Chapter 6 - An Evening with Filch
The next day Barney woke hoping for a better day than the day before but he knew it was unlikely. He had the prospect of his detention with Filch to look forward to that evening.
His morning consisted of double Potions where Professor Slughorn had them brewing a cure for common poisons and then Ancient Runes, one of his elective subjects, where they were translating an ancient runic tablet from the tenth century.
After lunch he headed down to Hagrid's hut for one of his favourite lessons - Care of Magical Creatures. And it wasn't just one of Barney's favourite lessons, it seemed to be the most popular class in his year. Most students had chosen it as one of their elective subjects so it was the biggest class with over thirty students from all four houses. Thomas was one of the very few students who didn't take it up and having previously dealt with Blast-Ended Skrewts that could shoot fire and sting you, Murtlap which liked to bite and Chimaera which had the tail of a dragon and the head of a lion, Barney thought it was probably a wise move on Thomas' part, knowing how frightened his friend would have been in the lessons.
As the students arrived by the hut they could see three small blue dragons, about the sizes of a small horse, tied up to a fence behind the hut. Everyone was very excited. Up till now they'd only studied theory on dragons in this class. Today they were actually going to deal with them first hand.
"Af'ernoon class," Hagrid bellowed as he emerged from his hut into the sunshine and had to squint a little to see everyone. "Today we'll be studyin' dragons," he continued with a broad smile.
Hagrid led the class round to the back of his hut where the dragons stood, all three seemingly content as they dozed in the sunshine. One of the dragons raised it's head briefly to look at the approaching students before resting it back down.
"Now these 'ere are Scottish Highland White Tips, named so cos of the white tips of their wings," Hagrid explained but no one could actually fully see their wings to verify this as they were all tucked cosily under the dragons. "These dragons are adolescence so they ain' developed their sparks glands yet so no need ter fear any fire from 'em. That said their breath ain' the best so I would still avoid bein' breathed on by 'em."
Hagrid approached one of the dragons carefully and it sensed him nearing and opened one of it's eyes to watch the giant but didn't seem phased. Hagrid reached out his large hand and gently stroked the dragon along the length of it's neck.
"Now yeh need ter be very gen'le an' cautious with these 'ere dragons as they can startle easily," he said as he continued to stroke it's neck. "Right who'd like ter volunteer first?"
Everyone's hands shot up at once.
"Barney you come up."
Barney walked up to Hagrid and the dragon feeling both excited and a little nervous. The docile dragon opened it's eye on hearing him approach and seemed to stare at him as he moved closer. The dragon then raised it's head and turned to Barney who stopped and looked startled.
"It's OK, just give him a second ter figure out if yeh friend or foe," Hagrid said.
Barney stood dead still wondering just how good a judge of character a dragon was. He really didn't want to find out what would happen if the dragon judged him to be a foe.
The dragon looked Barney up and down and moved it's head closer to him and took in a big sniff through it's large nostrils. Seemingly not feeling threatened the dragon moved it's head back and once again rested it on the ground and allowed Barney to approach.
"OK carry on," Hagrid instructed but Barney was still a little hesitant as he moved forward slowly.
As Barney reached the dragon he tentatively reached out his hand and gently placed it on the dragons neck and slowly began to stroke it. The dragon made a rumbling, almost purr like contented noise as he stroked it. It's skin felt coarse and rutted but was warm as Barney continued to stroke it, afraid that if he stopped the dragon might become agitated. As he watched the creature carefully he could see it's body rising up and down as it breathed. Barney reached out his other hand and placed it on it's belly but was surprised when he could feel the dragon's heartbeat. The vibration of the beat passed through his hand, up his arm and right into his body. It was an incredible feeling.
"Right there's two more dragons that are feelin' left out," Hagrid hollered. "Who's up next?"
Again everyone volunteered at once and soon there was a queue of students eager to stroke each dragon.
Once the dragons had become comfortable with the students Hagrid went on to teach the class how to care for dragons. He taught them telltale signs to look out for of common dragon illnesses, how to groom a dragon and how to brush a dragon's teeth. Finally he taught them the most important rule when dealing with Scottish Highland White Tips.
"The thing ter remember with this particular breed of dragons is yeh must never touch their tales. They don't like it. So don' ever walk up behind one, always approach from the front or side because they of'en swing their tales about an' yeh don' want ter frighten one if it accidentally touches yeh, because well they are dragons after all an' yeh wouldn' want ter make a dragon angry."
The class stood in awe of the amazing beasts. So much power and strength in a living creature and here they were stroking it like a pet dog.
As the lesson continued Hagrid got the students to help him feed the dragons (they lived on a diet of vegetables, fresh meat and sage leaves, which Hagrid said was to help with their bad breath). As the class neared the end Hagrid untied one of the dragons so the students could watch it fly above their heads and over the trees before tempting it back down with a big juicy steak. The class were suitably impressed.
Hagrid allowed the students to stroke the dragons one last time before dismissing them.
