disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just Arabella. Hope you all like it!

Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

It seemed as though Professor Quirrell was braver than they had initially thought. In the weeks following the Quidditch match and his confrontation was Snape, he seemed to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't seem as though he had cracked. Every time they passed the third floor corridor, they would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy was still growling inside. Whenever they would pass Quirrell these days, Arabella tried to give him a comforting smile, and Ron had started to tell people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter.

However, Hermione had other things on her mind than the Philosopher's Stone. She had started drawing up revision timetables and colour-coding all her notes. Arabella really would not have minded, but Hermione kept nagging them to do the same.

"Hermione, the exams are ages away," said Harry.

"Ten weeks," snapped Hermione. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."

"But we're not six hundred year old," Ron reminded her.

"Hermione, you need to relax," said Arabella. "This amount of stress is not going to help you, and you already know everything, you don't need to revise that much."

"Have you gone mad? 'You don't need to revise that much'? You do realize we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's got into me…"

The teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas holiday. It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practicing wand movements. Arabella and Hermione snapped at each other too many times before agreeing that they would never sit next to each other again while studying.

"I'll never remember this," Ron said suddenly one afternoon. They were in the library and he threw down his quill. He looked out of the window. It was a clear day with the sense of summer coming.

Arabella sighed into her Transfiguration notes as Ron said, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place.

"Jus' lookin',' he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once. "An' what're you lot up ter?" He looked suddenly suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he was ages ago. And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St –"

"Shhhhh!" said Hagrid as Arabella hit Ron's arm with a textbook. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Harry, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy –"

"SHHHH!' said Hagrid again as Arabella also hit his arm, giving him a glare. "Listen – come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh –"

"See you later, then," said Harry as he was rubbing his arm.

Hagrid shuffled off.

"What was that for?" asked Harry as he turned to Arabella.

"Don't talk about it in public! What if Snape hears you?" said Arabella, narrowing her eyes at him and Ron.

"Fine, fine," mumbled Harry and Ron.

"What was Hagrid hiding behind his back?" said Hermione.

"Do you think it has something to do with the Stone?" said Harry.

"I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table. "Dragons!" he whispered. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these!"

"Hagrid always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him," said Harry.

"But it's unsafe," said Arabella, looking at some of the books, "and not to mention against the law. Hagrid couldn't have gotten a dragon."

"Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop the Muggle from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden. Arabella's right, they're also untameable. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" asked Harry.

"Of course there are," said Ron. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks."

"But the Ministry puts spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget," said Arabella. "They usually keep them very hush, hush."

"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" said Hermione.

An hour later, they knocked on Hagrid's hut. They were surprised to see that the curtains were closed. Hagrid called, "Who is it?" before he let them in and then shut the door quickly behind them. It was unbelievably hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Hagrid made them tea and offered them some sandwiches, which they refused.

"So – yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"

"Yes," said Harry. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned at him. "O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts – I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice. Arabella tried her best not to laugh behind her hands as Hagrid's beard twitched. He was smiling.

"We only wondered who had done the guarding, really," continued Hermione. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Hagrid's chest swelled at these words. "Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that… let's see… he borrowed Fluffy from me… then some o' the teachers did enchantments… Professor Sprout – Professor Flitwick – Professor McGonagall – Professor Quirrell – an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape?" asked Arabella, disgusted. "He trusts Snape with guarding the Stone?"

"Yeah – yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."

If Snape had been on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy for him to find out what the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew what every teacher's spell – except for Quirrell's and how to get past Fluffy.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" asked Harry anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, you would? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.

"That's great," Arabella muttered to Hermione. "Can we open a window, Hagrid? It's boiling in here."

"Can't, Arabella, sorry," said Hagrid, glancing at the fire.

"Hagrid – what's that?" asked Harry, pointing towards the fire where underneath the kettle was a huge, black egg. Arabella's eyes widened as they got up and took a closer look at the egg.

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Ron. "It must've cost you a fortune."

"Won it," said Hagrid. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

"But what are you going to do with it when it hatches?" said Hermione.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got these outta the library – Dragon-Breeding for Pleasure and Profit – it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with –"

"Hagrid, that's great and all," interrupted Arabella, "but you live in a wooden house. This is a dragon. Do you understand what I am saying?"

