Harry sat on the sofa in front of the Gryffindor fireplace, pencil in hand as he tried to finish his sketch of Norbert, Hagrid's dragon. It was rather late and he would have usually been in bed by this time but he was waiting for Hermione to get back from the library. It had been some time since their trip into the Forest and Norbert' hatching, who was now nearly the size of Fang, Hagrid's boarhound. Hagrid was now starting to see that he couldn't keep Norbert in his hut for much longer and he was running out of options as to what to do. Harry and Hermione had been frantically researching reservations and the appropriate method of caring for dragons, even going so far as to use the invisibility cloak to sneak into the Restricted Section at night, dodging the students with a curfew, which is where Hermione was at that moment.
Harry was erasing Norbert's head for the tenth time when the portrait hole creaked open and nobody walked in. suddenly Hermione removed the cloak and was sat on the sofa beside Harry, dropping a set of books beside her.
"Nothing," she sighed.
"Doesn't look like nothing," Harry said, eyeing the books.
"They all say the same things just differently. Apparently Norwegian Ridgebacks are fairly easy to care for but are still considered dangerous by the ministry. The only people who seem to they're harmless that I know of are Hagrid and Newt Scamander… I think we may have to resort to Plan B."
"Charlie," Harry said to himself, referring to the Weasley dragon tamer that Fred and George had mentioned, "but that'll mean involving Fred and George in all this."
"Involving Fred and George in all what?" came the voices of the twins from around the corner as they walked into the common room. Fred sat in an armchair beside them and George perched on the arm of the same chair. Harry and Hermione looked at each other cautiously before starting.
"If you were in a situation – theoretically- where you had to… get rid of something… alive," Hermione said slowly, "how would you go about it?"
Fred and George's expressions didn't change as they asked, "What creature has Hagrid got now?" Harry and Hermione's eyes widened which made the twins smirk.
"Hagrid has a talent for finding-" George said.
"And keeping-" Fred continued.
"Dangerous animals-"
"Which we then have to help him get rid of-"
"Or hide-"
"Hide?!" Hermione gasped, "Hide where?"
"The Forest is forbidden for a reason," Fred said mischievously and Harry suddenly felt much more cautious of the Forest.
"So what's he brought into the school this time?" George asked.
Hermione checked to make sure nobody else was listening, then leaned in close and whispered that it was a dragon.
"Props to Hagrid, he realty is mental," Fred said almost to himself.
"Y'know who might be able to help you out with this is Ron," George suggested.
"Ron?" Harry said, bewildered.
"Oh yeah, Ron's surprisingly good with animals-"Fred said.
"Whenever Charlie comes to visit you'll usually find the two of them sat together talking about dragons-" George said.
"The chickens at home behave most for Ron-"
"He even somehow knows how best to lure out the gnomes when we're de-gnoming the garden."
"If there's anyone here who'll know what to do with a dragon, it's Ron."
"Would you two please tell me what's going on?" Ron said as he followed Harry and Hermione out into the grounds the next night under the invisibility cloak, which Harry had managed to convince Ron was just a normal cloak with a disillusionment charm on it as he wanted to keep the cloak as much of a secret as possible for now, "I have an essay due for Professor Sprout in the morning that I need to finish off."
"Trust me, Ron, you'll be glad you came," Harry said as they left the path and headed for Hagrid's hut. They knocked and Hagrid answered a few seconds later, beckoning them inside.
"Alright, what's all this abou- wow," Ron stopped himself midsentence as he saw Norbert curled in the corner and his eyes widened. "Hagrid, why do you have a Norwegian Ridgeback in your hut?"
"Long story," Hagrid muttered, "question is how long before he becomes too much to handle?"
"He's already pretty close," Ron said, "Hagrid could you boil some water please? And I don't suppose you have some vinegar, salt and nettle leaves do you?"
"Err, yeah, sure, somewhere," Hagrid mumbled as he put the kettle on heat and moved away to search some cupboards. Hermione jerked her wand and a few nettles through the newly opened window and landed on the table.
"And I assume you're his imprint?" Ron asked.
"Hmm?" Hagrid hummed.
"You were the first person he saw when he hatched?" Ron said.
"Oh, yeah," Hagrid said as he placed everything on the table.
