After the Dawn: The Philosopher's Stone

Chapter Twenty Eight: Bitten

Once he was sure that everyone in the dorm was asleep, Harry took his invisibility cloak and stole down from the Gryffindor tower and out onto the grounds. There seemed to be no light at all coming from Hagrid's hut, but Harry knew that this was only because the curtains were drawn closed. He was sure that Hagrid was busy enough within, taking care of his pet dragon.

With a sigh, Harry turned down towards the forest, then froze and drew back against the castle. He could see, walking hurriedly down towards the forest, a cloaked figure, sinister and powerful.

He shivered slightly. "It feels evil, does it not?" Sirius came out of the darkness beside him, and Harry struggled not to scream in fright at his sudden appearance. "Easy lad, I didn't mean to scare you," Sirius added, resting a hand lightly on Harry's shoulder.

Harry nodded. "I know," he replied. "But you did anyway."

Sirius smiled slightly, but his eyes were on the figure disappearing into the forest. "I don't like it," he said quietly, "Even I could feel the evil coming from whoever that was … that's not someone I'd like to meet on a dark night."

"Snape?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Sirius replied. "It didn't smell like Snape, it smelt impure … but then, that smell could easily have come from some potion the git was making. I really couldn't tell, and right now, I don't relish the idea of following him, if it is a him."

"Don't," Harry said reflexively. "I don't know why, but I don't want you to go. If you go, I don't know if you'd come back."

Sirius squeezed his godsons shoulder reassuringly, "Don't worry, I won't leave you alone. Now, or ever," he told Harry. "I feel that I should go after that thing, but only to find out what's going on. Otherwise, every instinct I possess is screaming for me to remain here and to stay far away from the forest tonight."

Harry smiled. "Did you come because you got my message?" he asked.

"I did indeed," Sirius replied. "I share your concerns about the dragon – those creatures are no laughing matter. We have to find some way of getting Hagrid to give it up."

"But the only reason he'd do that if he knew that it would be going to a safe place," Harry pointed out. "And off the top of my head, I don't know any of those."

"The safest place would be one of the dragon colonies … I could possibly take it to the nearest one of them, but you'd have to help me a little," Sirius replied, "For a start, you'd have to get the dragon to me."

Harry nodded. "I'll see what we can come up with," he said.

"I'll think on it too, but I'll stay hidden from the rest of the castle," Sirius said, "I'll contact you if I need anything, or if I think of any likely story."

Harry nodded, and the pair of them went their separate ways. As he walked up toward the Gryffindor tower, hidden by the Invisibility Cloak, Harry chanced a glance down at the grounds, and saw the figure returning from the forest to the castle. He knew where Sirius would have gone, down beneath the Whomping Willow tree, where he knew that no one could find him, and Harry was glad that his godfather was out of the way.

Knowing that the figure was down there, and wanting to know who it was, Harry hurried up to the Gryffindor tower, where he had left the Marauders map. He was wishing, now, that he had taken it with him that night.

When he reached the tower and his dormitory, Harry found the map and activated it, but by the time he had, Snape, it seemed, was in his quarters, sleeping, and the only one's still awake were Quirrell and Dumbledore. Each of those were pacing in their offices.

Harry sighed. The answer to his riddle was no closer to completion, he quickly realised. For a while he stared at the map, willing it to give up its mysteries, then, giving up, he went to bed and fell into a deep but troubled sleep.

The next few weeks seemed to go from bad to worse, in Harry's estimation. Hagrid's dragon, which he had ended up calling 'Norbert' of all things, was growing fast, and in a week was almost half the size of Hagrid's hut.

"Hagrid, you have to let him go," Harry said, staring at the man, willing him to believe it.

Hagrid turned away first, "I know," he said sadly, "But I don't want him to get hurt out there in the wild … he won't have anyone to take care o' him! He needs his mummy!"

Harry sighed. He hadn't seen much of his godfather over the week, but he knew that Sirius was around. He decided that he would have to go and talk to his godfather soon, since the situation would very soon be forced out of their hands if they didn't do something soon.

