With Harry gone, it was almost time for Hagrid to get started on his yearly planning. He Apparated to his hut, after making sure no Muggles were around, and took the Philosopher's Stone out of his cauldron. It hadn't changed in the slightest way that Hagrid could detect, which was good news. He wrapped it again in its original package and headed towards the castle.
He walked leisurely through Hogwarts, slowly making his way to the Headmaster's office. He whispered the password to the stone gargoyle guarding the way and stepped into the revolving staircase leading to Dumbledore's office. The half-giant casually climbed the stairs, knowing that the usually narrow ascension magically expanded to allow him passage. Upon arrival at the top, Hagrid found that, illuminated by torchlight, the various devices populating the headmaster's office looked quite mysterious. The irregular noises made by the multiple apparatuses overlapped frequently, making the office sound very lively. Dumbledore was seated in his usual desk, signing paperwork under the watchful eyes of Headmaster Dippet. The portrait gave Hagrid the evil eye before exiting the frame, probably retreating to another painting due to his presence.
"I'm sorry about Armando, Hagrid. He still believes you've had a hand in what happened all these years ago." Dumbledore said, appearing very sad. "I trust young Harry didn't give you too much trouble." he continued, changing the subject with a smile.
"Harry wasn't any trouble, he's a great lad. Headed fer Gryffindor, that's fer sure." Hagrid replied, slipping easily into his persona.
"And the stone?" Dumbledore asked.
"Ah! I knew I was forgetting somethin'! It's right here." he said, tapping his breast pocket. The half-giant pulled the stone out and gave it to the Headmaster. Dumbledore carefully took it out of its package.
"Oh Nicolas. Such an honour to guard your wonderful creation." Dumbledore sighed wistfully, looking at the stone. "It is both the highest honour and the harshest curse; for one who has made peace with his mortality, to be faced with such temptation. Yet I will do what I must and make sure it is hidden away."
"Anythin' else yeh want me to do?" Hagrid asked, putting as much admiration into his question as was plausible.
"No, Hagrid. That will be all. I do hope young Harry will enjoy his stay at Hogwarts. I expect great things from him. He'll probably be getting in trouble like his father. Try to keep him out of it, Hagrid."
Hagrid filed his confusion away for later. "I'll do my best."
"Thank you Hagrid. All that is missing now is my final line of defence for the Stone." Dumbledore paused, deep in thought. "I am afraid, Hagrid, that I must write a few very important letters. I shall see you tonight at dinner, I presume?"
"O' course!" Hagrid replied enthusiastically, before leaving the office, waving goodbye as he entered the spinning staircase.
With the stone now in Dumbledore's possession, Hagrid returned to his hut. He placed on his table Muggle pens of various colours along with a large sheet of paper. With a flick of his wrist, a small fire appeared in his fireplace. He would burn all he wrote.
Just as Hagrid's pen touched paper, Dumbledore's quill began moving on its own. It wrote out in neat handwriting the exact words the old wizard dictated. He knew exactly what he wanted his letter to say, having already worked it out in his head.
To all concerned,
This letter is to invite you to ensure that your defences are appropriately set up; as has been previously discussed.
The object we will be defending is to leave its vault early tomorrow morning and will arrive at Hogwarts sometime tomorrow.
Most sincerely yours,
Albus Dumbledore
He waved his wand in the direction of the letter and watched as five copies appeared out of thin air. They quickly disappeared into an open drawer; the Headmaster had no need for them now. The original moved to an envelope, on which the quill wrote "Quirinus Quirrell". Dumbledore stood up and went to his owl. The now sealed envelope floated to his hand and he tied it to his owl. With a word, it flew out the window, towards its intended destination.
AN: Hey everyone! Chapter 9 was getting way out of hand, so my beta and I decided that it'd be best to split it up into two parts. This means that this chapter is earlier than I expected, even though it's much later than you expected. The other part of chapter 9 will be posted as chapter 10 later in the month, hopefully. This past month has been insane. I've gotten promoted at work and I've been working almost every day since mid May, so I really haven't had much time to write. This weekend is my last big stretch before finally having a regular work schedule, meaning I'll finally have time to write like I used to.
QUESTION: I'm curious as to what you think. How do you feel about the chapter length so far? Outside of this chapter, the average has been around 2.5k words, which I think is a decent length: not too long and not too short. But I've also noticed that some earlier chapters could have been combined into longer chapters, but would have been posted further apart because longer chapters take me longer to write. So, what would you rather have: Longer chapters with longer posting time in between, shorter chapters on a more regular basis or should I just keep going and post chapters as they come and let them be the length they're going to be?
