But, as fate would have it, they were not screwed, because Quirrell appeared to be braver than they thought. After Quirrell's encounter with Snape, they expected the stone to be gone within a day. But it soon turned into days, and days turned into weeks and Quirrell had yet to break and help Snape.

They had also taken up the habit of listening extremely closely when they passed the door on the third floor. They would listen for Fluffy's growls, wondering if Snape had gotten in if they didn't hear them. Snape, however, only became more grouchy during their lessons, seeming to prove to the Gryffindors that he had not gotten past Fluffy yet. Quirrell, in turn, became more and more nervous each time they saw him.

In their own form of comfort, support, and motivation, Harry, Ron, and Ciara started doing small things for Professor Quirrell. Harry would send him kind, encouraging smiles, Ciara would leave chocolate frogs on his desk, and Ron would tell people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter.

Hermione, on the other hand, seemed to be less focused on the Sorcerer's Stone, and more on the exams they were going to be taking.

The only problem was, the exams were-

"Ten weeks away," Ciara groaned as Hermione dragged her bag towards the table, setting it down with a loud THUD!

The boys, who had been dozing over their incomplete Herbology essays, jolted at the sound, waking up almost immediately.

'I didn't do it!' Harry shouted telepathically, making Ciara wince. He sent her an apologetic look, which she waved away before turning back to Hermione.

"Ten weeks," the girl in question snapped. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."

"But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her. "Anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it all."

"What am I studying for? Are you crazy? You realize we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me. . . ."

" 'Mione, stop for a second. Slow down," Ciara said gently, "You're gonna work yourself into a panic attack over this."

"No, I will not," she said fiercely, "I will not stop. I need to study."

Ciara stared at her for a moment before relenting, "Fine, just make sure you're eating. I don't want you passing out because you want to ace a test."

Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practicing wand movements. Moaning and yawning, the group of four spent their free time in the library, trying to get through all their extra work.

Hence, why they were there now.

"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window. It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was a clear, forget-me-not blue, and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming.

Ciara barely glanced up from her book, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, as she continued reading the passage about Doxies.

DOXY (sometimes known as Biting Fairy)

M.O.M Classification: XXX

The Doxy is often mistaken for a fairy (see below) though it is a quite separate species. Like the fairy, it has a minute human form, in the Doxy's case this is covered in thick black hair and has an extra pair of arms and legs. The Doxy's wings are thick, curved and shiny, much like beetle's. Doxies are found throughout northern Europe and America, preferring cold climates. They lay up to five hundred eggs at a time and bury them. The eggs hatch in two to three weeks.

Doxys have double rows of sharp, venomous teeth.

An antidote should be taken if bitten.

DRA-

"Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

Ciara's head popped up from her book to see Hagrid trying to hide behind a shelf, though, with his enormous form, he looked a little silly. Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

"Jus' lookin'," he said stiffly, shifting from foot to foot. He glanced down at their books, ignoring their curious stares. "An' what're you lot up ter? Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron impressively. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St —"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid hissed, causing Ciara to jerk in surprise. He looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Harry, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy —"

"SHHHH!" Hagrid hissed again, glancing around. Ciara wasn't quite sure what he was looking for. "Listen — come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh —"

"Oh, well...see you later then..." Ciara said awkwardly

Hagrid nodded in acknowledgment before he shuffled off awkwardly.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" Hermione immediately after he was gone. "Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"

"I'm going to see what section he was in," Ron said and Ciara had a sinking suspicion that he was doing it to get out of work. But before she could call him out on it, he vanished behind the bookshelves. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.

"Dragons!" he whispered. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide."

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told us the first time me and Ciara met him," said Harry.

Ciara's stomach clenched. Hagrid had said he really wanted a dragon. If he was desperate enough, or if someone approached him with an offer...

Ciara glanced down at her book, anxiety making her stomach churn.

DRAGON

M.O.M. Classification: XXXXX

Probably the most famous of all magical beasts, dragons are among the most difficult to hide. The female is generally larger and more aggressive than the male, though neither should be approached by any but highly skilled and trained wizards. Dragon hide, blood, heart, liver, and horn all have highly magical properties, but dragon eggs are defined as Class A Non-Tradeable Goods.

There are ten breeds of dragon, though these have been known to interbreed on occasion, producing rare hybrids. Pure-bred dragons are as follows:

Ciara glanced over the names, not bothering with their descriptions.

*Antipodean Opaleye

*Chinese Fireball

*Common Welsh Green

*Hebridean Black

*Hungarian Horntail

*Norwegian Ridgeback

*Peruvian Vipertooth

*Romanian Longhorn

*Swedish Short-Snout

*Ukrainian Ironbelly

Ciara stared at the book in horror.

Oh my god, he lives in a wooden house...

"But it's against our laws," said Ron, his thoughts taking a different direction than hers. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that!"

"No Ron," Ciara said, "Not everyone knows that."

"Whatever," Ron said dismissively, "It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden — anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" Ciara questioned.

"Of course there are," said Ron. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" said Hermione.

Ciara wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

✨?¬レᄀ

One hour later and the four Gryffindors were knocking on Hagrid's door. The curtains were drawn and the door was bolted shut from the inside. The group of friends sent each other an odd look before Harry knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Umm... Harry? Harry Potter?"

He threw the door open and after ushering the first-years inside, he closed the door behind them.

It was stifling hot inside. It was a fairly warm day outside, but even so, Hagrid had a fire going. Ciara hadn't even been inside a minute and she could already feel herself starting to sweat. Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they refused.

