The words in bold are direct quotes from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I do not own Harry Potter. J.K Rowling does.
Norbert the Dragon
"This is ridiculous," Ron muttered as he stared longingly out the library window. The weather outside was beautiful, with warm air and a crystal clear sky. And he was stuck inside, studying and doing homework. "Can't we take a break?"
"We just started!" Hermione exclaimed, not taking her eyes off of her Charms textbook. "Besides, exams are just around the corner and we must start getting prepared."
"Ten weeks is a long way away!" Ron argued.
"Yeah, but our Potions essay is due after the Easter holidays." Harry sighed heavily and continued to write on his piece of parchment. "Why do the teachers have to pile on so much homework before the holidays?"
The redhead continued to peer outside wistfully. "Well...how about you three study by the lake while I goof off?"
Hermione paused for a moment, thinking this over. "I suppose we could do that," she agreed. "But try not to be so distracting, alright?"
Charlie chuckled at Ron's eagerness and the four trooped out into the warm sunlight. Ron happily started skipping stones across the clear water while the others lounged in the lush grass to continue their studying.
Snowy joined the eleven-year-olds moments later and rubbed against Charlie's ankle. Charlie looked down in surprise to see Snowy had a piece of parchment in her mouth. "What have you got there?" Charlie questioned curiously and removed the piece of parchment.
Dear Charlie,
I couldn't find you or the others in the castle, but I did find your cat here. So I sent her to go looking for you. I'd be very grateful if you could stop by immediately. I need your help. Please bring Hermione, Ron and Harry if they do not mind.
Hagrid
"That doesn't sound good," Harry said nervously.
"Clever cat!" Charlie praised, scratching Snowflake fondly on the head. "Well, Hagrid needs our help, so we better go give it to him."
Hermione sighed in annoyance but got up and packed her books away. Ron looked thoughtful as they made the trek to Hagrid's hut. "Gee, I wonder what Hagrid needs our help for."
"If he needs our help with anything along the lines of 'take Fluffy for a walk', I'm gone," Harry warned his companions. "I mean it!"
Charlie approached the wooden door and knocked. "Hagrid! It's us!"
The door flew open and the large man ushered them inside quickly. His eyes darted about before closing the door firmly behind them. "I'm glad yeh came!"
"What's wrong Hagrid?" Hermione asked worriedly. Ron peered around Hagrid's hut and froze when his blue eyes fell upon something strange boiling in a pot above a crackling fire in the fireplace.
"Hagrid!" he moaned, burying his face in his hands. "You didn't!"
"Didn't what?" Harry asked anxiously, trying to keep Fang at bay. "What's the matter?"
Ron pointed a shaky finger at the round black egg simmering in the pot. "Hagrid got himself a dragon!"
"Hagrid!" Charlie, Hermione and Harry cried in unison.
Hagrid nervously twisted his hands. "I've always wanted a dragon!" he protested feebly. "An' now I got one!"
"But what do you need our help for?" Hermione asked cautiously, afraid of the answer.
"I'm not taking it for a walk!" Harry hollered, backing away from the egg. "I'm not feeding it either!"
Charlie sighed and rubbed a hand down her face. "When is it going to hatch?"
"Er...'bout now."
The kids groaned and stared warily at the egg. Ron eyed the stack of books on Hagrid's table and browsed the titles. "Dragon training books?" he muttered in disbelief. "This is worse than Fluffy!"
"It's moving!" Harry hissed suddenly, staring in horror as the black egg began to shake a bit. Hagrid beamed happily and quickly scooped up the egg and deposited it on the table. Ron scrambled away and shuddered.
Everyone watched as the egg slowly began to crack. Harry then let out a yelp of fear when a skinny body with bulging orange eyes, stubs of horns and a long snout emerged from the now-shattered egg. "What kind of dragon is it?" he asked nervously.
Ron studied the dragon thoughtfully. "It appears to be a Norwegian Ridgeback." When everyone stared at him in disbelief he held up his hands in defense. "What? My brother works with dragons! I ought to know some things."
"Isn't he wonderful?" Hagrid asked joyfully, gently stroking the dragon's back and pulling his finger away when the dragon tried to bite him. "No, bad Norbert! Don't bite yer Mummy!"
"Norbert?" Harry mouthed. Ron bit his knuckles to keep from laughing and Hermione just cradled her head in her hands.
"Do you know how big a dragon gets?" Ron asked Hagrid when he managed to control himself. "Especially a Norwegian Ridgeback? Hagrid, you know you can't keep a dragon on school grounds."
Hagrid looked devastated. "But-"
"Please, Hagrid!" Hermione enthused. "Ron's brother Charlie works with dragons! I'm sure he'll be able to find Norbert a good home."
