Harry seemed in a constant state of fear that week. In Potions he looked positively ill. Kate, Dean and Seamus found this an interesting conversation topic. They all knew why he was terrified, of course, but they enjoyed making up alternate reasons.
"Snape has been trying to poison him for weeks," Seamus said fervently.
"Harry just found out that Snape is his uncle," Dean laughed.
"Or his long-lost brother," Kate added.
"Yeah," Seamus and Dean chimed.
"That's scary, though," Dean shuddered.
"Maybe Snape volunteered to be Harry's personal tutor for… Quidditch." Seamus said.
Dean and Kate laughed, imagining Snape lazily shooting read sparks at Harry's head as he flew away in terror.
"He'd be saying 'fly faster, you dunderhead!'" Kate imitated his voice.
However, the day of the match, Kate was nothing short of supportive for Harry. She, Ron and Hermione bid him good luck before leaving for the stands.
"Do you honestly think it necessary to know the leg-locker curse?" Kate hissed at Hermione.
"Just in case," Ron said.
"Look, Dumbledore's here," Hermione sighed in relief. "But don't forget, it's Locomotor Mortis."
"I know! Don't nag!"
Kate shook her head as she took a seat next to Neville.
"How are you holding up there, Neville?" Kate asked, punching him in the shoulder.
Neville squeaked but smiled guiltily. "I'm okay."
"Here they come," Hermione whispered, gripping her wand tightly in her pocket.
"I've never seen Snape look so mean," Ron muttered. "Look- they're off. Ouch!"
"Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there," Draco Malfoy drawled, grinning like a Cheshire cat at Goyle and Crabbe. "Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?"
"George!" Kate hissed, her breath misting before her in a jet. He had hit a Bludger at Snape and the Potions Master took this opportunity to award Hufflepuff a penalty. Twisting her robes nervously in her lap, she didn't speak again, tensions building around her uncomfortably.
"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" Malfoy clearly was bored of being ignored. "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasley's, who've got no money- you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."
Kate's mouth dropped and she turned to say something to this, but surprisingly, Neville beat her to the punch.
"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," he stammered.
"You tell him, Neville." Ron encouraged without looking.
"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley," Malfoy was laughing very hard, "and that's saying something."
Ron's face was becoming steadily redder. "I'm warning you, Malfoy- one more word-."
"Ron!" Hermione squealed. "Harry-!"
Kate watched the game again and saw Harry diving sharply towards the ground. Everyone applauded appreciatively. Hermione was suddenly standing, stuffing her fingers into her mouth nervously. Harry became a blur of red. Kate shoved her glasses even further onto her face.
"You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" Malfoy said. Kate hoped that Ron would come out with a scathing retort, but was greeted instead by the sounds of scuffling boys. Neville leapt in to take on Crabbe and Goyle. Too distracted by the game, Kate didn't turn to look.
"Come on! Come ON!" Kate bounced from foot to foot.
Hermione had jumped onto her chair, seemingly oblivious to the squeals below her. She positively shrieked when Harry skimmed the ground with his toes, Snitch in hand. The stands erupted. Had the Snitch ever been caught so quickly? Hermione tackled Parvati in the row in front, smothering her in a hug. Kate jumped up and down whooping excitedly.
"Ron! Ron! Where are you? The game's over! Harry's won! We've won! Gryffindor is in the lead!" Hermione cried.
There was a triumphant laugh from the seat below and a reciprocating screech. Kate turned to see Ron jumping up and grabbing Neville up from the ground. Crabbe and Goyle were looking stupefied. Neville was out cold, face bruised and bleeding. Ron had a fat lip but Malfoy had a black eye that was quickly turning darker.
"Let's get the hell out of here!" He hissed, taking a teary look at Neville. Goyle, Malfoy and Crabbe ran out of the stands.
"Oh dear," Hermione looked at Neville. Then she glared at Ron. "You were fighting! How could you!"
Ron completely ignored her. "It was brilliant! BRILLIANT! Did you see Malfoy's face?"
Kate laughed nervously, watching Ron bounce around, Neville's head flopping lifelessly.
"Um… shouldn't we take him to the hospital wing?" Kate stuttered.