Ciara loved Hagrid to bits, but even she knew he couldn't cook.

"So — yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"

"Yes," said Harry, not in the mood for pleasantries. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned at him.

"O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts — I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling.

"We only wondered who had done the guarding, really." Hermione went on. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words.

Harry and Ron beamed at Hermione while Ciara was caught up in the realization that Hermione would be a terrifying Slytherin.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that . . . let's see . . . he borrowed Fluffy from me... then some o' the teachers did enchantments..." He started counting them off on his fingers. "There's Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, Professor Quirrell — an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

Ciara went pale, "Snape?"

"Yeah — yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."

Ciara felt like she was going to be sick. If Snape was after the stone, it would be easy for him to figure out how to get past the other teacher's enchantments.

Except for Professor Quirrell's.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" Harry asked, anxiety written all over his face, "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.

Ciara smiled shakily before pulling on her collar. "Hagrid, do you think it would be possible if you could open a window, please? It's a little warm in here."

"Sorry, Ciara. But no can do." Hagrid said in an apologetic tone. Before Ciara could get another word in, she heard Harry exclaim. "Hagrid, what is that?!"

She glanced to where Harry was pointing and had to do a double-take. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.

Hagrid began fiddling nervously, "Ah. That's — er..."

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. Rather than being confused or horrified, Ron looked oddly fascinated. "It must've cost you a fortune."

"Won it," Hagrid said proudly. "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."

"Why did he have a dragon egg on him," Ciara question, but was drowned out by Hermione asking, "But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?"

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library, Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit, it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here — how ter recognize diff'rent eggs — what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

Ciara looked at him in horror.

"Hagrid, this is dangerous," she exclaimed.

"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," Hermione shouted.

But Hagrid didn't care. He just hummed happily to himself as he stroked the fire.

✨?¬レᄀ

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life."

Ciara scoffed, "We wouldn't know."

Ron hummed in agreement, though, where he was talking about their school work, Ciara was talking about the Sorcerer's Stone and the fact that Hagrid had a dragon in his house that was going to hatch any day now.

It had been two weeks since they had first discovered Hagrid's dangerous secret and Ciara has been riddled with anxiety ever since. She feared that one day she would wake up and see Hagrid's hut burnt to the ground, or even worse, that the hut was burning and Hagrid was inside.

In an effort to take their mind off the dragon egg, Hermione had constructed them studying schedules. While it drove the boys mad to study, Ciara was grateful for the distraction.

And the distraction had worked, until Artemis and Hedwig came flying into the Great Hall, a message from Hagrid in their beaks.

It's hatching.

Those two words made Ciara stomach churn in nausea, recalling the small passage on Norwegian Ridgebacks she read in Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.

The Norwegian Ridgeback resembles the Horntail in most respects, though instead of tail spikes it's Sports particularly prominent jet black-ridges along its back. Exceptionally aggressive to its own kind, the Ridgeback is nowadays one of the rarer dragon breeds. It has been known to attack most kinds of large land mammal and, unusually for dragons, the ridgeback will also feed on water-dwelling creatures. An unsubstantiated report alleges that a Ridgeback carried off a whale calf off the coast of Norway in 1802. Ridgeback eggs are black and the young develop fire-breathing abilities earlier than other breeds (at between one and three months).

While Ron, Harry, and Ciara wanted to skip lessons and go see the dragon egg hatch, Hermione was adamant about going to their lessons.

"Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?" Ron moaned as they made their way towards Herbology.

"We've got lessons," Hermione contradicted easily, "We'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing —"

"Shut it, both of you!" Harry whispered and Ciara quickly saw why.

Malfoy was staring at them with wide-eyes, only a few feet away from them. Ciara faltered, how much had he heard? Acting as nonchalant and annoyed as she could she said, "Shove off, Malfoy," before grabbing her friends and pulling them towards the classroom.

After arguing through the entirety of Herbology, Ron convinced Hermione to run down to Hagrid's with the other two during morning break. As soon as the lesson ended, the four friends dropped their bags in their dorms before hurrying through the grounds to the edge of the forest. When Hagrid greeted them, his cheeks were flushed and his eyes were wide with excitement.

"It's nearly out." He ushered them inside.

The egg was lying on the center of the table, covered in deep cracks. An odd clicking sound was the only way they knew something was alive and moving in it. They eagerly grabbed chairs and surrounded the table, all of them holding their breath as they waited. There was one last scraping noise before the whole egg fell apart.

A baby dragon fell onto the table.

Ciara wasn't exactly an expert on dragons, but to her, it looked like a crumpled up, black piece of cloth. Its barbed wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body, it had a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes.

It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.

Ciara smiled.

'Aww, it's cute!'

'You do realize this thing could burn down Hagrid's house, right?'

Shut up and look at it. It's so cute!'

Oblivious to Ciara and Harry's conversation, Hagrid stared at the baby dragon, his expression awe-filled adoration. "Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid gushed, reaching out and stroking the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.

"Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!" Hagrid smiled, overjoyed.

"Hagrid," Hermione asked cautiously, "how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"

The man in question never had a chance to answer, as the color drained from his face and he leapt to his feet and dashed towards the window.

The Gryffindors jumped up after him.

"What's the matter?"

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains — it's a kid — he's runnin' back up ter the school."

Harry bolted to the door and Ciara followed him without question. Her heart sunk when she looked up the hill and recognized the person who was running away.

It was Draco.

And he had seen the dragon.