Hagrid didn't seem to be listening to her as he was humming merrily as he stroked the fire.


It seemed as though they had something else to worry about.

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighed, as they struggled through all the extra homework they were getting. Hermione had started making revision tables for them and it was driving them mad. Arabella threw hers out when Hermione wasn't looking.

Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brought Harry a note from Hagrid: It's hatching.

Ron wanted to skip Herbology and go straight down to the hut. Hermione wouldn't hear of it.

"Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?"

"We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing –"

"Shut up!" hissed Arabella.

Malfoy was a few feet away and he had stopped dead to listen. Arabella did not like the look on his smug face.

Ron and Hermione argued all the way to Herbology with Arabella and Harry behind them. In the end, Hermione agreed to run down to Hagrid's with them during morning break. When the bell sounded from the castle at the end of their lesson, the four of them dropped their trowels at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the Forest. Hagrid greeted them looking flushed and excited.

"It's nearly out."

He then ushered them inside. The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. The dragon was moving inside. They all drew their chairs to the table and watched with anticipation. All at once, there was a scrapping noise and the egg split open.

The baby dragon flopped on to the table. Arabella always imaging dragons to be beautiful and dangerous, but this thing was small and ugly. Its wings were huge compared to its skinny black body, and it had a long snout with wide nostrils. It sneezed and a couple sparks flew out of its snout.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured, his eyes fixated on the dragon. Arabella felt uneasy as he looked at the thing like a newly made mother. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs. "Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!"

"Hagrid," said Hermione, "how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"

Hagrid was about to answer when the colour suddenly drained from his face. He leapt to his feet and ran to the window.

"What's the matter?" asked Harry.

"Someone was lookin' though the gap in the curtains – it's a kid – he's runnin' back up ter the school."

Arabella bolted to the door and looked out. She saw him from a distance and there was no mistaking him and his light hair. "It's Malfoy," she said. "He's seen the dragon."


Arabella wasn't nervous with Malfoy smiling about. No, she wanted to wipe it off immediately. She spent her days looking over her shoulders, wondering if Malfoy was going to show up or taunt them. They spent their time trying to ignore him and in Hagrid's hut, trying to reason with him.

"Just let him go," urged Harry. "Set him free."

"I can't," said Hagrid. "He's too little. He'd die."

"He's not that little," murmured Arabella, glancing at the dragon. It had grown three times in length in just a week.

"I've decided to call him Norbert," said Hagrid, his eyes misty. "He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mummy?"

Arabella's mouth was agape and she blinked a few times. She was astonished at Hagrid's behaviour. It was one thing to be this happy with a dog or cat, but another with a dragon. He had named a dragon that was sure to breathe fire soon Norbert, and he was acting as though this creature was a baby! She looked at Hermione for a moment and sensed that she was thinking the same thing. Hagrid was losing his marbles.

"Hagrid," said Arabella loudly, "you can't keep him. Norbert's a dragon. He's going to keep growing and growing until he is as big as your house. And with the way he has been growing, he will soon be able to breathe fire, Hagrid, fire!"

"Not to mention," added Harry, "Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment."

Hagrid bit his lip.

"I – I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him, I can't."

Harry then turned to Ron. "Charlie."

"You're losing it too," said Ron. "I'm Ron, remember?"

"No – Charlie – your brother Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"

"Brilliant!" said Ron. "How about it, Hagrid?"

In the end, Hagrid agreed that they could send an owl to Charlie to ask him.


The week went by slowly and on Wednesday night, Arabella and Ron were in Hagrid's hut, helping him feed Norbert. Arabella wasn't keen on doing this, but it was interesting to see how big Norbert has grown. Hagrid, who was falling behind on his groundskeeper duties, had promised to come back within a couple minutes to check on the chicken.

Norbert was in a crate and they were feeding him slowly and carefully.

"What's he thinking, leaving us here with Norbert?" muttered Ron, touching the rat by its tail above Norbert's mouth.

Norbert's fangs latched onto it instantly and he devoured it in seconds.

"He'll be back soon," said Arabella. "He's got to check up on something quickly. We did agree to help him."

Ron frowned as Norbert consumed another dead rat. Arabella did not like the idea of touching dead rats, and she was going to throw out her gloves after today.

"Look at the way he eats him!" said Ron, shocked. "Savage, this one! Imagine if that was Scabbers!"

