Hey y'all! How's everyone doing? So it turns out that I apparently lied last chapter about only having three chapters left to go when it is actually four left. But now there are only three chapters left, well, two and an epilogue. So I hope you've been looking forward to this chapter cause I think it's the longest I've written for this story which is probably why it came out so late…ahahaha...

Without further ado, continue on dear reader and thank you for your patience!

Like always, I enjoy comments, in fact I thrive off of positive comments and love constructive critique ones cause it shows an author that their readers are actually paying attention and enjoying their work. Thanks for reading this story! Virtual hugs and cuddles to y'all.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except any OC's that may come up, any world building that has not yet been officially stated by the books and any plot points/structures that have not been used in the books.

Warning: No beta, we die like Stingbulbs.


Chapter 9: DnD stands for Detentions and Dragons

XXXXXX

The rest of winter break passed without much incident. Seth did travel home to Fablehaven for New Years because celebrating the holiday on the preserves had become an important part of the magical preserve's tradition. Especially after everything that happened with Zzyzx and still having to deal with the aftermath of its opening a few years after the fact.

Usually the New Years celebration was a happy time but the festivities were soured for Seth when discussion on who would be filling in the still vacant roles of the remaining Eternals was brought up. Kendra volunteered to take one of them, citing that despite how much the Sphinx had committed to his role, they still needed trustworthy and reliable people for the job. Seth argued that if she was going to become an Eternal then he would as well because they were partners till the end as only siblings like themselves could be.

That ended up raising numerous objections from her and their family about how becoming an Eternal would affect him as a Shadow Charmer. This ended up snowballing into an impressively explosive argument just as the ball dropped and fireworks launched into the air.

Needless to say, Seth was very happy to be heading back to Hogwarts only a couple days after.

Classes resumed without incident and a sense of normality and routine settled in again. A refreshing change from the heated arguments and terrifying thoughts of leaving his sister to weather time alone with only Bracken and the aging descendants of their family as companions.

An interesting change for the New Year was the distance that Professor Snape began to put between him and Harry whenever the two were within the same room as each other. The pale and still greasy professor would go out of his way to not interact with Harry or acknowledge his presence when in close proximity. Harry was highly appreciative of this but found himself rather curious about the strange gazes from Snape that he occasionally managed to catch sight of. He theorized that it must mean the potions professor had caught onto the fact that they knew about his schemes.

Seth brushed off his concerns, telling the boy not to look a gift horse in the mouth and worry about it. "He must be reevaluating his bullying ways and rather rude teaching methods," he offered as the more likely conclusion though he knew full well what really caused this change in behavior. He smiled to himself whenever he managed to lock eyes with Snape. It was amusing to see the man flinch every time before he dramatically sweeped out of the area.

Unfortunately for the three boys, Hermione heard about what happened over break with the mirror because Ron couldn't help but prattle on once he ate enough food to put himself into a coma. Who knew that treacle tarts could loosen that boy's tongue enough to mimic the effects of alcohol? Apparently Hermione and that was something Seth and Harry definitely need to work on with Ron. No need to give that girl another piece of ammunition in her persuasion arsenal.

She scolded them for the better part of the afternoon before flipping a switch and asking them about anything and everything they knew about the mirror. She found their accounts on the mirror's magic rather fascinating before flipping the switch again to scold them for their poor behavior and impulsive actions that could've gotten them expelled.

Now the quartet was relaxing in the common room. Hermione worked away on her transfiguration essay while Seth read through a textbook to help her find supporting information. Harry and Ron were chilling by the fire, their work spread out around them and absolutely not getting done any time soon.

The portrait door swung open and Neville stumbled through with a bewildered expression and dazed confusion clouding his eyes.

Seth looked up from his book and lifted an eyebrow in curiosity when he saw Neville's expression. "Hey Neville, what's up?"

This drew the attention of the other three who paused in their respective activities.

"You alright, mate?" Ron asked in concern, "You look a bit constipated there. Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

"Ron!" Hermione cried out indignantly, pinning the poor boy with a glare.

"What?" Ron whined in confusion. "I was just asking."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Ron's insensitivity aside…" She looked at Neville in concern. "You do look rather pale. Are you alright, Neville?"

Neville shook himself from his daze and opened and closed his mouth before slowly saying, "I...I don't know?"

"Did something happen?" she asked, pressing insistently.

"Uhhh..." Neville paused to try and formulate his response, "I think so? It's all rather peculiar and I'm still trying to figure out what happened myself."

"Why don't you tell us all about it? Maybe it can help organize your thoughts?" Seth suggested, gesturing for Neville to take a seat among the group.

Neville followed along and plopped himself down on the rug in between the four of them. They patiently waited as the boy struggled to string the right words together.

"I was walking back to the common room from the greenhouse when a bunch of Slytherins cornered me to pull their usual tricks. Since everyone knows I'm no good with charms, one of them thought it'd be funny to cast the leg locking jinx and then bully me while I tried to break it or give up and hop around trying to find someone who could."

"Oh Neville," Hermione sighed empathetically.

"Clearly you got out of the jinx," Harry said, gesturing towards Neville's non-locked legs, "We've all been trying to tell you that you're not as pants at magic as you think you are."

