It had been a bit of a surprise, when Will had first seen the Thestrals on the way to the train station before winter break, because he hadn't expected to be able to see them at all. But as he thought about it further, it did make some sense. Thestrals were only visible to those who had seen death, and Will had definitely seen death, having been dead and all.
What didn't make sense was how the Thestral that had pulled their carriage kept looking at him. The one pulling the carriage this time was doing it as well, as they rode back to Hogwarts after the break.
"What are you looking at?" Hermione asked.
"The Thestral pulling our carriage keeps looking at me," Will told her.
"Nothing's pulling the carriage," Hermione said, "They move by themselves."
"Thestrals are invisible," Harry replied. He must remember reading about them in Newt Scamander's books during the summer wait, "I didn't realize they pulled the carriages, though."
"So invisible creatures are pulling the carriages?" Hermione asked skeptically, "Why can Will see them then?"
"They can only be seen by people who've seen death," Will explained.
"Oh," Hermione fell silent for a moment, "What do they look like?"
"A bit like if a winged horse turned into a zombie, but they have bat wings instead of feathers," Will replied, "They're also a bit bigger than most winged horse breeds. Frankly, they're a bit unnerving."
Hermione shook her head, "I'm glad I can't see them then."
"They're actually quite docile for carnivores," Will said, "They don't mind being pet or ridden."
"I still think I'd rather not," Hermione said, shuddering a bit.
"Are you sure?" Will asked, smiling a bit, "They're really quite remarkable. They have an inborn sense of direction, like post owls. They can carry at least two people on their backs while flying, and can fly incredibly fast. They could fly from Hogwarts to London in a few hours."
"Really?" Harry asked, impressed, "Not even my broom could do that. That's nice to know. We could use them if we ever need to get somewhere fast."
When Will got out of the carriage, he gave the Thestral a pat and the horse? nuzzled up to him, wuffling. Alright, they were pretty cute. He decided to visit them later, down by the forest. He'd see if he could help Hagrid feed them or something.
Harry, Will, and Hermione found Ron and Neville in the common room, and Will filled them all in on what would have happened if Harry had stayed at Hogwarts over the break.
"Harry would have found a mirror named the Mirror of Erised, a mirror that shows your deepest desire, and Dumbledore would have told Harry he was moving it somewhere else and not to go looking for it again. People have died in front of it, wasting away from just spending all of their time staring at their one true desire. It's deceptively dangerous, that mirror. Harry was especially susceptible to it, due to what he saw. Ron not so much."
"What did I see?" Ron asked, curiously.
"Do you really want to know?" Will asked, "Are you alright with everyone here knowing your deepest desire?"
"Just tell me, it's fine." Ron said. Harry nodded.
"Ron saw himself as Quidditch Captain and Head Boy, holding the Quidditch and House cups. Harry saw himself surrounded by his family." Will said, finishing solemnly. Ron had a bit of an embarrassed look on his face.
"Ah," Harry said, "I can see why I'd want to keep looking at that." He had a look of longing on his face, even now.
"There's something in the works that will make up for you not being able to see that," Will said, "I think there's a gift coming your way you'll like." Harry nodded, a curious look on his face.
As Harry's next Quidditch game approached, they'd been troubled with rumors of Snape refereeing the match. Harry had been working himself into a right state until Will told him that Dumbledore would be attending. It ended up being a quick game, Harry caught the snitch in only a few minutes, Ron gave Malfoy a black eye, and Will and Neville managed to fend off Crabbe and Goyle while only getting a few bruises. The most interesting thing happened after the game.
Once Will, Neville, Hermione, and Ron had found Harry after the game, he'd told them about a conversation he'd overheard between Snape and Quirrell.
"So Snape is trying to get information out of Quirrell, either to get the stone for himself, or to stop Quirrell from getting it." Harry finished.
"I still can't believe that Quirrell might be devious enough to do something like this," Ron said, "He's just so… pathetic. He'd have to be a master actor."
"And willing to give us a substandard education on top of that." Hermione added. That was probably the most unforgivable thing, for her at least.
"Either way," Will said, "Neither of them seems to have figured out how to get past Fluffy yet, so that's good."
"But you said something about Snape referring to Quirrell's 'hocus pocus'," Neville said thoughtfully, "That probably means there's other things protecting the stone as well, spells, enchantments, traps, stuff like that."
"Hopefully all of it is enough to stop whoever is after the stone." Harry said seriously.
