Chapter 14 - Norbet the Norwegian Ridgeback

Quirrell, however, must have been braver than they'd thought. In the weeks that followed he did seem to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't look as though he'd cracked yet.

She told Remus about what he thought of it all and he said that he knows what Snape is like, that he wouldn't put it past him, but he doesn't think Snape is after the stone. After the match, Andromeda had her monthly sick week, and it was the worse she's had so far. Dorcas and

Hermione had to force her to get out of bed to see Madam Pomfrey. She asked Remus if he knew what was wrong with her, but he told her that he will tell her next time he sees her.

This made Andromeda wish that her next Quidditch match would come quicker.

Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah, Ron, and Hermione would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy was still growling inside. Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe. Whenever Harry passed Quirrell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and Ron had started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter. Noah and Andromeda had even stopped messing around in his class.

Hermione and Dorcas, however, had more on their minds than the Sorcerer's Stone. They had started drawing up study schedules and colour-coding all their notes. Harry, Andromeda, Noah and Ron wouldn't have minded, but they kept nagging them to do the same. It was worse for Andromeda because she had to actually share a dorm with them.

"The exams are ages away."

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

"But we're not six hundred years old," Noah reminded her. "Anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it all."

"What am we studying for? Are you crazy?" Dorcas said. "You realize we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They're very important, we should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me..."

Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione and Dorcas. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or Dorcas practicing wand movements. Moaning and yawning, Harry, Andromeda, Noah and Ron spent most of their free time in the library with them, trying to get through all their extra work.

"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window. It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was a clear, forget-me-not blue, and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming.

"I already know this. I'm already top of our classes," Andromeda complained. "Why do I need to do the homework?"

Harry, who was looking up "Dittany" in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, didn't look up until he heard Noah say, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

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

"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 is ages ago," said Ron impressively. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St -"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "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 Noah, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy -"

"SHHHH!" said Hagrid again. "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.

Hagrid shuffled off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" said Hermione thoughtfully.

"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?" Andromeda asked.

"I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, who'd had enough of working. 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: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide."

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

"But it's against our laws," said Dorcas. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden - anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" said Andromeda, deflated. She really did want a dragon.

"Of course there are," said Ron. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

"So what on earths Hagrid up to?" said Dorcas.

When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut an hour later, they were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed. Hagrid called "Who is it?" before he let them in, and then shut the door quickly behind them.

It was stifling 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 stoat sandwiches, which they refused.

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

"Yes," said Harry. There was no point beating around the bush. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer'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."

"Do you know us at all?" Andromeda said.

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Dorcas in a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling.

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

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Harry, Andromeda, Noah and Ron beamed at Hermione and Dorcas.

"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 -" 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."

"Snape?"

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

"The guy is pure evil, Hagrid," Andromeda said. "Why would anyone trust him?"

Andromeda knew Harry, Dorcas, Noah, Ron and Hermione were thinking the same as she was. If Snape had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew everything - except, it seemed, Quirrell's spell and how to get past Fluffy.

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

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

"Well, that's something," Harry muttered to the others. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

"Can't, Harry, sorry," said Hagrid. Harry noticed him glance at the fire. Andromeda looked at it, too.

"Hagrid - what's that?"

But she already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.

"Ah," said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard, "That's er..."

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "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's hatched?" said Andromeda.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this 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 I em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here - how ter recognize diff'rent eggs - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

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.

So now they had something else to worry about: what might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he was hiding an illegal dragon in his hut.

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighed, as evening after evening they struggled through all the extra homework they were getting. Hermione had now started making study schedules for Harry and Ron and Dorcas was drawing up schedules for Andromeda and Noah. It was driving them nuts.

Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brought Harry another note from Hagrid. He had written only two words: It's hatching.

Ron, Noah, Dorcas and Harry 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?" Dorcas said. Even she was willing to skive off class to see the dragon.

"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!" Harry whispered.

Malfoy was only a few feet away and he had stopped dead to listen. How much had he heard? Andromeda didn't like the look on Malfoy's face at all.

The others headed off to Herbology and Andromeda wandered off to Hagrid's alone.

"'Dromeda!" Hagrid exclaimed when he opened the door. "Don't you have a class on righ' now?"

Andromeda shrugged and entered his hut. "Top of my classes anyway. Missing one lesson won't hurt. Plus, I wanna see a dragon hatch."

"Ah," Hagrid said. "Forgo' you liked dragons."

She sat down at his table and watched the egg crack on the table. Hagrid rushed around his hut, making sure everything was ready. Not long after, there was a knock on Hagrid's door.

