Wednesday night found Hermione and Harry sitting alone in thecommon room, long after everyone else had gone to bed.
The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight when the portrait hole burst open. Ron appeared out of nowhere as he pulled off Harry's invisibility cloak.
Harry had been down at Hagrid's hut, helping him feed Norbert, who was now eating dead rats by the crate.
"It bit me!" said, showing them 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", Harry continued.
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 three 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 comingto 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 andtake 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 cloaks big enoughto cover two of us and Norbert. "
It was a mark of how bad the last week had been that the other two agreed with him.
Anything to get rid of Norbert - and Malfoy.
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 theafternoon, though, he had no choice.
The cut had turned a nasty shade of green.
It looked as if Norbert's fangs were poisonous.
Harry and Hermione rushed up to the hospital wing at the end of the day to find Ron in a terrible state inbed.
"It's not just my hand", Harry 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 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, Ron sat bolt upright and broke into a sweat.
"Midnight on Saturday!" Ron 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".
Harry and Hermione didn't get a chance to answer.
Madam Pomfrey came over at that moment andmade them leave, saying Ron needed sleep.
"It's too late to change the plan now", Harry told Hermione. "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 gotthe invisibility cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that. "
They found Fang, the boarhound, sitting outside with a bandaged tail when they went to tell Hagrid, whoopened a window to talk to them.
"I won't let you in", Hagrid puffed. "Norbert's at a tricky stage - nothin' I can't handle".
When they told him about Charlie's letter, his eyes filled with tears, although that might have been because Norbert had just bitten him on the leg.
"Aargh! It's all right, he only got my boot - jus' playin' - he's only a baby, after all", Hagrid replied.
The baby banged its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle.
Harry and Hermione walked back to the castle feeling Saturday couldn't come quickly enough.
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.
Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.
"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey", Hagrid muffled. "An' I've packed histeddy bear in case he gets lonely. "
From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Harry as though the teddy was having his head torn off.
"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as Harry and Hermione covered the crate with the invisibility cloakand stepped underneath it themselves."Mommy 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 anotherstaircase, then another - even one of Harry's shortcuts didn't make the work much easier.
"Nearly there!" Harry 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 witheach other ten feet away.
A lamp flared.
Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair net, had Malfoy by the ear.
"Detention!" McGonagall shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you - - "
"You don't understand, Professor. Harry Potter's coming - he's got a dragon!" Malfoy told McGonagall.
"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on - I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!" reacted McGonagall.
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.
Hermione did a sort of jig.
"Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!" Hermione smiled.
"Don't", Harry advised her. 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 Harry and Hermione the harness they'd rigged up, sothey could suspend Norbert between them.
They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then Harryand Hermione shook hands with the others and thanked them very much. At last, Norbert was going... Going... Gone.
They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was offthem. 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", Filch whispered, "we are in trouble. "They'd left the invisibility cloak on top of the tower.
Outside,Key and Makai are meditating with a giant circle, that showing an pink aura going into the castle where other faes are.
Key notices Harry,which causes an a strong wind blew Filch.
"Okay, that was the cheeziest thing to happen", Key pointed.
"True", Makai agreed.
"Couldn't have you used fire", replied Ron.
Key shrugged, and see The giant circle disappear.
"I knew you were trouble,never trust faes", Filch believed.
Makai is looking nervous by Key.
