After the Dawn: The Philosopher's Stone
Chapter Twenty One: Dragon
The weeks after the prank passed, and life went on. For a time, Draco Malfoy spent all of his time searching for the one that had pranked him, nothing but revenge on his mind, but Harry and the Twins had covered their tracks carefully, and he got nowhere with his search.
Potions class that week was possibly the only bearable one that year, because Draco Malfoy walked in the door and was soaked, so Snape had to dry him with a spell, and then when the lesson ended Malfoy was soaked again on the way out.
Every time Harry, Hermione, Neville or Blaise passed the third floor corridor they put their ears up against the door and checked to make sure that Fluffy was still alive and growling within.
Professor Quirrel went around, growing paler as the days went on. Several times Harry thought about telling the man that he was safe, but he always decided against it. Though he supported the mans valiant effort to stand up to Snape, Harry knew that he could not like Professor Quirrel. Something about the teacher just put him off.
Sirius's owls began to slow down as time progressed, and Hermione started revising for the upcoming exams, despite the fact that they were, as yet, ten weeks away. She was making Neville in particular study with her, while she and Harry attempted to cram the other boys head with as much theory as he could hold, and also practice some of the spells that they might need for the exams.
Hermione was coming close to panicking, and she had reduced Neville to a similar state by moaning about the dire consequences of failure. Harry wished he could get her to stop doing that, as it got on his nerves and didn't improve Neville's outlook on his schooling at all.
Blaise, like Harry, was fairly calm in the face of the upcoming exams. After all, she was a pure-blooded Slytherin. Slytherin's usually went against showing much in the way of emotion, and as a pureblood, she had learnt a lot of magic even before she came to Hogwarts, and she knew that the reality of the tests would be somewhat disappointing after the effort that Hermione made everyone put in to prepare for them.
Harry was in a similar state, he knew that he had most of the theory down pad, and if he was failing the practical work, he could always give it a jolt with his rather impressive abilities with Wandless magic.
"Nemo, do you know the twelve uses of Dragons blood?" Hermione enquired one afternoon in the library. Harry blinked, then recited them in a breath. Neville groaned enviously and Blaise smirked as she read through Hogwarts: A History, to study for the History of Magic exam.
One afternoon, Harry got totally bored of Hermione's continuous muttering in the Gryffindor common room (which seemed to be putting off most of the rest of the Gryffindor students as well), and suggested a trip to Hagrid's hut.
"Nemo! We have to study!" Hermione said frantically. "The exams are only nine weeks away!"
"Hermione – we need time to allow the information we've learned in the last half an hour to filter through to our brains and stick there," Harry said gently, "If we take a break and go down to Hagrid's, then we can do that and have a bit of fun visiting an old friend at the same time," Harry replied.
Hermione thought about this. "Oh, alright. I guess we can take a little while off," she said tiredly, and shut the book she was reading currently. Neville did the same to his with a sigh of relief, and smiled gratefully at Harry, who smiled back. "Let's go then!" Hermione said.
"Oh, so now we have to get the trip over and done with as fast as possible?" Neville muttered to Harry as they followed Hermione down to the castle grounds. Harry chuckled quietly, then smoothed his expression to one of innocence as Hermione looked back to see what they were laughing about.
Soon enough the three of them spilled onto Hogwarts' grounds and headed down to the house of their friend Hagrid. "Why has he got all of the curtains drawn?" Hermione wondered allowed, "It's not that cold any more."
"Well, why don't we ask him," Harry suggested, raising his hand to knock. It took a moment for the door to open, at it sounded like a few things were being shifted around inside.
After a moment, the door opened a crack and Hagrid peered out at them. "Oh, it's just you three," he muttered. "What're ye doing down 'ere?"
"We came to visit to take a break from studying," Harry replied.
"Oh, alright, s'pose you wanna cum in then?" Hagrid sounded a little nervous.
"If you aren't busy," Harry replied.
"Nah, s'ok," Hagrid said, opening the door a little more so that the three friends could squeeze inside. It was boiling inside, far warmer than was comfortable.
"Why is it so hot in here?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, eh … is it?" Hagrid asked. "Well, no particular reason … was feeling a little bit cold. Would ye like some tea?"