"I'll get it," Andromeda said to Hagrid, who had only just sat down. She opened the door to see her friends.

"It's nearly out." She ushered them inside.

She looked back to the egg. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it.

They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.

All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body, it had a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes.

It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout. Andromeda made an "Awwww" noise.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured. 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!" said Hagrid.

"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?"

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

Andromeda bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him.

Malfoy had seen the dragon.

Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy's face during the next week made Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah, Ron, and Hermione very nervous. They spent most of their free time in Hagrid's darkened hut, trying to reason with him.

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

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

"I'll take him. I'll make my bed fireproof and he can stay there," Andromeda offered.

They looked at the dragon. It had grown three times in length in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils. Hagrid hadn't been doing his gamekeeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There were empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor.

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

"Hagrid," said Harry loudly, "give it two weeks and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. 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 suddenly turned to Ron.

"Charlie," he said.

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

Andromeda caught on. She said, "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 Noah. "How about it, Hagrid?"

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

The following week dragged by. Wednesday night found Ron, Noah, Dorcas and Andromeda rushing towards Gryffindor tower. They pulled off Harry's invisibility cloak when they finally arrived at the Common Room. They had been down at Hagrid's hut, helping him feed Norbert, who was now eating dead rats by the crate.

"It bit me!" Ron said, showing Harry and Hermione his hand, which was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief. "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. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."

There was a tap on the dark window.

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

The six of them 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 one another.

"We've got the invisibility cloak," said Harry. "It shouldn't be too difficult - I think the cloak's big enough to cover four of us and Norbert."

It was a mark of how bad the last week had been that the other five agreed with him. Anything to get rid of Norbert - and Malfoy.

There was a hitch. By the next morning, Ron's bitten hand had swollen to twice its usual size. He didn't know whether it was safe to go to Madam Pomfrey - would she recognize a dragon bite? By the afternoon, though, he had no choice. The cut had turned a nasty shade of green. It looked as if Norbert's fangs were poisonous. Andromeda and Dorcas went with him. Neither of them were feeling well either and wanted to ask Madam Pomfrey if she had anything. Andromeda found this odd because her sickness wasn't contagious, so why did Dorcas have the same symptoms as her?

She asked them questions like what they had eaten lately, or if perhaps it was just a cold. They shook their heads.

"I get sick once a month, you see," Andromeda explained. "I always have. I don't know why."

"Umm," Dorcas said. "Me too, but, well, you know who my father is..."

Madam Pomfrey looked at Dorcas pityingly. "Yes dear, of course."

Andromeda looked at Dorcas inquiringly, but Dorcas wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Well, Miss Black," Madam Pomfrey continued, turning to Andromeda. "Is it every month? If yes, around what time?"

"Uh," Andromeda glanced at Dorcas and then to Ron laying on one of the beds. Madam Pomfrey seemed to know her problem and led her away from her friends. She mumbled, "Every full moon."

"Sorry, dear, what was that?"

"Every full moon," she said louder. "I'm not a werewolf, I don't change on the full moon, not really. I just get sick around that time and sometimes I can change, but sometimes I can turn when it isn't a full moon. Kind of like animagi, like McGonagall. I have control, of course."

"Well that is certainly weird."

"I tried looking it up, but nothing. No records of it anywhere, even among metamorphmaguses. I used to think it was just that, but it isn't, I know it isn't."

"I could, perhaps try you on something. Who was your mother might I ask?"

"Emily Black," Andromeda said. When Madam Pomfrey had a blank face, she continued. "Remus Lupin's sister."

Madam Pomfrey suddenly had a look of understanding on her face and she nodded. She beckoned for Andromeda to follow her into her office. She opened up a draw in her desk and brought out a flask.

"I only have a sample with me right now, but we could try you out on it, I suppose," she said, holding the flask towards Andromeda. "Of course, you will have to stay here tonight so I can record any effects."

"What is it?" Andromeda said, taking it.

"Wolfsbane potion," she said hesitantly. Andromeda almost dropped it. "I know you said you weren't a werewolf, but I just want to test it out. It's supposed to be taken every night in the week leading up to the full moon. It should make you feel slightly better and should help you control your change. May I ask what it is you change into?"

"A black dog."

"Alright then. I shall ask Professor Snape to make up some more. He's the only teacher who knows how to make it. Well let's go see your friends."

Madam Pomfrey led Andromeda out towards Dorcas and Ron. She looked at the ground and avoided eye contact, still holding onto the flask.

