Chapter Twenty-Five: Hallie
March and almost all of April flew by and before Hallie knew it, Hermione had already had them in the library most nights. Hallie still remembered what had happened that first night, back at the end of March.
It was the second to last week of March and Hermione had threatened Harry and Ron with a jinx if they didn't make time to come to the library to join in on her exam prep course. "Hermione, you cannot be serious! We still have how many months until exams? Two?" Harry groans from his seat next to her in the library. Her brother had complained about how he didn't get much sleep last night since Ron's snoring was quite bad.
"Harry, you can never not be ready enough for exams! And yes, I know we still have our school work and you have Quidditch practices but that is why I'm not saying that we have to study every day but at least three times a week." Hermione tells him as she flips through her charms notebook. She wanted them to go over the charms that they had learned at the beginning of the year.
Ron groans alongside Harry before saying, "We still have no idea what Fluffy is guarding, Hermione. Don't you think that might be a tad bit more important than studying for exams right this moment?" Hermione glances over at Ron before glaring at him.
"So, you want to throw all of your good marks away, Ron? Yes, finding out what Fluffy is guarding is extremely important but so is prepping for our exams! Hallie, Prim, and I helped you all year and so being here is the least that you can do for us." Hermione said coldly. Hallie knew how much it hurt Hermione when Ron said something like that. Like she cared more for exams than what could possibility be so dangerous that Professor Dumbledore felt like he needed a three-headed dog named Fluffy to protect the mystery item.
Harry glared over at Ron and Ron sighed. "I know, Hermione, and I'm truly grateful for all that you three have done this year. I just hate how we are still nowhere closer to finding out what is down there."
Hermione sighs and slumps down into her chair. "I know, Ron. I'm frustrated about that as well; but that is why I need to make sure we are ready for our exams. I can't handle both of them looming over my head so ominously. Can't you understand where I'm coming from by that?" Ron nods before he pulls his own charms notebook out.
That day was quite an eventful for the Golden Quartet. Hallie shook her head before looking down at her textbook. They were yet again in the library, studying, but Hermione was nowhere to be found. That had also surprised Hallie the most, because coming to the library today was Hermione's idea.
Moments after Hallie had that thought, Hermione came strolling in with a large brown bound book. "I cannot believe how stupid I've been! I checked this book out months ago for a bit of light reading!"
"This is what you consider 'light reading'?" Ron asked in complete and total surprise, which Hallie thought was stupid because all of them knew what Hermione idea of "light reading" was. That have all seen the books she's carried around.
Hermione glared at Ron as she flipped the pages until she stopped on the page she was searching for. "Nicolas Flamel is famous for creating the only known Philosopher's Stone in existence!"
"What is so special about this stone, Hermione?" Harry asked as he looked up from his own Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook.
Hermione grinned at all of them before adding on, "Nicolas Flamel was born in 1352! This stone lets you live forever!"
"That is what Professor Snape wants! Fluffy must be guarding this stone for Nicolas Flamel and Professor Dumbledore! We have to tell Hagrid! He needs to know what we know!" Harry says as he starts to pack up his books.
"Not now Harry! We'll go tonight, once everyone is in bed sleeping!" Hallie tells her brother with a roll of her eyes. "Let's just try to focus on our studies long enough."
Harry sighs but nods his head and the five Gryffindors sit in the library starring off into space and not focusing on their studies. Once curfew was upon them, Madame Prince kicked them out and they quickly ran towards the Gryffindor common room. After giving Elspeth the password, Hallie turns towards her brother before saying, "You grab your cloak and I'll grab mine. We'll meet back down here before heading back towards Hagrid's hut."
"Sounds like a decent plan, Hals." Harry tells her and they split up to head into their own dorm rooms. Hallie runs up the stairs and flings her book bag onto her bed, narrowly missing Cleo.
"Meow!" Cleo hisses at her.
Hallie stops in her tracks and kneels down next to her bed. "I'm sorry, Cleo. I wasn't thinking about you dozing on my bed. It's just… The five of us need to hurry up and get down to Hagrid's hut. It's very much important. I'll make it up to you, I promise." Hallie whispers as she gently strokes Cleo's back.