"And you two were here as well?" Ron asked Harry and Hermione, who both nodded. "Good, that leaves just me." Ron took a small bowl from a shelf, poured the boiling water into it and added the vinegar and salt, stirring it with his forefinger. Then, to Harry and Hermione's surprise, Ron grabbed the nettles off the table and began to rub them in his hands.
"Does that not sting, Ron?" Harry asked.
"Nah, nettles only really sting as a defence mechanism, if you're rough with them they're pretty much like any other leaf," Ron said as the ground up nettle bits fell into the bowl, which Ron picked up and walked with over to Norbert. Ron knelt beside the dragon who was eyeing him suspiciously. Ron was making low, groaning noises and slowly held out his hand to Norbert, palm down. Norbert leaned forward, stopped for a moment, then sunk its teeth into the edge of Ron's hand.
"Ron!" Hagrid gasped but Ron wasn't fazed. Instead he waited for Norbert to release his hand and then plunged it into the bowl of solution beside him. He winced as the boiling water hit his hand but he held it there for a few seconds before asking Hagrid for a flannel. He dipped the flannel into the water and then wrapped it around his wound. Then he held his other hand out to Norbert with his palm up. Norbert leaned forward again but this time began to sniff his palm. He did this for about ten seconds before licking Ron's palm and nuzzling it.
"You are all protected by some form of imprint so he won't harm any of you, but he doesn't know me so I had to show that he could trust me and that I trusted him too. By letting him bite me it shows that trust and now he knows what I smell like so he knows it's me. I just needed to make sure I had a solution ready because he has a venomous bite," Ron said to the room as he began to check Norbert's claws, eyes and teeth. Similar to a dentist, Ron opened his mouth and moaned, gesturing for Norbert to do the same. Norbert opened his mouth and let out a high pitched groan, mimicking Ron. "The glands that control his fire-breathing are almost fully matured and his wings are only a few inches short of being able to maintain flight. If we don't get him to a reserve soon he'll get free and then the ministry will be forced to intervene."
"Can… can we not keep 'im 'ere or somethin'?" Hagrid asked.
"I'm afraid not," Ron said, "tying him down would only encourage negative behaviour and he needs to fly in order to mature properly. The Forest would be ideal to house him in if he were able to fly here but while he's still classified as a dangerous creature by the ministry that wouldn't be possible – not legally anyway. I'm sorry Hagrid, a reserve is the best place for him."
"Alright… alright," Hagrid sighed heavily, "so what do we do now?"
"I'll get a letter to my brother, Charlie, and tell him it's urgent. He's actually been looking for a Ridgeback for a breeding program so I'm sure he'll take him. He's too large to sneak through the castle otherwise I'd suggest taking him to the astronomy tower. We may have to sneak him off the grounds."
Ron looked at Harry and Hermione who both nodded.
"I should have a reply within a few days," Ron said as he stood and washed the bowl in the sink. Applying some extra pressure to the wound on his hand, "until then keep feeding him raw meat and water with a tiny bit of vinegar mixed in, that will help slow his growth which will make him easier to transport. We may also need a muzzle for when Charlie gets him. Do you mind if I keep the flannel for now, Hagrid?"
"No, no o' course not. Are you gonna be alright, Ron?"
"Yeah, this will have stopped stinging after about an hour and the bite scar will have disappeared by the morning thanks to the solution. I'll come and see you when I have a reply from Charlie, Hagrid."
Hagrid bade them all farewell and the three of them began their walk back up to the castle.
"You should have come to me sooner," Ron sighed as they approached the castle, "that dragon's already worthy of wreaking havoc across the entire school. We need to get rid of it as soon as possible, it's more than Hagrid's jobs worth if he gets caught."
"You won't tell anyone will you, Ron?" Hermione asked.
"Of course I won't, but if we don't act fast then I wouldn't have to anyway; a fully grown dragon is pretty hard to hide."
"You'd be surprised what they're hiding in this castle," Harry muttered as they arrived back at the entrance to the Hufflepuff dormitory and Ron snuck back inside, promising to let them know as soon as Charlie replied to his letter.
"Come on Harry, eat some toast. It's not gonna be that bad…" Wood was insisting as he tucked into his own breakfast. Harry was sat wearing his Quidditch robes with his head in his hands when Hermione came and sat beside him.
"What's not going to be that bad?" she asked.
"Snape's refereeing the match today," Harry mumbled through his gloved hands.
"Oh," Hermione sighed.
