This Chapter was Revised 8/27/09
Harry Potter, the Guardian, and the Sorcerer's Stone
Chapter Fourteen: Hagrid's Dragon
Quirrell, although he got thinner and paler, didn't crack.
Blaise and Harry agreed when Draco muttered that either he was braver than they gave him credit for, or they were right and Snape wasn't after the Stone.
Hermione however, had more on her mind than just the Sorcerer's Stone.
Tarana and Yoko snickered as she dragged the boys to the library to study for their exams. It was Fallen, of all of creatures, that took pity on the boys.
"Granger. Those exams are ages away."
She turned on the wolf guardian.
"Ten weeks! That's not ages."
Fallen narrowed his eyes and advanced on her. "I advise you to watch your tongue, Miss. Granger. I won't hesitate to gut you." he flexed his claws Hermione eeped and fell silent.
While Fallen had gotten Hermione to lay off for a while, there was nothing he could do to get the teachers to lay off. They piled on so much homework that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much as fun as the Christmas ones.
Harry, who was studying for Herbology, looked up when Ron's chair fell from under him. He glanced off to the side to see Katelyn, Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy snickering.
Beside him, a whispered spell had the three scuttling along the tables as small animals. Harry smirked at Blaise.
Blaise mock bowed and snickered as Goyle, now a turtle, fell off the table and landed on his back.
"Nice piece of Transfiguration, Blaise." Hagrid said, walking out of the stacks and into view.
"Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"
"Jus' lookin'"he said. Tarana's eyes narrowed.
Hagrid looked suddenly suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"
Blaise chuckled. "Oh, we found out who he is ages ago." he said.
"And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St-" Ron said.
Blaise and Draco shushed him.
"Don't say that out loud!" Hermione hissed.
"There're a few things we want to know though Hagrid." Blaise said, looking at the giant over steepled fingers.
"Listen-come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbtin' about it in here, students aren't supposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh-" "See you later than." Harry said, watching as Hagrid left.
"Any of you see what was behind his back?" Fallen asked.
Tarana stood and went to the section Hagrid had come from. A minute later, she came back with a pile of books levitating before her.
Dropping them on the table and scattering papers to the floor, Draco's eyes went incredibly wide. "Dragons!" he hissed.
Tarana nodded. "Hagrid was looking up information on dragons."
"Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno; A Dragon Keeper's Guide." Ron whispered, flipping through the titles.
"And Hagrid told you he'd always wanted a dragon, remember Harry."
Harry nodded. "I remember."
"But that's against our laws." Blaise said. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that."
Fallen nodded. "Its hard to stop muggles from noticing wizards if you keep dragons in the back garden."
"You can't tame them, its dangerous. I'm sure that Ron's seen some of the burns his brother gets from the wild ones." Tarana said.
"But there aren't wild ones in Britain, are there?" Hermione said worriedly.
Draco looked over the book at her. "Of course there are. Common Welsh Green and Heridean Blacks. The Ministry has quite a job keeping this from muggles. Our kind have been putting spells on muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."
"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" Yoko asked.
---
When they knocked on the door to Hagrid's hut a couple hours later, they weren't totally surprised to see the curtains all drawn.
Tarana exchanged a look with Fallen.
'This won't end well. I didn't foresee this.' Fallen muttered.
Tarana shook her head, showing she hadn't either. 'Perhaps it will help us in the long run.' she said.
Fallen shrugged. 'I may be able to work it in, but I can't be completely sure.'
'Attempt it.' Tarana ordered, before she leapt onto the roof of Hagrid's hut.
Fallen and Yoko followed the humans into the hut.
---
Hagrid told them that, other than himself, Sprout, Flitwick, McGonagall, Quirrell, Dumbledore, and Snape all did something to protect the Stone.
Blaise, Draco, and Harry glanced at the two guardians, silently asking if the Stone would remain safe.
Fallen shook his head.
Yoko shrugged. Ron and Hermione looked horrified, although they were pretty sure for a different reason.
"Yer not still on abou' that are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."
Yoko slipped out the door.
"Tarana." Yoko called out.
The panther's tail stopped flicking. "What is it, Yoko?"
Yoko glanced at the door. "I don't trust Weasley and Granger." he said.
Tarana stood, looking down at her friend. "Why?"
Yoko sighed, scaling the wall to stand with Tarana. "They're too influential. Which is what Quirrell is probably after."