Neville shook his head. "As much as I would like to believe you Harry, no, I didn't. Not by myself anyways. Someone actually stepped in to help me out and chase the Slytherins away."

"Well who was it?" Ron demanded eagerly. "Was it one of the prefects? An upperclassman? A Hufflepuff?"

The bewildered expression came back at full force as Neville hesitantly responded, "No, actually. It was Draco Malfoy."

"Draco Malfoy?" They all asked, completely baffled.

"Are you sure you weren't just hallucinating or something, Neville?" Ron asked.

Neville shook his head in denial. "I couldn't believe it myself either. But Draco Malfoy came storming into the hallway and just went off on the other Slytherins, scolding them for indulging in schoolyard bullying when there were more productive ways to assert their superiority, his words not mine. Then he cast the counter jinx and started scolding me, telling me to start acting like a proper Gryffindor or else he'll be jinxing me for the rest of the school terms. After that, he stormed off leaving all of us wondering what just happened."

"If it weren't for the fact that everyone knows you can't lie, I'd think you were making all of that up," Hermione stated as she struggled to process the information.

"How do we know this isn't some elaborate trap? Or a con to make us drop our guards before he pulls some trick to get us all in trouble?" Harry asked with justifiable doubt.

Ron nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Who's ever heard of a snake acting without an ulterior motive meant to provide some sort of personal benefit?"

"He could have just decided to turn over a new leaf," Seth suggested with nonchalance. "And it's not like all Slytherins are bad. Some are really chill and fun to hang out with."

Ron, Harry, and Neville looked at him as if he just committed the ultimate betrayal while Hermione looked thoughtful.

Seth shrugged. "I'd like to be friends, if not, at least allies, with people who have the ability to sweet talk a baby into stealing candy for them. Think of all that free sugar."

The other three boys shook their heads at him like he was some sort of lost cause.

Then all four boys snapped to attention when Hermione sharply reminded them that they had homework to complete and exams to study for.

"What's the point in wasting time over caring about why a bully is no longer a bully?" she impatiently asked.

Ron tried to helpfully point out that exams were months away though. Of course the studious girl was having none of that and managed to rope Seth, Harry, and Neville into dragging the red-haired boy off his ass to finally get some work done. Safe to say, three of them developed a healthy fear of the girl after today. Seth just felt homesick and had the desire to send a letter to Kendra as soon as possible.

Time passed rapidly as they studied. People went in and out of the common room, either joining them in their study session or doing their best to tempt them into a break (cough the Weasley Twins cough). When the sun was down and everyone else had already gone to their rooms for the night, Hermione held Ron and Harry back so the three of them could corner Seth. It'd been weeks since the revelation that Seth knew Nicolas Flamel and now was the time for answers.

"I don't know what else to tell you guys," Seth sighed in the face of Hermione's quill pointed at him in threat. "Isn't everything I just said enough?"

"Of course not!" Hermione cried out indignantly. "All you've told us is that Nicolas Flamel is a famous alchemist renowned for creating the only known philosopher's stone which allows him to create the elixir for immortality and he's lived for over 600 years, continuing his research into alchemy while carefully guarding the secrets of the stone."

"And that's all the relevant info you need to know, yeah?" He said insistently, willing for the knowledge hungry bookworm to back down already.

"Yeah, Hermione," Harry chimed in, "We only needed to know what Snape was going after and it's clear that he's going after this stone."

Seth threw his hands up in exasperation. "Oh my god! How many times do I have to tell you that Snape is not the bad guy. He hasn't even bullied Harry since we've come back from break."

"If you ask me, that makes him even more suspicious," Ron grumbled out, "Who knows what he's planning in that greasy head of his."

"You have to admit, it is rather strange for someone to switch their behavior on a dime," Hermione agreed.

"Et tu, Hermione?" Seth lamented as he shot her a pointed look, "And isn't that a bit ironic coming from you who said to pay no mind to Draco Malfoy acting in Neville's defense?"

She blushed red from embarrassment that she tried to play off as indignation. "Don't change the subject! You haven't told the full story about you and Nicolas Flamel, I know you haven't."

"And again, how is this relevant?" Seth asked with a flat look.

"It's not," Harry interjected before Hermione could go off on another round of incessant questioning. "Now that we know what's being protected, we should think about how to protect it from Snape."

"Oh for the love of-" Seth groaned as he dropped his head into his hands in defeat.

"Who said anything about protecting the stone?" Hermione asked, looking at bit peeved, "We're not going to do anything because you are already on thin ice, mister. One more slip up and you're going to get in trouble."

Harry tried to protest. "But-"

Ron shook his head. "Sorry, Harry. But I have to agree with Hermione. You've already had too many close calls and what can four first years do against a seasoned professor, no matter how much of a greasy git he is."

"But..." Harry weakly protested.

"We'll still keep an eye on him if it makes you feel better," Hermione reassured, "But we'll have to let the other professors handle it should something happen."

Harry opened his mouth to try and protest again but closed it instead. His shoulders slumped in resignation.