"I'm sorry, Miss Lupin, but like all other times, I don't have anything. We tried all I did have and it didn't make you feel better," Madam Pomfrey said with a sympathetic look. "Oh! Before I forget." She turned to Andromeda. "You should lay down there and take potion now. And are there any things that make you feel better around these times?"

"Chocolate had always helped." Andromeda shrugged and drinking the potion. Shuddering and almost spitting it out from the taste.. Madam Pomfrey nodded and shooed Dorcas out of the room.

"Now," she said suddenly. She turned to Ron. "What is wrong with you, dear?"

He held up his hand.

The day was uneventful, only Draco Malfoy came by, claiming to need to borrow a book from Ron. He looked surprised and suspicious at the sight of a sickly Andromeda. After this, Madam Pomfrey left to find Snape and came back not too long after.

After all the classes had finished for the day, Dorcas, Noah, Harry and Hermione visited Andromeda and Ron in the hospital wing.

"It's not just my hand," Ron 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."

Harry, Dorcas, Noah and Hermione tried to calm Ron down.

"It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday," said Hermione, but this didn't soothe Ron at all. On the contrary, he sat bolt upright and broke into a sweat.

"Midnight on Saturday!" he said in a hoarse voice. "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."

Nobody got a chance to answer. Madam Pomfrey came over at that moment and made them leave, saying Ron and Andromeda needed sleep.

"It's too late to change the plan now," Harry told them as he hugged Andromeda goodbye. "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."

Before the four of them left, Andromeda crawled out of her hospital bed and called out to Dorcas. Dorcas hung back and she and Andromeda walked to a secluded corner.

"I've realized something, you know," Andromeda said. "You get sick around the full moon. Madam Pomfrey mentioned earlier that you tried something but it didn't help. Was that the Wolfsbane Potion?"

Dorcas went white as a sheet. "I - I don't know what you're talking about."

Andromeda went on. "Remus was too sick to come to the last Quidditch match, and that match was around a full moon. And when you talked to Madam Pomfrey, you said that your father is Remus and she seemed to understand what you were talking about. She worked here when Remus went to Hogwarts which means that she would know he is a werewolf."

Dorcas sighed sadly. "I understand if you don't want to be my friend."

"Why the bloody hell would I not want to be your friend?"

"Because my dad is a werewolf and I'm half werewolf. We're monsters, huh?"

Andromeda stared at her, unimpressed. "Dorcas, you fold your socks and you carry three quills around in case one or two of them breaks. Forgive me for not trembling in fear."

"Wait," Dorcas stared at her. "You do want to be my friend. You aren't scared?"

Andromeda scoffed and shook her head.

Dorcas beamed and flung her arms around her. Andromeda hugged her back but felt guilty for not telling her about her own problems with the full moon.

The Wolfsbane Potion did settle her stomach, but Madam Pomfrey wanted to keep her there until the full moon passed. On Wednesday, it did and the potion seemed to have worked. Before she left, after saying goodbye to Ron who was still there, Madam Pomfrey told her to come back next month a week before the full moon for the potion.

She received a pleasant letter from Remus telling her that Dorcas had informed him that Andromeda knew about his lycanthropy, and he said he is glad she is so understanding. Andromeda wrote back reminding him that he isn't a monster, sending him some Chocolate Frogs she retrieved from the kitchens.

They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say good-bye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night, and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they'd had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the entrance hall, where he'd been playing tennis against the wall. Hermione had stayed behind so it was just Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas and Noah. Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.

"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."

From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Andromeda as though the teddy was having his head torn off.

"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as they covered the crate with the invisibility cloak and stepped underneath it themselves. "Mummy will never forget you!"

How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew. Midnight ticked nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors. Up another staircase, then another - even one of Andromeda's shortcuts didn't make the work much easier.

"Nearly there!" Noah panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.

Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate. Forgetting that they were already invisible, they shrank into the shadows, staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared.

Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair net, 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 and Andromeda Black's coming - they've got a dragon!"

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

The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. Not until they'd stepped out into the cold night air did they throw off the cloak, glad to be able to breathe properly again. Dorcas did a sort of jig.

"Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!" Andromeda said.

"Don't," Harry advised her. She stuck her tongue out at him.

Chuckling about Malfoy, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.

Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed them the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas and Noah shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.

At last, Norbert was going... going... gone. Andromeda sniffled.

They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was off them. No more dragon - Malfoy in detention - what could spoil their happiness?

The answer to that was waiting at 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."

They'd left the invisibility cloak on top of the tower.