Maybe Jon had underestimated Querkle. In the following weeks it didn't seem like she had cracked. Esmani noted that the Untamed Magic Professor had a bigger belly and looked paler and thinner. She also floated around the castle as if she was possessed by a ghost or at the very least, was constantly seeing one.

There were times when Henry, Jon, and Esmani would need to go near that strange corridor for a class or an extra curricular and they would always make a point to press their ears to the door to check if Smooches was still growling inside. As far as Snabes, she was prowling about in her usual bad moods. This could only mean that the Elixir was safe. The group tried to do their part. Henry had taken to giving Querkle big smiles and encouraging compliments and Jon would tell people off if they made fun of her.

Esmani was the furthest from involved in the buttering up of Querkle's confidence. She busied herself drawing up studying schedules, color coded notes, and time management schedules. Henry and Jon were beginning to think she went off the deep end. Especially when she tried to pressure them into doing the same.

"Esmani, the exams are like, forever away," Jon would sigh.

"Ten weeks plus about five hours for your information," she'd snap. "That's not forever away. That's like...seconds to someone like Mitchell Flannel!"

"But we're not six hundred years old, either," Jon reminded her gently. "Anyway, what's a girl like you gotta study for? You already know it all!"

"What am I...Jon Parsley are you crazy? You do realize we need to pass each exam to get into second year? They're very important! Come to think of it, I should have started months ago. What has gotten into me…?"

Jon looked at Henry and Henry looked back at Jon. That was an easy question.

Sadly, it seemed that the Harnocks teachers were in the same line of thinking as Esmani. Each one piled so much homework on them that the Flower Bunny Day holidays were not as much fun or relaxing as the Winterfest ones. It made sense because it was harder than imaginable to relax when Esmani was next to you reciting from memory the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practicing her wand's swishing and flicking motions. Henry and Jon would just casually spend most of their free time in the library with her. They'd yawn and groan and try to goad her into giving them hints on their extra work.

"It's impossible to remember all of this!" Jon burst out one afternoon. Dramatically, he threw down his quill and looked out of the library window. It was one of the first nicer days that they'd seen in months. The sun was up, the sky was blue, it was beautiful! Summer was just a hint away. Henry looked up from his book to see not only his friends, but Hagish as well!

"Hagish! What are you doing in the library?" He asked.

"Just er...looking…?" He tried to sound casual but Henry's face fell. He was a terrible liar and looked so out of place in his oversized jacket. "...and what are you up to?" Hagish sounded incredibly suspicious. "Better not be Mitchell Flannel, eh?"

"Oh, we found him out ages ago," Esmani didn't even look up from her book as she waved Hagish off. She went quiet again to continue reading.

"Yeah! In fact...we know that Smooches is guarding the freaking Elixir of…" Jon was interrupted by Hagish jumping and spinning and doing his tricks in still impressive ways be it larger winterish wear.

"Shhhhhh!" Hagish was right next to Jon in an instant. His eyes surveyed the library room quickly. "This is why it ain't for kids. Oooohhh I wanna be impressed with you sorry scalawags but my brain tells me to be downright angry! What's the matter with ya'll?!"

"Well, we know what we know," Henry said easily and shrugged. "So there are a few things we wanted to ask you since there's no secrets. What else could be guarding the Elixir apart from Smooches…?"

"SHHHHH!" Hagish hissed. He looked downright flummoxed as he sputtered and flailed in his kindred spirit warring with his mature mind. "Just...just...ah…!" Like a pressure release valve, Hagish deflated and sounded chipper and normal. "Just...come and see me in my hut later. I'm not promising much...and I'm not promising I'll tell ya everything. Just...quit rooting about it here of all places! Students aren't supposed to know and they'll likely think that I've told you."

"Huh...never thought about it that way. Great! See you later, then," Henry said easily.

Sputtering at Henry's tenacity, Hagish shuffled off and away.

"Did you notice he was hiding something behind his back?" Esmani quipped.

"Maybe it's something for the Elixir?"

"I can go see what section he was coming out of!" Jon volunteered when in reality he was just glad to get a break from all of his working. In a flash, he jumped out of his seat and came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms. With a slam, they all fell upon the table in front of the friends and Jon's face was wild and wide with excitement.

"DRAGONS!" He said in such a high whisper his voice cracked. "Hagish was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at some of these: Dragon Species from Dragon Valley to Tredony, From Egg to Sky, How to Tame Your Dragon…" he rattled off a few more.

