Chapter 38: The Dragon
Harry had better luck the next day with his classes. But a few times, the teachers had to speak to Harry to remind him to stop daydreaming. After a full day of classes, Harry followed Ron and Hermione outside to visit Hagrid. Hagrid smiled when he saw the three of them.
"Hey Harry, Ron, Hermione!" he boomed. "Come on in!"
They sat down at the table while Hagrid poured tea and set out a plate of rock cakes. After some consideration, Harry placed a rock cake in his tea, hoping the tea would make it soft enough to eat.
Hermione spoke first. "Hagrid, we know about the Sorcerer's Stone," she said. "We wanted to know what…"
"Hey, what's that?" Ron asked, interrupting Hermione and pointing to the fireplace. Harry and Hermione looked too. There was what looked like a large egg nestled in the fire.
"Ah, just a dragon egg," Hagrid said, shrugging. "Nothing to worry about."
"But Hagrid, isn't owning a dragon illegal?" Harry asked.
"Well, owning a full grown dragon is but the rules don't specify eggs or baby dragons."
Hermione was staring wide-eyed at Hagrid. "I think they mean all dragons since eggs and little dragons turn into adult dragons. Where did you get the egg?"
"Off some traveler in the pub, don't mention it to anyone, yeah?" Hagrid looked at each of them in turn. Ron and Hermione nodded but Harry looked worried.
"I'm terrible at keeping big secrets, my healer always seems to know if I'm hiding something and just keeps asking questions until I give up and talk," said Harry in a rush.
Hagrid snorted. "That's the bad thing about healers," he said. "They find out about everything. Just don't mention the word "dragon" when talking with Jeff. I'll let you all know when the egg hatches, I expect you'll want to meet him."
"Darn it," Ron said, when they were leaving. "We were so close to talking about the stone!"
"Well, you're the one who changed the subject," said Harry, causing Ron to frown.
"I'm worried about Hagrid," Hermione said. "It's illegal and unsafe to have a dragon."
"Don't worry so much," Harry said. "I'm sure that Hagrid will get rid of it when it hatches."
"Are you kidding?" Ron asked. "Of course he won't! He's wanted a dragon his whole life, is what he told us a few weeks ago!"
Harry went to dinner, then back to Albus' quarters. He lay on his bed and thought about whether he should tell Albus about the dragon, but decided just to wait and focus on his classes.
A couple of days later, a school owl landed next to Harry at breakfast. He untied the note from the owl's leg and handed the owl a rasher of bacon. The bird made short work of the offering before taking flight. Harry unfolded the note and read the short message of: It's hatching.
"Come on!" Harry hissed as he poked both Ron and Hermione in their sides, interrupting their morning argument about the amount of time Hermione wanted to spend in the library doing homework.
When they got to Hagrid's hut, there was a baby dragon sitting on the table, surrounded by eggshells. The three students clustered around the table, staring at the baby dragon that had smoke trailing from his nostrils.
"Isn't he beautiful! This is Norbert. Go on, scratch the back of his head, he seems to like that. Don't worry, he's mostly harmless at this age," said Hagrid, sounding like a proud parent.
Hermione took a step back looking scared. Ron looked between her and Harry then took one look at the smoke and the spikes on Norbert's tail and stepped back next to Hermione.
Harry slowly reached out to scratch the back of the dragon's head, as Hagrid suggested, but Norbert clamped his jaws onto Harry's hand and growled in an imitation of his future roar. Harry gave a muffled shout in pain, trying to shake the dragon off but Norbert held on until Hagrid offered him a bowl of an awful smelling liquid that looked like blood mixed with something else.
"Sorry Harry," said Hagrid. "He's never done that before. Here, wash your hand in the sink and wrap it in this handkerchief, you'll be fine by tomorrow."
"Harmless you said?" Ron demanded. "He just bit Harry!"
"You can't keep a dragon, Hagrid," Hermione cried.
"Don't worry," Hagrid said. "He's a sweetheart!"
Harry followed his friends to class after washing his hand and wrapping it as Hagrid suggested. Since the dragon bit his writing hand, he found it difficult to use a quill and his hand hurt enough to distract him from both classes and daydreaming. He noticed Professor Sprout looking at him intently so he quickly focused on his work. The professor pulled him aside right as class ended and told him to go to the hospital wing but Harry shrugged off the suggestion, choosing to hurry to lunch before meeting Jeff in Albus' office during his free period before Charms. Harry gulped when he saw not only Albus and Jeff, but also Madam Pomfrey waiting inside of the office.
"So," said Madam Pomfrey, the moment Harry sat down. "What is this about your hand hurting during your classes and you refusing to go to the hospital wing? Professor Sprout said you seemed unwilling to use your hand during her class and had it wrapped in a large handkerchief. She said she asked you about it but you merely stated you had cut yourself on accident. Show me your hand, Mr. Potter."
Harry nervously held out his hand, still wrapped in the dirty handkerchief. Madam Pomfrey unwrapped his hand and exchanged a concerned look with Jeff before saying, "At least it does not look self-inflicted. How did this happen? It looks like a bite."
"I can't say," Harry said.
"What bit you, Harry?" said Jeff. "This is quite serious, on many levels. First, you received an injury and refused to ask for help. Second, there is a dangerous creature on school grounds that could hurt someone else."