"I thought he was alright with you though?" Wood managed to say while biting through a sandwich.
"Oh, yeah – I just, umm… don't know if he's a good referee," Harry made up and Wood seemed convinced. Harry had had little trust in Snape since the last Quidditch match, becoming more reserved in potions classes and avoiding him where possible in the corridors. But now he would have no escape from him, Snape would be up there in the sky flying with Harry and there was no way out of it.
Unless…
Harry looked clenched his fist and peered at it, as if inspecting it.
"Don't, Harry," Hermione said.
"Don't what?" Harry asked, still gazing at his fist.
"Don't punch yourself in the face just to get out of the match."
"It might work though."
"It won't."
"What if you punch me in the face?"
"Still no."
"Wood-?" Harry began, half turning to his captain.
"No," Hermione said sternly.
"He has a stronger punch than both of us," Harry pointed out.
"Nobody's punching anyone!" Hermione said.
"I sincerely hope not," came a voice from behind them and Harry turned to see Snape stood there. "No need to worry, Potter, I'll be keeping an eye on the match today. I hope you've been training well…" he smirked and walked away. Harry watched him reach the doors to the Great Hall where he froze and glared at Professor Quirrell, who had just walked around the corner next to him. Quirrell quickly scurried away and Snape disappeared, his cloak billowing behind him.
"There's something about him," Harry muttered.
"What do you mean?" Hermione whispered.
"I don't know. I can't put my finger on it but… I feel like I know something… something I've forgotten. It's in the back of my head but I-"
"Right!" Wood announced to the team as he stood, "we'd best get down to the pitch. Come on you lot."
One by one the team got to their feet and slowly walked out of the Great Hall. Hermione squeezed Harry's arm comfortingly as he stood.
"You'll be fine," she said and smiled.
"Thanks," Harry smiled and followed after the rest of the team.
Harry was walking at the back of the Gryffindor team when a familiar voice spoke to him.
"Impressive flying last time, Potter," Cedric said as he pulled on his gloves and fastened them, "just try not to fall off your broom this time, yeah?" Cedric slapped his back with a chuckle which Harry returned.
"I'll try not to," Harry laughed and walked with Cedric down to the pitch.
Harry was stood in the tunnel under the stands in formation with the rest of the team, waiting for the door before them all to open. He wondered if Snape would make another attempt on his life, and if so how he would do it.
You're gonna die. Maybe they'll put a plaque on the side of the stadium: "Harry Potter- Laughed At By Many, Missed By A Few".
Stop thinking like that.
You're right, "Missed By A Couple" would be more accurate.
Suddenly the huge doors creaked open and sunlight burst into the tunnel.
"Come on then team, let's show 'em what we're made of!" Wood called out to the rest of the team over the cheers of the crowd outside. Once again they all walked to the centre of the pitch and lined up, mounting their brooms. The captains shook hands, the whistle blew and up the players flew, Lee Jordan's voice calling out across the stadium.
"Hello and welcome to today's match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff! After Potter's impressive performance at the last match all we can wonder is "what tricks has he got up his sleeves this time?" Hopefully we won't have to wait long to see. Anyway, onto the match! Johnson has the quaffle…"
Harry was circling the stadium, searching for the snitch. He wanted to get the match over with as soon as possible, give Snape as little a chance as possible to do anything.
Harry noticed another flyer not far behind him, keeping its distance. At first he thought it was Snape trying to get close to him but then he noticed the flyer was wearing a yellow kit. Harry turned enough to see that it was Cedric.
He's tailing me, Harry thought, he knows I'll see the snitch first.
Harry decided to let Cedric follow him for a while and, if he didn't lay up soon, use a move called a wronski feint. He hadn't had much practice with it but he knew what he had to do and just had to hope that Cedric would fall for it.
Harry was relieved to see as he flew past one of the many towers that Dumbledore was in attendance for the match. With Dumbledore there Harry was sure that Snape wouldn't dare try anything.
Hermione was stood amongst the crowd in the stands of the stadium, keeping a very close eye on both Harry and Snape. The match had been going on for some time now (so long in fact that Hermione noticed some students had left) and Hermione was unsure of how she felt about it; on the one hand the longer the match went on then the longer Snape had to try and attack Harry, but the longer he didn't do anything the more Hermione began to think that he wasn't going to try at all. All the same, she wanted Harry to find the snitch as soon as possible.
