After the excitement of scheming successfully against Malfoy wore off, it was time for the Easter holidays. Unfortunately, the teachers piled so much homework on the students that the holidays were more like extra study time. Harry was particularly put out when his usual reading spot in the library began to fill up with people. He decided that a change of scenery was in order.
He knocked on the door to Hagrid's hut with a bag of books in his hand. To his surprise, all the curtains were drawn and Hagrid called "Who is it?" before letting him in. It was stiflingly hot inside. It was already warm enough outside but with a blazing fire in the grate Harry felt uncomfortable.
"Hagrid, I was hoping to get some studying done because the library's full. Why is it so hot in here?" Harry asked. Hagrid glanced at the fire surreptitiously. Harry looked at it too.
"Hagrid." said Harry.
"Yes Harry?" Hagrid replied.
"Is that an egg in the fire?" Harry asked.
"Ah," said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard, "That's er…"
"Did you actually manage to get a dragon egg?" Harry leaned closer to the fire to observe the egg. The huge black egg was in the very heart of the fire underneath the kettle.
"Won it," said Hagrid "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."
Harry shook his head in amazement. To think that one could bet dragon eggs in gambling, the wizarding world was truly fantastical.
"Could you do me favor Harry?" Hagrid asked nervously. "I was thinkin' of going to the library to do a bit o' readin'. I'd go myself but I don' want to leave the egg untended y'see."
"Sure!" Harry replied excitedly. This was definitely more exciting than studying for exams. He raced back up to the castle to check out as many books on dragons and fire charms as he could. Coming back to Hagrid's hut he dumped the books on his desk and the two spent the morning poring over the books.
"Praesidium Flammari." Harry waved his wand at a spare piece of parchment.
"What was that Harry?" Hagrid asked, watching curiously as Harry walked to the fireplace with the piece of parchment.
"I'm trying out the fire-proof charm." Harry replied. He carefully lowered the tip of the parchment into the fire and then yelped, letting go of it quickly as it burnt away. "I think I just made it burn faster." he rubbed the tips of his fingers, which were bright red.
"Harry, this charm is too advanced for someone yer age." said Hagrid, looking at the book. "Yer better off learning the flame-freezing charm."
"I know, but it's better to make everything fire-proof instead of trying to flame-freeze every time right?" Harry shrugged. "I'm sure I can get the charm right, it'll just take me a bit of time. Praesidium Flammari." Harry waved his wand again at a small piece of parchment.
When Harry wasn't haphazardly chipping away at his vast pile of homework, he was in Hagrid's hut helping tend to the egg and casting spells. So far, he had learned that dragons liked alcohol and blood after they hatched, they were hatching a Norwegian Ridgeback, the fireproof charm wasn't permanent but it lasted longer the more he practiced, the cooling charm was also something he needed to practice or else he was sure to die of suffocation in Hagrid's hut, and he was pretty sure they were doing something illegal.
Then one morning, a school owl dropped a note in his lap during breakfast. It only had two words: It's hatching. He immediately skipped Herbology and went straight down the hut.
"Hagrid! Am I too late? Did it hatch yet?" He asked anxiously.
"No, no, it's barely starting ter crack, come look." Hagrid ushered him towards the table. The egg was indeed showing several small cracks, not unlike the crack Harry had put on Malfoy's wand. Harry hugged Fang or paced around, too excited to read any books as he waited. Hagrid just sat on his couch, transfixed by the sight, or perhaps too scared to look away. Every time it cracked a little more or made a small noise Harry froze and stared at the egg. Harry recast the fire-proof charm over and over again on every inch and corner of Hagrid's hut.
What felt like an eternity later there was a new noise - it sounded like scraping - and all at once the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. It was small, jet-black, and it's body was long and skinny. It's snout was also long with wide nostrils, it had bulging orange eyes, and stubs that Harry knew would grow into horns. It spread its wings awkwardly, like a crumpled umbrella that hadn't been used in a long time. Harry and Hagrid stared at it. It stared back at them. It sneezed out sparks causing Harry to laugh in wonderment.
"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.
"Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!" said Hagrid.
"I think it's hungry." Harry said. He grabbed the prepared bucket full of brandy and chicken blood. He heaved the bucket onto the table with a thunk, watching as it's eyes widened after catching the scent.