"There, there, Harry," Ron said as he pat the dejected boy on the back, "At least you can take your mind off with Quidditch. You've got the match against Hufflepuff coming up."

The bespectacled boy slowly perked up at the mention of his favorite pastime.

Seth sucked in a sharp breath, drawing everyone's attention. "About that..."

Harry slowly slumped back down again. "I'm afraid to even ask but...what is it?"

"Keep in mind that I'm just the messenger so don't hex me, yeah? Anyways, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I heard from Fred and George that Snape's going to be the commentator for the upcoming match," Seth sheepishly admitted.

"WHAT?" Ron and Hermione cried out in surprise.

Harry groaned as he sank to the floor, wishing for it to swallow him whole.

XXXXXX

It's finally the day of the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff Quidditch match and three fourths of the quartet could not be any less ready for its arrival. Seth could only watch his friends work themselves into a panic over what Professor Snape would or wouldn't do in a public setting.

Harry grew more and more green at the gills the longer Hermione listed all sorts of curses and jinxes Snape could cast while commentating while Ron kept offering strategies to evade any magical mishaps on the pitch. Seth had long since given up interfering and decided to resign himself to being in paranoid company until the Quidditch match was over and done with.

Soon enough, they were seating themselves down in the stands. Nearby students glanced over in curiosity when they saw Ron and Hermione clutching their wands in a white knuckled death grip. Seth subtly covered his face with a hand and shifted away so as to not be immediately associated with the paranoid duo.

Neville plopped himself down next to Seth and also glanced curiously at the wands out in the open. He looked at Seth in question and was met with a long-suffering sigh that told him all he needed to know, which was 'don't ask because he really doesn't want to know.'

"Well look who finally decided to show up."

Seth, Neville, Hermione, and Ron looked up to see Draco Malfoy standing above them with crossed arms and a haughty expression. His usual goons of Crabbe and Goyle were absent, replaced by Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini looking entirely uninterested in what was currently happening.

"Not now, Malfoy," Ron groaned in annoyance, his wand rose at the blonde boy in threat.

"And what are you going to do with that, Weasel?" Draco sneered, "Poke my eye out? Knowing you, you're more likely to injure yourself with that worthless excuse of a stick."

Ron turned red in indignation and was about to send out a jinx but Hermione grabbed him by the arm and gave a pointed look screaming for the red head to 'behave.'

"Look Malfoy, we don't have time to deal with you so why don't you run off to whatever hole you slithered out of," Hermione said impatiently.

"Why are you here anyways?" Seth asked, narrowing his eyes in question as he pulled a small notebook out of his pocket. He started rifling through it, muttering about the different meanings this one confrontation could have. He also grumbled over how confusing Slytherin emotions could be with so many double meanings to their words that it was almost impossible to guess the correct interpretation on the first try.

Draco scoffed. "Just felt like it and I wanted to see if Longbottom would be here or if I'd be finding him suffering from another jinx by now."

"Ummm...t-thank you for th-that by the way, Malfoy," Neville hesitantly stuttered out, "I-I g-greatly appreciated it."

"Th-th-th-th-" Draco mockingly stuttered. He pinned the nervous boy with a glare that had him squeaking in fear. "Honestly Longbottom, it's a wonder how you were ever sorted into Gryffindor. Have more of a backbone for Merlin's sake! I've never seen such a cowardly lion before. A worm has more of a spine than you and they don't even have bones!"

Seth looked up from his notebook to coo at Draco. "Awww, you do care."

Draco blushed and sputtered indignantly. "I do not!" He cried out angrily though it was quite clear he was rather embarrassed. "You need to get your head checked for brain damage because you're clearly suffering from it!" He turned his back on the Gryffindors but Seth saw his pale ears burning bright red. "Come on you two. We have better things to do."

Draco stormed off with a huff. Theodore and Blaise followed after him with an exasperated shake of their heads and a wave goodbye directed to Seth.

Ron, Hermione, and Neville stared flabbergasted at what just occurred.

"Well..." Hermione hesitantly said, "That...happened."

Neville gaped like a fish, his mouth opening and closing without a single sound.

Ron placed his head in his hands, eyes wide with shock. "Why does it feel like my entire worldview is crumbling before my eyes?"

Seth patted him reassuringly on the back. "That's because it is, buddy. Now give me a sec, I gotta write this down."

He pulled out a mechanical pencil and scribbled frantically in his notebook as he muttered, "Interaction number one hundred and fifty seven, additional evidence for observation number twenty one, Syltherin's are prone to tsundere behavior and must be approached with caution else they'll flee the scene or curse you within an inch of your life."

Soon, all four Gryffindors were drawn out of their respective dazes when the match began. Ron and Hermione's death grip on their wands returned as Snape began his commentary. Seth rolled his eyes and Neville watched the two in confusion and fear.

However, it seemed that their paranoia was unfounded as Snape commentated with a drab 'I wish I was anywhere but here' attitude. The match also ended when Harry spotted the snitch not even five minutes in and caught it without a moment to spare so Snape had no time to try anything even if he wanted to.