Hagrid hesitated, but nodded. "I suppose yer right...don' know what I was thinkin'."
"Just keep Norbert a secret until Charlie gives us an answer," Ron instructed Hagrid. "We'll be back tonight to see how it's going."
"Are you crazy?" Charlie hissed as they left Hagrid's hut. "We need to tell a teacher!"
"We don't want Hagrid to get in trouble," Ron said firmly. "I'll go up to the Owlery right away and ask him what we should do."
Charlie and Hermione exchanged looks. "Good luck," Hermione muttered.
"We'll cover for you, but we won't take part in your 'smuggle out a dragon' plan," Charlie agreed.
"Fine!" Ron slung an arm around Harry. "Harry will help me! Won't you Harry?"
"I-I g-guess s-so," he stammered. "But do I h-have to?"
"Yes. Yes you do."
...
The rest of the day went by with Hermione and Charlie doing their school work while Ron sent off a letter to his brother. Charlie wondered if she should interfere, but decided that the two of them should just stay out of it. Ron probably knew what he was doing.
Well, that's what she thought until dinner came around the next evening. She and Hermione were eating some roast when Harry flew into the Great Hall, brown eyes wide and face pale. "Ron's in the infirmary!" he hissed frantically, nearly collapsing by his two friends. "The stupid thing bit him and now I'm all by myself! I can't do this alone!"
Charlie hushed him and pulled him down by the neck of his robes so the three of them could converse in private. "You need to calm down!" Charlie snapped. "Now, what happened to Ron?"
"He and I went to tell Hagrid the good news. Charlie responded right away and he said that some friends would come pick up the dragon at the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday! Hagrid started blubbering, and then asked Ron to help feed Norbert. Then the dragon bit him!" Harry explained in a rush.
Hermione gasped softly. "Is he alright?"
"His hand swelled up and is turning green and purple, but I got him to Madame Pomfrey as fast as I could. I think she's suspicious."
"I don't blame her," Charlie muttered.
"Anyway, the problem is that now I don't have anyone to help me carry the dragon to the tallest tower tomorrow night!" Harry clasped his hands together and looked at them both desperately. "Please help me out!"
"I really think you should inform Professor Dumbledore of what's going on," Charlie insisted.
"But then Hagrid will get into trouble!" Harry exclaimed. "I know Dumbledore's nice and all, but even he would have to be strict on this matter!"
Charlie groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. She could feel a headache coming on. "I'll tell you what; if Ron doesn't feel better by tomorrow, then I'll give you a hand."
Harry nearly cried with relief. "Thank you! Thank you! You're the best friend ever!" The boy then quickly turned around and booked it from the Great Hall, no doubt to check on Ron.
...
"What do you think that was all about?" Draco asked as the pathetic Hufflepuff ran from the Hall again. The three had been whispering for quite a while, and it seemed urgent.
"Let's go find out," Pansy snickered and the two Snakes quickly hurried after the Hufflepuff, Hermione and Charlie not noticing their sudden departure.
...
"Charlie said that if your hand doesn't get better by tomorrow night, she'll help me smuggle out the dragon!" Harry whispered gleefully to Ron, who was resting in one of the beds and looking very pale.
"I'm sure I'll be fine by tomorrow," Ron insisted. He held up his bandaged hand, which was indeed decreasing in size as the swelling went down. "Tell Hagrid to have Norbert all ready for Saturday night. We need to be at the tallest tower as soon as possible."
The two were not aware of the Snakes that were eavesdropping outside the infirmary door. "Did you hear that?" Draco asked joyfully. "They're going to smuggle out a dragon!"
"And we'll be there to catch them in the act," Pansy snickered. "I can't wait to see Potter's face when she finds out her little friends have been expelled! It'll be even better if it ends up being Potter herself!"
"And that oaf will be fired!" Malfoy added with a cackle.
It was almost too good to be true.
...
Harry was much too anxious to focus on his classes. Hermione managed to prevent him from blowing up his cauldron in Potions at least three times. "For heaven's sake, pay attention!" she hissed at him.
The Hufflepuff winced and quickly corrected the order of ingredients. Snape prowled down the rows, eyeing each cauldron critically and insulting everyone but his two Slytherins. Snape had decided that Charlie was too incompetent to brew with anyone and was moved to a secluded corner. Since her last cauldron got all mangled, she had to use a spare until hers was repaired.
Harry cast a glance in the corner. Charlie had avoided him all class. She seemed to know that Ron was still held up in the infirmary. He absent-mindedly went to add an ingredient to his potion and yelped in surprise when Hermione grabbed his wrist.
"For the last time, stop trying to blow us all to bits!"
