A/N: Sorry for the wait folks! As most of you know, I was having terrible,
awful, no good, very bad computer problems and was struggling to update.
But now I have my Yahoo Group. I'll muddle through somehow.
Anyway, the wait gave me the time to work out all the kinks in this chapter and for the rest of first year. It all makes sense now! Yay!
And the next chapter won't be so long a wait. I plan on updating each of my stories once a week, most likely on the weekends.
But, to make up for the wait, the wonderful mental image of the day:
Draco in a tea towel and socks!
(Socks because evil Art [Xirleb70] called Draco in only a tea towel first. Grrrr.... But they are cute-and-sexy-green-with-silver-snakes-socks. Those are good in an evil way. *nods knowingly and looks smug [msug to you, Art- y!]*)
Oh, and just to share this with everyone, a friend of mine has classified me as a Ravenclaw with Slytherin-ish tendencies. Explains a lot. *grins*
As usual, some of this chapter came from 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'. It's not mine.
And now, another episode of 'As the World Turns' - er, I mean, Corkscrews!!!
Oh, wait! Stop the presses! I almost forgot to thank my reviewers!
Much thanks to Jordan; Maxennce: Sometimes FF.net does that. Is it working yet? If not, I could e-mail you the chapter; Calani; Lunawolf; Darak: Ack! Thanks for pointing that out! And see below!; athenkitty; Yup, uh-huh, a bit, yes they will eventually, somewhat; chaser1; MerlinHalliwell; imran: I can't remember it saying that anywhere in the books ..... where did you see it?; Elenea; Prd2bAmerican18; WolfMoon: Ah, it's the cliffie queen! You know, I might just take a leaf out of your book for this chapter *evil smile*; Sirius' Diamond: I know Draco's a bit OOC, but that's because he had an extremely different life than Cannon Draco's. But maybe he won't be that much different forever ..... *smirks*; KC; Layce74; GiRliEgIrL6; Serpent of Light: Even smart people can be dumb sometimes .... maybe not that dumb, though (see below); Lady Knight of Kennan; TeenTypist: *sigh* The mountain of homework. I know how that can be; LoonyLoopyLisa; and Rowan!!!!!!!! Wow!!!
I won't have to thank my reviewers in each chapter anymore: I can just e- mail them. *tear*
Also, this chapter is dedicated to Darak for pointing out my mistaken math.
Here's what it should have been:
Ravenclaw vs Slytherin = R won by 110 points
Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff = G won by 50 points
Slytherin vs Hufflepuff = H won by 250 points
Slytherin vs Gryffindor = G won by 20 points
Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor = R won by 90 points
I forgot to take into account the fact that Hufflepuff lost to Gryffindor. Whoops. I fixed the score in the last chapter too: It's now Ravenclaw-280 Gryffindor-190, and Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are tied at 200.
Now, on with story!
(Wow, that was the longest Author's Note I've ever written).
- ....... - = letters
Done now. I promise.
CH23: Darling Norby
~"Yes. Look, it was al'eady almost stolen from Gringotts. This is the safest place in the world fer it."
"And all of the teachers are protecting it?"
"Yeah."
'Guess we know what hocus pocus Quirrell has.' Harry thought. 'And Snape needs.'~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We need to talk," Harry said as his friends followed him out of Hagrid's house. "Somewhere we won't be overheard."
Fred and George seemed to have a silent conversation between them.
"We think we know a place," they said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry finished telling the group about his vision in an unused classroom in one of the towers.
"So Snape is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone?" Draco asked amazed.
"I always knew he was an evil git," said Fred and George nodded in agreement.
"But that doesn't make sense," Cho said quietly.
"What?" asked George.
"I just .... don't think he's after it."
"You must be kidding."
"Snape may be mean and vinictive, but this doesn't fit."
"Why not?!?"
"He just doesn't seem to be the type to want immortal life."
"But," Draco pointed out. "He did go into Fluffy's corridor on Halloween. And he's threatening Quirell!"
"Right," said Harry. "But Albus trust Snape. That's usually good enough for me. I respect his judgment, so if he says Snape is okay ..... "
"He did save your life, Harry," Hermione whispered. "When he brought you up to the Hospital Wing. And telling Madame Pomphrey you were allergic to Veritaserum. If they had tried any of the usual healing methods ..... "
"But he's the one who endangered Harry's life in the first place!" shouted Fred.
Harry ignored him. "So now, the question is, if it isn't Snape, who is after the stone?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ravenclaw and Gryffindor first years had a free period the next day, so Harry, Draco, and Hermione went down the Hagrid's Hut.
"Can't you tell us what else is guarding the stone, besides Fluffy?" Draco begged.