Ron and Hermione released a sigh of relief and returned their wands to their robes. Seth restrained himself from yelling 'SEE!' to their faces as the three of them said their goodbyes to Neville and headed down to wait for Harry by the locker rooms. Harry waved them off and told them to go on ahead back to the dorms as he had to put his broom back in the shed.

They followed his suggestion, heading back to the Gryffindor common room where a celebration was already taking place. The trio made their escape into the boy's dorm room to get away from all the noise. Just when they'd settle down into comfortable seating arrangements around the room, Harry came bursting through the door in a flurry.

"Harry! Congratulations!" Hermione exclaimed as she went to hug the boy.

Harry accepted the hug with good grace before quickly extracting himself from her grasp. "Never mind that now," he said breathlessly, "You'll never believe what I just heard."

He then proceeded to tell them all about the encounter between Quirrell and Snape by the forest near the pitch. How Snape threatened Quirrell not to do anything stupid that would make him his enemy. How Quirrell tried to stay strong in the face of his threats and seemed to be holding up despite his timid nature. The real kicker was the reveal that Snape knew exactly what was behind that door and was questioning Quirrell on how to get through it.

"We were right," Harry concluded, giving Seth a triumphant look, "Snape's trying to get the Philosopher's Stone by forcing Quirrell to help him. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy and said something about Quirrell's 'hocus pocus' so I reckon there are loads of other things guarding the stone besides Fluffy. Like enchantments and whatever anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through-"

"But again, how does that make any sense?" Seth interjected, trying to be the sensible one but falling straight into the devil's advocate role in his friends' eyes. "Why would Dumbledore ask a professor who's only going to be here for a year to help guard a majorly important magic stone and not the professor who's been working here for more than a decade?"

"Then why does Snape need to ask Quirrell what sort of enchantments he put and how to get through them if he's not trying to steal the stone," Ron remarked matter of fact.

"You're obviously misinterpreting his words," Seth tried to say but Hermione cleared her throat in an attempt to bring order to the conversation.

"Regardless of whether Professor Snape is going to steal the stone or not," she said, "From what I gather, the stone's only safe so long as Quirrell stands strong in the face of intimidation and threats."

Ron groaned. "Then that means the stone's going to be gone by Tuesday."

Seth rolled his eyes. "Worry all you want but I'll bet you that the stone will be fine and you'll be eating your words when we find out it was Quirrell who wanted it all along and not Snape."

"You're on," Harry snapped back.

Hermione sighed, completely exasperated. "Boys and their stupid bets. And they wonder why they don't do well on their homework and exams."

XXXXXX

For the next few weeks, nothing happened. Nothing except classes and Quidditch and more classes and more Quidditch. There was a little bit of trouble making shenanigans sprinkled in to spice things up, courtesy of the Weasley Twins and surprisingly a couple of Ravenclaws and Syltherins. The Hufflepuffs refused to participate but they were amazing allies to have when it came to evading the professors. No one could say no to an innocent, wide-eyed Hufflepuff pouting at them after all.

Somehow, this inactivity did little to soothe Harry, Ron, or Hermione, and only served to ramp up their anxiety as Seth's palm met his face in exasperation.

"I'm telling you, he's just biding his time cause some of the professors have already caught onto how suspicious he's acting!" Seth stated over another study session in the library.

"Quirrell? Suspicious?" Harry parroted back in disbelief.

Ron snorted. "The only thing suspicious about Quirrell is how many pounds of garlic he must have on his person to always smell like he's bathed in it."

"Which makes sense if you believe the upperclassmen of their talk about a rather vicious encounter with vampires being the reason for his skittish behavior," Hermione idly remarked as her eyes sped through the third draft of her transfiguration essay.

"Then how come other professors, besides Snape, watch his every move?" Seth asked, close to pulling all his hair out at how his friends refused to even think of anything beyond their own little conclusions.

Were he and Kendra also like this when they were young and dumb? So single minded and sure of themselves despite their inexperience? Nah, they couldn't have been. Fablehaven didn't allow them to keep that mind set for long, especially after what happened with the stingbulb...and now he was sad cause he missed his nagging older sister.

"That's probably because he caused such a stink during Halloween with the troll incident instead of taking care of it as Defense Against the Dark Arts professors are supposed to," Hermione stated matter of fact, rolling her eyes and shaking her head at Seth's 'poor memory', "And did you already forget what happened last week after one of the fifth year classes was let out?"

Ron shuddered. "I don't think I'll ever be able to look at a garden gnome the same way ever again." His shoulders slumped as he heaved a dejected sigh. "Mum's gonna have a field day with that when I go home for break."

"I see you four are studying hard as usual," Hagrid heartedly said, somehow managing to be both quiet and loud in the library as he walked up to the four with multiple books in his arms. The large size of his limbs prevented them from properly reading any of the titles but they could make out the hint of a spiked tail on one and the letter "D" on many others.

"Hello Hagrid," Hermione greeted, "We're preparing for our exams."

"Even though they're still months away," Ron grumbled petulantly.

"Anyways, what've you got there, Hagrid?" Harry asked, gesturing towards the numerous books in the half giant's arms.

"Oh this?" Hagrid said, shifting arms to try and cover up the books a little more which was definitely not suspicious at all. "Just a lil' light reading is all."