Tarana nodded. "I agree. Most of the information that we give the boys is likely to be passed onto Dumbledore by one or both of them. Which isn't something that I want done." she muttered.
Yoko shook his head. "Not to mention that Weasley's sin of choice is jealousy."
Tarana looked at him, partially amused.
Below them, Fallen mentally cried out in surprise.
'What's wrong?'
'The fool has a Norwegian Ridgeback!' Tarana glanced at Yoko, who looked just as confused.
'What's your problem?' Tarana asked.
There was silence, so both jumped down to enter the hut.
---
Inside, Ron was kneeling beside the fire and a huge black egg.
Draco looked at them, wryly. "He won it."
Harry turned worried eyes to Hagrid. "Does he realize that he lives in a wooden house?"
Blaise shook his head worriedly as Hagrid stoked the fire, he was oblivious as they left.
---
Tarana turned to Fallen. "So what had you so surprised?" she asked him.
"Norwegian Ridgebacks are not only rare, but will grow quickly. With poison fangs and claws the size of butcher knives, they're one of the top 20 most deadly dragons. A teenage Ridgeback is as big as Hagrid's house, a full grown one anywhere from the size of to twice as tall as the entirety of Gryffindor Tower." Fallen answered.
Yoko's eyes widened and he turned to look back at Hagrid's hut.
"He's going to die." Blaise and Ron summed up.
Harry thought of something else. "What could happen to Hagrid if they find out he's got an illegal dragon in his house?"
Draco and Ron groaned when a familiar look came to Hermione's eyes.
"Harry!" Blaise moaned.
Harry only smiled.
---
Draco glared at Hermione.
Fallen had relented and now they were studying harder than ever. "Wonder what its like to have a peaceful life." Ron sighed.
Harry only shrugged, muttering "I wouldn't know.", pointedly under his breath.
---
Early the next morning, Hedwig brought them a note from Hagrid with only two words on it. It's hatching.
Tarana and Fallen were out the door quickly, most likely to prevent Hagrid from doing something stupid. Yoko sighed. This is going to be a long day.
Ron, Blaise, Draco, and Harry wanted to go down, skipping Herbology, but Yoko and Hermione were both dead set against it.
"Come on, guys, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching."
"We've got lessons." was all Hermione was able to get out before Yoko cut her off from Blaise's shoulder.
"Can I help you Ms. Malfoy?"
Katelyn had stopped only a few feet away and had stopped dead.
Draco glared at his cousin.
The same thing was running through all their minds. How much had she heard?
Yoko decided quite quickly that he didn't like the look on her face.
---
Tarana's eyes were black as night, flames swirled around the hut, not touching the egg that sat on the table or the very flammable wooden walls.
Fallen had chased Hagrid from the hut so she had no worries about accidentally burning him.
Howling caught her attention. She lowered the temperature, simultaneously unblocking her mind from Fallen, Yoko, and Harry.
They all hissed at the heat that hit their minds, most not even in the vacinity of the fire-sauna that was once Hagrid's hut.
'Yes?' her mental voice was strained.
'How many cracks?' Fallen asked.
'Quite a few. Be more specific.' she told him, eyeing the egg that was sitting unaware on the table. Her attention was split further as the flames fought to strip from her control and burn the hut to the ground.
'More or less than ten?'
'More.' she answered immediately.
'Lower the heat further.' Tarana did as she was commanded, watching as the visible waves of heat began to fade. 'Seven hundred and fifty degrees.' she reported.
'That safe?' he asked. 'For you and Yoko sure. Tentative possibly for Fang too.'
Fallen was by her side a few seconds later, watching the flames dancing around the egg, still not touching.
Tarana sighed quietly, breathing through her mouth as she attempted to remain conscious. The long term use of her elemental ability was taxing her, and her body, which had accustomed itself to the extremely high degrees of heat, was racked with shudders as the temperature in the hut continued to drop under her rapidly failing, but still iron clad control.
Fallen lay down, hoping to provide at least a bit of lost heat for her.
'Fifty five degrees.' she said wearily.
Fallen assumed it would be safe for the others to enter and told Yoko so, just as the bell rang. Tarana's eyes returned to blue, and the flames disappeared with a crack, leaving just the heat behind. Her eyes flared a new with determination to remain conscious.
