I do not own nor possess any right over Harry Potter, all rights belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 3

Harry was happy. He finally got the peace he wanted. It didn't meant that he was completely relaxed, he was in a dangerous territory full of humans and one was watching him since the younger ones left. Not that he minded much but they had more coins, he was sure of that. But at least they left the food so he took a bite of the weird food that humans ate, not bad but definitely not worth the meat he grown accustomed to.

At some point many other humans came outside his temporary nest, looking from behind the glass door and chattering loudly. They only reacted when he opened an eye to look at them, seeing them grow pale before the taller human that was guarding the entry chase them away to his greatest pleasure.

The train kept moving for a few hours where he managed to get a very short nap, certain that no human would come take his coins. The night was starting to fall when the train slowed down and he knew that it would be time for him to leave, the humans left him alone for now but he wouldn't give them the chance to trap him or to take his coins.

Opening his eyes and stretching, he saw that the human that kept the door left. Taking this opportunity, he stood up and took a mouthful of the shiniest coins before jumping to the window with a little flap of his wings. Harry was about to leave when the door opened and he looked behind him to see the man with red hairs back with two other people of the same age, all of them with their weird sticks in hands.

He didn't gave them the chance to do anything and flew away in the dark of the night.

Percy looked at the dragon flapping his wings, too far to try any spell now. He only got the time to go require the help of two other prefects before coming back to see the dragon leaving with the stolen coins.

"What do we do?" Asked a brown hair Ravenclaw prefect.

"I'll go report the dragon to Hagrid and Professor McGonagall. Even if it is a small one its still a dragon, we can't let one free so close to the school." Replied Percy.

"He could even hide right here, in Hogsmeade." Added the third prefect, a girl from Hufflepuff.

"Possible. At least it's out of the train now, we should go back inform the professors."

Staying high in the sky, Harry watched the humans leave the train to embark small boats. He was a bit lost. Never did he traveled so far and the surroundings were very different than the London he grew up in. There were no loud cars, many humans who almost all wore dark dresses and going through old streets. For a moment he pondered the idea to remain in this small town but it was clear it wouldn't do, there wasn't a single tree suitable to his needs and there were no high place above the ground for him to hide.

Making his mind, he looked around before following the boats. It was easy thanks to the torches carried on each one. His eyes darted for the surroundings, looking at the forest located far to the left. Harry didn't know why but his instincts screamed danger at the view of these dark woods, there was some kind of aura that repulsed him by a single look. Quickly looking away, his eyes landed on the lake that the boats were on, a massive amount of water but it wasn't as impressive as the dark castle coming out of the night, revealed by dozens of windows sharing light and clearing the silhouette of the stone giant.

To him it seemed like the perfect place to hide. Even if all the humans were going there, he could fly to the top of the massive towers and make his new nest there. Humans were a danger that was a fact. He saw them hunt and kill other animals with ease, he saw them make nests that seemed indestructible and they were always grouped in massive packs. But they were an easy source of food, Harry could easily find to eat around them. And if all of them had the same coins as the two children of the train then it meant that he was potentially looking at a massive reserve of coins and maybe gold.

That argument alone was enough for him to choose this place as his new nest.

Of course his instincts took him toward the highest tower, where he would be able to dominate the skies and be out of reach of most humans. He already saw some climbing trees and they could be fierce climbers, he almost got caught once by one of them. But it was better than resting in a hole like rabbits. Preys really were stupid to prefer the ground to hide, it was so easy to kill them once stuck in a hole. That was the exact reason why he was superior, he could fly and hide anywhere, out of reach of any creature as long as it didn't had wings.

Pushing his wings harder and taking advantage of the air currents, he climbed the sky until he made his way to the highest tower. There were no apparent entrance at first, he looked on the roof for any holes but couldn't find a single one. He then flew right beneath, arriving at the small window of a very dark room, full of seats and tables with a collection of cup of tea in one cupboard. There was even one female human moving objects that he didn't recognize inside. It was annoying but he couldn't select this room as his new nest.

Flying down, he looked at two other towers that shared the same attributes before finding a suitable one. Sure, it wasn't the tallest and it wasn't the most impressive looking one but at least it would hide him well. The room on top of the tower was empty of all contents except a few spiderwebs that seemed to have been here for a long time already. All he had to do was break the very small window that was barely tall enough for him, a good protection against climbing humans and predators even if didn't knew of any.

He rammed the window with his head once and the glass cracked, still standing in his way. Not shocked or anything, he repeated his attack and flew right in the attic as a few shards of glass fell on the ground. He would have to clean that later.

Harry stood in the air for a few seconds, taking in the appearance of the room before landing on the wooden floor, breaking a few webs on his way. The flour only had one distinctive feature, a sort of square in the wood with a handle attached to it, but he didn't paid it much mind. Harry went to one side of the room and put down the coins he gathered, finally relieving his mouth of the little weight and stretching his jaw a bit.

It wasn't a proper nest yet. There was much to do between gathering more gold, find a little bit of herbs or branches to make a proper bed, clean the webs and the shattered glass and find where he could feed himself.

Harry returned to the now fractured window and jumped in the air before opening his wings wide, trying to find what the humans called kitchen and were there was always all kinds of food. He flew down and let his nose guide him and he quickly got the smell of food, lots of food even judging by the incredible number of scents. This led him to a window where he looked at the biggest room he ever saw, full of humans but more importantly with tables loaded with food.

His mouth watered at the first sight of the many pieces of meat and he knew that this place was really the best of he could have ever wished for. He went from one window to another to find an entry but all were closed and it would be too noisy to break one. Sadly he would need to be patient. There were too many humans in the room for him to steal anything. Happy with this new discovery, he flew back to his new nest in order to get back the sleep he missed in the train.

In the great hall, the old headmaster Albus Dumbledore was looking at the new group of students fondly but with a touch of sadness. He learned a month ago that the young Harry Potter was nowhere to be found, that the Dursley never saw him and that no owls would reach him as there were no address in his magic book that displayed the addresses of all future students of Hogwarts.

He was looking at the Gryffindor table when a tap on his right got his attention. Minerva McGonagall, usually happy to see the sorting the ceremony and the new students, wore a slightly nervous expression that didn't escaped the old wise eyes of Albus.

"Yes Minerva?" He asked softly.

"I've received a few concerning news from three prefects who were on the train. There was a dragon on board, in a cabin!" She explained quickly.

"Really? That is most curious."

"Albus this is serious! There is a dragon that is looming around the school, it isn't safe for the children."

"If he fit in a cabin he must not have been too big. But you are right, it wouldn't do to leave such a dangerous creature grow around us." Albus conceded while passing his hand in his long white beard.

"So what do we do? Should we contact the dragon reserve?" Suggested Minerva.

"That would be the preferable option, I will contact them shortly. Is there any news about Harry Potter?"

"No, no one saw him in the train. I knew we shouldn't have left him with those muggles."

"Now, now Minerva, we know that they wouldn't have lied to us about him. It appears he vanished the very night we left him in front of their door."

"Which was a terrible idea." Commented Minerva with a scowl.

"I realize that this might not have been my brightest moment. But we know he is alive, my book is simply incapable to tell us where he lives and owls don't seem to arrive to him."

Albus was about to continue until he noticed a shadow where there should be none, right next to a high window. He had to squint his eyes a bit to see but the creature quickly revealed itself to be a small golden dragon looking hungrily at the food displayed and shared between the students and the staff. A faint smile covered his face as he watched the dragon move from one window to another before giving up and disappearing in the night.

"You know Minerva, I think this year will be a very interesting one." Said the old headmaster before returning to his dinner.