Harry sighed, "It was a baby dragon, but its just a minor bite, Hagrid said it would be healed by tomorrow, no problem," Harry's voice got quieter as he spoke, realizing he'd just told the three adults in the room where to find the dragon and who was responsible for the incident.
"Harry, you will have to come with me to St. Mungo's Hospital. Dragon bites can be very dangerous because of what they eat and the small amounts of poison present in their teeth. I'm afraid you need to see a specialist. Fortunately, it just happened today so we've caught it early and you won't have to be admitted. Do you know what type of dragon?"
Harry looked up at Jeff briefly before returning his eyes to the floor. "I think Hermione said she thinks it is a Norwegian Ridgeback."
"I should have known," Albus said. "Hagrid has always wanted a dragon since he was a student here."
"He named him Norbert," Harry said.
Albus gave Jeff permission to use his floo to take Harry to St. Mungo's. He also handed over a signed form stating that he consented to any treatment deemed necessary and giving Jeff permission to make some medical decisions. As they left, Albus hugged Harry and promised to help Hagrid find a proper home for Norbert, perhaps at a preserve, and to not punish the man for his poor choices. Harry looked reassured but uncomfortable.
With a little help from Madam Pomfrey, Jeff convinced Harry to floo with him to St. Mungo's. Arriving in the reception area, Jeff kept a gentle but firm grip on Harry's arm and guided him towards a desk to the side of the main reception desk that seemed to be serving patients being escorted by healers.
"Good Afternoon, Healer Clear. How can I help you?" asked the clerk with a helpful smile.
"The patient I'm escorting received a bite from a Norwegian Ridgeback hatchling. We need to see a specialist to have his hand checked and healed," said Jeff clearly.
"How old is your patient?"
"He is a minor, I have a consent form from his guardian," said Jeff as he handed the parchment to the clerk.
After a quick scan of the document, the clerk's eyes widened. "Please take a seat, Healer Clear. Healer Spelt will call you in a few minutes."
Jeff steered Harry towards a pair of chairs where they sat for the ten minutes it took for the healer to call them. When called, Harry followed Jeff and the short fellow who introduced himself as Healer Spelt, into an exam room. Harry sat on the exam table while Jeff and the other healer took seats on stools next to him.
"Well now, what's happened then? Hold out your hand as you tell me," the healer said quietly to Harry as he carefully unwrapped the bandage.
"My friend Hagrid had a dragon's egg and we told him it was a bad idea but he promised to tell us when it hatched so we could meet his new pet. Hagrid sent an owl-oww, this morning saying the egg hatched and so my friends and I went down to his hut. He told us the baby liked being scratched on the back of its head so I tried and Norbert bit me and wouldn't let go until Hagrid offered him some sort of bloody liquid. Hagrid had me wash my hand and wrap it in a handkerchief, telling me it would be fine by tomorrow. But it really hurts."
"I see. Anything to add, Healer Clear?" asked Healer Spelt, looking at Jeff.
"I met with Harry after lunch by a pre-existing appointment but his morning professors indicated to both myself and the school nurse that the boy was injured. Upon seeing the injury and hearing the story about the dragon, I brought him here," said Jeff.
"The good news is the dragon was a hatching. I'm going to give you a potion that will help your body fight infection and another to counteract the small amount of poison present in the mouth of that particular species of dragon. I will then clean your hand and cover the bite in a salve before wrapping it in a fresh bandage. I will send you back to school with the salve and instructions to have the school nurse, your guardian, or Healer Clear change the bandage and apply the salve every day for the next week. If, after that time, the wound is not healed, I want to see you back here. Dragon bites are not to be messed about with; there is a very high risk of infection. Do you understand?" Healer Spelt looked at him closely until he nodded.
The healer pulled out two potions, filled a glass with water, and set out what looked like a lollipop. He handed the first potion to Harry, the one to fight infection, which Harry thought tasted like burnt socks. He allowed Harry a few sips of water before handing him second one, which was the venom antidote. Harry thought that one tasted like the dragon dung fertilizer they used in herbology. Healer Spelt allowed him to finish the water then gave him the strawberry lollipop, to get rid of the taste of potions in his mouth. The lollipop also contained a dose of a combination sedative and pain relief potion to help Harry relax for the next part of treatment. Healer Spelt waited a few moments for Harry's eyelids to droop shut then began cleaning out the bite. Harry thought he should be more concerned about the process but could not convince himself to worry. Jeff smiled at Harry's relaxed appearance.
"How much of this will he remember?" asked Jeff
"Very little. He'll remember drinking potions and getting a sweet but he will not remember the pain of having his hand cleaned nor the discomfort of having the salve applied to the wound and the hand bandaged. This is why I explained everything before we started. We want our young patients to enter into any future interactions with healers willingly and without fear. I'm done with him and he is done with the candy. These are all the supplies you need for bandage changes and you are all set. We'll give him about ten minutes to wake a bit then I'll walk you to the internal floo so he is not recognized in the lobby. Good luck."
True to his words, Healer Spelt showed them to one of the internal floo connections and Jeff held onto Harry as they spun back to Hogwarts. Albus steadied Harry as they exited the fireplace then directed Harry to his bedroom for a nap. Harry followed without protest and allowed Albus to tuck him in.
Jeff explained the treatment and the bandage changes before stating Harry would be fine to attend dinner in the Great Hall but to let him sleep until then.