"Hagish has always wanted a dragon," Henry said as an afterthought.

"It's against the law!" Said Jon. "Dragons live a long time and they are still heavily population controlled to prevent extinction. But...causally breeding them was outlawed by the Caster Convention of 1812. Think about it! It's hard to stop Normies form noticing magical matters if we keep flying dragons! I don't care what this book says, you can't tame dragons. It's super dangerous and super against the rules. My brother Carl? His burns are...ghastly."

Once Jon was speaking he noticed Esmani was giving him the most interesting and awkward face. She hurriedly muss her hair behind her ears and bit her bottom lip.

"So there really wild dragons in Simland?" Asked Henry.

"Of course there are," answered Jon. "Sulani Snaggle Claws and Forgotten Hollow Fork Tongues." Esmani was fidgeting but didn't say a word. "The Council of Casters is pretty good at regulating their populations and the like. Sometimes we just have to resort to Forgettify spells on Normies when they've spotted them." Henry briefly wondered if he had been put under a Forgettify spell before? His next thought was what in the world was Hagish up to?

Skipping dinner, the group knocked on Hagish's hut and were surprised to see it looked as if he wasn't home. The curtains were shut and the door was bolted. "Who is it?" Hagish called before he let them in and then shut the door quickly behind them.

Being all shut in, the hut was blazing hot inside. With such a warm day, Henry found it odd that Hagish had a roaring fire in his fireplace. At his top speed he was at the kettle and then at the table with four teacups as well as some buttery layered spinach scones. The trio happily took two each.

"Out with it," Hagish was not here to dilly dally. "What's your question?"

"Right," Henry said as he swallowed. There was no point beating around the bush. "We wanted to know if you could tell us what's guarding the Elixir of Life apart from Smooches."

Hagish frowned instantly.

"That is a big fat no," he said and crossed his large arms. "For one...I don't even know for my own self. For two...you know what? No! You know too much already. I wouldn't tell you even if I could. That Elixir's there for a good reason. It was almost stolen out of Bingpott's. I supposed you've worked that all out? You lot are too clever. How'd you even come about my dear Smooches?"

"Oh save it, Hagish!" Jon was getting impatient.

"You might not want to tell us, but you do know and I can tell! I've only known you for a couple of months and I can tell you know everything that goes around here!" The boys were surprised Esmani could make her voice so warm, kind, and flattering. It seemed to work because behind his short beard, Hagish was smiling. He puffed out a chest at her last words as Henry and Jon grinned at their friend for being so clever.

"Well...I do know a lot, that's true. I guess...I kind of already told you anyway and...well...like I said! Simbledore asked to borrow Smooches from me. She's not really a bad dog, she's just doing her job, ya know? Apart from that, some teachers did some enchantments. Professor Hoppcraft, Professor Flitnit, Professor Garspatuon," he began to tick them off his fingers, "Professor Querkle...and even Simbledore whipped something up pretty neat I believe. OH right...Professor Snabes also worked on it, too."

"Snabes?!" Three voices said.

"You're still going off and thinking she's bad? Posh! She's trying to protect as hard as anybody! She's not about to steal it!"

Henry deduced that if Snabes had been protecting the Elixir as well, it must have been easy for her to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. She probably knew everything! Except, judging by Henry's eavesdropping, how to get past Querkle's enchantment and Smooches.

"And that's you, Hagish!" Henry spoke his thoughts out loud which jarred the rest of the company. Hagish looked behind him and then back at Henry. "Only you know how to get past Smooches and you wouldn't tell any other teacher except maybe Simledore!" Hagish didn't have to say anything. His beaming, prideful smile gave him away.

"Huh...how informative," Esmani muttered as she swirled and sipped her tea.

"Hey Hagish, blimey um...can we crack open a window? I'm boiling!" Jon was pulling his shirt collar from against his sweaty neck. Henry watched Hagish's eyes dart to the fire in the fireplace.

"No can do, Parsley," Hagish said. Henry gasped when he realized.

"Hagish...what in the worlds is that?"

But Henry was keen to know what it already was. In the middle of the fire, buried under some hot coals whilst being licked by the flame was a huge, rusty colored egg. Hagish tried to hide it under the kettle but it was clearly visible.

"That's er…" Hagish toyed with the end of his goatee but fumbled.

Jon was on his feet and on his knees in front of the fire instantly.

"Where did you get it, Hagish?" He was talking super fast. "What breed is it? How much did it cost? Did you have to bet your soul to get it? Your first born? Your...life…?"