That day, however, he returned to the Gryffindor common room, leaving Sirius, and Hagrid, undisturbed for the time being.

Not long after that, things went from bad to worse when Harry, aiding Hagrid in feeding Norbert, who was now approaching the full length of Hagrid's hut, was bitten badly.

"Nemo! You shouldn't have gotten in 'is way!" Hagrid admonished, not seeming to notice that Harry's hand was bleeding. Scowling with pain and annoyance, Harry left the hut without a further word, hearing Hagrid humming Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star.

Utterly disgusted, Harry wrapped his hand in the corner of his coat, hissing quietly in pain. Under the invisibility cloak, he made it easily back to the dorm and wrapped his hand in bandages, wincing every time he pulled it tighter. If Norbert's fangs were poisonous, Harry didn't want the poison entering his blood stream.

Once he'd finished that, he lay in his bed and waited for hours for sleep to claim him, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his hand, which was not a good thing. He was not sure what finally lulled him to sleep, but sleep he did, and deeply, once he got there.

In the morning his hand, when he unbandaged it, was going a little green. Evidently, as he had suspected, the fangs had been poisonous. Going to the bathroom before anyone else in the dorm woke up, Harry washed first himself, then his wound thoroughly, and re-bandaged it firmly, hoping to keep the wounds origin a secret. It was a good thing that the thing had bitten his left hand really, so he could still do everything he needed to in class.

The only people he told the truth to were Neville, Hermione and Blaise.

"Draco's been acting pretty smug lately," Blaise said that recess as they walked around a courtyard. Harry felt restless and didn't want to sit, so the others humoured him and wandered. Even Hermione was persuaded out of trying to study for the coming exams to keep him company.

"Any idea's why?" Harry asked, wincing as he moved his hand a little. It hadn't stopped throbbing all day, and he really wished that he could go to Madam Pomfrey, but she'd know a dragon bite straight off, he was sure. He would go and see Sirius today after classes and see what his godfather could do for him.

"I'm sure it's because he knows about Norbert," Blaise replied grimly. Though she hadn't met the little menace personally, she had heard all about him from the Gryffindor threesome.

Harry nodded. "I expect so," he replied. "See if you can find out anything from him, what he's done about it."

"Knowing Malfoy, he'll have gone running to his father," Blaise said softly, "Lucius has way too much power … if anyone can do anything about Hagrid, it's him. He could go head to head with Dumbledore, and he might just come out on top."

Harry sighed. "Look, I'm not going to come to the next class," he said, making up his mind then and there. "My hand hurts, so I'm going to go back up to the tower and wash it out."

"You should go and see Madam Pomfrey," Hermione told him.

"I know, but I can't risk that until Norbert is gone," Harry replied. "I don't want to get Hagrid in trouble."

"If you get really sick, it won't be helping anything," Hermione pointed out.

"If it gets any worse, I'll go and see Madam Pomfrey, regardless of the consequences," Harry promised her, just as the bell went. "Make my excuses and get the notes for me, would you?" he added as they all headed inside.

"OK," Hermione said, sounding as if it was against her better judgement, and the foursome separated. Harry did what he had said he would and went back to the tower to bathe his hand. Now it had swelled slightly and the bandage was cutting into his soft, red-green flesh.

Wincing with every move he made, Harry rinsed the wound. The wound itself was weeping a little and Harry shuddered, because it looked rather disgusting, before bandaging it painfully back up again, and throwing the Invisibility Cloak over his shoulders before starting downstairs and out onto the grounds again.

Using a large stick, he froze the branches of the Whomping Willow and headed quickly down the passageway, whistling loudly to let Sirius know who was coming. Harry and Dan had made their special whistle, and it was that tune that Harry whistled now – Sirius would know beyond doubt that it was him who came.

Sure enough, when Harry reached the end of the passage, Sirius was holding the trap door open, and helped Harry up into the room beyond. Most of the place seemed to be layered with dust. "Why haven't you cleaned that up?" he asked, "Surely it wouldn't be that hard?"
"Just in case someone comes," Sirius replied. "Your hand – it's bandaged! What happened?" he asked, as he led Harry upstairs and into a bedroom with a bed that still seemed to be mainly in one piece.