"O' course I can't," frowned Hagrid. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. The Stone's here fer a good reason. Jus' drop it."
"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on around here," said Hermione in a flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling.
"I would, but I really don' know."
"But, you are the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy?" asked Draco. "Right?"
"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore."
"Well, that's something," Harry muttered. "Can we open a window? I'm boiling."
"Can't, Harry, sorry," said Hagrid, glancing over at the fire.
"Hagrid - what's that?"
In the heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.
"Oh my god, is that .... " Draco trailed off.
"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Won it," replied Hagrid. "Got into a game o' cards with a stranger."
"What are you going to do when it's hatched?"
"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'. Got this outta the library - Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit - it's a bit outta date, but it's all in here. An' see here - how ter recognize diff'rent eggs - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."
He looked very pleased with himself.
"But Hagrid," Harry said slowly. "You live in a wooden house."
But Hagrid wasn't listening.
"You know, big fire hazard."
Still no response.
"It's not going to fit in here when it grows anyway."
Hagrid just hummed merrily while he stroked the fire.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The trio met Cho, Fred, and George in the Entrance Hall.
"Hagrid's got a what?!?"Fred shouted.
"Shhh! Keep it down," Harry whispered fiercely.
"Is he insane?" Cho wondered.
"You know," said Draco. "I'm not sure."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day at breakfast, Circe delivered a very short note. The note they were dreading.
-It's hatching.-
The group ran down to the Hut. Hagrid greeted them looking flushed and excited.
"It's nearly out!"
The egg was lying on the table, deep cracks covering the surface, and it was making a funny clicking noise.
Within seconds, a baby dragon tumbled out of the shell. It wasn't the best looking thing in the world: more like a misshapen black umbrella with horns and orange eyes.
It sneezed and sparks flew out of it's mouth.
"Isn't it beautiful!" Hagrid gushed.
"I know now," Draco concluded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days later and they were still pleading with Hagrid.
"Just let it go," said Harry for the one hundredth time.
"I can't!" explained Hagrid. "He'll die. He's too little to be on his own."
They looked over at the dragon. It was nothing, but little. The thing was growing like a weed.
"He won't fit in your house much longer," Cho said.
"But - but I named him," Hagrid protested. "He's Norbert."
Draco just stared at him. "You're losing your marbles."
"I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him."
Harry suddenly had an idea. "Charlie!"
His friends looked at him.
"What are you talking about?" George asked.
"Your brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons."
"Yeah," said Hermione. "We could send Norbert to Charlie! He can take care of him and then set him back out into the wild."
"Brilliant!" exclaimed Fred. "How about it, Hagrid?"
And, with some prodding, Hagrid finally caved and they sent a letter to Charlie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a week, they finally received an answer.
- Dear Fred, George, and friends,
How are you? Getting into lots of trouble? Thanks for the letter - I'd be glad to take ..... did you say he calls him Norbert? Anyway, I'll be glad to Norbert, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends that are visiting me. Trouble is, they can't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.
Could you get it up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take it away while it's still dark.
Love,
Charlie
"That's two days away," said Cho.
"Good." Draco shuddered. "Anything to get rid of 'darling Norby'."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry, Draco, and Hermione agreed to be the ones to sneak up to the tower as the Invisibility Cloak would only cover three of them and Norbert.
So, the two boys snuck out of the common room and went to meet Hermione in the library, where she would be waiting.
"Thank god you're here!" she said when they got there. "Ron saw me!"
"What?" they said.
"When I was leaving. Fred and George were distracting him, but ...... "
"It's too late to change the plan now," said Harry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' I packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."
They covered the cage with the cloak as Hagrid waved good-bye.
It took ages to get up the staircases and into the tower, but they made it with five minutes to spare.
"At least the hard part is over," sighed Draco.
"And no more Norbert!" Hermione did a sort of jig. "I could sing!"
"Don't," Harry advised her.
Finally, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.
Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. A tall one, Mike something-or-other, even sympathized with their plight.
"I'm not to fond of dragons myself," he said. He gave a toothy grin. "This trip isn't exactly my dream vacation."
They suspended Norbert from a harness between the rooms. They took off and, at last, Norbert was going .... going .... gone.
"Yes!"
The trio dawned their cloak and headed back down the stairs. But they didn't get far.
Professor McGonagall, in a tartan dressing gown and a hairnet, had Ron Weasley by the ear.
"Detention!" she shouted. "And 50 points from Gryffindor! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you - "
"You don't understand, Professor, I was following Granger, Malfoy, and Andrews!"
"The where are they?" she seethed.
Ron didn't have an answer for that.
Draco, Hermione, and Harry crept past them. They didn't speak until they arrived at the Gryffindor common room to drop of Hermione. Fred and George were waiting.
