Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
The Misplaced Potter
Chapter 16
In which another fantastic creature appears
The month of May had finally seen the end of the near constant snow and rain that had fallen upon Hogwarts castle since December. The sun shone brightly through the glass panels of greenhouse number one. The Hufflepuff and Gryffindor first formers were cleaning up their workstations in the conservatory with a lightness of spirit that had evaded most of them as the long, dreary months had dragged on endlessly.
A tall twiggy young woman wearing the paraphernalia of the Head Girl interrupted the end of class routine with her arrival. She strode between the tables with a poise that would have gladdened the heart of any ancient matron who thought that posture was the paramount social attribute. All eyes were on her as she stopped before Professor Sprout and bowed her head slightly.
"The headmaster's compliments, ma'am," she said with unselfconscious formality. "He would like to see you in his office at your earliest convenience."
The herbology teacher looked about the classroom. There was nothing remotely dangerous in that wing of the greenhouse. Only ordinary, garden-variety herbs grew in the many troughs that rested on the tiered shelves and the students were a trustworthy lot. She nodded to herself.
"Very well, then. Children, when you finish putting away the tools and sweeping you may leave. Just remember that your essays are due at the beginning of our next session," Professor Sprout said as she carefully removed her thick gloves. "Let us see what the headmaster wants, Felicity."
The students fell to their tasks with gusto as Professor Sprout and the Head Girl left. Laughing and chattering, they pushed brooms, cleaned tables, returned pots, and wiped trowels, dibbles, and scoops spick and span. Within a few minutes, Hermione and Ernie pronounced themselves satisfied with the cleanliness and organization of the greenhouse and said that everyone was free to go.
"Did I miss the meeting where they were elected king and queen?" Ron asked as he closed the tool cabinet.
"You don't elect kings," Chris intoned seriously. "They are born with their feet on our necks and remain our masters until we rebel and break free from the shackles of tyranny. Proletariat Arise!"
Ron looked from Chris to Maggie to Henry in utter bafflement.
"I have no clue," Maggie replied in answer to Ron's unspoken question.
"It's a muggle joke, of sorts," Henry said. "C'mon, Karl, let's go."
"Forward under the red banner," Chris said dramatically pointing toward the exit.
"You muggleborns are too weird by half," a chuckling Ron said as he joined the queue heading for the door.
"This from a bloke whose people invented candies that taste like sweat socks or mustard," Chris laughingly replied giving Ron a friendly swat on the shoulders.
The students poured out of the greenhouse and leisurely strolled toward the entrance to the castle. A slight breeze swirled over the lawns while mountain ringlet butterflies fluttered to bright yellow marsh marigolds or the white blossoms of turtleheads. Patches of dark green partridgeberry grew thick along the base of the castle wall but they had yet to flower. Wrens, buntings, and chaffinches flew from tree to tree as red-throated divers swan sedately across the surface of the lake.
Reluctantly, the kids walked up the stone steps entering the main castle. Students from the two houses stopped in the middle of the grand foyer on the ground floor saying their good byes to one another before each house headed for their separate dormitory.
"Does anyone smell smoke?" Susan Bones asked suddenly.
Chris followed his nose to an open window.
"Oh man," he exclaimed running to the main doorway. "Hagrid's hut is on fire."
Everyone quickly followed Chris out of the main door several of them shouting fire. Maggie rapidly caught up with Chris and passed him by. Fang, the groundskeeper's boarhound was frantically barking as he dashed back and forth in front of the burning cabin by the edge of the forest.
Maggie pushed opened the door as something crashed through the window nearest her. She threw herself to the ground as flames and flying glass shot at her. Chris landed beside her.
"It's a dinosaur," Justin yelled as a large scaly black reptile landed on the grass digging into the soft ground with thick claws. The beast had a body the size of a large dog but with a very long neck and tail. It had a large mouth filled with curved, wickedly sharp teeth. It unfolded huge bat like wings after it landed on the lawn but it did not fly away. It took a few hesitant steps and gazed malevolently around it.