Seth narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the books when Hagrid's shifting arms revealed more of each covers' titles or illustrations before covering them back up again. "That's a lot of books for some 'light reading'."

"Oh! Would you look at the time? I've got places to be and people to see," Hagrid flusteredly changed the topic, "Glad you four are focusing on your studies instead of chasing after Flamel and his stone-"

"Aha!" Ron exclaimed, smacking his hand on the table as he pointed at Hagrid in accusation. "I knew you knew what was hidden in the thir-"

Seth and Hermione quickly slapped their hands over Ron's mouth to stop him from saying anything incriminating. He shouted at them indignantly but their hands muffled his words and he eventually fell silent. Once it was clear the red haired blabbermouth wasn't going to say anything else, they removed their hands. Ron looked at them in betrayal as he rubbed at his stinging face.

"What was that for?" he asked indignantly.

Hermione rolled her eyes and flatly remarked, "If you haven't noticed Ronald, we're in the school library. Not exactly a great place to be discussing things we shouldn't have even known about in the first place."

"And you best keep it that way," Hagrid warned them, "You're all just first year students with your lives ahead of ya. Let the professors take care of any issues regarding you know what."

"But..." Harry trailed off in protest, face falling from disappointment as he looked entirely too much like a kicked puppy.

Hagrid sighed in the face of it, his resolve crumbling just as quickly as it was built. "Alright, fine. Come an' see me later, before dinner. I can't promise ta tell ya anything but it'll be better if we talk in me hut instead."

Then he walked off, exiting the library with his armful of books and a stern warning from Madame Pince about all the noise they'd made.

"I wonder why he was trying to hide those books from us," Hermione idly wondered as she returned her attention to the spread of defense against the dark arts books before her.

"Maybe it had something to do with the stone?" Harry suggested, thumbing through a charms book with growing disinterest.

"Probably not," Seth said, "The letter 'D' was on a bunch of the covers and I think I saw the end of a spiked tail so he was probably reading up on dragons."

Ron nodded in realization. "Makes sense. We all know how much he wants to have one even though it's illegal to breed and or own a dragon in any location that's not a certified magical preserve."

"Which is the only thing the wizarding world got correct when it comes to dragons," Seth sarcastically stated with a roll of his eyes. "Dragons aren't there for our entertainment or study unless you have their express permission and even then, they reserve the right to chase you out or eat you."

"You certainly seem to be knowledgeable about dragons," Hermione remarked, eyeing him curiously. "Though your words make it sound like they hold a degree of intelligence."

"It's probably just an American thing," Ron waved dismissively, "Given what Charlie's told me, none of the dragons in Europe are smart. Just a bunch of dangerous wild animals that need to be hidden from muggle society."

"Gee, I wonder why," Seth muttered petulantly under his breath.

"Regardless, let's get our studying done as soon as possible so we can finally get some answers," Harry eagerly interjected, messily shoving his charms essay towards Hermione for her to proofread.

Hermione nodded, somewhat taken aback by his enthusiasm but not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth. Ron groaned as he glanced down at the essay he hadn't even finished the introduction for. Seth laughed as he patted him on the back before shutting his mouth sheepishly when Pince shushed him aggressively.

XXXXXX

When the quartet arrived at Hagrid's hut, they were surprised by the covered windows and how nervous Hagrid sounded when they knocked on his door. Their surprise grew when they stepped inside and it felt like they'd just entered a furnace with how hot it was in the humble abode.

Hagrid offered them drinks and his homemade rock cakes but they all politely declined. It was straight to business after that. Hermione and Harry immediately jumped down the half giant's throat for answers with Ron as backup and Seth trying to play the mediator.

"Please Hagrid. We just want to know what else is guarding the stone besides Fluffy," Harry pleaded, trying his best to emulate the whiny brat attitude his cousin Dudley used to get whatever he wanted but failing miserably.

"Yeh know I can't tell you that," Hagrid said with a frown. "I don' know myself and yeh know too much already so I wouldn' tell yeh even if I could. That Stone's here fer a reason and yeh all need to stop 'fore someone gets hurt."

Seth sighed as he watched the half giant's warnings literally go through one ear and out the other.

"Oh come on Hagrid, you might not want to tell us but you do know. You know everything that goes on around here," Hermione said in a warm, flattering voice that had Hagrid's beard twitching from the hint of a smile. "We don't even need the specific details, we just wondered who had done the guarding, really. We wanted to know who Dumbledore trusted enough to help him besides you."

Hagrid beamed at the compliment while Harry and Ron beamed brightly at Hermione's brilliance. Seth just shook his head and was amazed at how easily manipulated the half giant was in the face of such terrible persuasion tactics.

"Well, I don' suppose it could hurt ter tell yeh that..." Hagrid agreed bashfully before stroking his beard in thought. "Let's see...he borrowed Fluffy from me, then some o' the professors did enchantments...Sprout, Flitwick, McGonagall...I believe Quirrell did to but I'm no' sure...Dumbledore himself did somethin' o' course...Oh! And Snape too."

"Snape?" The three students, barring Seth, cried out in shock.

