Chapter 28: The Owl, The Dragon, and Detention

Disclaimer: Not Mine

It was several weeks before they got the letter from Hagrid and all it said was it's hatching. Harry had switched to Hufflepuff and luckily they got the letter right before Herbology. Rigel wanted to skip and head straight to the hut, but Hermione convinced them all to stay.

After class, they rushed down to the hut and ran inside quickly at Hagrid's insistence. They never realized they were followed. They sat down and watched as the egg started cracking. Soon there was a dragon on the table.

"Oh, iddn't he a beauty?"

"Sure is, Hagrid, how are you going to take care of him?"

"Well, I er read up on everythin' I needed to take care of 'im."

"What about when he gets too big to fit in here? Dragons get really big," Harry said.

"I'll take 'im into ta forest. 'e'll be fine there."

"Hagrid, you can't leave a dragon in the forest. You'd have to ask permission from the Headmaster."

"I know, but 'e does so much fer me. I wouldn't wanna burden 'im."

"Hagrid, if you didn't tell him and the dragon somehow made it to the school, you would be in a lot of trouble. You'll have to find him a home."

"But, who?"

"Charlie Weasley. He works in Romania. He's like a brother, just like the rest of the Weasley's and he's dating my sister, I'll send him a letter and we'll see when he can come. Will that work, Hagrid?"

"Sure, 'Arry. Just make sure Charlie knows ter be careful wit 'im."

"I will."

They left after and walked quietly back to the common room They had missed lunch, but Harry had a letter to write and they all had homework to work on, so they asked Jigsaw to bring them a snack to tide them over till dinner.

They finished their homework, but knew they weren't going to get a reply tonight, so they all went to bed.

The next few days went by fast and the exams were slowly creeping up on them. Harry had less than a month before he went to Slytherin and since it was March going April, the last match was coming soon as it was in the first week of April.

He got the letter back from Charlie on Friday after his last DADA class. He read it in his rooms and hid it in his trunk after he read it.

Charlie was going to come tomorrow night at midnight on the Astronomy tower. He waited until Gin, Rig, and 'Mione were down at the hut and walked down.

He told them quietly what it said just in case someone was listening and Hagrid agreed to help them. Rigel and Harry were to go, but Harry had an idea and he thought it would work.

He invited them all back to his rooms where his wards were up and they sat down.

"Rig, have you been practicing your animagus form?"

"No, have you?"

"No, but I have a feeling since we managed the study and figured out our forms we can manage it. Do you wanna try? If we can get it by tomorrow, I'll take the egg up in my form and you can stand guard at the tower in your form."

"Let's do it," he said.

"Wait, wait, are you telling me that you two first years are animagi?"

"Studying to be animagi, 'Mione, and Sirius said we could practice here as long as we're careful."

"But it's impossible."

"Is it? James, Siri, and my dad became animagi in their fourth year."

"They were still fourth years. What makes you think you can do this?"

"Because I can apparate in and out of Hogwarts and according to the goblins, my magic doesn't seem to have a limit."

She sighed and sat back to watch and Ginny just looked really interested.

'When can I learn?'

'We'll ask, Gin.'

She smiled and they started working. Harry managed it on his second try and was flying around the room. His feathers were black and gold and he had a marking above his green eyes that was also gold of a tiny lightening bolt. The scar would never fully go away, but it had faded considerably.

He changed back and sat down exhausted.

Rigel did it after ten tries. He managed to change several body parts, but it wasn't till the tenth try that he managed it and he prowled around the room for a minute before he changed back too.

They all fell asleep in Harry's rooms that night and slept the guest rooms.

The next morning, they worked on their homework so they wouldn't have to worry about it for the rest of the weekend and started discussing the plan for the night.

"I'm going to have the invisibility cloak on me for when Rigel and I change back. You two are going to be up here watching the map, okay?"

"We understand, Harry."

"Okay, Gin, you'll give me the okay when to leave Hagrid's and when to land in the Astronomy tower. We have to have this timed properly or we're going to get caught."