"Meow."
"Thank you for understanding, Cleo." Hallie leans forward to give her familiar a kiss on the head before grabbing her cloak out of the bottom of her trunk. She races out of the room and back down towards where her friends and family were waiting.
Ron looks up from his place over by the door. "What took you so long?"
"I almost hit Cleo with my book bag when I threw it on my bed and I needed to apologize for it." Hallie says as she gasps for breath. "Hogwarts really needs a physical education class!" Prim laughs and shakes her head as they all wait for Hallie to get her breathing under control. "Okay, we should probably put the cloaks on first before we step out of the common room. We wouldn't want Elspeth to see us and run off to find a professor. She might like us but she isn't one for letting students off the hook for sneaking out." Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Prim nod their heads to show their agreement.
Harry covered both himself and Ron with his cloak as Hallie did the same with herself, Prim, and Hermione. "Ready?" Harry asks.
"Ready."
Hallie pushes the portrait open and the five of them sneak out and start to head down – quietly – to Hagrid's hut. They had a few scares by the way of Mrs. Norris, Filch, and Peeves but they were able to go truly undetected. Once they were outside, they were able to finally feel like they could breathe without being caught. Hallie was extremely glad that Prim, Hermione, and her were all around the same height; because if they had not have been, the cloak would not have covered the three of them.
When they finally made it to Hagrid's hut, Hallie and Harry both tore off the cloaks and looked at each other. Harry nodded his head at her before raising his fist and knocking three times on Hagrid's door.
Hagrid opens the door enough to stick out a loaded crossbow. "Merlin's beard, 'arry! Wha' are yeh lot doin' out past curfew?"
"We know about the Philosopher's Stone, Hagrid!" Hallie says coolly. "And we need to speak with you! It's urgent!"
"Sorry kids, but yeh lot need ter head on back up ter the castle! Yeh don' need ter be losin' yer house any points this late in the year." Hagrid tells them gruffly as he tries to shut the door.
Hallie hears Ron groans and Harry says, "We know that Professor Snape is trying to steal the stone, Hagrid!"
Hagrid opens the door back up and looks at them in surprise. "Yeh dunno wha' yeh-re talkin' abou', 'arry. Professor Snape is one o' the professors protectin' the stone."
"Hagrid, we know what we've seen and heard." Hermione says coolly. "That's why we must speak to you before we go and head on up to Professor Dumbledore with this."
Hallie watches as Hagrid sighs before opening the door up to let them in. After he shuts the door, he places his crossbow onto his bed, "I dunno where yeh-re gettin' yer information, but I know for a fact that Professor Snape doesn' wan' the stone. He's protectin' the stone jus' like meself and a few o' the other professors."
Just then something rattled in Hagrid's fireplace. "Um, Hagrid? What is that?" Prim asked nervously. Hagrid's face went stark white at first before he walks on over to the fireplace, pulling on oven mitts. He pulls an egg out of the flames before quickly coming back over to the kitchen table. "Hagrid, I will ask once again, what in the bloody hell is that? Don't even give me that look Hallie! I know you are thinking the same thing as me." Hallie throws her hands up in the air to basically tell Prim, 'I didn't say anything'!
Hagrid looked around all of them but before he could say anything the egg started to hatch. The five Gryffindors gathered around Hagrid's kitchen table with him and watched in slight horror and slight fascination as a baby dragon was born. "Hagrid?" Ron asked in amazement, "Is that a Norwegian Ridgeback?"
Hallie looked over at Ron in surprised before looking back down at the dragon. She watches in horror as the baby dragon burps out a red and orange flame straight into Hagrid's face. "Aw! Look at 'im! He knows who his momma is!" Hagrid tells them as he snuffs out the flames on his beard.
"Hagrid, how do you now have a baby dragon?" Hallie asked in bewilderment.
The giant of a man didn't look away from his new dragon and said, "I won 'im off a chap in Hogsmeade las' weekend. The poor bloke jus' wan'ed ter get rid o' 'im an' I said tha' I would take 'im off his hands."
Hallie and Hermione look at each other nervously before Hermione says sweetly, "Hagrid, isn't it illegal to own a dragon?"
