Disclaimer:Norbert(a) the Norweigian Ridgeback belongs to JK Rowling.
Chapter 14: McGonagall
Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback
"Chapter Fourteen: Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback," McGonagall read. "I have a bad feeling about this." Most of the teachers looked confused. The Norbert incident wasn't widely known.
"A Norwegian Ridgeback?" Umbridge said. "I believe dragons are Class-A Non-Tradeable Goods, are they not?"
"Indeed they are, Dolores," Fudge said. "Take note, Auror Shacklebolt, Auror Dawlish. I'll be very interested to see where this chapter goes."
"Uh-oh," Hermione said, looking more scared than she had all week.
"What?" Harry asked.
"Harry, what we did with Norbert was technically illegal."
"Oh…" he said. "How bad is it?"
"I don't know. Ron, how illegal was that?"
"Eh, not too bad. Probably just a fine under the circumstances."
"Even though Umbridge wants to really throw the book at Harry?"
"Well, it can't be any worse than what they did to Hagrid," Ron said.
"Ron! They expelled Hagrid and snapped his wand!" she hissed.
"Yeah, but they thought he'd killed someone. No one got hurt by Norbert—well, besides me."
"We need a plan," Ginny whispered. "Do we attack if they try to arrest you two?"
Hermione bit her lip: "That sounds like a bad idea, Ginny."
"But you said you thought Umbridge would go down today."
Harry nodded: "I think so if she actually gets through all of this morning's reading."
"So we make her do it," Neville said with a grin. "I'm game if you guys are. They can't stop all of us, not with half the teachers on our side."
Dean, Seamus, Parvati, Fred, George, and pretty soon all of the Gryffindors in the D.A. started nodding in agreement. Harry suspected a few Gryffindors not in the D.A. would join in if it came to it. This could get massively out of hand very fast.
"Alright, alright," Harry conceded. "But only if Dawlish and Shacklebolt actually try to arrest us. If they're just talking, or they say they're gonna do it later, let them talk. I don't want anyone else getting in trouble."
The Gryffindor D.A. contingent quickly agreed. He still had a bad feeling about this.
In the story, Harry, Ron, and Hermione actually started trying to quietly encourage Quirrell, much to their horror now. There was something to be said about the problem of acting on incomplete information. But Quirrell appeared to be resisting Snape's pressure, so they thought everything was good aside from Hermione freaking out about "only" having ten weeks until exams.
"And she hasn't changed a bit," Ron said with a grin, making her blush and glare at him at the same time.
They then ran into Hagrid sneaking around (for a certain value of "sneaking") and discreetly looking up books about dragons in the library. They already wanted to ask Hagrid more about Fluffy and the Philosopher's Stone, so they naturally went to investigate. And unfortunately for the staff, in Hagrid's sweltering-hot hut, Harry wheedled out of him the names of all the teachers who were involved in protecting the Philosopher's Stone.
"'…he borrowed Fluffy from me…then some o' the teachers did enchantments…Professor Sprout—Professor Flitwick—Professor McGonagall—' he ticked them off on his fingers, 'Professor Quirrell—an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape.' Ah, there we go," Umbridge said with her sickening smile. "Now we know everyone who was involved. It sounds like all of you were aware of what was going on in that forbidden corridor." She looked from one teacher to the next. "So did none of you think to apply additional protections for the students?"
Suddenly, Professor Flitwick stood up. "I take full responsibility, Professor Umbridge," he squeaked. "As you said, it was my prerogative to apply additional charms to keep the students safe."
There were shouts of indignation from the Ravenclaw Table, but they were short-lived. They could see what he was doing. Unfortunately, it didn't help much.
"That's very noble of you Professor Flitwick," Umbridge said, "but we both know you weren't the only one to make serious mistakes in that incident. Still your teaching has been quite good over the years. You will be on probation pending a formal review of your actions—just so everyone has a clear picture of where you stand.
"Professor McGonagall," she continued without missing a beat, "I really should have done this sooner. As Deputy Headmistress, it was up to you to ensure that the students were kept safe if you saw any danger that the Headmaster missed. You were clearly derelict in your duty here. And from the records, it sounds like you haven't done much better in subsequent years. In fact, what do you actually do in your Deputy Head role, anyway?"