"It's a dragon," Ron said. "Watch out! They are very fast and breathe fire. Everyone back away and keep an eye on it!"
"Hagrid's still inside. I'm sure he's hurt." Chris called out from the hut's open door. He and Maggie plunged inside closely followed by Fang.
"Can anyone do a freeze flame charm?" Hermione shouted.
"If you can't then none of us can," Henry replied slowly circling the winged beast. "Everyone go to the backdoor if there is one. Ron and I'll keep the dragon occupied."
"I thought we were friends," Ron grumbled but never the less fell in to Henry's scheme.
Ron and Henry danced in front of the dragon waving their arms and shouting drawing the reptile's attention to them and away from the kids circling to the back of the cabin.
"Do you know anything helpful about fighting dragons?" Henry asked.
"Yeah," Ron replied. "You find the nearest damned fool and let him fight it for you."
Hagrid was lying on the floor under the remnants of an end table when Chris and Maggie rushed into his burning cabin. Blood pumped from two long parallel cuts along the right side of his scalp as well as several large bleeding cuts across his torso. The nauseating smell of burnt flesh emanated from his burning trousers.
"There's a bucket," Maggie cried pointing toward the kitchen nook.
It took both her and Chris to left the massive, water filled pail that Hagrid had made from a small barrel to suit his oversized needs. They dumped the bucket's copious contents on the burning groundskeeper. The doused flames hissed in anger but disappeared. Hagrid groaned faintly.
"He's still alive," Maggie said as they threw the bucket aside.
Their classmates opened the rear door and rushed in.
"Somebody grab the dog," Chris ordered. "Everyone else grab what you can of Hagrid."
"No," Hermione countered. "We could hurt him worse. Everyone, wands out. Wingardium Leviosa on the count of three. One, two, THREE!"
The combined efforts of all of the students lifted the huge man from the floor of the burning cabin. Sweat popped out on their foreheads from the intense heat and the exertion of concentration. Slowly, they maneuvered the levitated Hagrid across his hut and through the open door. Gently, they lowered him to the ground twenty-five feet from the fire consumed hut. The roof beams crashed into the flames as they broke their spells.
"Is everyone all right?" Ernie asked as he swatted at a small flame on his robes.
"I'm fine," Chris said but Maggie giggled. "What?"
"You left your eyebrows in there," Lavender answered handing him her compact.
Chris looked into the small mirror. His eyebrows were gone save for a few curled seared stumps as was the hair above the eyebrows.
"Small price," Chris said snapping the compact shut.
"Yeah," Hannah agreed looking at Hagrid.
"I'll go get Madame Pomfrey," Maggie said as she set off running.
"That was quick thinking, Hermione," Chris said. "I guess I have yet to think about using magic first."
"Perhaps but I'm not about to criticize anyone who ran into a burning building to save someone else," Hermione replied as she wiped soot from her face.
The dragon extended his neck and vomited fire. Henry and Ron dove in opposite directions as a stretch of grass between them burst into flame. Henry somersaulted and jumped to his feet just in time to spot the dragon charging him. He ducked under the beast's snapping jaws but a slashing claw opened up Henry's left thigh. Henry screamed in agony as he scrambled away the best he could. He then instinctively dove to his right and rolled.
The ploy worked partly due to Henry's maneuverability and partly due to Ron seizing the dragon's tail. When Henry got to his feet, he saw the dragon running in a circle and arching its neck trying to get at the annoyance that had grabbed it. Ron was running with the dragon struggling to keep away from its teeth and fire and keeping the beast's powerful tail from shoving him to the ground.
Henry snatched an oak log from Hagrid's woodpile and hobbled toward the twirling pair. Ron tripped over a stone and the dragon pounced. Ron screamed as the dragon clamped down on the arm that he had thrown up to protect himself. The beast released the gnawed arm. It arched its neck for a killing strike as Ron tried to scuttle away.
The dragon intent on Ron never noticed Henry planting his feet and swinging the log overhand. Skull and adrenaline driven wood collided with arm numbing force. The insensible dragon fell to the ground and did not move.