"Norbert will be fine an' happy here." Hagrid said in a matter of fact tone.
This time Hallie tried to put some sense in him. "Hagrid, you live in a wooden hut and what is going to happen once Norbert grows? He's classified as a level five. He's a dangerous creature and there are students here, Hagrid."
"Don' worry 'Allie, Norbert won' grow up ter be like all those dangerous dragons. I'll raise 'im up righ', yeh see. Now yeh five bes' be goin'. 's late an' like I said when yeh firs' knocked on me door, Gryffindor don' need ter lose any points this late in the year." And just like that, Hagrid kicks them out of his hut.
Harry and Hallie looked at each other before both of them sighed. "We can't do much more of trying to convince him tonight. We'll try again tomorrow." Harry said and all of them nod their heads before getting back under the cloaks to make their way back to the Gryffindor common room.
The next two weeks were spent almost every afternoon at Hagrid's hut, trying to get him to realize that keeping Norbert was a very – VERY – bad idea. Hallie couldn't understand why it was taking Hagrid so long to understand why Norbert couldn't stay with him. On Wednesday, May tenth, was when everything started to go wrong. The Golden Quartet was over at Hagrid's hut before dinner, trying to make him realize yet again that Norbert needed to be in Romania with Ron's brother, Charlie. They had already sent a letter off to Charlie about Norbert and were just waiting for a reply.
Hagrid was sitting there feeding Norbert some type of bloody raw meat, when Ron was bit. Now, Hallie isn't completely sure what had truly happened but all she knows was that everyone went into action. Hermione had stunned the dragon and Harry was trying to pull Norbert's mouth off of Ron without getting bitten as well or being caught on fire. Hallie ran over and tried to perform any and all of the healing spells she knows and both Prim and Ron were screaming. "See Hagrid! This is why Norbert needs to be in Romania with his own kind!" Prim screamed at their giant of a friend.
Hagrid looked crestfallen before finally calling defeat. "I guess yeh are righ'. Send a letter off ter Ron's brother, Charlie. Norbert mus' be with his own kind. I'm sorry Ron." Once Hallie felt that she had a control on Ron's hand, the Golden Quartet left to go have dinner and then to their astronomy class at midnight. The next three days were crazy. Ron's hand had swollen so badly that he had to be sent to the hospital wing and they had received a letter back from Charlie.
Dear Ron,
It's nice to hear from you. Mum and dad told me that you were sorted into Gryffindor, which we all knew that would happen. They also told me about your new friends and how you have also branched out to the other houses for friendship. One of my best friends was a Hufflepuff. She's now training to become an Auror, I believe. Now onto your letter. I'm not going to ask how Hagrid came into ownership of a dragon; the less I know the better. But we would love to take Norbert in. I have a few friends coming to see me, so be at the top of the astronomy tower at midnight this Saturday. Do make sure they would not be caught with an illegal dragon because you know what would happen to them, Ron. It's a shame I won't be able to see you but I had promised mum that I would try to come home this summer.
Love,
Charlie
Once Saturday had come upon them, Hallie and the rest of the Golden Quartet was glad that Charlie's mates were coming tonight to pick up Norbert. They were sitting with Ron inside the hospital wing trying to make it up to him for not being able to meet his brother's mates. "It's just my luck that I don't get to meet them! It's rare for him to talk about any of his friends and we don't ever get to meet them at all! Fred and George think my brother is gay and that's why he doesn't talk about any of his mates."
"And would it matter if your brother was gay?" Prim asked curtly.
Ron looked up at her in surprised and shook his head. "Of course not. I never once said that I would have a problem with my brother being gay… It's just strange that he doesn't talk about any of his friends, that's all. My brother is one of the best wizards I know; and sure, there is still some backlash to being gay this day and age but I would like to believe my brother knows that the whole family would support him."
"He could be asexual," Hallie spoke as she glanced up from her book. "What? Asexual means they aren't attracted to any gender. Or maybe he just likes to keep his private life private – even from his own family. I can understand that…"
Hallie's group of friends look at her with confusion and she sighed. "Think about it this way, Harry and I both have been thrusted into a world where we are famous for something that we don't remember… I can just see where your brother, Charlie, wouldn't want to people to know who he has in his life. He comes from a huge family – where everyone is in everyone's business… It can probably become overwhelming is all."
