Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Sorry I forgot to update yesterday, I will try to stick better to the Sunday schedule!

This chapter was such a pain to write because just as I'd gotten into the flow of it all I had written just deleted for no reason... which is always great fun.

Harry was relieved that the attention died down within around a week. He'd still get off-handed comments or jokes from his friends about how he was going to be the next great wizard, but Harry felt like, more or less, he could go back to hiding in the shadows.

His friendship - if you can call it that - with Hermione was a bit strained because of her jealousy. The girl was jealous because she didn't have the same power as Harry; that no matter how much she studied, he would always be better because he was born that way - that by chance he was more powerful, not for any clear reason just sheer dumb luck (not that it was necessarily something to be pleased with - sometimes too much power leads to bad things).

Not that that was even true - that he would always be "better" that is - Harry mused, there were many different forms of magic which didn't require power but precision. Potions for instance, it was potentially the most useful subject they studied at Hogwarts - you could use it to heal, to kill, in courts to get confessions or even just to dye one's hair - and that didn't require any magical power at all, a squib could do it. Or for subjects such as arithmancy, from the little Harry knew about it, it seemed to be less about magical power too. Besides, having more power still doesn't guarantee success - it just gives one a head-start, Harry would still need to practice and research and train if he wanted to be the best.

Harry had finally gotten up the guts to write and send the letter to Luke; telling him about Harry's birth parents, James and Lily, who'd died saving him instead of being drunk parents who'd endangered their one year old son; he told him about how he was considered the hero of the wizarding world for stopping the war; he told him about how people were going mad as they tried to find him; that he was considered a missing person even though he was right under all of their noses.

Luke's reply had come immediately the next day, questioning whether should tell everyone his true identity, but also saying that he didn't deserve to have the weight of the world on his shoulders, considering everything he'd been through at such a young age.

Luke had angrily ranted about Dumbledore, half-heartedly suggesting Harry transfer to a different school, to get away from the man who was partially culpable for the abuse (and near-death) that Harry had suffered - though the doctor knew that Harry was happy at Hogwarts, that he had friends here and would never leave the school.

Harry considered briefly telling Terry about his identity, asking his perspective on the matter and whilst Harry thought that he could trust Terry, and that Terry wouldn't reveal his secrets, Harry didn't want his first friend treating him differently. He'd seen how everyone reacted when he'd cast a nonverbal spell, he didn't want that again - and especially considering that that would be on a much larger scale. He'd read enough to know that the name 'Harry Potter' was a household name in magical Britain, that if he revealed who he was his name would be on the Daily Prophet's (the main wizarding newspaper) front cover.

Harry wasn't stupid. He knew that he wouldn't be able to hide his identity forever - that one day somebody would find out what to happen - that with everyone searching somebody would follow the inevitable paper trail, from the Dursleys, to the hospital, to Luke Reynolds. But he also knew that he didn't want to speed up the process - he'd hide his identity for as long as he could, and considering he only just found out about this identity it shouldn't be too hard, right?

"A dragon?" Harry asked looking up from his Charms essay. "At Hogwarts?"

Terry nodded fervently, the boy had burst into the dormitory exclaiming how the Hogwarts' groundkeeper, a large man by the name of Hagrid, had been illegally keeping a dragon on Hogwarts' grounds. "He bought it when it was still just an egg - I don't know how though, dragon's eggs are extremely expensive black market goods, and the Hogwarts' groundkeeper can't get paid much - but it hatched a week ago." Terry exhaled taking a few breaths before continuing - clearly having run through the castle to impart his knowledge on Harry and the others. "Baby dragons don't control themselves very well," Terry explained, addressing Harry, "A lot of fire!"

"Doesn't Hagrid live in a hut?" Harry asked, already predicting how badly this could go.

Terry nodded his head slowly and Michael and Anthony both ran to look out of the window.

"You can't see his hut from here." Harry told them, and the two sheepishly walked over to the desk where Harry was sitting - putting down his quill, his charms homework discarded in priority for this story.