Suddenly, someone coughed beside her. She turned to see Ron sporting the Hufflepuff colour, watching the match. "Looking" at the match would be more accurate however, as Ron didn't seem to be paying any attention at all to what was going on, he just happened to be looking in the same direction as it. There was another Hufflepuff behind him but Hermione couldn't make out who it was as they had their hood up and a scarf around their face.
"Ron? What is it?" Hermione asked. Ron cleared his throat and twitched his hand. Hermione looked and saw that he was holding a note. She took it and unfolded it
.
Charlie. Tonight. Meet outside Huff Common Room. Bring that cloak.
Hermione nodded to show she understood. With a single nod and a flick of his wand the note burned and disintegrated. He disappeared with the other Hufflepuff into the crowd and Hermione brought her attention back to the match just in time to hear Lee Jordan call out.
"Potter dives fast! Has he seen the snitch?! Diggory's right on his tail!"
Hermione scanned the field and quickly found Harry, shooting to the ground like a spear. Hermione's heart plummeted and she gasped as Harry pulled his Nimbus up mere inches from the ground, soaring back up into the air. Cedric, on the other hand, was not so lucky. He had fallen for Harry's trick and crashed straight into the ground, sprawled across the floor.
"Is that a legal move?" Hermione asked Seamus , who was sat on the row behind her with Dean.
"Yeah, it's called the Wonky Flip or something," Seamus replied, "Diggory wasn't forced to chase after Harry, he decided to."
"And it's not Harry's fault that Cedric couldn't see past Harry to see how close to the ground he was so Harry can't be blamed for it either," Dean added.
Hermione, though relieved that Gryffindor now had the edge, hoped that Cedric wasn't hurt too badly.
Harry hovered by a nearby tower and quickly scanned the pitch for the snitch. He had grown tired of Cedric tailing him and now he needed to use the advantage of Cedric not being in play to find the snitch.
"Nice feint Harry!" Fred yelled as he flew past Harry on his left, followed a second later by George on his right who called out, "Slytherin tower!"
Harry's eyes shot to the towers donned in green and white. He narrowed his eyes and saw a glint of gold in the sunlight by the third tower away from him. In an instant he was off and caught up to the snitch, which darted away from him. Around the Slytherin tower, down the side, shot past two more towers, then soared high into the air. Harry followed only for the snitch to instantly fall straight back downwards, forcing Harry to do the same. As Harry sped towards the ground, he was shocked to see Cedric zooming upwards towards him.
Clever little thing, Harry thought, it's trapped us in a game of chicken.
Harry and Cedric were zooming towards each other, the snitch in between them. Harry knew the risk, but he also knew that Cedric had just hit the ground once and would not want to get caught in another collision any time soon.
Cedric was getting closer – Harry stretched out his arm – closer – "The seekers are charging towards each other!" – closer – Harry gripped his broom tightly and saw Cedric do the same – Harry suddenly wasn't so sure his gamble would pay off – closer – "Someone find Madam Pomfrey!" – closer – the snitch was almost within their grasp – closer – Cedric pulled to the left, just as Harry predicted. Harry sighed as his hands closed around the snitch and he levelled his own broom.
"Potter catches the snitch! Gryffindor win! Take that Diggory!"
Cedric laughed and waved at Lee (who was grinning and winked back) as he hovered over to Harry.
"Nice flying, Potter, good match. You're a braver man than I," he chuckled and winked as the two shook hands.
"Thanks Ced," Harry smiled back, "although, to be honest, you had me worried just then; you didn't look like you were going to pull away."
"Neither did you, that's why I backed out," Cedric laughed, "I'll see you later Harry."
Cedric flew over to his other teammates, no doubt to give them a consolation speech, and Harry returned to his own team who were waiting for him. While most of the team was celebrating Harry's bravery (and luck) in catching the snitch, all Wood could go on about was how there was only "one more game! One more game and we'll have this!"
While Harry was glad to have won the match, he was more relieved that it was over. He hadn't seen where Snape had disappeared off to but he wasn't near Harry and that's all Harry cared about.