As far as they could tell, neither of the professors had figured it out yet, and as the weeks went by, things remained pretty standard. Will had started heading down to meet Hagrid a few times a week to help him feed the Thestrals. They were rather fond of Will surprisingly. The little ones would frolic about, trying to get him to play with them, and the adults would nuzzle him and let him pet them. They did have a very short coat, so it wasn't like they were unpleasant to touch or anything. They just felt like velvet stretched over a horse skeleton. He did wonder how they stayed warm, though. Magic probably.
Hermione had started freaking out about the approaching finals, though they were still a few months away. They'd been spending more time in the library to study for them, partially to appease Hermione, and partially because they probably should study for them. It was during one of those sessions that they saw Hagrid in the library.
"What are you doing here, Hagrid?" Ron asked.
"Just lookin'" Hagrid said suspiciously, "What're you lot up to, not lookin' up stuff about Nicholas Flamel, are yeh?"
"We figured that out ages ago," Ron said, waving his hand, "We also know what the dog's guarding too, it's the Philosoph-"
Hagrid put a hand over Ron's mouth, "Shh! Not so loud!"
Will sighed, "We need to work on your 'subtle' too, Ron."
"But it's good to see you here, there was a few things we wanted to ask you," Harry said, "About the other protections for the- the object. We know about Fluffy, but what else-"
"Not 'ere!" Hagrid shushed, "We don' want other students knowin' things they aren' supposed to know. Look, come see me later. I'm not promisin' to say anythin', mind, but it's best not to talk 'ere, unnerstand?"
He left in a bit of a hurry.
"What was he up to, in the library?" Neville wondered. Ron ran over and looked at what section he'd been in. It was the dragon section, obviously.
"What could he possibly want with books on dragons?" Hermione wondered.
"You're not going to like this," Will muttered.
Harry gave him a side-look, before saying, "Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he's told me so before. Could he have actually gotten his hands on one? It's illegal, isn't it?"
Ron nodded, "My brother Charlie studies Dragons in Romania, and he's told me there's all sorts of permits needed or you can get in a lot of trouble."
Will thunked his forehead on the table.
Later, they went down to see Hagrid and, as Will feared, there was a huge black egg in the fire.
"So," Harry said, "About the protections around the stone. We were wondering what they were, apart from Fluffy."
"You know I can' tell yeh tha'," Hagrid said, "Dumbledore's trustin' me to help protect it. Besides, I don't even know wha' they are."
"But you know everything that happens around here, Hagrid," Hermione said, in her best flattery voice, "You may not know what the protections are, but I bet you know who placed them?"
The flattery seemed to be working, because Hagrid had blushed, "Alright, I do know that Professors Mcgonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout have all placed somethin', and Dumbledore himself as well. There's Fluffy, o' course, and Professor Snape and Quirrell did somethin' as well, I think."
"Snape!" Ron nearly shouted.
"You're not still on abou' tha', are yeh? He's tryin' to protect the stone, he's no' abou' to try an' steal it."
"Who else knows about how to get past Fluffy?" Neville asked, "None of the professors, just you, right?"
"Jus' me an' Dumbledore!" Hagrid said proudly.
"And you wouldn't tell anybody else, right?" Harry asked.
"O' course not!" Hagrid seemed a bit offended.
"Can we talk about that, now?" Will said, pointing to the egg.
"Oh, Hagrid," Hermione sighed, "You didn't."
"I did!" He said triumphantly, missing her dismay, "Won it off o' a stranger at the Hog's Head, las' night."
"What's going to happen when it hatches?" Will asked, "How are you going to take care of it, Hagrid? Dragons are huge!"
"That's wha' I got these books fer!" Hagrid said, pulling out some library books, "They're a little out o' date, but-"
"Hagrid, what happens when it starts breathing fire? You live in a wooden house!" Hermione exclaimed.
But it seemed that Hagrid had selective listening, "This book said to keep it in the flames, the mummy dragons breathe fire on 'em, see? An' this page shows how to tell wha' dragon breed it is from the egg. This 'ere egg is a Norwegian Ridgeback, I think. It'll be a real beaut' when it hatches. Once it does, I'm to feed it a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken's blood every half hour. See? I got everythin' well handled, don't yeh worry none."
They all looked at each other as Hagrid turned back to stoke the fire.
After they left, Will turned to the others, "Here's what we're going to do, okay? Ron, your brother works at a dragon preserve, right? Can you contact him about this? Just sound him out and see if he'd be able to take a baby dragon on such short notice, without getting in trouble." Ron nodded, "I'm going to talk to Professor Mcgonagall in about a week. That way, Hagrid will at least be able to see the dragon hatch. Hermione, will you come with me to talk to Mcgonagall? She likes you, and sees you as responsible." Hermione blushed a bit, and nodded. Will nodded, "While we're waiting for the dragon to hatch, let's see if we can find any information about the permits needed to actually own a dragon. Who knows? Maybe this is actually really simple, and we're making a big deal out of nothing."