"What's wrong?" they asked when they saw the worried looks.
"Ron," said Hermione.
Anyway, the wait gave me the time to work out all the kinks in this chapter and for the rest of first year. It all makes sense now! Yay!
And the next chapter won't be so long a wait. I plan on updating each of my stories once a week, most likely on the weekends.
But, to make up for the wait, the wonderful mental image of the day:
Draco in a tea towel and socks!
(Socks because evil Art [Xirleb70] called Draco in only a tea towel first. Grrrr.... But they are cute-and-sexy-green-with-silver-snakes-socks. Those are good in an evil way. *nods knowingly and looks smug [msug to you, Art- y!]*)
Oh, and just to share this with everyone, a friend of mine has classified me as a Ravenclaw with Slytherin-ish tendencies. Explains a lot. *grins*
As usual, some of this chapter came from 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'. It's not mine.
And now, another episode of 'As the World Turns' - er, I mean, Corkscrews!!!
Oh, wait! Stop the presses! I almost forgot to thank my reviewers!
Much thanks to Jordan; Maxennce: Sometimes FF.net does that. Is it working yet? If not, I could e-mail you the chapter; Calani; Lunawolf; Darak: Ack! Thanks for pointing that out! And see below!; athenkitty; Yup, uh-huh, a bit, yes they will eventually, somewhat; chaser1; MerlinHalliwell; imran: I can't remember it saying that anywhere in the books ..... where did you see it?; Elenea; Prd2bAmerican18; WolfMoon: Ah, it's the cliffie queen! You know, I might just take a leaf out of your book for this chapter *evil smile*; Sirius' Diamond: I know Draco's a bit OOC, but that's because he had an extremely different life than Cannon Draco's. But maybe he won't be that much different forever ..... *smirks*; KC; Layce74; GiRliEgIrL6; Serpent of Light: Even smart people can be dumb sometimes .... maybe not that dumb, though (see below); Lady Knight of Kennan; TeenTypist: *sigh* The mountain of homework. I know how that can be; LoonyLoopyLisa; and Rowan!!!!!!!! Wow!!!
I won't have to thank my reviewers in each chapter anymore: I can just e- mail them. *tear*
Also, this chapter is dedicated to Darak for pointing out my mistaken math.
Here's what it should have been:
Ravenclaw vs Slytherin = R won by 110 points
Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff = G won by 50 points
Slytherin vs Hufflepuff = H won by 250 points
Slytherin vs Gryffindor = G won by 20 points
Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor = R won by 90 points
I forgot to take into account the fact that Hufflepuff lost to Gryffindor. Whoops. I fixed the score in the last chapter too: It's now Ravenclaw-280 Gryffindor-190, and Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are tied at 200.
Now, on with story!
(Wow, that was the longest Author's Note I've ever written).
- ....... - = letters
Done now. I promise.
CH23: Darling Norby
~"Yes. Look, it was al'eady almost stolen from Gringotts. This is the safest place in the world fer it."
"And all of the teachers are protecting it?"
"Yeah."
'Guess we know what hocus pocus Quirrell has.' Harry thought. 'And Snape needs.'~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We need to talk," Harry said as his friends followed him out of Hagrid's house. "Somewhere we won't be overheard."
Fred and George seemed to have a silent conversation between them.
"We think we know a place," they said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry finished telling the group about his vision in an unused classroom in one of the towers.
"So Snape is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone?" Draco asked amazed.
"I always knew he was an evil git," said Fred and George nodded in agreement.
"But that doesn't make sense," Cho said quietly.
"What?" asked George.
"I just .... don't think he's after it."
"You must be kidding."
"Snape may be mean and vinictive, but this doesn't fit."
"Why not?!?"
"He just doesn't seem to be the type to want immortal life."
"But," Draco pointed out. "He did go into Fluffy's corridor on Halloween. And he's threatening Quirell!"
"Right," said Harry. "But Albus trust Snape. That's usually good enough for me. I respect his judgment, so if he says Snape is okay ..... "
"He did save your life, Harry," Hermione whispered. "When he brought you up to the Hospital Wing. And telling Madame Pomphrey you were allergic to Veritaserum. If they had tried any of the usual healing methods ..... "
"But he's the one who endangered Harry's life in the first place!" shouted Fred.
Harry ignored him. "So now, the question is, if it isn't Snape, who is after the stone?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ravenclaw and Gryffindor first years had a free period the next day, so Harry, Draco, and Hermione went down the Hagrid's Hut.
"Can't you tell us what else is guarding the stone, besides Fluffy?" Draco begged.
"O' course I can't," frowned Hagrid. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. The Stone's here fer a good reason. Jus' drop it."
"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on around here," said Hermione in a flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling.