"Tea would be great, I hope you aren't getting sick, Hagrid," Hermione replied. "Maybe you should go to see Madam Pomfrey?"
"Nah, I'll be fine," Hagrid replied. "Winter hasn't gone yet, after all…"
Harry remained unconvinced. There was something that Hagrid wasn't telling them. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was definitely something. Looking over at Hagrid's bed, Harry noted that there were a lot of books there. "Been doing some reading, Hagrid?" Harry asked, nodding to them.
"Wha? Oh, yeah, bin doing a fair bit," Hagrid agreed.
"What are you reading about?" Harry enquired, appearing no more than politely curious, but he was sure that these books had something to do with Hagrid's mysterious behaviour.
"Oh, um, dragons actually," Hagrid replied, "Always loved dragons."
"I think you mentioned that once," Harry remarked. "You wanted one as a pet, didn't you?"
"Oh yeah," Hagrid replied, a dreamy expression creeping over his face. "Wanted one since I was a kid…"
"Dragons are dangerous," Hermione said, sounding scandalised. "You certainly couldn't hope to have one if you were still living here! This is a wooden house for Gods sake Hagrid!"
Harry caught Hagrid's sudden glance towards the fire, and looked into the flames. Half hidden by the burning logs and flame, there was a large, oval form sheltered in the heart of the fire.
"What's that, Hagrid?" Harry asked, though he already knew.
"That? Oh, that it's um … nothing, it's nothing at all," Hagrid stammered, stepping in front of the fire as if to try and hide the fact that there could possibly be anything there.
"It's a dragons egg, isn't it?" Harry demanded, not in the least bit fooled by Hagrid's attempt at hiding the fire from view.
Hagrid's shoulders slumped, "Yeah," he muttered, then suddenly perked up. "Bin doing a bit o reading," he said, "Found out what I've got here is a Norwegian Ridgeback – their rare, them."
"Where did you get the egg from, Hagrid – you know that it's illegal to have one in your position," Hermione demanded.
"Won it," Hagrid said, "From a Greek chappie I met in the pub."
"Hagrid, dragons are dangerous, they need a lot of care and they breath fire – you live in a wooden house!" Hermione said, sounding a little frantic. "Besides, you're in a school, what if it got lose and attacked the students?"
"I won' let it do that," Hagrid told them earnestly. "I know I won't be able to keep it forever, but just for a little while … get to know it, and then set it free somewhere."
"That somewhere had better not be the Forbidden Forest," Neville muttered quietly, as he watched the fire with a look of intense fear on his face.
"Well, I hadn't thought so far ahead yet," Hagrid admitted. "But I'll found it someplace safe to live."
Harry sighed, and was echoed by Hermione. It was clear that they would never manage to convince that raising a dragon was not only stupid but also suicidal.
Harry glanced at his two friends, then made a gesture as if to say, "drop it". He had other concerns on his mind, and he didn't think that a dragon would escape notice long enough to do severe damage …
"Hagrid, we know who Nicholas Flamel is, and we know what Fluffy is guarding," he told the man before him, who froze.
"Wha?" Hagrid grunted in surprise.
"You heard what I said, Hagrid. We know that the … Stone … is in Hogwarts, and we know that Fluffy is guarding it … but it's not only Fluffy, is it? What else is there?"
"Now that is definitely none of yer business to be prying into," Hagrid said. "I dunno how yeh found out about the Stone, an' I shoulda never mentioned Flamel … but let me tell you, that stone is well protected – that's what it's doing 'ere at Hogwarts. Safest place on the Earth, Hogwarts."
Hermione cast a warning glance at Harry and took over. "Well, we didn't really want to know what else was guarding the Stone," she said, "But we were wondering who else Professor Dumbledore could possibly trust enough to help him guard the stone …"
Hagrid swelled with importance, and Harry smiled. It was obvious that Hagrid would not betray Dumbledore's trust to the extent of actually telling the three first year students what was being guarded.
"Well, first there's Fluffy, and he's mine … who else was in on it? Lemme see … Professor McGonagall did somemat, so did Professor Flitwick, an' Professor Sprout, then there was Professor Quirrell … an' I'm missin' someone … That's right – Professor Snape."
"That's all?" Harry asked.