"I guess I can see where you are coming from, Hals… But still… I just feel like there is something my brother is hiding from the family…. And I've never been too fond of being out of the loop when it came with my family." Ron tells them with a shrug of his shoulders.
Just then Hallie heard a voice of one of the two people she did not want to deal with today of all days. "Well Weasley maybe your brother doesn't like to associate himself with blood traitors anymore." Malfoy said with a sneer across his face.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy? Seeing you does nothing good for any of one of our health." Prim says snidely.
Malfoy chuckles and shakes his head sadly, "I've come to ask Ronald here for a textbook that he told me that he would loan me. Oh, and to wish him a speedy recovery."
"Why would Ron let you borrow any book at all?" Hallie asked as she closed her book. "Can't your daddy buy you any book you want?"
The air in the hospital room was tense and everyone was glaring at each other before Malfoy finally cracked. "I know the five of you are up to something and I won't be leaving until I figure out what it is."
Harry laughed darkly and shook his head at Malfoy. "You think we would really tell you anything? We don't like you and I know the feeling is mutual on your part as well."
Malfoy glared at Harry before looking over at Ron. "Well… I was hoping you were incompetent enough that you might let it slip on what you five were hiding; but I can tell that there – sadly – might be some hope for your weasel brain after all. I'm still not leaving without a book… We don't want Madame Pomfrey to think there is something amidst here because then I might have to tell her that I believe you five are up to something."
Hallie glared at Malfoy before throwing him a notebook. "Here. There isn't anything of importance in it… just some measly notes in Ron's horrible handwriting, but it should suffice, correct?" Malfoy nodded his head and smirked at the group before leaving.
"Why did you have to give him my notes?" Ron asked, annoyance lacing his voice.
"Ron, your notes are not any good at all! You can just borrow my notes or something when you are studying for the charms exam." Prim said with a roll of her eyes.
Ron's face went white and Hallie knew in that instant that something is about to go horribly wrong. "Did you say that the notebook that Hallie gave him was the one with my charms notes?" Prim nodded her head 'yes' and Ron groaned loudly. "No, no, no! That notebook was the notebook that I had Charlie's letter in…"
Hallie and the others looked at each other in shock. Their day had originally had a tiny ray of sunlight and it had now been ripped away from them. Malfoy now knew that they not only had a dragon but that they were getting rid of it tonight at midnight.
Hallie was nervous. No scratch that. She was terrified; completely and totally terrified. They were waiting in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room… 11:30 PM did not feel like it would ever come. She was afraid that something horrible would happen and that the five of them – or well, more like the four of them since Ron was in the hospital – would be found with Norbert. Everyone that she has met in the wizarding world has talked about the ominous wizard prison and how terrifying the guards were there.
Let's just say… Hallie did not want to be found with a forbidden dragon and be shipped off to Azkaban. The clock chimed and Hallie looked at the clock. "Well it's eleven… Should we really wait until 11:30? Maybe we should leave now and make sure Hagrid hasn't changed his mind."
"You mean, you want to make sure he is still sane enough to know why we are having to send Norbert to Romania?" Prim asked from her seat next to Hallie.
"Well… Kind of… I don't know. I'm just extremely nervous and I do hate how Ron isn't able to come with us. I would feel better knowing that he would be with us." Hallie said as she ran a hand through her long red hair.
Harry looked over at her and shook his head. "You just want him here, so we aren't the only ones who would get in trouble. Hals, that's messed up! Because think about it, if we are caught – especially by Professor McGonagall, we would love Gryffindor a lot of house points. Professor McGonagall doesn't go easy on us just because we are in her house. She's not like Professor Snape. Merlin, I swear if Professor Snape had caught Malfoy out this late, he would barely punish him. He's completely biased when it comes to his house."
"Professor McGonagall is as well, Harry; she did allow you to have a broom when first years are not allowed to have one." Hermione said from her place in the oversized chair. "And it's best that Ron isn't here… It's going to be hard to make all of us plus Norbert's caged invisible with the cloaks."
