Chapter 82: Norbert's Escape Plan

"Ron, be careful!" Phoenix yelled, but it was too late. Norbert had already taken a bite out of Ron's hand.

"Ouch! He bit me!" Ron yelled, holding his hand as it was bleeding.

"You are lucky he hadn't bitten your hand off completely!"

"Stop it, you two. You scared him! What did I tell both ye'? Be careful and don' frighten him, Norbert jus' a baby."

Phoenix rolled her eyes while trying to find a handkerchief to wrap Ron's bloody hand with. "Here Ron, this should at least help stop the bleeding. But I really think we should go see Madame Pumfrey."

"And say what? Oh well, I know we are out past curfew, but we had to help Hagrid feed his pet dragon. Come on, Phoenix, we can't risk it."

"Fine, we are finished here. You can't do anything with that hand bleeding. Who knows what Norbert could do if he smells it on you." Ron gulped and nodded on that note. Phoenix looked towards Hagrid to say goodbye but found him singing Norbert a Lullaby.

"We really need to get rid of that dragon." Ron whispered while he threw the invisibility cloak over the two of them.

Phoenix nodded her head in agreement. "Let's hope we hear from your brother soon. I don't know how much longer Hagrid can keep it a secret, especially Draco."

The two walked in silence the rest of the way to the castle. They slowly pushed open the front door and looked around for anyone who might have been around. When the two were satisfied, they continued their way towards the Gryffindor Common room. Ms. Norris walked by them, making them extra cautious, waiting for Mr. Filch to walk behind her not too long after. They were minutes away when they ran into Peeves, who was bouncing several balls at the wall. The two waited until the poltergeist left out of boredom.

Finally, they made it to the Fat Lady. The two of them gave out a sigh of relief. Phoenix whispered the password and Ron and she crawled in, seeing Harry and Hermione waiting on the coach for them. She smiled a greeting at them when Ron yanked the cloak off.

"It bit me!" he said, showing the two his bloody bandaged hand. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it; you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit."

Phoenix rolled her eyes. "I told you we needed to go see Madame Pomfrey. And what was bad, Hagrid blamed Ron for 'freighting poor baby Norbert', and when we left, he was singing Norbert a lullaby."

"Hey guys, did you hear that?" Hermione piped in; looking towards the area, she heard the noise.

The four of them went silent as they heard the sound again. It was a tap on the window.

"It's Hedwig!" said Harry, hurrying to let her inside. "She'll have Charlie's answer!" He grabbed the letter as soon as she came in, perching on one of the red chairs, waiting for a reply.

"What's it say?"

Harry looked back at the letter and read it out loud:

Dear Ron,

How are you? Thanks for the letter. I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.

Could you get the Ridgeback up to the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark.

Send me an answer as soon as possible.

Love,

Charlie

The four looked at one another.

"We've got the invisibility cloak," said Harry. "It shouldn't be too difficult. I think the cloak's big enough to cover three of us and Norbert."

"We need to do anything to get rid of Norbert and to get Malfoy off our backs." Phoenix put in.