To his relief, Potions ended with the ringing bell and he raced after Charlie. The raven-haired girl looked up reluctantly when he approached. "Please tell me you're not going back on your word!" he begged, hands clasped in front of him.
Charlie let out a weary sigh. "Let's go check on Ron and see how he is, alright?"
The three made their way to the infirmary and found Ron in a heated argument with Madame Pomfrey.
"But I feel fine!" Ron protested, struggling to get out of bed. "Really ma'am, I'm okay!"
"Will you sit still?" Pomfrey snapped, flicking her wand. Ron was pulled back into bed and he groaned loudly. "Don't give me that tone, Mr. Weasley! I have no idea what happened to your hand, and you say you have no clue. How do I know it's not contagious?"
"It's not!" Ron wailed, desperate to escape the stern medic-witch. "I'm pretty sure it's just a bite of some sorts! A bite isn't contagious!"
Pomfrey frowned suspiciously. "What on earth could have bitten you? Your hand was the size of a balloon when you were brought here!"
Ron's hand was looking much better indeed. It had gone down in size and the colour was slowly turning back to his pale skin tone.
"I don't know what bit me!" Ron lied. "But it's looking much better, see? Please let me out!"
Pomfrey pursed her lips before slowly nodding. "If you want to go back to your friends so badly Mr. Weasley-" here she gestured towards the amused group by the door, "-then fine. But the second it starts acting up again I expect to see you immediately."
Ron agreed quickly and raced over to his friends. The four started down the corridor and Ron breathed a sigh of relief. "Blimey! I thought she'd never let me out of there."
"Do you think she knows?" Harry asked nervously.
Hermione shook her head. "I'm sure Madame Pomfrey would have sent Ron to the Headmaster if she did."
The brown-eyed boy nodded before turning hopefully towards Ron. "Does that mean you're all ready for tonight?"
"You bet!" Ron grinned. "I'll meet you at Hagrid's after dark. Charlie, can we borrow your Invisibility Cloak?"
"Alright," Charlie agreed hesitantly. "But I hope you two know what you're doing."
"Nothing will go wrong," Ron said confidently.
"Knock on wood!"
...
Night came much too quickly for Harry's liking. Charlie handed him the Cloak secretly after dinner and wished him luck. She was just relieved she wasn't the one who had to help smuggle out a dragon. Hermione had attempted one last effort to convince him to tell the Headmaster, but Harry decided to just go along with the plan. They were already in deep enough.
Harry kept the Cloak pressed around him as he tiptoed down the corridors. He ventured out into the dark night, eyes darting about nervously. He hurried over to Hagrid's and found his redheaded friend, crouched near the side. "Hey," he whispered, taking the Cloak off.
"Let's do this," said Ron with a grin. He rapped his knuckles on the large wooden door and hissed, "Hagrid! It's us!"
The large man opened the door and looked around nervously. "I really appreciate yeh doin' this, yeh two."
Ron smiled. "It's no problem." He noticed a bunch of scratches on Hagrid's hands and scowled. "Sure, Norbert scratches you, but bites me."
Harry and Ron carefully picked up the crate Norbert was packed in. Hagrid placed the Cloak back over them and sobbed. "Mummy will miss yeh, Norbert!"
The two quickly bid Hagrid goodbye and left the man to his blubbering. Lugging a crate with a restless dragon down the corridors and up a long flight of stairs was no easy task. Harry yelped when Norbert jerked in his crate and caused him to stumble back a step. "Ron! He's trying to push me down the stairs!"
"Don't be paranoid!" Ron snapped and they managed to pull the crate the rest of the way. He scanned the dark sky with blue eyes and let out a sigh of relief as he spotted two figures in the distance.
"Hullo there!" a cheerful male said as he and his pal landed. "I hear you got a dragon for us?"
Ron grinned and gestured towards the crate between him and Harry. "Yup. A baby Norwegian Ridgeback."
The other male whistled. "Impressive. Well, we'll take 'em off your hands for you. I gotta say, you're pretty brave for lugging that thing around the castle at night."
"It was no problem." Ron watched as the two put the crate in a harness that was attached to the brooms. "Thanks again!"
The two males waved goodbye and flew off. Harry let out a breath he had not known he was holding. "Phew! Glad that's over with."
"What do you two think you're doing?"
The two boys screamed and whirled around. Harry paled upon seeing a furious McGonagall standing in front of the tower exit, nostrils flaring. She had Draco and Pansy by the arms and the two Snakes weren't happy.
"We-we-we-"Harry stammered, cowering behind Ron. "We were just stargazing."
How was it possible that McGonagall was even more intimidating in sleep robes?