They slipped closed as Hagrid led Harry, Ron, Blaise, Draco, Hermione and Yoko into his hut.
Harry knelt by Tarana's other side, looking up at the egg on the table. An odd clicking noise was coming from it.
Draco stood by Fallen's side and Yoko curled up just under Tarana's throat, keeping her head at least slightly elevated while she struggled for continued consciousness.
The others drew up their chairs, keeping a bit away at Fallen's command, but still close enough that they could see each and every crack as they split wider and wider from within.
At once, there was an even sharper scraping noise and the egg split open.
Fallen eyed the dragon. It was indeed a Norwegian Ridgeback. Its jet-black body was skinny, its wings easily dwarfing its body. Stubs where horns would later be and its large flame-like orange eyes, significant to the species alone, were hazed and attempting to adjust to the new, light filled world outside of its egg.
It sneezed and a couple of sparks flew from its nose.
"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head.
"Don't touch it." Fallen snarled, watching the dragon snap at the giant's fingers.
Hagrid blinked. "Bless him he knows his mommy."
Fallen rolled his eyes. 'Moron.' Fallen muttered to Draco, who snorted, hiding it as a cough quickly. 'That dragon has no parent. The closest thing to that would be Tarana, and that's only because he'd recognize her as the heat provider.'
Draco raised an eyebrow and looked at the dragon.
Yoko's eyes and Fallen's ears suddenly flicked to the window. Yoko was on the window in a flash, almost ignorant of Tarana jerking her head as its support disappeared, growling.
"Katelyn." he snarled.
Harry bolted for the door and Draco looked out with emotionless eyes.
Even at a distance, it was unmistakable.
The two exchanged looks.
Katelyn had seen the Ridgeback.
---
Throughout the next week, the smile that lurked just beyond Katelyn's face made the five Gryffindors very nervous.
Two days ago, Dumbledore had requested the assistance of Fallen and Tarana. They'd agreed on the condition that Yoko stayed with the Gryffindors at all times, changes made at the fox's discretion .
Yoko aside, they spent most of their time trying to get Hagrid to let the dragon, who he was now calling Norbert, free, while trading off to do their homework.
Today, Yoko was with Ron and Blaise.
"Just let him go." Blaise said. "Set him free."
"I can't." Hagrid countered. "He's too little. He'd die."
They looked at the dragon in question. In just a week, it had grown to three times in length. The entire school noticed that Hagrid hadn't been doing his game keeping duties, the five Gryffindors knew it was because of Norbert and it was only a matter of time before someone other than Katelyn found out.
Blaise suddenly turned to Ron. "Charlie." he stated.
Ron shook his head. "Are you losing it?" he asked. "I'm Ron, remember."
Blaise rolled his eyes. "No-Charlie-your brother, Charlie. You said he was studying dragons in Romania. Can't we send Norbert to him? Charlie could take care of him and then put him back in the wild."
Ron's eyes lit up. "Brilliant! How about it Hagrid?"
In the end, Hagrid agreed and Ron wrote to his brother.
---
Another week passed.
Fallen and Tarana still hadn't returned.
Wednesday night found Harry, Blaise, and Draco sitting in the common room until just after midnight.
The portrait hole opened and Ron and Hermione pulled off Harry's invisibility cloak. They'd been helping Hagrid feed Norbert, as the Norwegian Ridgeback was now eating dead rats by the crate.
Yoko slipped through the doors to lay on Blaise's lap, looking at Ron worriedly. The reason became clear soon enough.
"It bit me!" Ron said, showing his hand, which Hagrid had wrapped in a handkerchief. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week." he raved.
Hermione dropped onto the couch. "Probably longer, Ron. Fallen told us that he had poison fangs."
Ron brushed her off when there was a tap at the window.
Draco, who was closest to the window, stood. "Its Hedwig." Draco said, letting her in.
"She'll have Charlie's answer." Ron said, sitting beside Hermione.
Draco took the note after she settled on his shoulder and read the note aloud:
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 can'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 its still dark.
Send me an answer as soon as possible.
Love,
Charlie.
The group looked at each other.
"We've got the invisibility cloak." Harry said.
"It should cover two of you and Norbert."
The others nodded slowly.
---
There was a hitch.
By the next morning, as Hermione had predicted, Ron's hand had swollen to twice its usual size.
And by lunch, he had no choice but to go to Pomfrey.