Ron pulled himself into a sitting position as Henry stumbled over to him and dropped to the ground. Ron tenderly wrapped the folds of his robes around his bleeding arm.
"I owe you one," he said to Henry after a few moments.
"I owed you first," Henry replied as herolled over on to his back. "Trolls, dragons, three-headed dogs and I'm not even done with my first year yet. What's with this friggin'school?"
The boys could feel the heat from the now completely engulfed cabin even at the distance that they were from it. With a tremendous crash, the roof beams collapsed sending embers shooting skyward. The crackle of the flames was loud but they could hear the voices of their classmates behind the cabin.
"No shouts or crying," Henry said watching the blood seep through the fingers he held over his wounded thigh. "I guess everyone's okay."
"Looks like half the school's running this way," Ron said glancing over his shoulder.
Maggie came scooting around the burning house. She skidded to a halt when she spied the mob approaching her. It was only then that she saw the unconscious dragon and the two bleeding boys.
"How badly are you hurt?" she asked fearfully as she knelt beside them.
"If you or Ron wasn't here," Henry answered through gritted teeth. "I'd be crying my eyes out."
"Damn, mate," Ron said. "If I had known that we could've gone on a crying jag together. I have never hurt this bad before."
"If you can joke," Maggie said leaping to her feet. "You'll live. Madam Pomfrey, come quickly! Hagrid is hurt very badly."
Maggie led a sprinting Madam Pomfrey to the rear of the cabin as faculty members and some older students using their wands extinguished the cabin flames. The fire quickly died and the charms even cooled the charred remains to the point that there was no smoke save that which was rapidly rising on the breeze.
Barbara Thane, the blonde healer to be, knelt down beside the injured boys.
"Hello, Henry," she said as she opened her bag. "Who's your friend?"
"Ron Weasley," Henry answered. "Gryffindor first year. This is Barbara Thane. She always comes to my rescue when I'm hurt."
"Ron, I must tell you that hanging around with Henry will only get you into trouble."
"I found that out," Ron replied trying to keep his voice steady. "The git volunteered me to fight the dragon."
"And you were mad enough to do it," George said as he Fred and Percy moved to his side.
"Is he going to be all right?" Fred asked calmly but his concern for his brother was evident in every syllable.
"He'll live," Barbara answered as she delicately examined the wounds of both boys. "But he needs to develop a healthy streak of self-preservation."
"We did what we had to," Ron said in his defense.
"All's well that ends well," Percy quoted with a shake of his head. "Mum is going to have kittens though. I hope that she hasn't look at her clock lately. She'll be on her way here already if she spotted your clock hand pointing to mortal danger."
Ron nodded. He did not want to worry his mother but he was also still young enough that having his mum beside him when he was in so much pain appealed to him also.
"You know, Henry, if you have a crush on me and you pull these stunts only to get my attention, I must tell you that roses work just as well," she said
"Now she tells me," Henry joked then hissed as Barbara probed his wound.
"From the looks of that wound you wouldn't have to worry about any crushes if that dragon claw had been just a little bit higher," Fred teased
Barbara hummed to herself as she pushed the robe from Ron's shoulders and then cut the sleeve off his shirt, exposing the wound. She cast a charm that stemmed the bleeding. After dousing the wound with a disinfectant and some painkiller, she quickly but skillfully wrapped the rapidly swelling forearm in a bandage.
"That'll hold you until we get you to hospital and get some antivenin in you," she said cheerfully.
She fell back to humming as she tended Henry.
"What's that tune?" George asked curiously, as his eyes darted between Henry's wound and the eighteen-year old woman's breasts.
"Suicide is Painless," Barbara absently replied.
The badly burnt and mangled body of Hagrid came floating by. Professors Snape and Sinistra were keeping the body levitated and they all were following Madam Pomfrey at a brisk trot. The wall of students who had gathered at the edge of Hagrid's curtilage melted aside as the school's healer approached. Many of the bystanders gasped at the sight of the groundskeeper.