Hallie sighed and ran her hand through her hair again. "I know! I'm just super nervous that something not in our plan is going to happen… That's all. Now, come on… I really think we should head down to Hagrid's hut… I just want all of this to be over and done with." Her brother and cousin, along with Hermione nodded their heads and they got ready to leave. Hallie wrapped her cloak around herself and Prim and watched Harry do the same with himself and Hermione.
"Wait! Let me grab my book bag!" Hermione said as she pulled her bag off the chair she had occupied moments ago. "Okay, let's go."
Just like the night of Norbert's hatching, they quickly made their way down towards Hagrid's hut. Harry knocked loud enough that they had decided on risking and waited. Moments later, Hagrid opened the door with tears running down his hairy cheeks. "Let's jus' get this o'er with." Hagrid sniffled.
"I'm sorry Hagrid, but it really is for the best. Norbert needs to be with his own kind…" Hermione said as she tried to hug the giant of a man.
"I know… I'm jus' goin' ter miss 'im, that's all." Hagrid tells them as he wipes his eyes with his rough coat.
Harry and Hallie share a look and she walks over to him. "Hagrid, Norbert will always know who was his mum. Nothing will change that; not even having to go and live with his own kind… That might make him love you even more." Hagrid smiles at her and they get to business.
Hagrid pulls out a large crate and says, "Here he is… Oh, lemme give 'im his teddy bear. He couldn' go on a long trip without his favourite teddy bear." He opens the crate's door and place a slightly torched teddy bear. Hallie hears a loud rip and shakes her head. Yeah, Norbert sure loves that teddy bear. So much that he probably just decapitated it.
"Okay, Hagrid, we'll be off now." Harry said from under his cloak… or well more like their cloak. When they had been trying to figure out what to do about concealment, they were stumped. Until Hermione came to them one day and said she found a very temporally spell that would combine the two cloaks for a short period without losing its powerful concealment magic. The spell took both Hallie and Hermione to perform but it worked enough for them to conceal all four of them, along with Norbert's crate.
They walked out of Hagrid's hut and made their way up to the astronomy tower, slowly and quietly. Hallie really wanted to say something to her brother or even to Hermione or Prim but they had made the decision on being quiet hours ago. So, all she had was her thoughts and they were not all that great.
Being thrown into Azkaban kept running throughout her mind and she was not too happy with that idea. They finally made it back inside the castle and up towards the tallest tower at Hogwarts – the Astronomy Tower. As they were about to be to the staircase inside the tower, they heard a voice of someone they very much did not want to hear right about now… or more like two voices they did not want to hear at the moment. "I swear! The Potters, Dursley, and Granger are coming up here to get rid of a dragon!"
Filch chuckles dryly and pulls Malfoy away. "Let's head off to the Professor on charge tonight. I'm sure Professor McGonagall would love to hear why you are out past curfew." Hallie, Harry, Prim, and Hermione move quickly out of the way and wait with battered breath as Filch and Malfoy walk off towards the Transfiguration corridor. Once they felt like they were safe to move, the small group makes their way up the stairs and back into the fresh night air.
Thankfully, they did not have to wait for long before Charlie's mates came. Andrew – who was a magizoologist – knew exactly how to put the dragon under a powerful sleeping spell. Annie – who was an American witch that was the magical form of a veterinarian – was able to take the dragon's vitals as Jason and Beth attached Norbert's crate to the four brooms. "I believe that is everything that needed to be done for us to leave." Jason tells them as he moves over to his floating broom.
"Tell Ron that we are sorry to have missed him. Charlie doesn't talk much about his family, so it was a shame that we weren't able to meet him. We'll have Charlie send Ron an owl once Norbert gets to Romania." Annie says with a sweet smile.
Andrew gives the four Gryffindors a smile as well before adding on, "Be safe getting back to the Gryffindor common room. Trust me, Filch is nasty when it comes to catching students out past curfew and Professor McGonagall doesn't go easy on her house. I would know by the amount of house points I've costed Gryffindor during my seven years at Hogwarts." With that, Charlie's friends hopped onto their brooms and left quickly. Hermione deactivated the charm on Harry's and Hallie's cloaks and handed the cloaks over.
