A/N: A number of lines (mostly Hagrid's) are quoted from canon
In late April, Harry received an invite from Hagrid to come by sometime for tea and a chat. Hagrid had been deeply upset when he read the Prophet article about Harry's abuse, and while Harry tried to assure the half-giant that they were making progress towards dealing with the issue, the half-giant still wished for a nice visit, if only to catch up on what the trio was doing. They had invited Hermione to come along, but she had refused to be pulled away from her books and notes this close to exams (which made Callidus feel a mixture of irritation and anxiety as he wondered if he too ought to be burying himself in his school work.)
"It feels like it's been a while, hasn't it?" Harry remarked as the trio trekked towards Hagrid's hut.
"Being slobbered on by a hound and being subjected to rock cakes are perfectly good reasons to not visit," Draco replied with a pout.
"Hagrid is a perfectly good host," Harry retorted.
When they made their way to the gamekeeper's hut, they were surprised to see the curtains closed.
"Do you think he's in?" Harry asked. "He didn't specify a date or time to visit in his note."
"What else would he be doing?" Draco drawled, a touch of condescension in his voice.
Harry shrugged, ignoring Draco's tone, and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Hagrid called out. When they told him, he opened the door.
"I wasn't expecting yeh today," Hagrid confessed.
"Should we come by another day?" Callidus asked, wondering if they were intruding. Hagrid almost acted as though he were hiding something.
"No, no, come in," the half-giant insisted, ushering the trio into the hut, which was suffocatingly hot, despite the warm day.
"How've yeh bin, Harry?" Hagrid asked, as he made them tea and sandwiches. "I should've known when I met those muggle relatives of yers that they'd be the worst sort. I'm sorry I didn' see it sooner."
"It's not your fault, Hagrid," Harry reassured Hagrid. "You couldn't have known."
"Why is it so hot in here?" Draco complained, glaring at the roaring fire in the grate. "Can't you open a window or something?"
"Can't Draco, sorry," Hagrid apologized, glancing towards the fire. This caused all three of them to look in the direction of his gaze, and their eyes fell upon a huge, black egg-shaped object in the heart of the fire.
Harry looked from the fire back to the half-giant. "Hagrid - what's that?"
Callidus edged closer to the heat. "It looks like a dragon egg."
"I think it is!" Draco confirmed excitedly, peering from the egg to Hagrid. "Is it?"
Hagrid fiddled nervously with his beard. "Er -"
"I've always wanted a dragon!" Draco gushed, eyes alight with enthusiasm. "My grandfather used to have a Hebridean Black - named it Atrox - but it died before I was born. I tried to bully my father into getting me a dragon - even a Common Welsh Green would do, but he always refused. I don't think he cared for my grandfather's dragon, but he would never tell me why."
Hagrid beamed. "A Hebridean Black, eh? Beautiful creatures, those. What I've got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."
Callidus looked at the pair of them in disbelief. "Hagrid - are you sure it's a good idea for you to keep a dragon? Might I point out that your house is made of wood?"
But Hagrid paid him no heed. Instead, Hagrid and Draco fell into a long discussion about the various breeds of dragons, while Draco scratched a very contented looking Fang. Callidus and Harry shared a look of concern, but it was clear that there was no dissuading Hagrid, and Draco's excitement for the whole idea only made it worse.
They learned that the dragon egg was set to hatch any day, and it was all that Draco could talk about.
"Just think! Having a dragon here at Hogwarts! It's almost as good as having my own dragon," Draco enthused. They were back in the Owlery since Harry wanted to visit Hedwig, but none of quite dared to sit on the window sills, opting to stay near the walls instead.
"I'm pretty sure that what Hagrid's doing is illegal," Callidus pointed out.
Callidus's statement wiped the smile from Draco's face. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
"What are you going to do?" Harry asked, as he petted a content-looking Hedwig.
"I'll write my father," Draco declared.
Callidus rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised."
"I thought dragons breathed fire and all that stuff. How is it going to be safe to keep a dragon here?" Harry pondered.
"Oh, there's alway ways. My grandfather had a specially built enclosure for his dragon, magically fireproofed. He used to have to feed it whole cows, and had special drinking fountain containing liquor for the dragon to drink from. Though enclosures are never perfect of course. My father said that my grandfather received some rather nasty scars from the dragon. And as much as scars might be seen as a mar on one's skin, I think that dragon related scars are rather dashing."
"You would, wouldn't you," Callidus remarked, unsurprised by Draco's vanity. "I can't help thinking that more danger is the last thing that Hogwarts needs."
Draco scoffed. "It's not the dragon's fault that someone is trying to kill you."
"No, I suppose a dragon might just prefer to indiscriminately kill anyone, rather than limiting it to myself. Where do you suppose Hagrid got that dragon egg anyway?"
"There are people who deal in the procurement of rare animals," Draco answered briskly.
"Yes, people with connections like your father, or people with a great deal of galleons to spend. Somehow, I doubt Hagrid is one of those people."
"Dragon eggs are difficult to come by?" Harry cut in.
Callidus nodded. "And as I said, it seems like what Hagrid's doing is illegal. Not that following laws to the letter is something that I personally feel the need to strictly subscribe to, but it's the sort of thing that's bound to make trouble for Hagrid."