"I was walking from herbology - wanted to ask Sprout a few questions - and I saw the smoke." Terry continued his story, all the boys hanging on every word. "All the teachers started running out from the castle and performing spells to put water on the hut and extinguish the flames - the hut is practically all burnt down."

"Poor Hagrid." Anthony murmured running a hand through his hair.

"Pretty stupid though," Michael said, in his usual blunt tone, "Who raises a dragon in a wooden hut."

"Is he okay?" Harry asked. "Hagrid?"

"Yeah, he was out of the hut, safe and sound." Terry replied before adding dramatically, "Along with the dragon he was holding."

"Holding a dragon?" Michael asked incredulously. "That's insanity - especially with his beard... he's lucky it didn't catch on fire." He added and Harry grimaced at the image.

"What's going to happen now?" Anthony asked.

"The ministry is going to have to come in," Michael replied, "Having a dragon like that is illegal, I'm sure."

"Will Hagrid be arrested?" Harry asked, slightly concerned for the groundskeeper, who hadn't seemed anything other than nice the few times Harry had seen him.

"Probably." Michael replied nonchalantly.

"Maybe not though," Terry began, "He's pretty much under Dumbledore's protection so he'll most likely be fined and then fired from his job - child endangerment and all that."

Harry nodded, whilst the man seemed nice, raising a dragon on school grounds was never a good idea - and it could have gone very wrong.

"Dumbledore's going to be under a lot of scrutiny now," Terry continued. "Having a dragon in his school without him knowing, and it being one of his staff who had it, that along with all the Harry Potter stuff isn't going to be good for his reputation."

Harry couldn't help but smirk slightly at that. Good, he thought, the old man deserved that - he was treated like an angel, a symbol of good, perceived to be perfect, when he was anything but.

"What will happen to the dragon?" Anthony asked.

"It'll probably be sent off to some sort of sanctuary - it won't be hurt, depending on how much it fights back." Michael replied.

"What a year." Harry muttered before realising that everyone heard him. "I mean, a troll and a dragon - that can't be normal even by wizarding standards."

"No, it's definitely not normal by any stretch of the imagination." Terry responded.

"Especially if you add what Dumbledore said at the Welcoming Feast." Michael added, purposefully cryptic to try and draw everyone's attention - which he succeeded in (with the exception of Antony who'd decided he would prefer to read some book he'd gotten mailed from his parents).

"I can't remember..." Terry said feeling slightly disappointed in himself (a sentiment Harry currently shared). "What did he say?" He asked curiously.

"About the third-floor corridor." Michael hinted, trying to get them to remember whilst simultaneously enjoying his position of superior knowledge.

"That it's prohibited?" Harry asked, wondering if that was the extent to the speech.

"That anyone who enters will encounter a potentially very painful death." Michael corrected.

"That doesn't sound very school friendly." Terry mused.

"Neither do trolls and dragons." Michael replied.

"Why wouldn't he just using a locking charm of something?" Harry asked.

"It is locked - the door from the charms corridor to that corridor is locked." Michael inserted.

"But not the door on the grand staircase." Terry shot back. "This is Dumbledore, he's powerful enough to lock a door so that no children could enter... so why is he offering people the opportunity to potentially die?" Terry half-interrogated Michael whilst Harry's anger - hatred - for Dumbledore was growing by the second as he came to some sort of realisation.

"Unless he wants people to enter..." Harry trailed off as the boys' eyes widened comically, everyone's attention now firmly on Harry. "Well as Terry said, Dumbledore's powerful - apparently the most powerful wizard of his generation - so he could definitely stop people from entering if he wanted to, no?" Harry quizzed them and Terry nodded slowly in acceptance - though Michael didn't seem as convinced (and Anthony was still just on his bed reading his book). Harry fiddled with his quill as he contemplated the matter. "The troll." He muttered.

"Huh?" Michael made a confused noise.

"What are you talking about Harry?" Terry asked in a more put together manner than Michael.

"How does a troll get into Hogwarts without anyone knowing - they're huge, so how did it get in, because I doubt it just walked through the front door." Harry answered, the pieces starting to come together.

"You're saying someone put it in?" Terry wondered.

"Who?" Michael asked, sceptic of Harry's line of thought.