"I would, but I really don' know."
"But, you are the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy?" asked Draco. "Right?"
"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore."
"Well, that's something," Harry muttered. "Can we open a window? I'm boiling."
"Can't, Harry, sorry," said Hagrid, glancing over at the fire.
"Hagrid - what's that?"
In the heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.
"Oh my god, is that .... " Draco trailed off.
"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Won it," replied Hagrid. "Got into a game o' cards with a stranger."
"What are you going to do when it's hatched?"
"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'. Got this outta the library - Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit - it's a bit outta date, but it's all in here. An' see here - how ter recognize diff'rent eggs - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."
He looked very pleased with himself.
"But Hagrid," Harry said slowly. "You live in a wooden house."
But Hagrid wasn't listening.
"You know, big fire hazard."
Still no response.
"It's not going to fit in here when it grows anyway."
Hagrid just hummed merrily while he stroked the fire.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The trio met Cho, Fred, and George in the Entrance Hall.
"Hagrid's got a what?!?"Fred shouted.
"Shhh! Keep it down," Harry whispered fiercely.
"Is he insane?" Cho wondered.
"You know," said Draco. "I'm not sure."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day at breakfast, Circe delivered a very short note. The note they were dreading.
-It's hatching.-
The group ran down to the Hut. Hagrid greeted them looking flushed and excited.
"It's nearly out!"
The egg was lying on the table, deep cracks covering the surface, and it was making a funny clicking noise.
Within seconds, a baby dragon tumbled out of the shell. It wasn't the best looking thing in the world: more like a misshapen black umbrella with horns and orange eyes.
It sneezed and sparks flew out of it's mouth.
"Isn't it beautiful!" Hagrid gushed.
"I know now," Draco concluded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days later and they were still pleading with Hagrid.
"Just let it go," said Harry for the one hundredth time.
"I can't!" explained Hagrid. "He'll die. He's too little to be on his own."
They looked over at the dragon. It was nothing, but little. The thing was growing like a weed.
"He won't fit in your house much longer," Cho said.
"But - but I named him," Hagrid protested. "He's Norbert."
Draco just stared at him. "You're losing your marbles."
"I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him."
Harry suddenly had an idea. "Charlie!"
His friends looked at him.
"What are you talking about?" George asked.
"Your brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons."
"Yeah," said Hermione. "We could send Norbert to Charlie! He can take care of him and then set him back out into the wild."
"Brilliant!" exclaimed Fred. "How about it, Hagrid?"
And, with some prodding, Hagrid finally caved and they sent a letter to Charlie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a week, they finally received an answer.
- Dear Fred, George, and friends,
How are you? Getting into lots of trouble? Thanks for the letter - I'd be glad to take ..... did you say he calls him Norbert? Anyway, I'll be glad to Norbert, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends that are visiting me. Trouble is, they can't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.
Could you get it up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take it away while it's still dark.
Love,
Charlie
"That's two days away," said Cho.
"Good." Draco shuddered. "Anything to get rid of 'darling Norby'."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry, Draco, and Hermione agreed to be the ones to sneak up to the tower as the Invisibility Cloak would only cover three of them and Norbert.
So, the two boys snuck out of the common room and went to meet Hermione in the library, where she would be waiting.
"Thank god you're here!" she said when they got there. "Ron saw me!"
"What?" they said.
"When I was leaving. Fred and George were distracting him, but ...... "
"It's too late to change the plan now," said Harry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' I packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."
They covered the cage with the cloak as Hagrid waved good-bye.
It took ages to get up the staircases and into the tower, but they made it with five minutes to spare.
"At least the hard part is over," sighed Draco.
"And no more Norbert!" Hermione did a sort of jig. "I could sing!"
"Don't," Harry advised her.
Finally, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.
Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. A tall one, Mike something-or-other, even sympathized with their plight.
"I'm not to fond of dragons myself," he said. He gave a toothy grin. "This trip isn't exactly my dream vacation."
They suspended Norbert from a harness between the rooms. They took off and, at last, Norbert was going .... going .... gone.
"Yes!"
The trio dawned their cloak and headed back down the stairs. But they didn't get far.
Professor McGonagall, in a tartan dressing gown and a hairnet, had Ron Weasley by the ear.
"Detention!" she shouted. "And 50 points from Gryffindor! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you - "
"You don't understand, Professor, I was following Granger, Malfoy, and Andrews!"
"The where are they?" she seethed.
Ron didn't have an answer for that.
Draco, Hermione, and Harry crept past them. They didn't speak until they arrived at the Gryffindor common room to drop of Hermione. Fred and George were waiting.
"What's wrong?" they asked when they saw the worried looks.
"Ron," said Hermione.