"It won't matter anyway." Draco crossed his arms stubbornly. "My father will take care of all of those details. He knows a lot of people in the Ministry."
"Is it possible to ride a dragon?" Harry questioned. The topic caused Draco to brighten even more than before, so that they had to endure yet more ramblings about dragons from Draco. Callidus had to resign himself to the fact that it would likely be all that he would hear about in the next few days.
Draco did indeed end up writing his father, and after much pleading and cajoling, he won over his father to his side. Perhaps it was just having to listen to Draco whinge about dragons his whole life, and the benefit of not having to deal with the dragon on his own grounds, but eventually Lucius Malfoy was persuaded.
A few days later, the trio received a note from Hagrid that simply said: 'it's hatching.' They had considered skipping History of Magic, but since it was drawing closer to exams, none of them dared to slip up on their grades. All of them fidgeted restlessly as Binns droned on and on about the uprising of Elfric the Eager and when the bell sounded for the end of their lessons, they dashed off towards Hagrid's hut. Rather than dragging his feet, it was Draco who led the way, walking as fast as his legs could take him, chatting the whole way.
When Hagrid answered the door, his eyes were alight with excitement, and his face was flushed.
"It's nearly out," he informed them, as he led them into the hut where the egg sat upon the table, covered in long and deep cracks. They could hear movement from within the egg and an odd clicking sound. They each pulled up a chair, and sat around the table.
"How much longer?" Draco asked impatiently.
Hagrid grinned. "Soon."
"I've told my father all about it," Draco announced, causing Hagrid to falter and blink with worry.
"He says that he'll make sure that it's registered with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." Draco paid no heed to Hagrid but instead, was watching the egg. "There'll be some dragon handlers and other specialists who'll come by to plan and build a proper enclosure for the dragon. Can't have it living in here, you know - too small and all. I told my father that it would provide an excellent educational opportunity, and enhance the prestige of Hogwarts. Most other magical schools can't even contemplate, let alone provide care for a dragon - though rumour has it that they have one at Durmstrang."
Draco was cut off by a noise from the egg, as it split open. The four of them leaned forward as the black baby dragon emerged from the broken pieces, looking like a crumpled umbrella with stubby horns and orange eyes. Its wings were disproportionately large compared to its body, which was quite skinny.
Hagrid melted at the sight. "Isn't he beautiful?" He reached out to pet it, causing the small creature to snap and bear its little pointed fangs. "Bless him, look! He knows his mummy!"
"He's smaller than I thought," Draco noted. "How long do you think it'll take for him to grow?"
"Did you say that they're going to build a dragon enclosure here?" Harry asked.
Draco nodded. "Probably near the forest. There's plenty of space. Can't have a dragon running loose - it'd terrify the muggles - not that that's a bad thing, except for the need for secrecy, of course."
Callidus looked towards Hagrid, who was still looking at the baby dragon with a melty expression. "Hagrid, what would you have done if Draco hadn't written his father? Where would you have kept the dragon?"
Hagrid looked at Callidus guiltily. "Er - I would've figured somethin' out."
The following day, a group of dragon handlers and other specialists arrived at the school with their documents and tools on hand to plan an enclosure for the dragon. Word had quickly spread, and even if Dumbledore had wanted to protest, there was nothing that he could do about it. With his power and influence, Lucius Malfoy had convinced the Board of Governors that having the dragon would only benefit the student's education (and his large 'donation' probably helped as well - he would be funding most of the cost of the dragon enclosure, and the protective enchantments that would prevent the creature from hurting students and muggles alike.)
Hagrid had been pleased at first, but as the workers claimed a large area of the forest in which to house the dragon, his happiness was marred.
"What's wrong, Hagrid?" Callidus asked. "You look upset. Is it the dragon?"
The trio visited the hut a week later, and at this point, the dragon had grown three times in length. Without the aid of the dragon handlers, he would have been run ragged, and likely would have neglected his gamekeeper duties. Fortunately, the dragon handlers were there so that the task of feeding the dragon buckets of brandy and mixed with chicken blood every half-hour could be taken care of in shifts.
"No, no," Hagrid replied. "It's not Norbert." Norbert was what he had decided to call the creature. "In fact, Norbert really knows it's me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's mummy?"
"If it's not the dragon, then what is it?"
"It's jus' - well, I'm happy to have Norbert, but the construction of Norbert's enclosure is upsettin' the other creatures in the forest. The unicorns are migratin' away, the acromantulas are nervous, and the centaurs are furious."
"I didn't know there were unicorns and centaurs and - er - those other things in the forest," Harry commented.
"Soon there won't be," Hagrid intoned mournfully. "Well, not anywhere near here, tha' is."
"The forest is quite vast," Callidus pointed out. "There's plenty of space for all the creatures."
Hagrid did not appear to be reassured by Callidus's words. He would have preferred to have all the creatures close to him, rather than far away, however, by choosing to take on a dragon, Hagrid had unwittingly made some sacrifices. Callidus thought it was unfortunate. He had never seen a unicorn before, and though it was considered a bit girlish, he still would have liked to see one. As for the centaurs, they were known for being territorial creatures, and it was no surprise that they would be angered by the intrusion of a dragon invading their home. Nonetheless, it was still exciting to know that Hogwarts now had its very own dragon.