Yoko couldn't heal a dragon bite.
The Gryffindors rushed to the hospital wing after classes ended to see Ron. As they passed, Draco locked eyes with his cousin.
Katelyn gave him a predatory smile and he discreetly flipped her off, as at the distance, there was nothing he could say without alerting a teacher. He turned gracefully and left.
Finally catching up with his friends, Draco slipped into the hospital wing halfway through one of Ron's rants.
"She kept threatening to tell what really bit me. I've told Madam Pomfrey it was a dog, but I don't think she believes me."
Harry and Hermione shook their heads.
"It'll all be over on Saturday." Blaise said.
If anything, it made Ron even more hysterical than before.
Yoko placed his front paws on the bed. "Ron, please tell me it wasn't that book." he said, looking Ron in the eye.
Ron made an odd whimpering noise and buried his head in his pillow.
Yoko swore.
"Damn." Draco muttered, just before Pomfrey came over, ordering them out.
Walking back up to Gryffindor Tower, Harry and Draco dropped back with Blaise, letting Hermione walk slightly ahead of them.
"It's too late to change your plan now. There's no time to send Charlie another owl." Yoko told them.
Draco glanced at Blaise when Hermione spoke. "We're going to need to rely on the cloak and Yoko's senses. I doubt Katelyn knows about the invisibility cloak."
Draco shook his head. "She doesn't. She would have gone to McGonagall about it, if only to get us in trouble more often."
Harry was silent.
---
Draco and Harry went down to tell Hagrid about Charlie's letter, while Blaise and Yoko got some 'last minute things for Norbert' and Hermione did her homework.
They exchanged glances when they found Fang outside, a bandage tightly wrapped around his tail.
Draco leaned against the wall while Harry told Hagrid, through the window, about Charlie's letter, and the giant's eyes filled with tears.
"You okay, Hagrid?" Harry asked.
Draco glanced at their friend worriedly.
"Its alright, he only got my boot-jus' playin'-he's only a baby, after all."
Draco shot away from the wall as the 'baby' slammed its tail against it.
"Baby," he groused as they walked back up to the castle. "If that thing's a baby, I'm the friggin' Queen."
Harry, who had been snickering quietly, burst. His laughter echoed through the entrance hall.
Draco glared at him. "Man, Saturday can't come fast enough." he muttered.
---
Last minute, Harry and Draco landed themselves in detention for getting into a near fight with Theodore Nott.
That made things easier, as now only Hermione and Blaise could bring Norbert to the tower.
This was the first time that either had ever used the cloak.
Yoko waited a few feet down the hall.
Draco and Harry were gone, when the two slipped out of the common room. Yoko stayed away from the patches of moonlight, knowing it would reflect off of his fur and give away that there was a student out of bed.
Hagrid had Norbert packed in a crate that Yoko and Blaise had supplied for him. "He's got lots o' rats and brandy fer his journey." Hagrid told them in a muffled voice. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."
Both Gryffindors winced when a tearing sound came from the crate.
"I think the bear was just mutilated." Blaise muttered.
Yoko snorted and smirked at him.
How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they'd never know. Midnight ticked nearer and they continued up to the tower.
Movement ahead stopped them.
Yoko chuckled. "Miss. Malfoy got herself in trouble. It seems that 'Harry Potter is coming with a dragon.'" he told them. "She just got a detention tomorrow. Same time as Draco and Harry. You first years get into so much trouble."
At the top of the tower, they put the crate down and threw off the cloak.
Yoko leapt onto one of the tower walls, his silver tail curling around him as he sat, basking in the moonlight.
"Malfoy's got detention. I could sing." Hermione said, doing a slight jig.
"Don't." Blaise warned, looking around.
They sat and watched Norbert thrash about in his crate while Yoko's senses were trained around them.
He let out a soft yip when four broomsticks came swooping down.
Charlie's friends were cheerful enough. They showed Blaise and Hermione the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them.
As they flew away, the two Gryffindors let out a sigh of relief, finally, Norbert was gone.
---
As they walked downstairs, Yoko's warning of: "Blaise! Hermione! Filch can see you!" came too late.
Both froze, Filch's face loomed out of the darkness. "Well, well, well." he whispered. "We are in trouble."
At the top of the tower, Yoko looked down the stairs, the invisibility cloak lay forgotten beside him.