"Here you go," Hagrid tilted the bucket down and it dove in with gusto. Seeing that it was busy with eating, Harry cautiously ran a hand down it's back.
"What should we name him?" Harry asked, his eyes refusing to leave the small dragon. "Is it a him?"
"Well I'm not sure now that you say it." Hagrid said.
"A name that can be a guy's name and a girl's name then. " Harry said. "How about… Alex?"
"Alex..." Hagrid said, testing it out. Just as he said the small dragon turned around and squawked before returning to the bucket. "Alex it is." Hagrid said proudly. Harry pet Alex some more and then quickly pulled his hand back when he saw the bucket was empty. The next few days, Harry visited Hagrid to cast his charms and play with Alex. For the most part, "play" meant to try to pet Alex while dodging attempted bites. Harry had pretty good reflexes and managed to not get bitten. On the other hand, Hagrid just brushed it off whenever Alex bit him, making Harry wonder just how tough Hagrid was.
When Alex doubled in size in several days Harry became slightly worried. When the fangs grew in and Hagrid started to feel pain from the bites, Harry became even more worried. At the end of the week, when Alex had tripled in size and was now bullying Fang with ease, Harry knew they were in trouble.
Feeding Alex had become an exhausting chore that involved a lot of chickens and brandy, the fire-proof charms were barely holding, and Harry had almost been bitten several times now. The reason for a Ministry license to raise dragons was now obvious to Harry.
"Hagrid." Harry sat exhausted on his couch. "We need to tell someone."
"Nonsense, Alex is just in at a tricky stage. Nothing we can't handle." Hagrid huffed.
"Hagrid you're bleeding." Harry stated.
"Just a scratch." Hagrid retorted.
"We're in over our heads Hagrid." Harry groaned.
"Nonsense." Hagrid huffed again. "All children are rebellious at one point in their lives."
"Yes, but not all children breathe fire and can bite through solid leather." Harry pointed out. "Then there's the appetite too."
"But we can' just tell someone! They'll take her away!" Hagrid cried.
"Hagrid, Hagrid. You said it yourself that Dumbledore is a great man and your friend. I'm sure that we can tell him and he won't hurt Alex." Harry convinced.
Hagrid nervously fiddled with his beard again. "We can' tell Dumbledore, I already owe him too much."
"Hagrid." Harry stood up and looked Hagrid directly in the eyes. "Do you trust Dumbledore?"
"Of course!" Hagrid nodded.
"Then there's no problem. We tell him and he takes care of things." Harry said cheerfully.
"No no! Harry! We can' tell Dumbledore we can take care of this ourselves." Hagrid protested.
Harry looked around the hut. The floor was littered with chicken feathers and empty brandy bottles, there were traces of burns from when the fire-proof charms gave out. Half the furniture was ripped to shreds and Fang was warily staring at the sleeping dragon.
"No we can't." Harry shook his head. "We have to talk to Dumbledore Hagrid. Just trust him." Hagrid tried to argue a bit more but when Alex woke up and the two had to fight for the next two hour to feed and "play" with the baby dragon, he conceded that maybe, just maybe, they could use a smidge of help.
"Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore?" Harry tried not to act nervous as he walked up to the professor's table the next day during breakfast. While he was reasonably sure that Dumbledore wouldn't report them to the ministry, there was always the chance he was wrong and he didn't know if he could evade a magical manhunt. "There's something Hagrid and I have to tell you."
"Ah," Dumbledore smiled congenially, "Would it have something to do with you skipping classes recently, barring History of Magic which you've been skipping since near the beginning of the year?"
Harry blinked. "Yeah, something to do with that. Can you meet us at Hagrid's hut after you're finished with breakfast?"
"Of course, Harry." Dumbledore smiled again and Harry wondered if he already knew. He wondered how he knew he was skipping History of Magic though. Binns wouldn't know if half his class turned into pigs much less if one student was missing. A student must have let it slip. Probably Hermione he mused.
Some of the students looked like they wanted to ask him what that was about but none of them looked like they cared enough to pry it out of him. Most of them had learned how useless it was to question him by now because he always dodged their questions or gave vague answers. He ate his breakfast quickly and then walked to Hagrid's hut before Dumbledore had finished his.