"Eh? Oh," Ron took a look at Neville. "Yeah, I guess we should." Then he broke out in a grin again. "He took them on single-handedly! No wonder the old boy's in Gryffindor. What an amazing fight! Ach! Got to hand it to him…!" With Kate's help, Ron took Neville up to the castle. Hermione was too preoccupied with remembering the game to scold Ron again. Once in the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey emerged, headdress flowing behind her.
"What happened here?" She stared fiercely at Ron, and then at the limp form of Neville.
Ron was too jubilant to care. Madam Pomfrey healed his lip and looked at Neville again.
"He'll be all right, the foolish boy," she clicked her tongue. "But he'll be out for awhile still. Now shoo!" Madam Pomfrey ushered them out to tend to her patient.
Once back in the common room, they were greeted with cheers, which quickly died down.
"Where's Harry?" Fred asked, looking skeptically at his little brother. "Where's our little hero?"
Ron shrugged, still grinning madly.
"Well, we've got some chow," George indicated a smorgasbord spread out on the common room tables. "Be sure to stuff your eager little faces."
Ron eagerly dug in, shoving chocolate into his mouth and recounting his tale for anyone who cared to listen. Hermione watched the portrait hole anxiously, wondering where Harry was, occasionally clicking her tongue at Ron. She was worried that Snape had, in a fit of rage, gotten a hold of him. Kate was busy poking Ron in the head whenever he started his story again.
"Hey!" He turned to her. "You've poked me twenty-three times, now!"
"Yes, that's about right," she grinned.
"That's how many times you've dithered on about your scuffle," Hermione said distractedly.
Ron's face fell. "But it's a good story!"
"Where is Harry?" Hermione muttered.
"Dunno," Kate stood. "Let's go look."
They left the common room and wandered out into the halls. Sir Nicholas nodded to them in approval before drifting through a wall into a classroom. Ron, Kate and Hermione walked along in silence. A few Hufflepuff fourth years passed them. Then they saw Harry, practically flying through the hall way.
"Harry! Where have you been!" Hermione squeaked.
"We won!" Ron's eyes lit up again. "You won! We won!" Ron shouted at him, running over to slap him on the back. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed! He's still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right- talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens."
"Hey, Harry," Kate frowned. "You don't look so good. What's wrong?"
"Let's find an empty room, you wait till you hear this," Harry breathed. Grabbing Kate's sleeve, he dragged her to a classroom, ducking his head around to check for any unwanted visitors. Hermione and Ron chased close behind. Once everyone was inside, Harry shut the door.
"What's going on?" Kate asked.
"After the game," Harry started in a low-pitched voice, "I saw Snape going into the forest, so I followed him on my broomstick. When he stopped, I realized that he was talking to Quirrell! Quirrell was shaking and everything. So we're right. It is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy- and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus-pocus'- I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through-."
"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" Hermione said in alarm.
"It'll be gone by next Tuesday." Ron said, looking ill. "See Kate? How could Quirrell be guilty? We've got proof."
Kate chewed her lip. "Well… could you have misheard?"
"No! Kate!" Harry cried in exasperation.
"All right! All right!" Kate put her hands up in self-defense. "Quirrell could just be a sleaze-ball but Snape pure evil. Sorry."
"I can't believe you still don't believe me!" Harry shook his head.
"Sorry," Kate said again.
"I thought you were smart," Ron said, as they walked back. "But you're just a nutter."
It was clear that her friends were being extra-nice to Quirrell. Quirrell looked as though his own diet was little. There was a paler look about his face than was normal for him. Whenever Hermione, Ron or Harry pressed their ears to hear if Fluffy was still growling, Kate would roll her eyes and continue ahead of them. Always were they on her case about believing in Snape's innocence.
In the evenings, Hermione spent time drawing up study schedules and color-coding all of her notes. She began to nag Ron and Harry to do the same. Often when these arguments began, Kate would wander away in search of other companions. However, Kate couldn't fail to notice that friends were becoming more or less consolidated groups and soon she would either be a floater or a loner if she didn't choose one. She couldn't avoid Hermione, Harry and Ron forever. They were her best friends of all and she knew it.
Once she remembered her mother saying to her, "Friends aren't just the people you have fun with, they're the people you fight with and cry with but make up with later. Dealing with the tough times isn't so much how many you have of them but how you come out of them." Maybe she needed to stop circumventing their inevitable problems.