Professor Dumbledore, his face a mask of sorrow and worry, slowly walked over to where Professor Kettleburn was examining the dragon.
"A Norwegian Ridgeback, Headmaster," the Care of Magical Creatures professor said as Albus Dumbledore stopped beside him. "Three or four weeks old I would say. I am guessing that Hagrid has been trying to raise it."
Professor Dumbledore rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger just above his spectacles. He was worried about his friend and hopping mad at him at the same time. Dumbledore had known Hagrid for most of the half giant's life and knew that the groundskeeper's fascination with magical creatures, especially the more dangerous species, had only grown as the decades past. Hagrid also well knew that dragon ownership was illegal in Britain.
"Officially, we do not know that," the headmaster said quietly.
Professor Kettleburn nodded his understanding. "No, we don't know that for certain, do we?"
"Thank you," Professor Dumbledore replied gratefully in acknowledgement of his colleague's unspoken acceptance of his part in the imminent cover up. "Do what you must to restrain the creature. We'll then see what to do about it."
Albus looked across the dragon to the pack of children that Professors McGonagall and Sprout were leading away from the charred remains of the cabin. They did not look large enough to have pulled the massive man from the burning house but together they had managed. Thankfully, none of them was the worse for the experience saving for some small burns and scraps. Some had singed hair and robes with burn holes in them. The group stopped beside Henry and Ron.
Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, however, did not come out unscathed. Fortunately, neither boy was killed nor was either of their injuries particularly bad even if their blood splattered clothes and bodies were not sights for the faint at heart. Dumbledore bowed his head in gratitude that neither boy's foolhardy courage had cost them their lives. Arthur and Molly were among Dumbledore's closest friends. He trembled at the thought of how near he had came to having to tell them that the boy that Dumbledore had held in his own arms when the child was scarcely a day old had been killed on the grounds of what was suppose to be the safest place on earth.
As for Harry, the boy was the hope of magical Britain even if he did not know it. Dumbledore had promised Sirius that he would do all within his power to protect Harry yet the boy had faced life-threatening situations twice in seven months.
"Granted," Dumbledore thought as he walked over to Harry, Ron, and the other children who had rescued Hagrid. "They were situations that Harry had walked into on his own volition but they were never the less breaches of my promise to Sirius."
"Are you going to be able to patch them up enough for detention tonight, Miss Thane?" Professor McGonagall asked with a stone face. She held her composure for several moments before laughing at the stunned expressions of the students around her.
"You do have your wicked moments, don't you, Minerva?" Professor Sprout laughed in relief. She was having difficulties stopping the frightened tremors that ran through her body. Like Professor Dumbledore, she was upset on how close her charges had come to serious injury. She was also tremendously proud of them at the same time. She had heard time and time again that modern kids did not measure up to previous generations. She would stand these children up along side of any Hogwarts class before them.
"They'll both be fine, Professor McGonagall," Barbara answered as she stood. "We need to get some antivenin into Ron here and we'll keep both in hospital overnight but I can see no reason that they would not be out and about tomorrow. Does anyone else need immediate attention?"
"Some minor burns, here and there," Professor McGonagall replied.
Barbara nodded. "All walking wounded follow me to the hospital. I would like someone to carry or levitate Henry. I don't want him to put any stress on that leg of his until I can get it fully healed.
"We'll do it," George Weasley said. Fred lifted Henry under the arms as George rolled the oak log that Henry had used to knock out the dragon under Henry's upraised backside. Henry put his arms across the brothers' shoulders as they knelt on either side of him. They lifted him off the ground using the log like a sedan chair.
"Before anyone leaves, I wish to express my admiration for the courage each of you has shown here," Professor Dumbledore said. "None of us would have been able to reach Hagrid in time. What you did was very dangerous and I am very thankful that none of you were injured more severely but I am not going to chastise any of you for the risks that you took."
"What your parents might say is beyond my control," he added with a chuckle.
"One mother has not made up her mind yet," Professor McGonagall said hugging Maggie close to her.