"Knock that off boy!" Hagish said but couldn't stop from hiding his mirth. "I won it!" Hagish looked very proud again. "Last night. I was down in the village having a few drinks at the pub and got into a game of cards with a stranger. I think he was quite glad to get rid of it to be honest."

"You do realize it's going to hatch, right?" Esmani said from her spot at the table. "When it does, what are you going to do then?"

"I've been taking a page outta your book, Miss Esmani, and been doing some light reading," Hagish leaned back and pulled a huge leather book up and over to slam on the table. The teacups rattled and a plate fell off and shattered. "Got this outta the library...Spawning Dragons for Funnies and Moneys. It's...it's a bit dated of course but it's all still in there. When it hatches, I feed it a shot of flaming zesty salt mixed with cow blood every forty five minutes to an hour. I even memorized this flow chart to observe egg shell colorings with the breed. Looks to me like I've got an Avorton Flat-nose, I have." His face was pleased but Esmani was scowling.

"Hagish you...do you realize your house is made of Avorton wood?" she said.

Hagish ignored her and stoked the fire while merrily humming a tune.

"Of all the other things on our plate now we have to worry about what will happen to Hagish if anyone finds out about his illegal dragon in his hut!" Henry moaned.

"A peaceful life with no worries," Jon sighed. "I wonder what that's like?"

Esmani just rolled her eyes and instructed them to get back to their studying schedules. They were drowning in coursework and homework. Was it possible for your brain to break from all of this work? Finally, days later, Esmani seemed at her limit too and let the group leave the library early to make it to the Grand Hall for lunch at a pretty decent time.

Henry had sat down for only a minute when Magus swooped low and dropped a single scrap of paper with only a few words on it: She's hatching.

Jon begged Esmani to skip Language Arts to see this. The argument was explosive.

"It's a Normie class! It won't be like I'll never pass that easy exam!"

"Judging by your double negative you most certainly will!"

"It's a dragon, Esmani! How many times in your life will you ever see a real life dragon hatching, hm? Heck! Just nine months ago if you were to tell yourself that you had the chance to see a real dragon hatching would you have done it?" Jon put his hands on his hips and Esmani's face fell. She was just about to retort when…

"Shut up...both of you," Henry hissed and covertly gestured.

Slymer was only a few feet away and she nearly lost her balance to stop and listen. Had she heard anything? Henry didn't like the look on her face at all.

Jon and Esmani were still arguing even though Jon had obviously won because they were ditching Language Arts to run down to Hagish's hut. The older man was there and greeted them flushed and excited. Esmani groaned about missing Plantology as the period bell droned off in the distance from the castle.

"She's nearly out." He herded the children inside.

The egg was laying still on the table but there were deep cracks in it. Inside, they could see something moving and shifting. Curious clicking sounds were emitting from within as well as gurgling. Politely, Hagish pulled up chairs so they all could sit and watch with bated breath.

Very slowly, there were scraping noises and the egg split open. The baby dragon's flat snout peaked out and twitched as it sniffed the air. Then, the head came and dual-lidded eyes blinked and looked around. Truthfully, it looked sort of ugly. It was like a chewed up leather jacket. It was dark brown with rusty, spiny wings that were twice as big as the skinny, lanky body. It was about as big as a ferret and Hagish reached out to tickle the tiny horns on top. The dragon closed its red eyes and then twitched, sniffed and…

It sneezed. A few short bursts of sparks flew out of the flat snout.

"She's beautiful!" Hagish murmured. Were those tears in his eyes? Hagish continue to tickle and try and pet the reptile as the dragon responded by snapping and showing pointed fangs. "She knows her mommy! That's me!" Hagish cooed.

"Hagish how...how big do Avorton Flat-Noses get?" Asked Esmani. "And...how fast do they grow?" Hagish was about to answer her but instead the color drained from his face and he stood up, leapt four feet into the air, and looked out the window.

"Someone was looking through a blasted gap in my curtains! A kid! She's running back up to the school!" Henry, Jon, and Esmani bolted to look and there was no mistaking that fiery red hair. Slymer had seen the dragon.

Seeing the lurking smile on Slymer's face every day the next week made Henry, Jon, and Esmani sick to their stomachs. Every evening, they were with Hagish trying to convince him to do something with the creature that would not get anyone into trouble or killed.

"Just let her loose in Calamity Forest! She'll have a good home there," Henry urged.

"She's too young! She'd die!" Hagish sniffled.