One evening Kate resigned herself to studying in the library with Hermione, Ron and Harry. The teachers had been piling them with homework beyond anything they had before experienced. Over Easter break there didn't seem to be a break. The fifth graders were busily studying for their Ordinary Wizarding Levels. The fourth years were a wreck. The perpetually timid first years looked terrified every waking moment. Hermione studied with a fervor that didn't seem possible in any human being, save for Ron's older brother, Percy.
In the library, Ron was cursing exasperatedly at his notes while Hermione was re-reading a page for the fourteenth time, committing the words to memory. Harry flipped through his potions text, searching quickly for some herb or another. Kate was absentmindedly illustrating one of the pages of The Standard Book of Spells while reading it again.
"Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?" Ron asked, breaking his friends' concentrations.
Hagrid side-stepped slowly into view, looking guilty and hiding something indiscreetly behind his back.
"Jus' lookin'," he said in a shifty voice. His first year friends were immediately curious. "An' what're you lot up ter? Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?" He squinted at them.
"For once, we're actually studying," Kate smiled.
"We found out who he is ages ago, anyway," Ron puffed his chest out. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St-."
"Shhhh" Hagrid's eyes darted around to look out for eavesdroppers. "Don' go shoutin' about it! What's the matter with yeh?"
"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," Harry said without thinking too much, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy-."
"SHHHH!" Hagrid hissed. "Listen- come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh-."
"See you later, then," Harry said eagerly.
Hagrid left quickly.
"What was he hiding behind his back?" Hermione frowned.
"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?" Harry wondered.
"I'm going to see what section he was in." Ron was obviously bored with what he was doing. Kate looked after him curiously. Hardly ten seconds later, Ron had returned with a pile of books and a bewildered look on his freckly face. The three of them jumped as Ron dropped the pile on their table with a SLAM. "Dragons!" He hissed. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno: A Dragon Keeper's Guide."
"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon," Harry commented.
"But it's against our laws!" Ron whispered. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden- anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."
"Wow, dragons in Britain?" Kate breathed.
"Of course! Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."
"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" Hermione asked.
Kate swallowed. "I think it's pretty clear."
They sat in the sweltering hot cabin as Hagrid listed teachers who had placed spells as protection for the Sorcerer's Stone. Hermione, Ron and Harry exchanged dark looks as Hagrid ended with Snape.
"Yer not still on about Snape, are yeh?" And Hagrid turned to Kate. "Or Quirrell? I mean, they helped to protect the Stone- their not about ter steal it."
Kate blushed.
"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" Harry looked anxious. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"
"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," Hagrid beamed.
"Well, that's something," Kate heard Harry mutter quietly. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."
Kate nodded in agreement, rolling her sleeves up for the umpteenth time.
"Can't, Harry, sorry," Hagrid glanced towards the fire.
Something big, black and egg-like sat in the center, flames dancing around it.
Hagrid, you live in a wooden house! Kate thought desperately. Hermione apparently shared the same thought. After they left the hut, none of them spoke. All any of them could think was that it was just one more deliciously juicy secret to keep hidden and worry about.
Oh yay.
The four friends spent most of their time doing homework. Hermione had kindly devised study schedules for each of them. Kate thought it was hilarious but Harry and Ron were irritated.
"'Cause we obviously don't have enough to be getting on with," Ron muttered behind Hermione's back. "Honestly, does she do anything but homework?"
"Sometimes she sleeps," Kate responded, flipping through One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi looking for anise. "And sometimes she bathes."
"Urgh, only sometimes?" Ron scrunched his nose.
"Well, if you define sometimes as once or twice a year, then yes."
Ron's mouth dropped open and Kate burst into laughter, and then to her embarrassment and pain, a gigantic snort erupted from her. The entire common room turned to look at her and everyone collapsed into helpless giggles, which only added to Kate's predicament. Her stomach began to hurt badly and she had to struggle to control her breathing.
Wiping tears from her eyes, she spoke. "I love laughing like that."
"You're as red as my hair," Ron's eyes were bright with laughter.
Kate nodded, grinning unrestrainedly.