He knocked on the door and heard Hagrid struggling to hold Alex back through the door. When he made it safely inside he greeted Alex by dodging a few bites and stroking his wings, cast his fire-proof charms, and told Hagrid that Dumbledore was coming.
Hagrid paled visibly when he heard this. "You told Dumbledore?" he asked. Harry nodded just as a knock sounded on the door.
"Come in!" Hagrid called. Dumbledore walked in and calmly took in the mess before him.
"Hagrid, I see you've gotten yourself a new pet again." He smiled. "A dragon too?"
"Er… yes professor." Hagrid replied meekly. Hagrid looked like a young child about to be scolded and he was preparing for his punishment. "I'm sorry professor - things jus' got outta hand an - '' Hagrid stood up suddenly. "Harry's got nothin' to do with this, he's just got himself involved on accident."
Harry just looked at Hagrid in surprise and before he could say anything Dumbledore spoke, "Hagrid I have always told you that your propensity for more exotic creatures will get you into trouble one day." Alex's tail banged against the wall, causing the window to shake worryingly.
"Hold on, I'm just as involved in this as Hagrid is." Harry said after gathering his wits.
"I assure you Harry, Hagrid is not in trouble." Dumbledore said.
"He's not?" Harry blurted before he could stop himself. Alex sneezed flames and Harry quickly grabbed a nearby cloth and extinguished it before it could get through his fire-proof charms.
"The fire-proof charm?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "That's very advanced for someone your age Harry."
Harry shrugged, "I had a lot of time and I didn't give up." It was the same method he learned sleight of hand. Simple repetition.
"Nevertheless, learning charms out of necessity is no substitute for a real education, now I believe you will have a transfiguration class starting soon?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry nodded and was almost out the door before he stopped and turned around. "Professor Dumbledore? What are you going to do with Alex?"
"I believe Professor Kettleburn will be delighted to finally use his ministry license for particularly dangerous creatures for the sake of education." Dumbledore replied. "Oh and Harry. Ten points to Slytherin for showing advanced magic and loyalty to a friend." Harry nodded and left to class, behind him he could hear Hagrid protesting that Alex wasn't dangerous.
The rest of the days at Hogwarts passed by quickly. The students in the Care of Magical Creatures class were both delighted and terrified to have a baby dragon. Apparently Dumbledore had made a spot on the mountains for Alex to live. Probably a good idea Harry thought, if he put Alex in the forest it would be ashes within the week. Hagrid started showing up to the Great Hall again for meals and with Harry's help his hut became much more orderly. He snuck out at night sometimes to fly around freely, he studied in the library, he went to his classes, and became acquaintances with his roommate.
All too soon the end of the year feast came. He noticed that Neville was missing but he didn't think much of it, or the rumors that he had killed Quirrell. He said goodbye to Hagrid and Alex one last time and left behind the best year he had ever had.
Dumbledore sat in his office when and watched the Hogwarts Express puff smoke in the distance. The school year had ended. The students were on their way home and the teachers would take the time to enjoy themselves before preparing for the next school year. He stroked his beard as he thought about what had happened. The gauntlet he had had the professors design. Each of the professors had created their own trap or trial without knowing what the other's was.
Even so, McGonagall had created a giant chess set, Pomona had offered a Devil's Snare, Flitwick had enchanted a dueling puppet, Snape had put forth a riddle, and Quirrell had gotten a troll.
Ron Weasley was a chess prodigy, Neville was exceptional at Herbology, and Hermione Granger was smart enough to solve the riddle in seconds. The rest of the traps had been taken care of by Quirrell himself. It was almost as if each teacher had created something for each of the three children. Then there was the encounter between Neville and the possessed Quirrell. He had been unable to touch him. At the same time all of this had been happening he had been called away from the castle - and he had left! He knew that the stone was under threat and yet he left! He was old, but not that old!
The implication was worrying. He had heard that prophecies were impossible to stop once they had been set in motion, but to see events align themselves to orchestrate the encounter between Neville and Voldemort - it was a terrifying thought that fate could be so powerful. He sighed, truly a terrible burden on someone so young.