"I don't know." Harry replied firmly. "But isn't the girls bathroom Hermione was found quite close to the third-floor corridor?" He asked and Terry nodded slowly.

"Why then?" Michael asked, - still sceptic, but clearly starting to be persuaded.

"I don't know." Harry repeated himself - getting frustrated at the lack of evidence he had. "Maybe it was sent to get something?"

"Are trolls even intelligent enough to get orders?" Michael shot back, returning to the position of unconvinced.

"It was a distraction." Terry muttered. "That would make sense right? If someone was trying to distract the staff?" He said, making eye contact with Harry as if to ask for back up or see that Harry was convinced. "But why?" He wondered.

"Dumbledore's really important right?" Harry asked, trying to grasp at straws in the hopes that a box of evidence would come out with them.

"Yeah." Terry answered despite the rhetorical nature to the question.

"So people trust him?" Terry nodded. "Maybe they trust him with possessions or, or artefacts. Maybe they trust him to keep things safe." Harry continued, starting to regain some confidence in his theory once more.

"Why wouldn't they just go to Gringotts then?" Michael asked - an edge of superiority in his tone.

After a while of thinking Harry shrugged, almost ready to concede defeat when Terry piped up: "Gringotts was broken into."

"Wait what?" Harry asked incredulously - remembering how safe it had seemed when he'd gone there with Luke in the summer, remembering their threat to thieves which sat on their wall, and their tight security.

"Well," Terry began, clearly excited to be in the role of story-teller again. "It was all over the Daily Prophets," Michael started nodded in recollection. "Nothing was stolen - but only because that vault had been cleared out earlier that same day."

"That's enough to make someone lose faith in them." Harry muttered, and the other two boys nodded. "Which could have led to someone asking Dumbledore to look after something for them?"

"So Dumbledore's hiding something dangerous in Hogwarts-"

"Or is hiding something which has dangerous protections." Harry interrupted Terry who nodded before continuing.

"-and that's why the third-floor corridor is off limits - because Dumbledore doesn't want the students to find it."

"Then why isn't the corridor locked up better?" Michael asked.

"I don't know. But either way Dumbledore's putting his students in danger." Harry replied, his voice steady despite his anger at the old man for once more endangering him.

"Maybe it was for Harry Potter." Terry mused and Harry flinched at the mention of his birth name.

"What?" Michael asked incredulously.

"He was meant to be here this year - and Dumbledore didn't know he wasn't going to show up until the last minute - so maybe it was something to do with The Boy-Who-Lived."

"That's a bit of a stretch." Michael replied.

"As though this entire conversation isn't a stretch?" Terry retorted before continuing. "Perhaps it was a test for him; seeing whether or not he would live up to his reputation." Harry almost felt sick at this theory, starting to wonder if Terry was right, and if Dumbledore was specifically risking his life (again) just to see his power or intelligence.

"What do you think is down there?" Terry asked eagerly, clearly moving on from his earlier train of thoughts just as quickly as he had begun it.

"This is only a theory." Michael halted his enthusiasm. "We have no proof and no evidence." Michael reminded him.

"Well... what do we do with this information - this theory?" Terry asked, an excited look on his face at the premise of investigating a mystery.

"Nothing?" Harry replied with a sheepish expression on his face.

"Nothing?!" Terry repeated incredulously. "How can we do nothing?"

"We're just first years - it's not our problem. Besides, why would we actively seek trouble? I don't know about you but I'd prefer to be in my dormitory reading a potions textbook then sneaking around the castle, potentially losing points or getting a detention."

"Potions? No thanks." Michael replied, but he clearly agreed with Harry's overall point.

"Fine." Terry conceded reluctantly, with far more than just a hint of disappointment in his tone. He paused reflectively clearly weighing up the pros and cons of the potential endeavour, "Fine." He repeated though this time with more acceptance in his tone. "I couldn't bare to lose the points contest to Harry again anyway." He added with a grin - he'd decided along with Harry to make their points contest one which took place every term.

Harry laughed in amusement, shaking his head before picking up his quill to finish writing his charms essay, scowling at the ink blot that had formed on the parchment.