Hagrid looked at them in surprise. "Why are yeh lookin' so surprised? O' course Professor Snape would help out if Dumbledore asked him to."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged worried looks with each other, all three thinking the same thing. If Snape had been in on helping to guard the stone, his history as a professor would allow him an in when figuring out the other professors' enchantments. He probably knew everything except whatever Quirrel contributed. Seth rolled his eyes at the mental conversation occurring between his friends. But he did file away the little tidbit of information for future 'I told you so' purposes.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, right?" Harry asked anxiously, "You wouldn't tell anyone else, would you? Not even the professors?"

Hagrid gazed at them in confusion as he nods. "Course not. Only Dumbledore knows what each of us has done."

"Well that's something," Ron grumbled under his breath. He started fanning his face as the heat of the hut finally got to him. "Hey Hagrid. Can we open a window or something? It's boiling in here."

"Can't Ron, sorry," Hagrid said apologetically.

However, Harry noticed the half giant glancing nervously at the blazing fire going in the hut's fire pit and did a double take when he saw a huge black egg hidden underneath a hanging cauldron.

"Hagrid...what is that?"

Everyone's attention immediately zeroed in on the egg that Harry spotted. They all immediately clocked it as a dragon egg and gaped at Hagrid in shock.

"Ahh..." he eloquently said, fiddling with his beard nervously. "That's...well..."

"Is that a dragon egg?" Ron cried out incredulously. "Where in the world did you get it? They cost a fortune!"

"I...er...won it actually," Hagrid reluctantly explained. "Las' night. Had a few drinks down in Hogsmeade an' got into a card game with someone. Think he was quite glad to get rid o' it ter be honest. Didn' look like any dragon breeder or tamer I've ever seen."

"Do you not know how incredibly illegal and dangerous that is?" Seth stated seriously. "There are laws in place regarding dragons for a reason."

"Besides, what are you even going to do when it hatches?" Hermione asked. "You certainly can't keep it here."

"Course I can!" Hagrid vehemently protested with the passion of a man who desperately wanted a dragon the way a child wanted a pet. "I've done quite a bit o' readin'." He pulled out the stack of books he'd been carrying in the library earlier that day and flipped through them, showcasing the knowledge to his bewildered audience.

"Bit outta date but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire cause their mothers breathe on 'em see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here? How ter recognize diff'rent eggs. And it looks like what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback, really rare they are."

"Hagrid, you live in a goddamn wood house," Seth bluntly stated, "Unless your books are wrong and this egg is actually for a dragon of the water element or a sea serpent, shits gonna go sideways real fast."

The others nodded along vigorously in agreement but Hagrid was no longer listening. He was humming merrily away as he went to stoke the fire.

XXXXXX

With another potential expulsion worthy matter to worry about, the quartet jumped back into their studies. Harry and Ron kicked up a big fuss about the studying schedule Hermione all but forced on them, stating that the stone and the dragon were bigger concerns than their herbology essays.

Hermione wouldn't have any of their complaints, practically charming them to stay in their seats and get work done else she'd hex them into next week. Seth was already waving the white flag of surrender before she turned her attention to him. He knew when to shut up and sit down to avoid pissing off the women in his life.

Before they all knew it, another month passed without incident, academic or otherwise. Then one day, Harry received an owl bearing a single note from Hagrid with the words 'IT'S HATCHING!' written in all caps and slanted closely together as if written in an excited rush.

They all rushed to his hut as soon as they were able to get away without arousing suspicion, somehow managing to make it just in time. Then they all stood there, three kids, a de-aged adult, and a half giant huddled around a cracking black egg and staring at it as if it were one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The black egg cracked bit by bit, pieces of the shell falling away until all that was left was a small tan dragon curled up on its back. It screeched indignantly in a cute way as it rolled onto its feet unsteadily, shaking egg membranes off its tiny body.

"Alright, I'll admit, this is actually kind of cool," Seth reluctantly admitted, "Though that's probably only cause it's a baby dragon that's not actively trying to kill us."

"It's so adorable in a potentially life threatening way," Hermione cooed, though she was smart enough not to approach the still screeching baby dragon.

Ron and Harry were both speechless, staring wide-eyed at the dragon as it wandered around on the table, nudging pieces of the egg in curiosity. Then the little dragon realized it was being watched and hissed at them in warning. The four students took a step back to get some distance, now extremely wary as the dragon's hissing was interrupted by small coughs that released wisps of smoke.

But Hagrid, with a love of dragons that apparently overrode his sense of self-preservation, approached it with caution thrown into the wind. He was cooing at the baby with hands held out encouragingly like a mother trying to coax their baby to walk into their arms. The dragon tilted its head in curiosity, slowly stumbling to Hagrid with curious chittering.

"Look! He knows who his mummy is!" Hagrid squealed in excitement.

"He's gone absolutely mad!" Ron whispered to the others.

They all nodded vigorously in agreement when the dragon coughed, letting loose a small blast of fire that landed on Hagrid's beard. The half giant quickly patted it out before returning his loving affections to the chittering baby.