The dragon in question had grown three times in length and was now the size of a small dog. Smoke kept swirling from her nostrils and around her head. Hagish had neglected a lot of his Harnocks responsibilities in the last couple of days as there were also a lot of juice bottles lying around probably to make those flaming zesty salts. Hagish even had to buy a cow which was a miracle that didn't raise more suspicion.

"Her name is Gertrude, by the way," said Hagish. "She even knows her name! Gertrude? Gerty, darling? Where's momma?"

"He named it?" Esmani moaned.

"He's off his rocker," Jon whispered into Henry's ear.

"Hagish! Snap out of your maternal muck and think! In two weeks time Gertrude is probably going to be bigger than your house! Slymer could go to Simbledore at any moment. I'm surprised she hasn't!"

Hagish had the decency to bite his lip.

"I...I realize I can't keep her forever I just...I just can't dump her either, ya know?"

Henry suddenly had an idea.

"Jon! Your brother!" Henry turned to his friend.

"No...Perry's just as big of a snitch as Slymer…"

"No Jon...not that one...Carl!"

"That's...that's actually a great idea! Hagish! My brother Carl works with dragons. It's his job! He is the one that keeps them safe, healthy, happy, and away from Normies! It'd be perfect!" Hagish looked at each kid and then at Gertrude. With clenched eyes he simply nodded and agreed that they could send an owl to Carl and ask him.

The following week moved at snail's pace. During common room free time, Henry and Esmani were sitting alone as most students had gone off to bed or about ready to. It was just the two of them. The clock on the wall chimed that in thirty minutes, they'd have to get to bed as per rules. At once, the portrait hole burst open and Jon appeared. It was his shift to wear the Debugging Hat and help with the nightly feedings with Hagish. Gertruede was now the size of Chomper. She was eating hamsters by the dozen.

"Bloody thing bit me!" He marched over and showed Henry and Esmani his forearm which was wrapped in a handkerchief with his own plasma seeping through. "I won't be able to move it to write nearly as good and fast...it's not like I wrote good and fast before! What a terrible creature! Hagish smooches and treats it like it's a fluffy bunnerfly or something! When it bit me he swatted it with a rolled up newspaper and asked me if I frightened it? Like...what?" Suddenly, there was a tap on the window.

"Magus!" Henry said and all three friends clamored up to see. It could only be Carl Parsley's response back.

Dear Jon,

Congratulations on classifying as an Alpaggard and I hope you are doing well. What a strange predicament you've gotten yourself into, eh? Thanks for writing to me! I'd be glad to take the Avorton Flat-Nose. It's not going to be easy getting her here. I think the best we can do is get the dragon to the tallest tower. I've got some buddies coming down to visit me this weekend.

Can you do that? Get the Flat-Nose up to the tallest tower midnight on Saturday. My friends and I can meet you there and take her away while it's still dark.

Send me your response back as soon as possible.

With love,

Carl

"Shouldn't be too hard with the Debugging Hat," Henry reminded them all.

"As long as Gertrude doesn't get any bigger between now and Saturday," Esmani nervously reminded them. Henry shrugged. They had to do it. Anything to get rid of Gertrude safely and get Kimmi off of their backs.

There was a huge problem that manifested itself early the next day. Jon's bitten forearm had swollen twice to its usual size. Would it be safe to go to the Healing Wing or would Madam Caduceus recognize a dragon bite? By lunch, they didn't have a choice. Jon's hand was so swollen and sickly yellow, black, and blue. Gertrude had proven to be venomous.

In the Healing Wing, Jon looked terrible.

"Slymer came. Made up a lie that she wanted to see how her friend was doing! She said she needed one of her books back she had lent me. Oh guys...it's bad. She threatened to tell what actually bit me. I...I don't know what she's waiting for, honestly!"

Henry and Esmani tried to calm Jon down as best as they could.

"This will all be over midnight on Saturday," Esmani reasoned.

Jon turned ghostly white and bolted upright out of the hospital bed.

"Oh no...oh no...oh no. oh no. OH NO! I just remembered! The book Slymer took from me like she had 'lent' it to me...it...GUYS IT HAD CARL'S LETTER IN IT! Now Slymer…" he fell back into bed hopelessly. "Now Slymer knows we're getting rid of Gertrude." Henry and Esmani didn't have time to respond as Madam Caduceus shooed them away and said Jon needed his rest.

"Not to be mean...but that was very dumb of Jon to just keep it willy nilly in a book," Esmani shook her head as she walked with Henry down the corridors.