"That doesn't sound like studying," Hermione scolded, trumping over to them with more parchment, Harry close behind with a few extra scrolls.
"That's because it's not, my filthy friend,"
"What?"
Ron and Kate made eye-contact and started laughing all over again.
Perhaps it was stress that had kept them laughing most of that night away, but one cheerless morning, the four of them sat down to breakfast and soon after Harry got an owl from Hagrid. Only two words were scrawled on the scrap of paper.
It's hatching.
"Bloody hell, let's skip Herbology," Ron's face was flushed with eagerness.
"Are you mad? We are only a few weeks away from exams!" Hermione hissed. She looked on the edge of suffering a conniption.
"Hermione," Ron said reasonably through a mouthful of egg, "how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?"
"We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing-."
"Shut up!" Harry whispered.
Kate saw what Harry was looking at. Malfoy, only a few feet away, had frozen to his spot, listening intently. Blood fell out of her face like water through a sieve and her heart took refuge in the pit of her stomach. The look on the silver-haired boy's face was not a good omen. Hermione and Ron watched Malfoy stalk off, a look of curiosity on his pale face. Kate and Harry exchanged dark looks.
"He… didn't hear too much, did he?" Kate whispered.
"Dunno,"
"We're still going, aren't we?" Ron asked.
"Of course we're not!"
"You're more boring than I thought-."
"Am not! Just because I don't want-."
"-and your homework obsession-."
"-passing first year may seem-!"
"-frankly disgusting."
Kate rolled her eyes. Ron and Hermione continued to bicker all the way down to Herbology, but Hermione finally agreed to run down to Hagrid's after class. Herbology went more slowly than normal as Harry kept checking his watch. Kate was so preoccupied that she tripped over the hem of her cloak and fell into an oblivious Harry. Hermione's face was completely white and her lips were pursed in an uncanny imitation of a furious McGonagall. Ron kept muttering to himself until finally the bell rang from the castle. Without a word between them, the four of them dropped their shovels and practically ran to Hagrid's hut. Hagrid greeted them with a rosy look about his face.
"It's nearly out,"
Running that night, Kate passed by Hagrid's hut and stopped to stare for a minute. It reeked strongly of alcohol, apparently food for big baby Norbert, the name of the slimy reptile of a dragon. Okay, it was rather cute, in a scary way, but it was kind of vicious too. Furthermore, the thought of Draco Malfoy turning Hagrid over was not a pleasant one. Kate crouched down behind a large bush breathing heavily. She stared at the dirt. Why couldn't Hagrid have closed the curtain just a little more? She slammed her fist into the ground and said a quiet "ow."
Sssss
Kate looked up over the bush in surprise. A hooded figure glided over the grounds and slid noiselessly into the forest. Other than that strange and random hissing sound, the creature made no sound at all. Having watched dozens of horror films, Kate knew better than to follow the cloaked being, but being a Gryffindor, she couldn't resist. Silently as she could manage, she slipped after it into the woods.
The forest was a dark and creepy place, full of life that seemed threatening. Her heart had already been quick with running, but now it followed a faster drum, pounding hard. The forest was forbidden, yet she entered anyway. Birds in the branches made mournful and sharp calls in the night. She would later swear that she heard the howl of a wolf, though according to the crescent moon, it wasn't a werewolf. Up ahead on the path she saw the figure stop for a moment and then she heard its voice:
"Where is the beast?" Its voice sounded thin and whisper-like.
"I am seeking it out, Master,"
"You had best find it soon. Do not test my patience."
Kate was trying to place the second voice.
"Where did we leave the unicorn, Master? I thought it was here-."
"Follow the blood, you fool!"
Blood? Kate wondered. She stepped a bit closer. There, on the ground ahead was a silvery stain on the dark forest floor. Unicorn blood! She clapped a hand to her mouth as her stomach jolted and her heart danced wildly. Why would this… thing… want to harm a unicorn?
A twig snapped beneath her feet. She dove into a bush, numb to the scratching of the branches, just as the hooded figure whipped around to look.
"Who's there?" The man's voice called.
Kate didn't respond, eyes wide and body trembling.
"Who's there?" He repeated.
"There is no one there! Do not waste my time!" The whispery voice spat furiously.
The figure jumped and scuttled away, whimpering apologies to the other voice.