"Barney an' you, the new boy can yeh stay behind fer a minute," Hagrid called out as the rest of the students started to leave.
"It's Velyan."
"Yeah sorry, Velyan. I need a hand takin' these three back teh their pen. You both feel confident teh lead one each?"
"Of course, my Uncle owns a dragon ranch in America. He breeds Mexican Masterbacks and American Long Horns. They're way bigger than these ones," Velyan said confidently though Hagrid felt a little insulted by the comment about the size of his dragons and muttered to himself that 'size wasn't everything' which was ironic coming from a giant.
Hagrid untied the first dragon and handed it's rope to Barney and went to untie the second one when a voice called out to them.
"Ah Professor Hagrid there you," Pomperduke said as he bounded down, too caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn't realised he was walking right towards three dragons and he stopped immediately. "Oh my!"
"Professor Pomperduke what can I do feh yeh?"
"Er... oh yes ... er I was told you er... might have some pumpkins for me... that I can use with my fourth years... erm... when I teach them the singing vegetable spell," he replied rather nervously and was visibly shaking as his eyes darted between the three dragons.
"Of course. Let me jus' get these dragons away an' I'll be righ' wiv yeh."
Pomperduke didn't know whether to run of scream as he watched the dragons intently. The one to his left turned to look at him and seemed to stare him out.
"Oh my," Pomperduke said weakly before falling to the floor having fainted.
"Professor are yeh OK?" Hagrid called out and rushed over to his fallen colleague but in his haste he had left the dragon he was by untied. "Professor?"
Hagrid knelt down beside Pomperduke and attempted to give him a gentle slap across the face to try and revive him but forgetting his own strength it was in fact a rather large slap that woke Pomperduke at once.
"Professor are yeh OK?"
"What? Er where am I?" Pomperduke said rather confused as he tried to sit up.
As Hagrid helped the professor up the dragons started to get agitated. Barney kept hold of his dragon tightly but noticed the one beside him was free as it swung it's head around. "Er Hagrid!" Barney shouted across to him who immediately looked over and saw the problem.
"Oh Merlin's beard!" Hagrid cursed and let go of Pomperduke, who wasn't fully on his feet yet and fell straight back to the ground as Hagrid rushed to the loose dragon.
As he ran over, Hagrid failed to notice the other dragon, which Barney was holding and which was becoming unsettled, swing it's long tail round. The tail caught Hagrid across the back of his legs and knocked him to the ground as the dragon reared up, unnerved by the collision with it's tail.
Barney held up to the rope tightly as he was lifted off his feet and the dragon started to beat it's wings wildly before it started to take off. But still Barney clung to the rope in some vain hope of keeping the dragon on the ground and he was yanked into the sky, dangling underneath the dragon.
"Barney!" Hagrid shouted as he got to his feet and saw the dragon taking him away as Velyan too watched on helpless.
The trees beneath him got smaller as the dragon went higher and Barney tightened his grip on the rope even more. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold on forever as the dragon soared through the skies so he had no choice but to climb up. The rope was swinging madly as it dangled making it much harder to climb but Barney persevered on regardless and eventually he had climbed close enough to grab hold of the dragon. His hand grasped one of it's huge scales and his fingers slipped between the cracks giving him a firm hold. The dragon didn't even seem to notice something was now latching onto him and continued to fly.
Next Barney managed to get a foothold on the dragon and it wasn't long before he had climbed onto the dragon's back just below the neck and made sure he had a firm grip as he held on tight.
As the dragon sailed through the air, what had started out as being terrifying and dangerous to Barney now felt exhilarating and freeing as he rode the dragon through the skies. The wind rushed through his hair and the world seemed so small far below. He had ridden a broom through the skies many times but this was something different. This was even better.
He felt the dragon's wings beating either side and once again he could feel the dragon's heartbeat below him as if he and the creature were one. He soon forgot that he had been dragged into the sky unwilling and now enjoyed the ride as the dragon glided up higher and into the clouds. He'd never been that high on a broom before and it felt exhilarating. The dragon seemed calm as it flew and Barney didn't feel worried at all and was slightly disappointed when the dragon started heading back down.
In the distance Barney could make out Hagrid and the other two dragons beside the hut and as he got closer he could see Velyan and Professor Pomperduke too as the figures got larger. Soon the ground was beneath the dragon's feet as it landed and Pomperduke fainted again.
Hagrid ignored the fallen professor and ran to Barney.
"Barney ah yeh OK?"
"Yeah I'm fine" Barney replied as he slid off the dragon's back and then stroked it's neck to say thank you.
"Yeh lucky ter be alive. That was some impressive flyin'. Ten points teh Slytherin."
"Yeah Barney that was amazing," Velyan added excitedly as he came over to check Barney was alright. "Wait till everyone hears about this."
Barney wasn't one to brag but Velyan was quite happy to tell everyone at the Slytherin table over dinner how he'd just watched Barney ride a dragon. Everyone was immensely jealous. But his joy at being envied soon ended when dinner finished and it was time for his detention with Filch.