"I agree but it's too late to change the plan. We don't have time to send Carl another owl and this may be our only chance to get rid of Gertrude for good! It's a risk but we've got one advantage Slymer doesn't know about!" With Esmani's face showing curiosity Henry said, "The Debugging Hat!"

Chomper was outside looking sorry and whining when they went to tell Hagish. Instead of the door, he opened his window like a drive through order.

"I can't let you in...um...Gertrude is just going through her terrible two's...erm? Nothing that's not manageable though." So they respected that and stood outside. They told him about Jon, Slymer, and about Carl and his mates. Hagish looked so ashamed to hear about Jon and looked like he wanted to cry. Or maybe Gertrude just bit him on the foot? Saturday couldn't come any quicker!

In a normal circumstance, they would have felt sorry for Hagish having to give up a beloved pet. But this was a dragon that was now the size of a small pony. Saturday night had proven to be perfect for this type of business. It was very dark, cloudy, and muggy. They were a little late because Sceeves had been lurking about near Princess Cordelia's portrait but they had made it with the Debugging Hat all the same.

Luckily, even though a dragon is big, it's surprisingly light and flexible. Hagish was able to pack Gertrude up in a large crate. Esmani was able to make some charms for the crate to float along with them and Hagish sniffed through his emotion.

"There's a bunch of pre-mixed flaming zesty salts as well as s-s-some ground beef to munch on as a snack. And...I've packed a stuffed bear for her in case she gets lonely…"

Ripping sounds told Henry that Gertrude would rather destroy the bear.

"Good-bye, Gertrude, my pretty girl!" Hagish whimpered as Henry and Esmani held onto the crate while Esmani held on to Henry. With the Debugging Hat on, the three of them would be able to use its power. "Mommy will always love you!"

Esmani's charm was proven to be fantastic as it glided up the stairs of the castle as the two kids watched and planned out how they could multitask to get this job done as quickly as possible. The clock was ticking closer and closer to midnight and Henry could tell Esmani was already on edge for being out during lights out. This was even too late for every student except seventh years. Following the Debugging Hat, staircases, corridors, twists, and turns met them everytime they blinked.

"It's right up here!" Henry panted as they reached the last corridor that was beneath the tallest tower. "Did...did you see that?" Henry whispered to Esmani and she squinted.

Sudden movement ahead of them made them almost lose grip on Gertrude's crate.

It was Garspatuon in...bunny slippers?

He had Kimmi Slymer by the ear and was chewing her out severely.

"That's a detention!" He was huffy and looked very sleepy. "Twenty credits from Ivybell! A first year out this hour wandering around the castle in the middle of the night. How dare you…"

"But...but...Professor! You don't understand! Henry Puffer's coming! He's got a dragon with him! A real life, illegal dragon! Professor you've got to believe me!"

"You are as trustworthy as a ham sandwich, girl," he replied curtly. "We shall see to it that Snabes take care of you. Let's go."

The Debugging Hat showed Esmani opening the door while another version of her helped carry the crate while one version of Henry and another version of Henry pushed the other end of the crate. In an instant, they were at the top and fresh, cold air greeted their noses. They were able to breathe and Esmani broke into a quiet nerdy little jig.

"Kimmi's got detention! I'm so happy, I could scream!"

"Hahaha! But...yeah, please don't!" Henry warned.

Together, they took a seat and ignored Gertrude's thrashing about. In ten minutes time four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness. Henry could instantly tell who Carl was. He looked exactly like Matt except with longer whiskers and narrower eyes that were dark like Jon's mom. Henry briefly wondered what Jon's dad could look like to give Matt those green ones? All over this face, there were burn scars and scratches. It made him look rugged and cool. His gleaming smile was quite a contradiction to his visage. His buddies were just as easy going and friendly. Quickly, they all shook hands.

"Pretty darin firsties we've got here, mates," Carl laughed. "We've got an elven harness that can suspend this nifty crate you've got. Two blokes per side, Gertrude in the middle. I like that name by the way." The buddies gave Carl a thumbs up and hooked and snapped it all into place. "Give Jon boy my love will ya? Tell him to tell mom that I may be home in three months."

Henry and Esmani nodded as they watched Gertrude fly further...further…

And then she was gone.

When they opened the door to enter the corridor, Feltch was right there and his eyes were menacing. Henry had forgotten to put the Debugging Hat on.

"Well now...what trouble you are in worsty firsties..."