"Nah wait, Dumbledore did somewhat himself …" Hagrid replied. Suddenly part of the fire collapsed, and Hagrid rushed over to make sure that his egg was alright.
"Yeh won't mention it, will yeh?" Hagrid asked.
"No," Harry replied, not sure whether Hagrid meant the dragon, or what they had just been told.
"Thanks … could get me in a bit o' trouble," Hagrid smiled, then went back to rebuilding the fire around the dragon egg.
Shaking his head, Harry shooed his friends out the door and they headed up to the castle.
"Great," Harry muttered as they walked. "Just what we needed – more things to worry about."
"We don't have to worry about the dragon, or the stone, at the moment," Hermione told him firmly. "Right now we just need to concentrate on the exams…"
"Hermione, if that dragon grows up and gets loose, we'll definitely have to worry about," Harry said grimly. "The Stone I guess we don't need to worry about, yet, but I don't think that Dumbledore would like it stolen…"
"We could tell one of the teachers," Hermione said.
"Then it might get back to Snape," Harry replied, "Which could put us in danger because he might try to stop us."
They reached the castle entrance hall, and Harry gestured for his friends to stop talking – it wouldn't do for them to be overheard by the wrong people, after all.
Up in the Gryffindor tower, the three friends found themselves a little nook in which to settle. Everyone in the tower knew that these three preferred to be alone whenever possible, and were generally happy to leave them to it.
"I can't believe he's trying to raise a dragon!" Neville muttered, shivering slightly. "Just the thought of them gives me the creeps! They were outlawed as pets ages ago, because the death toll for owners, and the amount of Muggles spotting them, was getting too high for the Ministry to let it go on any more."
"I wonder when we'll study dragon laws in History of Magic," Hermione remarked quietly, "It sounds really fascinating … I'll have to read up on them in my spare time … after the exams, I guess."
"I think dragons come in third year," Harry remarked. "We'll probably learn about the beasts themselves in Defence Against the Dark Arts some time, and we'll learn about the laws concerning them in History of Magic, since it was quite a while ago that they were outlawed."
"I can't wait," Hermione remarked, bouncing slightly.
"But like you said Hermione, the dragon is the least of concerns at present. Obviously Dumbledore doesn't want that Stone to fall into the wrong hands … and Snape is trying to steal it … Dumbledore probably doesn't know about that, and therefore won't be able to do anything more about protecting it," Harry said, going over what they knew.
"Nemo, the most important thing right now is to try and pass the exams," Hermione interrupted him. "Dumbledore can take care of the Stone – I don't think Snape will be able to steal it …"
"I think Snape knows more than you suspect," Harry interrupted her. "I never told you, because it didn't seem too significant at the time, but after the last Quidditch Match, I saw Snape going into the forest. I followed him," he ignored Hermione's gasp and attempt to tell him what a bad idea that had been, "I found out that Snape knows most of the puzzle, and that Quirrell knows the last bit … Snape was trying to find out what it was."
"Which we now know is the set of things that the teachers set up," Hermione said. "Which means that …"
"Snape knows how to get past Fluffy," Harry sighed. "Quirrell doesn't seem to have broken yet, but he's obviously not having the best time at present, because I'm sure you've noticed that he's getting paler and paler as the days go by."
"Yeah …" Neville said. "Hey, guys … shouldn't we develop some sort of coding for talking about this stuff. I mean, if Snape found out that we know about him, and if anyone finds out we know about the Stone … that's not going to be good, is it?"
"You're right," Harry reflected. "I hadn't thought of that … I mean, I'd thought of being careful about where we spoke, and when … but the idea of a code escaped me completely."
Harry was quite surprised at this, considering the amount of codes he and Sirius had used in the past to protect each other … but he guessed that he had always thought of Hogwarts as a fairly safe place, because Sirius had always said it was, and he was already using a code for his name, but that was different, he supposed.
Hermione was looking a little disgusted that she hadn't thought of it either. "We'll have to think of something that we won't forget," she remarked. "So it should sound something like what we really mean."
"Maybe 'stone' should become 'ruby' or something like that," Neville suggested.
"You've been spending too much time with Blaise," Harry accused the other boy. "You're getting really good at being sneaky."
