bed, slightly embarrassed by the picture she'd received that same night, and slightly disappointed that no one had figured out who "Nicolas Flamel" was.
\\/
Training for the next Quidditch match started quickly after Term began. After a practise where the Weasley Twins were messing around, Wood gave the team some bad news.
"Knock it off!" he yelled. "That type of stuff will lose us the game. I've just heard from Professor McGonagall. Snape is going to referee the next match, and will be looking for any opportunity to make us lose!"
"Snape's refereeing?" asked a twin. "Is that legal?" asked the other.
"He made it legal," said Wood.
\\/
Ron could tell by the looks on their faces that something was wrong. "What's wrong?"
"Snape wants to referee the match against Hufflepuff," said Harry.
"That git will be looking for any opportunity to kill you, Harry," said Ron. "Say that you're ill."
"Pretend to break your leg," said Hermione.
"Really break your leg," said the moron of the group.
"I can't," said Harry. "Two reasons: 1, Everyone knows that Pomfrey would be able to fix something like that rather quickly, and 2, just in case Snape tries something, I don't want to put my backup, i.e. Ginny, in danger."
Ginny said, "Ron: you always think that Snape is up to something. Hermione, Harry and I aren't so sure. We think that perhaps Snape might be trying to save Harry, and that Quirrell is the guilty party. Remember: they both were staring at Harry muttering something during the match. I think that Snape's actions during the game will prove whether he is guilty or not."
"I'm playing," said Harry, right as the Common Room door opened and Neville stumbled in, the victim of a Leg-Locking Curse.
As Hermione did the Counter-curse, Harry tried to convince Neville to tell him who did it. Eventually, it came out that Malfoy did it.
"You can't let him walk all over you, Neville" said Harry encouragingly. "You're worth twelve of Malfoy. He's a Slytherin, and you're a Gryffindor. Want a frog?"
"What?" asked Neville. He saw that Harry was holding a Chocolate Frog, and took it. "Do you want the card?" asked Neville.
As soon as Ginny took the card, she knew that she found Nicolas Flamel. The others huddled around her. She started to read the Card—it was a Dumbledore card.
"Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten-pin bowling.
Immediately, Hermione whispered, "I've got it!"
"It's on top of the bookshelf," said Ginny. She knew exactly which book Hermione wanted, as it weighed 20 kilos.
After a minute, Hermione came back holding the book. She turned it until she found the right page, and then started to read:
The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. It will transform any metal into pure gold, and will also produce the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.
Although there have been unconfirmed reports of Philosopher's Stones over the centuries, the only confirmed known maker of a Philosopher's Stone is Nicolas Flamel, a noted alchemist and opera-lover, who currently resides with his wife Pernelle (658) in his home in Devon. Flamel is 665 years old.
"That must be what Fluffy is guarding!" exclaimed Hermione, but still in a low voice. "Fluffy is guarding the Philosopher's Stone!"
\\/
Hermione, Ginny and Ron were on high alert on the day of the match against Hufflepuff. They all brought their wands to the game with them. They had just gotten to their seats, and the match had just started when a very unpleasant voice filtered over to them.
"You know how they choose people for the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" Malfoy was asking Goyle and Crabbe. "It's the people they feel sorry for. The Weasleys have no money, Potter doesn't have parents."
Crabbe and Goyle did a sort of grunting laugh. Draco noticed that Ginny, Ron and Hermione were sitting nearby, and banged into them.
"Sorry, Weasel. Didn't see you there. It's a wonder that Longbottom's not on the team—he doesn't have any brains."
"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," responded Neville.
"And the witless wonder proves my point," said Draco right before Neville leapt at him.
\\/
Although Harry caught the Snitch in under five minutes (a record, each side only scored once), he didn't return to the Common Room until a couple hours later. By that time, the party was already going strong.
"I have something to tell you," he whispered into Ginny's ear. He then motioned for Ron and Hermione to join them.
"I just heard a conversation between Quirrell and Snape in The Forest," said Harry. "It sounded like one of them was threatening the other."
"It was Snape," said Ron. "Snape has always wanted the Defence job, and figures that if one of them dies under mysterious circumstances, he might get the job."
\\/
Hermione had looked at her calendar, and noticed that exams were only ten weeks away, so she was encouraging them (bullying them) to study.
"They're ten flipping weeks away for Merlin's sake!" said Ron.
"That's no time at all for Nicolas Flamel!" responded Hermione.
"Yeah, well I'm not 600 years old!"
They were in the library studying one day, when Ginny saw a very strange sight. Hagrid had managed to come into the Library. As the ceiling was only 12 feet tall, it was a close squeeze for him. He was rather evasive when they tried to say hello to him.