Hermione was sat on the sofa in the first-year's common room, the invisibility cloak tucked beside her, waiting for Harry who was downstairs having a celebratory drink of butterbeer with the team (that Fred and George had smuggled in). Everyone else had already gone to bed and Hermione was longing to go to her own so she was growing rather impatient. Then she noticed something on the counter a little away from her. She walked over to it and picked it up. She thought she recognised it; it was Harry's sketchbook, the one she had bought for him. She was about to open it and see what he'd been drawing but stopped herself. It wouldn't be right of her. But then, he had shown her a lot of the pieces when she had asked about them. Surely he wouldn't mind if she had a quick skim of the pages.
She opened the book and scanned the first few pages. She recognised most of them as the sketches he had done over Christmas of her, the Weasleys, and then his parents. He had told her about them, and how he had decided to draw them but Hermione had always felt that it may have been too personal to ask to see them. She could see that Harry took mostly after his father in terms of his appearance - they both had the same untidy black hair and round glasses - but even in a drawing Hermione could see that Harry had his mother's eyes. She was very pretty, Hermione thought, and her eyes weren't the only thing that Harry had inherited from her. They both had the same smile, that wide, warm smile that could light up a room.
Hermione decided to move onto the next pages where she was surprised to find another drawing of herself, followed by a few pages of doodles and a beautiful landscape of the Lake, and then… another one of Hermione, this time sat on a window-ledge in the library, reading a book. She flipped the page and saw a detailed drawing of three wizards stood by a bridge with a cloaked figure stood between them and the other side. She thought this scene was familiar but moved on. There was the unfinished sketch of Norbert along with a few other attempts at the same piece, a comical drawing of professor Quirrell surrounded by a garlic cloud, and finally another drawing of Hermione, this time sat on the sofa in the common room writing an essay.
"This was the other night," she muttered to herself, remembering where Harry had been sat and noticing that it was from the same perspective in the drawing, "wow, he must really not have a lot of things to draw."
Suddenly there were footsteps echoing up the staircase. Hermione quickly closed the book and dropped it back on the counter, nonchalantly walking back over to the sofa as Harry appeared. The rest of the team made their way up to their individual floors and Harry bade them goodnight, making sure they were all out of sight before turning to Hermione.
"Ready?" he asked and Hermione answered by grabbing the cloak and throwing it over the pair of them.
Five minutes later they rounded the corner leading to the Hufflepuff common room and were met by an unusual site.
"Is that Ron… reading?" Harry whispered to Hermione.
"I think so," she replied, "it looks like… oh-" she let out a low cooing noise, "it's Romeo and Juliet."
"Isn't that the one about two teenagers from separate families who can't be with each other?" Harry asked.
"Yep," Hermione answered.
"Don't they commit suicide at the end?"
"Oh… yeah."
"And that's romantic?"
"Well, not the suicide bit, but the rest is. You should read it sometime, it's really good."
"If that was Shakespeare's idea of romance then I'm not sure I want to know what he finds weird."
Hermione laughed and they made their way over to where Ron was sitting on top of one barrel, leaning against another as he read.
"Having fun?" Harry asked as his and Hermione's head appeared out of thin air, as if floating. Ron, startled, shoved the book in his pocket and hopped down off the barrel.
"Oh, this? Yeah, it's alright, Cedric leant it to me. You two ready?"
The pair nodded (a rather odd sight for Ron as neither of them had bodies) and Ron joined them beneath the cloak.
They moved as quietly as they could through the castle and out into the grounds, where they didn't need to be as cautious as their footsteps wouldn't echo so loudly. It wasn't long before they were at Hagrid's hut, knocking on the large wooden door. Hagrid, who they noticed had a slightly singed beard, let them in and they moved quickly to get Norbert prepared. Hagrid had attached two of Fang's leashes together to make one big enough for Norbert along with an old muzzle to keep him from biting anyone. According to Ron, Charlie would be bringing a cage with him to transport him safely, but first they needed to meet with him.
"Apparently he's going to apparate just outside of the grounds – something about not being able to inside Hogwarts or something – we'll get Norbert in the carrier and then he'll apparate away again. Hagrid, Charlie said there's an exit about half a mile north of your hut out of the grounds, is that right?"
"Uh, yeah I think so," Hagrid replied.
"Good, that's where Charlie says he'll be," Ron said as he took hold of Norbert's leash and the three of them got beneath the cloak again, "everyone ready?"
The three nodded and Hagrid bent down to say his goodbye to Norbert one last time.