It was a big deal, actually. The permits needed to actually own a dragon were ridiculously difficult to get. All sorts of standards were needed to be met just to hold a dragon temporarily, not even mentioning the ridiculous standards that needed to be fulfilled just to have a single dragon long term. Will had no idea how the dragon preserves kept up with all of the unnecessary red tape. There was no way Hagrid was going to be able to keep this thing.
It was about a week later that Harry received a letter with the words 'It's hatching' scrawled on it. Will managed to keep Ron from spilling the beans in front of Draco, and after classes they ran to Hagrid's hut.
"Get inside, quickly, it's nearly out!" Hagrid had said upon seeing them, and ushered them inside.
The egg had deep cracks in it, and there was something moving inside. All at once, the egg fell open and the dragon flopped out. The books were right; it did look like a crumpled umbrella. Hagrid crooned to it, chuckling when it sneezed out a few embers.
They spoke to Hagrid a bit about him giving up the dragon, but Hagrid was too enamored to listen.
A couple days later though, Charlie had come through with flying colors, and they'd created a plan that once the dragon's hatched, they'd meet him and some friends at the top of the Astronomy tower at midnight. They explained the plan to Hagrid, through the door as apparently 'Norbert' was in a bit of a tricky stage, and he'd cried but agreed.
After they left, Will took Hermione to talk to Mcgonagall.
"Professor Mcgonagall," Hermione began, "We were hoping to talk to you about a delicate situation."
Mcgonagall raised an eyebrow, but ushered them inside her office. She sat behind her desk and gestured to two armchairs for them to sit. "How can I help you?" She asked.
"So, hypothetically, let's say you knew one of your friends was doing something that could get them into a lot of trouble," Will started, "You knew your friend had only the best intentions at heart, but they hadn't fully thought this situation out, and things had the potential to become dangerous, for them and for others. You might have a plan that could solve the situation, but you'd have to break a few rules to do it. "
Mcgonagall sat up a bit straighter in her chair, "I would say that it would be a good idea to go to an adult. Hopefully they will be able to handle the situation before anything bad happens."
"Yes," Hermione replied looking nervous, "But suppose the friend doesn't really want advice, believing they can handle things on their own, and that the person in question is an adult themselves, what then?"
A strange look flashed across Mcgonagall's face, and she put her head in her hand, "This isn't a hypothetical situation, is it."
"No, ma'am." Will said, nervously.
"This is about Hagrid, isn't it." She replied.
"Yes ma'am," Will nodded.
"What has happened this time?" Mcgonagall asked with a sigh.
"Hagrid may have gotten his hands on a baby Norweigan Ridgeback." Will muttered.
Mcgonagall drew herself up, "What?" She said, her voice frighteningly calm. "How? ...Never mind, that doesn't matter. You said you had a plan?" She shook her head.
"We've been in contact with Ron's brother Charlie, who works at a Dragon Preserve in Romania, he's said that he'll be able to take the dragon, but he can't be seen doing it. We're to bring the dragon to the top of the Astronomy tower at midnight this Saturday. We just didn't want to get in trouble, but Hagrid could get in a lot of trouble if this got out, and-" Hermione rattled off. She was panicking a bit, Will suspected. He put a hand on her arm to try to calm her down.
"I understand," Mcgonagall said, putting a hand up for Hermione to stop, "I'd prefer for Hagrid to not get in trouble myself. How many people are aware of the dragon and the plan?"
"You Professor, Will and I, Harry, Neville, Ron, Hagrid of course, and Charlie and his friends." Hermione counted off on her fingers.
"How about this," Mcgonagall said, "We wait for Saturday, and the three of us go up to Astronomy tower together, alright? That way, nobody has to get into any trouble." She paused as if something had just occurred to her, "How big is the dragon, exactly?"
"It just hatched a few days ago, so not very?" Will said, unsure. He hadn't actually seen the dragon since it had hatched.
Mcgonagall seemed relieved, "Good, that shouldn't be hard to transport. I'll have to let the Headmaster know of course, but I don't see any issues with doing things this way. I'll also be having a word with Hagrid about what sort of creatures are acceptable around a school."
Will feared he might have just released a storm upon poor Hagrid.
Okay! We're getting near the end of book 1 now. Do you guys want me to add the chapters for the next books here? Or create different stories for each book? I'm open to suggestions, on pretty much anything, really. Next chapter will have them taking Norbert to the Astronomy tower, maybe all of the way to Will and the others going through the trapdoor. We'll see.