Neville gave an embarrassed grin, knowing that Harry was only joking.
"OK, so, the Ruby is going to be stolen by …" Harry murmured, thinking. "By the …dragon?"
"We could pretend it's some story that we are writing for our friends at home," Hermione suggested. "I mean, that could work, couldn't it?"
"Yeah!" Neville said enthusiastically, "So, we could have it that there is a ruby in a maze full of obstacles, and we are deciding what those obstacles are!"
"And that way we can debate about it all we like," Hermione agreed, "Because we 'change' the obstacles and debate what we want them to become!"
"OK, so Fluffy can become Hades' Three Headed Dog of the Underworld," Harry mused, "Now, I do remember what the legends call it, I just need a moment to think, I haven't read about it for sometime … That's right! Cerebus!"
"OK, so Fluffy is now Cerebus," Hermione said, writing something down on a blank piece of parchment.
"What are you writing?" Harry asked.
"That the first obstacle is Cerebus," Hermione replied. She turned the page towards them.
Cerebus – DECIDED, it read. Next there were five blank spaces with question marks in front of them, and running down the other side of the page was a list:
Plant
Potion
Dark-something
Charmed
Transfigured
Big end.
"We don't know what any of them are, and should anyone ask, we can just say that we are writing a story which incorporates what we have been learning at Hogwarts so far this year," Hermione explained.
"Good," Harry said, nodding his head slightly. "So now we can try and decide what the other things are!"
"Well, Hagrid told us who helped to protect the ruby," Hermione said, "So we can expect that they did something to do with their field of expertise – that's why I wrote that list down the side."
Harry and Neville nodded slowly. "So, we know vaguely what to expect … but how can we get past whatever it is?" he wondered aloud.
"By studying for the upcoming exams," Hermione said firmly.
"How does that help?" Harry demanded.
"Because by studying for each of the subjects, we learn more about them, and have a better chance of discovering really good ways of getting the main characters through the maze!" Hermione replied triumphantly.
"I hate to say this," Harry remarked slowly, "But she's right."
Neville nodded tiredly.
"But there's no point in studying any more tonight," Harry said before Hermione could suggest that they get back to work. "We'd better go down to dinner, then have a good nights sleep so that we'll be awake to concentrate in the morning."
Hermione looked ready to argue, but Neville agreed with Harry before she could say anything, as she was obliged to go along with them. "You know, we'll have to let Blaise in on this soon," Harry said to his friends.
"Can we trust her with something like this?" Hermione asked, "I mean, she's in Slytherin…"
"I think we can," Harry replied firmly, "and that's all the better – she's cunning and sly, and so she should be able to help us find things out!"
"I suppose," Hermione said slowly, "But …"
"I like Blaise," Neville said, "I think we can trust her."
Hermione nodded unwillingly, "I like her too," she said slowly, "But there are so many bad things said about Slytherin … it's hard to forget them all."
"Voldemort was in Slytherin," Harry remarked, not really thinking.
"Don't say his name!" Neville hissed. "You know it's bad luck Nemo!"
Harry shrugged slightly. "I don't think it's bad luck," he said coolly, "I think that it's just plain stupid. What harm can saying the name of a wizard who is supposed to be dead do?"
"I dunno," Neville said, "But I don't like it either."
Harry just sighed. "Well, I'll not stop saying it until I have proof that it's bad luck or whatever," he said.
"So when shall we tell Blaise?" Hermione asked, giving in.
"Tomorrow," Harry decided. "We'll have to go somewhere out on the grounds though … just so we can't be overheard."
grand admiral chelli, JeanieBeanie33, cantfindagoodname, gual1, kraeg001, darkangelgep, Shadowface, Jeanne2, mileseon, athenakitty, Samara-Morgan-101, Motif, cyress, Wynjara, vicky, Silver Scale Serpent, sari, NateP, Romulan Empress, torifire126, IceSugarHigh, Musicstarlover, SkyFireZero, Siri Kat, SkyFireZero, Nasser Himura, Surarrin, Potter Sister, Empress Sarah-sama, Chains of Death, blank, Snuggs, Leeanna-Marie-Malfoy, Loopy Luna Lovegood, easilyamused, legolasfan91, roxy.
WolfMoon