"Bye bye, Norby," he sobbed, "don't forget me now, will ye? Oh! Speaking of forgetting-" Hagrid stood and walked over to the crate Norbert had been sleeping in. he picked up a small, blue teddy bear and brought it over to Norbert, who clasped it in his mouth, "don't wanna be forgettin' that. He can't sleep without it. Be a good boy now, ye hear?"
Norbert nuzzled Hagrid's hand with a small moan, which made it all much harder for Hagrid to close the door behind them as they left. Norbert barely fit beneath the invisibility cloak and his constant hopping as he tried to fly made it much harder to keep him hidden. This was less of a problem once they'd ducked into the trees behind Hagrid's hut and began heading north.
"So where is this reserve?" Harry asked.
"Romania, same place Charlie's stationed at right now," Ron answered, "they don't usually ask questions about where dragons come from. Most of them come from Ministry raids on illegal fighting pits and the like so they'll just assume it's one of them."
"There are dragon fighting pits?" Hermione gasped.
"Have been for centuries. They're illegal now, of course, but years ago it wouldn't be uncommon to go and watch a dragon fight at the weekend."
Hermione looked aghast but Harry wasn't surprised, if he was honest with himself. Considering the amount of crazy things he'd found out about in less than a year he was starting to wonder if anything was going to baffle him anymore.
They walked for some time before they came to a clearing, the edge of which had a large wall and a wooden door. They took off the invisibility cloak and Ron went to open the door, twisting the handle, but nothing happened.
"Ah," he sighed before turning back to Harry and Hermione, "know any unlocking spells?"
"I know a repairing spell," Harry suggested.
"How will that help?" asked Ron.
Harry walked over to the door, looked at it for a second, and kicked it hard. The lock on the door snapped and the door swung open.
"Break the door, then repair it when we come back," Harry said with a smile.
"I… I knew an unlocking charm," Hermione said, trying not to laugh.
"Well, either way, the door's open now," Ron said as he walked with Norbert through the doorway and out of the grounds. Harry and Hermione followed, closing the door enough that it would look closed and locked to anybody who happened to come walking past.
"You took your time," a voice said from across the clearing and Harry turned to see a man he could only assume was Charlie Weasley. Tall with shoulder length ginger hair that curled at the end, a long nose, freckles and sharp chin, the relation between Ron and Charlie was clear. He was leant against a tree, biting into an apple with a large, metal container sat against the tree beside him.
"Charlie," Ron said as he walked over and hugged his brother, who hugged back, "good to see you."
"And you, little man," he replied with a smile, ruffling Ron's hair. "Here you go, Norbert," he said and gently threw the apple in the air. Norbert jumped a little and caught it, bit twice and swallowed what was left of the apple in one. "Feisty one, isn't he?" Charlie chuckled, "Right, let's get him all set up."
Charlie lured Norbert into the container and took off his leash before closing the gate behind him, Ron making sure to put the blue teddy bear in with him since Norbert had dropped it when Charlie threw the apple.
"He'll be alright then?" Hermione asked.
"Oh yeah, he'll be grand," Charlie replied, "we have a few ridgebacks right now all getting used to each other, all from different background and areas so they'll all get used to each together. I'm Charlie, by the way," he said as he held out his hand.
"Hermione," Hermione answered, shaking Charlie's hand.
"I'm Harry," Harry said as he also shook.
"Oh," Charlie said, placing his hand on his chest and looking at Ron with a fake shocked expression, "the Harry Potter?"
"Come on, Charlie," Ron chuckled.
"Sorry," Charlie said with a smirk, "pleasure to meet you Harry, and you Hermione. Now, Ron, I need to talk to you about the burrow…"
Charlie and Ron began talking about personal matters so Harry and Hermione decided to let them talk and headed over to the edge of the clearing.
"Well, at least that's over and done with," Hermione said.
"Yeah," Harry agreed, rubbing his head as he felt a slight headache.
"Still, I'm sure it won't be long before something else has got us risking our lives for- Harry? Harry?"
Harry had sat himself down against one of the trees, holding his head. A voice was ringing, distant but clear.
"Hurry now! Quickly! My time has come!"
It was shrill and raspy and Harry wanted nothing more than for it to shut up. If it really was Voldemort that he was hearing then he hoped he didn't sound that irritating in person.
"Harry, what is it?" Hermione asked, sitting beside him.