Fang, having been a silent bystander due to his fearful nature, moved his paws over his eyes. He let out a growl that almost sounded exasperated. Harry, Ron, and Hermione agreed with the boarhound. They started begging Hagrid to reconsider keeping the dragon, trying to get him to agree that a school was no place to keep such a magical creature.

At that moment, Seth saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to the window where the shades had not been closed completely. He walked over and peeked through the opening to see a small blonde haired figure running back to the castle. He frowned.

"Is something wrong, Seth?" Harry asked, glancing over in question.

Seth shook his head and smiled reassuringly. "It's nothing. Just realized that this window shade wasn't fully closed," he blatantly lied. After all, there was no need to add another worry onto the poor boy's growing list.

"Alright then," Harry accepted with a look that said he didn't quite believe him but there were more pressing matters to take care of. Namely the baby dragon for starters.

XXXXXX

The next day passed by without trouble despite everyone's paranoia being dialed up to 11 with the hatching of the Norwegian Ridgeback. Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent their time coming up with more elaborate reasons for Hagrid to let the dragon go. Even going so far as to voluntarily enter the library for research without Hermione bodily dragging them along.

Seth focused most of his attention on making sure none of them would get caught considering three 11-year-olds weren't exactly the sneakiest people in a magical school. The rest of his attention was focused on Draco and his movements through the day whenever they happened to cross paths.

The Slytherin hadn't snitched on them yet that much was obvious given that no irate professors had descended upon the quartet when they arrived at the Great Hall for breakfast. However, Draco clearly looked like he wanted to say something as he always looked ready to jump out of his pants whenever a professor walked by.

While Seth applauded his restraint, it definitely wouldn't last long. Even he would admit that his mouth would've been running a mile a minute the moment he came across something cool if his mental age had also regressed. So if he happened to subtly nudge the others towards specific books on dragons and law or contributed his own reasoning as to why Hagrid shouldn't keep a dragon in his wood hut, they didn't need to know the real reason why.

Especially when they considered the impressive rate at which the dragon was growing. It'd only been a week and already it was the same size as Fang, which certainly didn't help the boarhound's already cowardly nature. They ramped up their arguments, using everything they could from the laws surrounding the illegal breeding of dragons to the disappointment Dumbledore would express over his decisions to the simple fact that he LIVES IN A WOOD HUT.

"Just let him go. Set him free," Harry pleaded.

"I can' let 'im go! He's too little. He'd die out in the wild without the care o' his mummy!" Hagrid cried out in protest, arms thrown protectively around the dragon.

Bottles and buckets of brandy and chicken blood littered the floor and the general space was a complete mess. "Besides, I've already named him! Come say 'ello to Norbert!"

"Hagrid," Harry groaned in exasperation.

"You really have gone mad, haven't you," Ron deadpanned, flinching when the newly dubbed Norbert snorted in his direction.

Seth leaned towards Hermione to whisper to her. "How do you think he'll react if he knew that Norbert was actually a Norberta?"

Hermione gave him an unimpressed look in response before jumping back into another round of useless persuasion.

"Come on Hagrid," Hermione said, completely exasperated and done with the whole thing, "In a few more weeks, Norbert will be as big as your house and you won't be able to hide him from Dumbledore anymore. He'd be so disappointed in you."

Hagrid bit his lip as he glanced down at Norbert. "I...I know I can't keep him forever but...I can' just dump 'im. I just can't."

"Wait! What about Charlie?" Ron suddenly exclaimed in a moment brilliant thinking, "You know him, Hagrid. Just as bonkers, I mean, passionate about dragons as you are. He's studying in Romania as a Dragonologist."

Hermione's eyes widened in realization and she latched onto the idea he was presenting. "We could send Norbert to Charlie and he can take care of him before sending him back into the wild!"

"Now hold on a moment," Seth tried to protest, frowning heavily the moment he heard 'dragonologist', 'Romania', and 'the wild.'

"It's brilliant!" Harry said, completely ignoring Seth's interruption. He was very eager to get this dragon business off his plate so he could at least breathe a little easier during the rest of the school term. "How about it, Hagrid?"

In the end, Hagrid reluctantly agreed. Harry, Ron, and Hermione's enthusiasm to wash their hands of this overrode Seth's objections. After all, what would an 11-year-old kid from America know about dragons? A lot if they could've just listened, Seth thought petulantly.

Thus the entire time they waited for Charlie's reply, Seth was all frowns and bad moods and snappish remarks. Nothing any of his so-called friends said or did could make the situation better so they just left him alone. Only Neville seemed to care about what he had to say, listening patiently as he ranted on and on about how narrow-minded their mutual friends could get as soon as their minds were made up about something.

"So basically you're mad that our 11-year-old friends are acting like 11-year -old kids," Neville dryly stated one day after another long-winded rant. "Are you sure you aren't some 70-year-old man in a kid's body?"

Seth gasped at him, dramatically offended. "Excuse me? Are you calling me an old man? I thought we were friends, Neville. How could you betray me like this?"

Seamus whistled, highly impressed by Neville's sass while Dean cackled madly beside them. Lavender and Parvati rolled their eyes good-naturedly at the boys being boys.

"If it helps, you look very good for your age," Neville mockingly remarked.