"We'll put the cloaks back on once we hit the bottom of the stairs." Hallie says with the memory of how hard it was to walk up the stairs with the cloak still on. The other three nod their heads and they make their way down the stairs. Once they hit the bottom of the stairs, Harry and Hallie were about to wrap the cloaks around them when they heard someone that they were not expecting.
"What do we have here? Four Gryffindors out of bed." Filch says as the group turns around. "Let's see what your Head of House has to say." Filch's smile was an awful sight to see but Hallie would not ever say that in front of the ghastly man.
They follow behind Filch and Hallie starts twirling her finger in her hair – a nervous habit of hers. When they finally made it to Professor McGonagall's office, they were surprised to see Neville slumped in a chair. "Filch, you bring me more of my students…" She brings her strict eyes over to the four Gryffindors in questioned. "Why are the four of you out past curfew? Trying to make sure Malfoy gets in trouble for believing your lie about having a dragon? A lie that has also gotten one of your fellow classmates in trouble. Poor Mister Longbottom heard Malfoy going on and on about making sure you four got caught and expelled. He was out trying to find you and warn you since you weren't in the Gryffindor common room."
Hallie looked at her friends and was devastated at what she saw. Harry and Prim were staring over at Neville in shock – probably because that was a brave thing for Neville to do – and Hermione was staring down at the floor in fear. "No Professor, that's not why we were out! You see, we sometimes hang out in this abandoned classroom on the second floor. We mostly use it to study – especially when we think the library or the Gryffindor common room will be flooded with students. And well… we didn't realize exactly how much time had passed until we heard the bell chime at midnight. On our way back to our common room, I had realized that I had left some of my astronomy notes in the astronomy tower and I had heard some of the seventh years talk about the rain chances overnight and I didn't want my notes to be ruined so close to finals. We knew that there would be a high chance of us getting caught but well… we, no I felt like it would be worth it. I have no idea where Malfoy would get the idea that we had a dragon to get rid of and I hate that Neville was out here looking for us."
"Malfoy came by the hospital wing while we were visiting Ron, remember Hals. You had given him Ron's notebook for charms and it had the letter from Charlie. Hallie had a story idea about a dragon being hatched at Hogwarts and we were trying to figure out ideas on how the characters in the story could send it off to the dragon tamers in Romania. Charlie gave us the idea on how the character could send it off with some of his friends that were heading off to Romania. He basically wrote it like it was real… Maybe that's why Malfoy thought we were trying to get rid of a dragon…" Harry says with a shrug of his shoulders. "He took the letter out of context, Professor; and that wouldn't be our fault, would it?"
Professor McGonagall stared at them before sighing. "No, it's not. Though, I still have to punish you for being out past curfew. I'm going to be generous this time and just make your lost be one hundred and fifty points total, thirty from each of you. I was going to make it two hundred points but frankly, I believe you Miss Potter, so I'm going to give you my trust since I know there is or more like was an abandoned classroom that you have used from time to time. You five will also be joining Mister Malfoy in detention when the time comes. Now follow me and I'll make sure you make it to the Gryffindor Tower."
As they started to walk towards the Gryffindor common room, Hallie asked what she was sure her fellow house mates were wondering. "Professor, did Malfoy also lose house points?"
"Of course, Miss Potter. He lost thirty points as well. He was foolish to believe he would get away from losing points if he was caught. He had originally only lost twenty points until he kept insisting that you four were out with a dragon, so he lost another ten points for lying." Professor McGonagall said with a smile. "I was hoping that would have put them in last place until I caught the five of you." Their Head of House sighed and shook her head sadly. "Be prepared for your whole house to shun you once they realize who and how many points were lost so late in the year." Hallie sighed and nodded her head. It was going to be awful if they could not find a way to gain those points plus more back before the end of May. It was probably going to be impossible but Hallie knew they would try to regain their number one status.
A/N: So, did you guys like how I did the sending off of Norbert? Also, what kind of sexuality should Charlie have? I'm not a hundred percent sure what Charlie is...