Harry lay down, grateful to rest, and explained what had happened. "I don't know what we can do, but we really need to do it soon," he finished off, his injured hand resting on his chest. "I can't take much more of this, and I'm sure that Hagrid is going to get seriously hurt if we don't do something soon."

Sirius came over and gently took of the bandage, though Harry still screwed up his face in pain. "Sorry," Sirius apologised.

"It's ok," Harry replied, "It needs to be done."

Once the bandage was taken off, Sirius too winced on seeing the wound. "Nasty," he remarked.

"Tell me about it," Harry replied, trying to keep his hand still.

"Well, luckily for you I know something on treating wounds," Sirius grinned, and murmured a spell. Harry felt the pain reduce dramatically. Sirius used a spell to redo the bandage for Harry, and the boy knew that there was some sort of salve on his hand as well.

"Come back in the early hours of the morning," Sirius told him softly. "Then I'll do it again for you. It should go down in a couple of days."

"OK, but that doesn't take care of the problem with the dragon," Harry pointed out.

Sirius nodded. "I guess that I'll have to take it to a reserve somewhere," he remarked tiredly, "Since we don't know anyone else … I don't particularly relish the thought of flying with a dragon for miles on end, but it doesn't seem like I have a choice right now."

"That still leaves the problem of getting Hagrid to give Norbert to you," Harry pointed out.

"Hagrid knows nothing about your family, correct?" Sirius smiled, "I shall therefore play a cousin who once worked as a dragon-tamer and knows plenty about them and where all the reserves are."

Harry smiled. "Right, I'll let Hagrid know about that and hopefully he'll agree to give me Norbert to give to you."

"Let me know what the plan is once you've talked to him, and let him know that sooner is better," Sirius replied, and hugged his godson briefly. "I'll see you soon OK?"

Harry nodded, said goodbye, and left, his heart considerably lighter than when he had arrived.

Up in the Gryffindor tower, completely alone in the first year dorms, Peter Petigrew resumed his human form and hurried upstairs to the older year dorms. He knew very well that the Weasley Twins had the Marauders Map, and he knew that Sirius had one too … so if Sirius ever came to Hogwarts, he would be able to find Peter.

It was a good thing, then, that when they had created the maps, the foursome had devised a spell to keep themselves off it. All they had to do was go to one of the maps every three weeks and do the spell, and they would be invisible. It didn't matter which map, the spell, done on one, would work on all.

The only downside, of course, was the fact that it had to be constantly renewed, and so far this year Peter had already nearly been caught several times.

And of course, if Sirius ever came to Hogwarts looking for him, Peter had used magic to change his appearance anyway. With a brief smile, Peter resumed rat form and fell asleep on Ron's pillow, content that, for the moment, his secret was safe.

Well, there's that chapter done. Sorry I didn't have it up earlier, I finished it awhile ago, but I haven't been on the net at home recently, and keep forgetting to take it with me when I go out (I was on Work Experience all last week in a building FULL of computers connected to a broadband network, but oh well.) Next chapter out sooner, I hope!

To all of you who asked why I was preparing for tests/going to school in summer, in Australia it's just past the middle of Winter, and summer holidays don't start until December for us.

Thanks to:

Musicstarlover, Nerwen Elendil, darkangelgep, Wytil, hermione21, kraeg001, FreedomStar, torifire126, Jeanne2, NateP, Crissy Potter, Empress Sarah-sama, JeanieBeanie33, grand admiral chelli, Samara-Morgan-101, cantfindagoodname, washu, DragonTamer9741, Siri Kat, IceSugarHigh, Lunatic Pandora1, Kiku-san, cyress, Leeanna-Marie-Malfoy, humg321, DragonFoxx, Hermione Malfoy Potter, Grumpy, Silver Scale Serpent, kittyelah, PadfootObsessed329, inquisitive, blip-dragon, athenakitty, michaelrccurtis, sami1010220, AltonShadefoot, tish tosh, me.

WolfMoon