Barney made his way to Filch's office on the ground floor and knocked on the door. Filch opened the door looking as moody as ever with Mrs Norris at his feet. The cat looked just as moody as it hissed at Barney. How ungrateful he thought when he had been trying to save her the other day.
"Follow me," Filch commanded as he picked up an unlit lamp from his desk as Mrs Norris led the way to the staircase and all the way up to the seventh floor. Once there they headed down a deserted corridor and Filch stepped towards an alcove with a door in it and fumbled through his collection of keys to find the right one to open it.
Barney recognised the doorway, though when he had used it in his first year the entrance had been concealed by a brick wall and a tapestry. But now the Pygmy trolls had been banished from the South Tower there was no need to keep the entrance hidden from students and was back to being a normal door.
Filch eventually found the right key and pushed the door open with a loud creak and pulled out a box of matches from his pocket to light the lamp but the first couple of matches wouldn't strike.
"I can light that with my wand if you like?" Barney offered as he watched Filch struggle.
"Shut up boy!" Filch seethed back and continued with the matches and eventually got one to strike and lit the lamp.
Barney had only tried to be helpful but now realised to someone like Filch who was a Squib, Barney offering to use magic to light the lamp may have felt seemed belittling and insulting.
With the lamp now lit Filch held it high above him and they ascended the staircase up to the tower and after again fumbling through his keys, Filch opened the door at the top.
Just as the tower had been when Barney had last been in there it was filled with junk. There were numerous crates and furniture covered with sheets, everything was covered in a layer of dust and there were hundreds of cobwebs all around the place. Barney really hoped that his detention wasn't going to be to clean this place.
Filch placed the lamp down on one of the crates and looked around the tower.
"This stuff needs sorting out. I want any books over there," Filch said pointing to one corner, "any potions equipment and magical apparatus over there, clothes and personal items there and all the furniture moved over to the right side of the tower. Got it?"
"Fine," Barney said and pulled his wand from his robes.
"What do you think you're doing boy?!"
"I was just going to use my wand to help sort the items," Barney replied as Filch snatched his wand from him. "Hey!"
"This is detention. You won't be using magic. You're here to be punished for mistreating Mrs Norris."
Mrs Norris gave Barney another hiss.
"You'll work hard and hopefully by the end of it your back will ache and your arms will be sore and you'll have learnt your lesson."
Barney looked around the room at all the large crates and heavy furniture and thought that cleaning the tower didn't seem such a bad idea after all.
He got to work and started opening crates and sorting items out. Filch went through some crates too but only it seemed to see if there was anything inside that was worth keeping for himself.
After getting bored of sorting out crates Barney made a start on the furniture. He had moved four chairs, a coat stand and a chest of drawers and was already feeling tired. He moved on to the next item and started pushing it across the stone floor. Filch shot him a look of contempt as the item screeched as it dragged against the stone.
As he continued to move it the dust sheet fell off the item revealing an ornate desk. Barney stopped to catch his breath and looked at the desk. It was dark mahogany with images of unicorns carved into each leg. On the top around the edge were more carvings of runic symbols and in the middle were the initials 'VN'. Barney looked at the intricately decorated piece of furniture and wondered why it had been stored up here and not used by someone else. He knew that this tower was used for storing items belonging to now departed members of staff but he thought it was such a waste to not use a desk as beautiful as this one was.
Now he'd caught his breath back Barney continued to push the desk towards the right wall of the tower. As he pushed his foot slipped back and he went face first into the floor.
Filch turned having heard a noise and chuckled to himself at seeing Barney flat on his face then turned back to the crate he was looking through.
Barney turned over onto his back and cursed Peeves for getting him this detention. As he looked up he saw strange markings on the underside of the desk. He slid himself under the desk so he could get a better look but without his wand, which Filch still had, he couldn't cast a light to see better. He reached out with his hand and touched the carvings. There seemed to be carvings of three birds and more runic symbols. Why would anyone decorate the underneath of a desk? Barney wondered.
As he touched the carvings he noticed one of the birds moved slightly. He touched it again and realised the bird turned. He tried the other two and they turned also. As he was turning the last one he heard a faint click noise as if some mechanism within the desk had slotted into place. Curious he kept turning the other birds and also tried the symbols, which moved too. Slowly he turned each one until he heard the distinct click noise from within the desk. The second bird had seemingly slotted into place and now he was working on the final bird. He turned it tentatively with a light touch, not wanting to move it too fast and overturn it. He then heard the faint click followed by a louder one and a section of the bottom of the desk slid away and something dropped right onto his face.
Barney picked up the item with one hand and rubbed his nose with the other. He saw that the item was a maroon leather bound book and written in gold on the front of it were the initials 'VN'. He flicked through the pages and found they were mostly blank but at the top of each page were a few runes but they were like no runes he had ever seen before.
Barney looked over to Filch who was still busily sorting through a crate and then looked back to the book and pocketed it inside his robes before going back to the chores of his detention.