Arabella felt revolted. "Ron, I don't want to think about that."

A rat's tale dangled from Norbert's mouth and he sucked it into his mouth. Arabella gagged for a moment and looked away. "That's disgusting," she whispered.

Hagrid then came in and checked up on Norbert without saying 'Hello' or anything.

"Norbert! Did yeh miss Mummy?"

Ron rolled his eyes and muttered, "He's losing it."

"Yeh two alrigh'?" Hagrid asked, looking at them. "How was he?"

"Fine," said Arabella, shrugging. "Fed him most of the rats."

Hagrid made them some tea as Arabella and Ron fed Norbert his brandy and chicken blood.

"Heard anythin' from Charlie, yet?" asked Hagrid, placing the tea in front of them and some rock cakes. He seemed sad at the thought of departing with Norbert. Arabella caught Ron's eye. They would be happy to see Norbert gone.

"Not yet," said Ron. "But it should be here soon. Charlie's usually better at reply to letters than Bill. Barely heard from Percy or Fred and George when they entered Hogwarts. Less from Percy, honestly."

They drank their tea as Hagrid stroked Norbert's head. The dragon had taken to Hagrid and Arabella watched with fascination and worry. Hagrid will be hurt if he parted with Norbert, but this was best for him.

Time seemed to move by slowly and they continued to feed Norbert as Hagrid went outside to get Fang.

"The way he looks at Norbert," muttered Ron, looking over his shoulder. "It's a dragon!"

"I know," said Arabella, throwing the stale rock cakes away. She picked up their teacups as Fang came running into the hut. He headed straight for Arabella and made circles around her. He seemed happy as he blocked her way to the sink. She tried her best to step aside and not hurt him. He didn't seem to take the hint that she needed to get to the sink. She made a sudden moment and regretted it.

Arabella fell face first on the ground, dropping Hagrid's teacups and plates, cracking the cups, as Norbert bit Ron's hand in fright.

Ron let out a scream, fall back and edging away from Norbert.

"What's goin' on in here?" asked Hagrid, entering his hut.

"Norbert bit me!" exclaimed Ron.

"Ah, he didn' mean to, now did he?" asked Hagrid, looking at the bit. Arabella got up and glared at Fang, who made himself comfortable on top of Hagrid's bed. She picked up the cups and plates, placed them in the sink, and went to see Ron's bit. It was bleeding pretty heavily. He had it wrapped in a handkerchief now as Hagrid checked on Norbert.

"He didn' mean anythin' by it," said Hagrid. "Yeh just spooked him."

Ron's mouth flew open and Arabella shook her head. "Spooked him?" she asked.

"Yeh, the both of yer makin' noise, clatterin' about with no regard for Norbert," said Hagrid, seeming as though he was now angry at them. Arabella blinked and looked at Ron. "Frightenin' the baby for no reason. Go on, both of yeh. It's nearly midnigh'. Yeh done enough."

Arabella threw Harry's Invisibility Cloak over them and left the hut. Hagrid was singing Norbert a lullaby as they closed the door.

"He's gone mental!" Ron hissed. "What's he playing at? The thing bit me!"

The handkerchief was now soaked with Ron's blood. The clock on the wall in the Gryffindor common room chimed midnight as they walked thought the portrait hole. Ron threw off the Cloak.

"It bit me!" he said, showing Hermione and Harry his hand. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit."

"What did he say when Norbert bit you?" asked Hermione.

"Well, he told us off," said Arabella, shrugging. "He was singing a lullaby when we left."

There was a tap on the dark window.

"It's Hedwig!" said Harry, hurrying to let her in. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"

They put their heads together to read the note.

Dear Ron,

How are you? Thanks for the letter – I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon. Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark.

Send me an answer as soon as possible.

Love, Charlie.

They looked at each other.

"We've got the Invisibility Cloak," said Harry. "It shouldn't be too difficult – I think the Cloak's big enough to cover us and Norbert."

However, by the next morning, Ron's bitten hand had swollen to twice its normal size. He refused to go to Madam Pomfrey, but by the afternoon, he had no choice. His hand turned a nasty shade of green and it seemed as though Norbert's fangs were poisonous.

At the end of the day, they rushed to the hospital wing to find Ron in a terrible state in bed.

"It's not just my hand," he whispered, "although that feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me – I've told her it was a dog but I don't think she believes me – I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this."