"Okay, we'll all be careful."

They decided to go down to lunch and discuss rather loudly that they'd be in Harry's room most of the night. He winked at his mum to let her know that they were going to be doing something and to know to back him up. She smiled and nodded.

They walked back up to Harry's dorms to wait until dinner. Since they had finished their homework, they sat around playing games until it was an hour until midnight. Harry gave the girls the map and he and Rigel threw on the invisibility cloak.

'You're good to go, Aerix.'

'Thanks, Red,' he replied and they began the walk down with Hermione and Ginny letting them know when to take a different route. They made it to the hut safely and Hagrid opened the door to let Fang out to pee and they walked in.

"Are ya here?"

"Yes, Hagrid," Harry replied

"Okay, do ya 'ave a plan?"

"Yes, we're animagi."

"Wha?!"

"Don't worry, Hagrid, we know what we're doing," Rigel replied

"Rig, you need to head to the tower. Take the cloak and be careful."

"Gotcha, bro."

He left and headed to the tower. He made it with no problems and transformed into his wolf. He waited for Harry.

"Okay, we've got twenty minutes. I'm going to leave ten till unless there are any complications."

"Alright, 'Arry."

'Aerix, we've got a problem."

'What kind of problem, Red?'

'A Draco Malfoy and Minny problem. They're heading straight for Shadow.'

'Crap, alright. I'll flash in, tell him to hide, and come back. How much time do we have?'

'Five minutes.'

He changed into his phoenix and flashed in. He changed and said, "Hide, Rig," to the wolf.

He whined, but changed and hid. Harry apparated back to Hagrid's.

'Are we good, Red?'

'Nope, they aren't leaving. It looks like Malfoy was watching us. I think he told Minny about the dragon.'

'Crap, I hope Charlie's a little late. Let me know when they leave, Red."

'Well, we're down to five minutes and counting. I see Charlie coming over the Forbidden Forest. Not much further for them and Minny isn't leaving.'

'Crap, what do we do?'

'I don't know, four minutes.'

'I can change and lead them away.'

'Won't work, they won't have enough warning.'

'Ugh.'

'Three minutes. Wait, she's leaving and looks like she's dragging Malfoy away. Shadow's changing into his wolf form and isn't under the cloak. Take the dragon now, Aerix.'

'Gotcha, Red. I'm heading out.'

"Alright, Hagrid. I have to go now."

"Alright, 'Arry. Tank you for tis, I know Dumbledore would tank ya too."

He put a smile on for Hagrid and changed. He lifted the baby that was in the reinforced box easily and carried it to the tower. He saw Charlie and his friends waiting. He trilled and gave the box to Charlie. He petted my feathers and left with his friends.

He transformed and left the tower quietly to find Rigel. He petted the wolf's shoulder and he transformed. They walked down the stairs as quietly as they could, but it creaked and Minny came around the corner looking for the cause of the noise.

She saw one of our shoes and said, "Take off the cloak and explain yourselves."

"Well, Minny, um, it's a great story really," Harry said.

"Would this have anything to do with the story Mr. Malfoy was sputtering a few minutes ago?"

"Um, would maybe be a good or bad answer?" asked Rigel.

She glared at the both of us and Harry said, "Well, here's the thing, Minny. We were helping Hagrid out of a bit of trouble and a dragon may have been part of it and we asked Charlie Weasley if he could pick it up and take it back to Romania with him, so it would be safe adn so would the students of Hogwarts."

"Harry, Rigel, thank you for what you did, but unfortunately you both have to be punished and as I'm sure Ms. Weasley is listening, so does she and Ms. Granger. You five will all have detention. I will let you know the particulars tomorrow."

"Yes, Professor," they both replied and started the trek back to Gryffindor tower.

Harry left Rigel at the tower and got the map back from Ginny before heading back to his rooms under the invisibility cloak. He went to bed after only careful consideration of what they could possibly have to do for detention.

He couldn't figure it out, so he went to bed.

Next chapter is the Forest for detention. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please review!