"It's Voldemort. He's on the move, doing something quickly. Something about his "his time has come" or something," Harry said, the voice slowly fading away. "He's probably caught another unicorn or something."
"Hmm," Hermione hummed, sounding unconvinced.
"What?" Harry asked.
"It's just… why would he stay here?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Dumbledore is the only wizard Voldemort ever feared, yet by the sounds of it he's living right on his doorstep. Why would he stay here where he's most vulnerable unless… unless there was something in the castle that he wanted?"
"Well, I suppose he wants me doesn't he? I'm the reason he's like this. He probably wants revenge against me."
"Maybe…" Hermione said, her voice distant.
"Right, well I'd best be off then," Charlie said from afar, "it was lovely meeting you two!" he called to Harry and Hermione, who waved back. Charlie gave Ron one final hug and with a "see you later," he was gone.
Ron walked back over to them and they entered the grounds again through the broken door. Harry quickly repaired it and ducked back beneath the cloak with Hermione and Ron. It wasn't long before they had stumbled their way out of the forest once more, the night sky stretching out above them. They walked back over to Hagrid's hut and knocked. There was no response for some time, so Hermione knocked again. A few seconds later the door creaked open and there stood Hagrid, his eyes bloodshot.
"Hullo?" Hagrid said, looking right through them, his words slurring, "Who's there?" Realising they'd left the cloak on, Harry, Ron and Hermione took it off and Hagrid jumped back startled, "oh! It's you three… come on in."
They joined Hagrid in his hut and noticed a couple of opened bottles of firewhisky nearby.
"Are you alright, Hagrid?" Harry asked.
"Me?" Hagrid said, wide-eyed, "never better." He took a swig from a hip flask and wiped his mouth before bursting into tears. "He's really gone, hasn't he?"
Ron sat beside him and put his arm around his shoulders.
"Yeah, he's gone… but you can go see him. I'm sure Charlie wouldn't mind-"
"Dumbledore shoulda never trusted me," Hagrid wailed, "I was no help to him when he needed me… what kind of three-headed guard dog falls asleep just by playing him some music?!"
"What?" Hermione and Harry gasped.
"I know! The guy who gave me that dragon egg at the pub couldn't believe it either!" Hagrid sighed heavily, "the Stone will be gone by the morning…"
"The stone," Harry whispered to himself, "the Philosopher's Stone…"
"Yeah, tha's the one!" Hagrid announced, "up in't castle right now… wait… I wasn't supposed to tell ye that." He held his finger to his mouth and made a shushing noise, "sssshhhhh! Ye didn't hear that." And with that his head slumped backwards and hit the wall, eventually letting out loud snores too.
"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"The Stone. It's all been for the Stone," suddenly everything was coming back to Harry. He remembered hearing Snape interrogate Quirrell, accusing him of being the one to try and dismount Harry from his broom, the figure in the Forest, why Harry always felt so grim whenever he was near Quirrell while everyone else was fine. "Snape's not the one trying to kill me, it's Quirrell. And he's after the Stone, he's gonna get it for Voldemort or- or he is Voldemort or-"
"Harry! Stop, calm down," Hermione tried to reason with him but Harry looked her dead in the eyes, never looking more serious before.
"He's going after the Stone, now. If he gets it then Voldemort comes back and we're all done for…"
There was silence between them, save for Hagrid's snores.
"So what do we do?" Ron asked, standing up. Harry looked at Ron.
"You don't have to do anything, Ron. You've been dragged into this unintentionally, it's dangerous, you-"
"If Voldemort's trying to come back then I'm involved whether I like it or not 'cause Merlin knows I'll be on the opposite side of him if he does come back," Ron said, looking at Harry and Hermione with determination on his face, "so, what do we do?"
Harry looked from Ron to Hermione, then straight ahead of him at nothing in particular, as if processing what he was about to say.
"We go get the Stone ourselves, before he can."
*Insert dramatic "dun dun duuuuun" here* So I plan on the next chapter being the final one of the first year and then the story will continue on through the rest of the years. I have some other ideas for stories that have been in the works too so if and when I start publishing them just be aware that, of course, time taken to write one story is time away from another story so I'll probably be posting a chapter for only one story at a time instead of posting a chapter for a load of different stories at once. I don't know when I'll be posting these new stories it's just a heads up right now to be honest.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to leave a review, they're all appreciated.