They tried to calm him down.

"It'll all be over soon," said Hermione, but that did not seem to soothe him at all.

Ron sat bolt upright and broke into a sweat. "Midnight on Saturday! Oh no – oh no – I've just remembered – Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."

They didn't get a chance to say anything. Madam Pomfrey came over at that moment and made them leave, saying that Ron needed sleep.


"It's too late to change the plan now," said Harry. "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we have got the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that."

"I don't know, Harry," said Arabella, unsurely as she glanced at Hermione. "It just seems as though something bad is going to happen."

"But this is our only chance," said Harry. "If something happens, we can just hide under the cloak."

They found Fang sitting outside when they went to tell Hagrid, who opened a window to talk to them.

"I won't let you in," he said. "Norbert's at a tricky stage – nothin' I can't handle."

"He's a dragon," Arabella muttered. "He's always in a tricky stage."

When they told him about Charlie's letter, his eyes filled with tears, although that might have been because Norbert had just bitten him on the leg.

"Aargh! It's all right, he only got my boot – jus' playin' – he's only a baby, after all."

The baby banged its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle. Harry, Arabella and Hermione walked back to the castle, feeling Saturday couldn't come quickly enough.


It was a dark and cloudy night. They were late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the Entrance Hall, where he was playing tennis against the wall. Arabella would honestly feel sorry for Hagrid, if it wasn't for the fact that Ron was in the hospital wing.

Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large wooden basket and handed it to Arabella. Her eyes widened as her arms and the basket drop. Thankfully, the dragon did not wake up.

"Fed him some Sleeping Draught," he told her in a muffled voice. "Since he didn' bit yeh, Arabella, I reckon he took a likin' to yeh. There's a cover that he won' be able to get throu', and he's got a lot o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey. An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."

Arabella's eyes widened. Hagrid fed a dragon a Sleeping Draught, and if Norbert woke up, he will surely ripe her apart with this fangs. She looked at Hermione and Harry, terrified. This was certainly not how she wanted to die. If only she had stayed with Hermione and Harry that night instead of going with Ron, then maybe she wouldn't have to slug the dragon with her inside the castle.

"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Harry sobbed as Harry covered them under the Clock. "Mummy will never forget you!"

Arabella felt as though she hated Hagrid a little for choosing her. He could have put Norbert in a crate or something. Instead, Hagrid made sure Norbert was in a cozy little basket with his teddy and ready to kill Arabella at any time. How she made it back to the castle and up the marble staircase, she never knew. Her arms were sore, her shoulders were throbbing, and her face was covered in sweat.

"Nearly there," Harry whispered as they took a quick break. They reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower and she leaned against the wall.

A sudden movement ahead of them made them shrink into the shadows. Staring at the dark outlines of two people fighting with each other ten feet away. Professor McGonagall, in a dressing gown and hairnet, had Malfoy by the ear.

"Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you –"

"You don't understand, Professor, Harry Potter's coming – he's got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish! How are you tell such lies! Come on – I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

The steep staircase up to the tower seemed the hardest and the easiest. The steps were quite difficult for her. They reached the cold air surrounding them and Harry took off the Cloak. Arabella put the basket down without another complaint and sat down, trying to catch her breath. She clutched her sides as Hermione did a sort of jig.

"Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"

"Don't," said Harry.

Arabella laughed as they waited. They all sat down on the cold top for about ten minutes when four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.

To Arabella's annoyance, Charlie's friends had brought a crate, something that should have been given in the first place, and gently laid the basket inside. They then showed Arabella, Harry and Hermione the harness they brought so that they could suspend Norbert between them. They added some extra spells on the crate and buckled him safely in the harness. They shook Charlie's friends' hands and thanked them very much.

"I'm going to miss, Norbert," said Arabella, sighing as they began to disappear into the night.

"Seriously?" asked Harry, shocked.

Arabella snorted. "No."

It was a relief to have Norbert gone from their lives. Arabella didn't have to worry about Norbert poisoning her or killing her, and Malfoy was also in detention. It turned out to be quite a great night.

They were smiling and laughing quietly between themselves as they made their way down the foot of the stairs. As they stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed suddenly out of the darkness.

"Well, well, well," he whispered, "we are in trouble."

Thank you all for reading! Tell me what you think!