It was on the way back to the castle, sprinting quickly as though the earth were ablaze, that Kate realized whose voice that had been.
She was right about Professor Quirrell. But, by the sinking feeling in her heart, she knew no one would believe her.
The plan to dispose of Norbert came as a relief and a new burden. Nobody seemed to notice that Kate was looking paler than usual, especially in Defense class, but this was probably because they were all so worried about Norbert anyway. The four of them had taken to helping Hagrid care for Norbert, though as Ron aptly put it, they were more or less feeding themselves to the monster. One day Ron and Kate had gone down to help with the Norwegian ridgeback.
"Give 'im this, Kate, won' yeh?" Hagrid thrust a dead rat into Kate's flinching left hand.
Her lip curled in disgust. Ron watched in horror as Hagrid filled a chewed up baby bottle with chicken blood and brandy. It was a hideous amber-scarlet blend that quickly turned murky and foreboding, reminding Kate strongly of what diarrhea looked like. Kate approached Norbert, who had more than doubled in size the last two weeks, and offered the food cautiously to him. Smoke curled around baby Norbert's nostrils evilly.
"Here little Norbie, want some food?" Kate asked carefully. Holding the rat by the tail, Kate slowly lowered the rat to the dragon's mouth. Norbert showed no sign of a desire to eat it. Instead, his ruby eyes followed the movement of her hand suspiciously. "Come on," she coaxed. "I know you're hung- OW!" Kate withdrew her arm quickly. She stared in horror at the dragon, who had shot up, grabbed the rat and her hand in its enormous mouth. Yanking her bloody fist away, Kate chucked the rat at Norbert who squealed in surprise. Hagrid whirled around. "Hagrid! It bit me!"
"Norbert!" Hagrid rushed over.
Ron dashed over as well, but looked at Kate's hand in concern. It was bleeding quite heavily. Blood spattered onto the floor and covered her other palm as she held her left hand in pain. Hagrid, however, showed little sign of worry on Kate's behalf.
"Norbert! Are yeh okay? Did she hurt yeh?" Hagrid asked, stroking the dragon's head as it ripped a limb off of the rat.
"I'll be fine, thanks for asking," Kate snapped at Hagrid, who paid her no mind at all. Norbert dropped a piece of rat on the floor, which splattered blood.
"Here's a handkerchief," Ron offered, pulling one off of Hagrid's counter. "He won't miss it," Ron muttered irritably in Hagrid's direction. He tied it tightly around her hand. It wasn't long before the blood began to soak through.
"Come on, let's go," Kate mumbled. Ron turned to leave, slipped in rat blood and fell to the floor with a thud. Kate jumped and cried out "Ron!" Norbert squealed again, and as Ron tried to get up, thoughtlessly pulling himself on the table, Norbert bit him as well.
"You blood-thirsty little-."
"You scared 'im!" Hagrid scolded Ron.
"Oh dear, did I?" Ron growled. But Hagrid wasn't paying him any mind. He was singing Norbert a lullaby. The two of them left, nursing their wounds. "I will never help that… that bastard with his stupid dragon again." Ron spat.
"It stings," Kate mentioned. "I wonder if we should see Pomfrey-."
"What would we say? 'Oh, we were walking back from Hagrid's house when a dragon flew down, bit our hands and flew off again,'?"
"I guess you're right. I can't believe we were both bitten. You'd think at least one of us might have survived the encounter," Kate's hand was now throbbing painfully. "Good thing it bit my left hand."
"Lucky," Ron muttered, "I won't be able to hold a quill for a week." His forehead was wet with perspiration. It had been so hot in Hagrid's hut. Both of them had rolled the sleeves of their robes up to keep cool, but now that they had bloody scarves on their hands, they rolled them down to keep anyone from seeing.
Ron kept hissing curses at Hagrid's name all the way up to Gryffindor tower.
That same evening, they received a letter from Charlie.
"Saturday isn't so far off," Kate said optimistically.
"Midnight? We aren't allowed out of our dormitories at night!" Hermione whispered.
"We've got the invisibility cloak," Harry said, the fire behind his head making him look intense. "It shouldn't be too difficult- I think the cloak's big enough to cover two of us and Norbert."
"Sounds good," the other three chimed.