McGonagall ground her teeth and looked like she might turn Umbridge into a newt herself from sheer anger. "Send acceptance letters," she said. "Handle much of the school's correspondence. Make visits to muggle-born students. Help set the schedule, help process supply requests, play an active role in student discipline—"
"With various middling degrees of success," Umbridge interrupted. "And serious deficiencies in one of your most important roles: keeping the school safe. In fact, if we look solely at your performance during the school year itself, it seems like you don't do very much at all in that role, and what you do is of poor quality. Therefore, I'm afraid I'm going to have to remove you from your position as Deputy Headmistress."
The Great Hall was in an uproar at once, with particularly loud shouting from the Gryffindor Table. It took several loud bangs from Umbridge and even from the Aurors to get everyone to calm down. It helped that Harry told his friends to quiet down and wait for the rest of the story, but he was really starting to feel like he was risking everything on this one gamble.
Once everyone had quieted down, Umbridge urged McGonagall to keep reading, although she was getting very nervous by this point. Based on Hagrid's statement, Harry, Ron, and Hermione concluded that Snape knew how to get through all of the protections on the Philosopher's Stone except Quirrell's and Fluffy, which worried them greatly.
"Why did you think he knew how to get past Dumbledore?" Ginny asked. "I mean, Dumbledore's definitely smarter than Snape."
"I just figured Dumbledore told all the other teachers what he did," Harry said. "It seems like something he'd do."
"'Hagrid—what's that?'
"But he already knew what it was. In the heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg."
"A dragon egg, I'm sure," Umbridge cut in. "And of course, dragon breeding is illegal outside of a reservation. We'll have to add that to Hagrid's warrant."
"Yes, ma'am," Dawlish said.
Hagrid had apparently won the egg in a card game from a stranger who seemed eager to get rid of it, for obvious reasons, and the "outdated" guidebook he was using said to regularly feed the hatchling chicken blood mixed with brandy. "Oh, Hagrid," Minerva groaned. The man just didn't think sometimes.
"He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't.
"'Hagrid, you live in a wooden house,' she said.
"But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire."
"And gross negligence and reckless endangerment," Umbridge said, and unfortunately, Minerva thought she was more or less correct that time.
"'Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life,' Ron sighed…"
"If you ever find out, you'll have to tell me," Harry said to Ron.
A couple of weeks later, the trio got to see "Norbert" hatching. Unfortunately, Malfoy overheard them arguing about it, and also sneaked out and saw it through the window. With Malfoy onto them, they had to get the dragon out of the castle quickly to keep Hagrid from getting in trouble. Harry eventually hit on the idea of asking Charlie for help, which finally convinced Hagrid to let him go.
"You know, Charlie says Norbert's actually a girl dragon," Ron said idly. "Calls her Norberta."
Hermione smacked her forehead. Typical Hagrid mistake.
There wouldn't have been too much trouble except that Norbert bit Ron, and Ridgeback bites were apparently poisonous. "He didn't know whether it was safe to go to Madam Pomfrey—would she recognise a dragon bite?"
"I most certainly did recognise it," Madam Pomfrey scoffed.
"And you didn't report it?" Umbridge asked.
"I have a strict amnesty policy about questionable injuries so as not to discourage students from seeking help, Professor Umbridge," she said. "I could name a dozen other equally questionable self-inflicted injuries from the past year alone from various students, and the only ones that led to serious trouble were the ones who delayed in coming to me."
Umbridge grudgingly accepted that. And even this wouldn't have been a problem in the story if Ron hadn't been using Charlie's letter as a bookmark in a book that Malfoy bullied him into loaning out to him. Hermione smacked him in the back of the head as she remembered.
"Wow, we were really idiots back then," Harry said.
"Sometimes I wonder if we still are," Hermione mused. "We've done some pretty foolish things since then."
"Yeah, but it's hard to beat leaving the invisibility cloak on top of the Astronomy Tower," Harry said. "I don't know how I got distracted enough to forget something from my dad."
Sure enough, not long after Malfoy got himself in trouble whilst trying to rat them out, they were caught.
"'Well, well, well,' he whispered. 'We are in trouble.'"
"And there you have it," Umbridge said loudly. "Not only has Potter engaged in some highly irresponsible use of magic over the years and regular flouting of school rules, but he and Granger are also party to illegal dragon smuggling. Aurors, I demand you arrest them at once."
The tension rose in the Great Hall. Half of the D.A. went for their wands, including Harry himself, even as he motioned for them to calm down and stay still with his other hand. He hoped no one at the other tables who hadn't got the message would jump the gun. That would do more harm than good, he was sure. Wand in hand under the table, he watched and waited.