After he'd left, they looked at the books Hagrid had looked at. They were all about dragons. This worried Ginny.
"I hope that he knows that Dragons are illegal," she said. Harry gave her a look. She knew what he was about to say.
"He's always wanted one," he said. "I don't think that he cares if they're illegal or not."
They decided to pay him a visit.
\\/
"Hagrid, we know that Dumbledore trusts you enough to tell you," said Ginny.
"Well, I do know that McGonagall did something, so did Sprout and Flitwick. Oh, yeah, Quirrell and Snape did something, too," said the giant. "O'course Dumbledore added in a bit o' something o' another, too."
"Hagrid, can we open the windows? It's like 35 degrees in here!" asked Ron.
"Can't, sorry," responded Hagrid as he went over to his fireplace.
Ginny noticed that there was a large kettle on the fire, and that the kettle contained a very illegal thing. There was a dragon egg in the kettle.
"Hagrid, where did you get that?" asked Ginny.
"I won it in a game of cards down at the pub," responded Hagrid.
\\/
Later on in the Common Room, Ginny, et. al. were discussing the fact that Hagrid somehow got a dragon.
"We should really tell Dumbledore," said Hermione.
"But he'll get in trouble," said Ron.
"Dumbledore likes Hagrid, Ron," said Ginny. "And Dumbledore is the Head of the Wizengamot, and could easily deflect any charges against Hagrid. I'm with Hermione."
"I agree," said Harry. "With the girls. I think that the logical course of action is to go see Dumbledore."
"You'll do it alone, because I won't betray a friend like that," said Ron.
\\/
A short time later, the Trio were at the Headmaster's Gargoyle. Remembering the password from earlier in the year, Ginny told it, "Jelly Baby". It moved aside to reveal the rotating staircase. Right as they were about to knock, the door opened.
"Please come in, Mr Potter, Ms Weasley, Ms Granger," said the Headmaster, who was sitting at his desk. "What can I do for you?"
As the Trio walked into the room and sat down, Dumbledore asked in a low voice, "Would you like a Jelly Baby?" He saw that there was a look of confusion on the faces of Ginny and Harry.
"It's from a TV program," explained Hermione. "A show called Doctor Who. The Fourth Doctor Who if I remember correctly."
"That is correct as always, Ms Granger." replied the Headmaster. "What do you need to talk to me about? Is it about the bond that I see forming between the three of you?"
"No, sir," said Harry. "Well, there is a Bond, but it's not what we're here to talk about."
"Hagrid has a dragon," blurted out the Trio.
"Oh, my" said the Headmaster.
\\/
Pulling a couple strings, the Headmaster was able to contact Ginny's brother Charlie, who was a junior Dragon Handler at a preserve in Romania. Unfortunately, he and his friends wouldn't be able to make it for another week and a half.
Double unfortunate was the fact that it only took another week for the egg to hatch. One day, Hagrid sent a letter that said, It's Hatching, so after they finished Herbology, they went to see Hagrid.
The dragon was nearly out when they got there, and then minutes after they shut the door, it broke free of the shell and looked at Hagrid.
"Look at her! She knows her mummy!" said Hagrid. "Who's a cute dragon? Huh? Who's my cute Norberta?" He said this as if he were talking to a puppy.
Speaking of puppies, Fang seemed to be annoyed that this animal was in his house. Fang seemed to be especially annoyed that his Human was petting another animal instead of him. Fang recognised the Little-Humans, and decided to put his head in the lap of one of the females, who immediately started to pet him.
Thursday can't come soon enough, thought Ginny as they walked back up to the castle before dinner that night.
\\/
Thursday had perfect weather. Charlie was coming early to see his siblings, and his friends would be over that night.
When Ginny saw Charlie walking in to the school, she ran over to him yelling, "Charlie!" and hugged her favourite brother.
"How you doing, Gin?" the man asked as Ginny continued to hug him.
When she finally pried herself off, she introduced her friends. "Charlie, these are my friends, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger."
He shook their hands, before repeating his question, "How are you doing?"
"I'm good," she replied.
"Now what's this about getting in to Hogwarts a year early?" said Charlie. "Is my sister a bit more devious than I previously thought?"
A/N: I think that the original of this piece (cited above) is so much better written, and of course, I can't write like "Good Ol' J. K.!" (quote from The Shakespeare Code, Doctor Who)
5000th word was in chapter four "their" as in "their new friend"
7500th word was in chapter six "put" as in "When the three put on the glasses..."
10000th word was in chapter seven "did" as in "So did Harry [suspect Quirrell]"
12500th word was in chapter eight "and" as in "and his friends would be over that night"