McGonagall narrowed her eyes. "These two here seem to think you're smuggling out a dragon!"
"They are!" Pansy insisted.
"Look at Weasley's hand!" Draco added quickly.
Ron blinked innocently. "My hand? I don't know what happened to it. Maybe I had a cut and some of my potion ingredients leaked in during brewing. As for this dragon stuff, how on earth would we smuggle out a dragon? Actually, where would we get a dragon?"
"They're lying!" Pansy cried. "I overheard them, I swear! They-"
"So!" McGonagall snapped. "You two thought it would be funny if you tricked these Slytherins into a wild goose hunt! Thought it would be funny if they made a fool of themselves tracking down a teacher and spoke nonsense about a dragon."
"Yes ma'am," Ron admitted. "But it backfired on us. We didn't hide in time."
Harry was slightly impressed by Ron's ability to lie.
"This is ridiculous! This was very petty of you Mr. Weasley. And Mr. Lupin, I am surprised at you for being involved in such a thing! And you two! You Slytherins aren't off the hook either. Sneaking out of bed and prowling around the castle!"
"But they had a dragon-"Draco tried desperately.
"Enough!" McGonagall snapped. "To bed with all of you! We'll discuss this appalling behaviour tomorrow morning, after breakfast!"
...
"So," Hermione said sarcastically as the group of friends went to breakfast the next morning. "Nothing would go wrong, huh?"
Ron flushed. He had just finished telling the two girls how their plan went. "Well...the dragon is safe and so is Hagrid. McGonagall doesn't believe we ever had a dragon and it was just an elaborate prank that backfired."
Charlie crossed her arms and scowled. "And you didn't even give me back my Cloak!"
"Sorry!" Harry apologized. "We'll go back and get it after McGonagall is through with us, I promise!"
Ron managed to wolf down three scrambled eggs and four pieces of toast despite his nervous stomach. He had just downed a second glass of milk when Professor McGonagall descended from the High Table. She nodded curtly at him and the ginger reluctantly stood up.
Fred whistled. "What did you do now Ronnie?"
"None of your business!" Ron snapped as he followed McGonagall out of the Hall. Harry hurried after him.
The two boys entered McGonagall's office. "What about the two Snakes?" Ron asked as he and Harry stood in front of her desk.
"Professor Snape has already dealt with them," McGonagall said sharply. "Their punishment is none of your concern. Mr. Weasley, I am very disappointed in you. What you did last night was petty and childish."
Ron ducked his head. McGonagall continued. "Mr. Lupin, Professor Sprout has given her permission for me to handle your punishment. But she said to expect a visit from her later on in the day."
Harry winced.
"I will be taking fifty points from both of you."
"Fifty points!" Ron cried. "But Professor-"
"I will take away more if you continue to throw a tantrum like a child!" McGonagall snapped. Ron fell silent. "As I was saying, fifty points from the both of you and I will send you your detention information when I arrange it. If you ever pull something like this again, the punishments will be much more severe."
Ron and Harry sulked out of her office and winced. "Well," Ron said finally. "It could have been more than fifty points."
Harry groaned. "Hufflepuff is already in last place! My Housemates are going to kill me."
Ron patted him comfortingly on the back. "I'm sure they'll get over it. Besides, Ravenclaw is almost catching up to Slytherin. As long as the Slytherins don't win the House Cup, everything will be fine."
"How much do you want to bet Pansy and Draco didn't get any points taken away?" Harry muttered. "In fact, I bet their detention is nothing but an extra foot on an essay or something."
"Hey, as long as we don't have to serve detention with them," Ron pointed out.
"True," Harry agreed. "We better go get Charlie's Cloak."
The two boys sprinted for the tower they had left the Cloak. When they reached the very top, Harry clasped his hands to his face in horror. "Oh...no."
Charlie's Cloak was gone.
...
After a quick coin toss, it was Ron that had the honour of telling Charlie what had happened to her beloved Cloak.
She had not taken the news well.
Her cursing was so loud it actually attracted McGonagall all the way from the Transfiguration corridor. When the Gryffindor Head rounded the corner, she witnessed Charlie trying to tackle Ron, who was cowering behind a panicked Harry. Hermione was doing everything she could to keep Charlie back while shouting at the two boys.
"Enough!"
The four kids froze and stared at her with wide eyes. McGonagall placed her hands on her hips and glared at them. "I don't know what's gotten into all of you, but it will cease! Potter, Granger, the two of you can join Weasley and Lupin for their detention. I will not hear such language from either of you! Understood?"
The two girls nodded, faces red. When McGonagall left, Charlie scowled angrily.
"I should have helped you smuggle out the dragon. It wouldn't have mattered in the end, anyways!"