Kingsley stood up with casual slowness and stepped to the middle of the High Table to face Umbridge with his hands behind his back. "That is a serious accusation…Headmistress," he grumbled, "and those claims will be thoroughly investigated just like all the other issues you've raised this week. However, at the moment, the only evidence we have against Mr. Potter and Miss Granger is the book itself."
"This book has been accurate in all points we've been able to verify, Auror Shacklebolt," Umbridge said. "I'd say that counts as probable cause."
"Well, perhaps it does," Kingsley admitted. "Now, this incident occurred when? The spring of 1992? So just under four years ago."
"And the statute of limitations for illegal smuggling of Class Five-X creatures is five years, Auror," Fudge reminded him.
"But they were only eleven and twelve at the time, Minister," Kingsley argued. "And they were clearly acting in a responsible, albeit unsanctioned way in the interest of protecting the school and a valuable member of an endangered species. There is a good case for prosecutorial discretion against issuing a warrant, not to mention prioritising of law enforcement resources."
"And as Minister, I have the power to override that discretion. I order you to arrest Potter and Granger now."
Kingsley and Dawlish looked at each other and then down at Harry and Hermione. Kingsley looked Harry straight in the eye, and Harry thought fast. If only they could read the next chapter, it would show Voldemort was back. He didn't want a big fight, but they needed the Aurors to back off.
Harry winked at him.
"Play along," he hissed to his friends.
Kingsley nodded almost imperceptibly and said, "I'm very sorry, Mr. Potter, but we must carry out our duty." He and Dawlish started down the Gryffindor Table to reach Harry and Hermione, but they'd only gone a few steps when, as one, thirty or so students shot to their feet, wands drawn. Harry stood, but still held up his left hand, ordering them to hold their spells. A few Slytherins also stood in defence of the Aurors, but they were outnumbered.
"It seems we are at an impasse," Kingsley said.
"Arrest all of them!" Fudge roared. "This is an insurrection!"
"Us and what army, Minister?"
"Why, the—" Fudge turned and saw that out of all the teachers, only Umbridge and the three new Ministry appointees were standing to support him. They may have been only facing students, but they were still outnumbered four to one.
"We need to call for backup!" Dawlish said.
"And by the time they get here the mob of angry students could curse all of us and take over the castle," Kingsley said calmly. "I'm afraid we've been overpowered."
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Umbridge demanded of the teachers. "Control your students! All of you, or you're all fired!"
McGonagall rose to speak, but Harry was faster: "Or, we could reach a truce…Headmistress."
The Great Hall was stunned into silence. Even most of the D.A. didn't know what Harry was doing. "A truce?" Umbridge said. "What sort of truce do you mean, Mr. Potter?"
"Professor McGonagall, how many chapters are left in the book?" Harry asked.
She checked. "Three."
"Then I suggest we read them and decide what to do afterwards," Harry said.
Umbridge's eyes narrowed at him: "What are you playing at, Mr. Potter?"
"Nothing, ma'am. It's your book."
She blinked a couple times. "Then why does it matter if we read the last three chapters?"
Had he miscalculated? Harry worried. Had she read to the end of the book after all and was now cutting it short deliberately? "I just think the school deserves to know the full story, ma'am," he said. "After all, wasn't that the whole point of this reading?"
"He does have a point, Dolores," McGonagall said. "This was your idea."
"Really, Headmistress," Harry continued. "You finish reading the rest of the book, and we'll play nice and go along with whatever you decide to do."
Hermione stared at Harry, thinking of all the ways that could go wrong. She wanted to berate him, but she just hissed, "You owe me" at his side.
Umbridge looked back and forth between the pair of them and McGonagall. "You know something," she said.
"We know nothing that we haven't already told you," McGonagall replied, which technically true while tipping her off as little as possible. Harry himself had told her the true story of Voldemort's appearance in his first year multiple times and was consistently ignored. Umbridge didn't say anything, though. "Honestly, Dolores, it's not like Mr. Potter and Miss Granger are going anywhere," she added. "And as Mr. Potter said, it's your book."
Umbridge looked to Fudge and exchanged a few gestures, then turned back to Harry. "And all we have to do is finish the book, and you'll come quietly?" she asked.
"Just finish the book," Harry said, being deliberately vague. He looked around at the D.A. and added, "Trust me." He sat down, although the others didn't just yet with the wands pointed at them.
"Well, then…" Umbridge made her decision. "What are we waiting for? Aurors, stand down for now. Professor Flitwick, make yourself useful and read the next chapter. If Mr. Potter wants his full story, he'll get it."