"Wow Neville, where was this sass when you were fumblin' round in potions on our first week of classes?" Seamus asked.

Neville shrugged. "Must be the bad influence of the people I've been hanging around," he said with a pointed look at Seth. "Also, my patience is running a bit dry. Even a coward can only listen to so many metaphors on how idiotic our year mates are without wanting to stab someone."

Seth could only sheepishly smile at that as the other boys howled in laughter and the girls giggled along.

Thankfully, Charlie's response arrived not even a week later.

Dear Ron,

How are you? Thanks for the letter though I am a bit concerned as to the trouble you seem to be getting yourself involved in that puts even the twins to shame. Nonetheless, I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback off your hands. However, it won't be easy getting him here with how vigilant the professors can be at the worst possible times. I think the best thing will be to hand him over to my friend and I as we'll be visiting Hogsmeade for supplies come this weekend. Problem is, none of us can be seen with an illegal dragon.

Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight this Saturday? We can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark and if my memory serves me correctly, everyone tends to avoid the Astronomy tower like the plague on Saturdays.

Send me an answer as soon as possible.

Love,

Charlie

Of course Seth was immediately opposed to this idea. Sure dragons were wild by nature and very dangerous creatures, but the "loving treatment" of wizards and witches definitely didn't do any favors for their development. Hell, even though he didn't have a lot of positive experiences with dragons, he certainly thought they didn't deserve to be shoved into a wizarding world preserve. No, it would be better for Norbert to be taken to a dragon sanctuary. Maybe Isla del Dragon if he could catch Santiago in a good mood.

However, despite his best attempts, his friends continued to ignore his words, loudly wondering how he could claim to be an expert when he was only an 11-year-old kid. Hermione was a little less skeptical given all that he's said about his ties to the magical preserves, but she too, was swept up into the fervent planning of Harry and Ron. It seemed the two boys were eager to engage in some cloak and dagger activities. The thrill of smuggling a dragon prompted them to come up with insane plan after insane plan until Hermione patiently reminded them of Harry's invisibility cloak.

"Come on guys, enough already," Seth whined softly, trying to keep his voice down as his friends had decided that the library was the perfect place to plan a crime. "I can take care of this without planning a magical parody of James Bond. Even though it sounds fun, I'd rather not get grounded when there's a simpler solution to this."

But Harry, Ron, and Hermione continued to ignore him, concocting away despite Draco sitting right there at a nearby table and looking like he was about to explode at any moment. Seth could only sigh and pack his bags, leaving the trio alone to go speak with Dumbledore about the issue.

Why he hadn't done so the moment they discovered the egg, he'll never know. But it might've been because of the curious adventurer within him who really wanted to see a baby dragon as it hatched. Or maybe it was a defense mechanism to prevent himself from emulating his sister. Upon that realization, he silently lamented at how he had turned into Kendra, all work and no play. But one always needed to act seriously when dealing with magical creatures that had the potential to kill someone on a whim.

Meeting with Headmaster Dumbledore was a rather simple task. All he had to do was find Professor McGonagall and mention that he needed to speak with Dumbledore about something pertaining to his duties as a Magical Preserve Caretaker. She gave him an odd look at that but nonetheless led him to the headmaster's office.

"Atomic Fire Balls," McGonagall dryly said to the gargoyle standing guard in an alcove.

Seth watched in fascination as the gargoyle seemed to smirk before jumping aside and revealing a spiraling staircase leading up to the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore warmly welcomed him as he stepped inside, eyes twinkling in amusement as Seth gazed in awe at the towering bookshelves and various portraits and artifacts lining the walls.

After he snapped out of his wonder filled daze, they quickly got down to business. Seth explained the situation he'd ended up in, flubbing the details a bit in order to make it sound like he accidentally encountered a baby dragon in the forbidden forest rather than the stove of Hagrid's hut.

Dumbledore held a carefully neutral expression the entire time he spoke, as if he knew that Seth wasn't quite telling the whole truth. But he nonetheless granted him permission to transfer the dragon into the custody of the Dragon Sanctuaries on the caveat that it be done at night so as to not alert the other students and cause a mass panic. The professors would, of course, be made aware of what Seth was doing as he acted within the scope of his role as a Caretaker. Thus he wouldn't get in trouble if caught after hours during the transfer.

"However, this permission I'm granting you is a special privilege explicitly tied to your duties as a magical preserve Caretaker," Dumebledore lightly remarked, "Do take care not to abuse this trust by ensuring you always come to me or another professor if another situation like this crops up again."

"Of course, Headmaster," Seth solemnly said, internally cringing at how much he sounded like his sister in the face of authority. He tried to smile brightly to shake off the serious atmosphere. "Thanks again for your help."

Dumbledore merely smiled in response, his eyes twinkling in that natural yet unnatural manner again. Seth beat a hasty retreat after that, shaking his head to clear his thoughts and focus them on making sure his friends didn't do anything stupid and get themselves expelled.

And now he officially sounded like Kendra and Hermione...goddammit.

XXXXXX

The next day came and it became a race against the clock to see who would arrive at Hagrid's first to grab the dragon and complete their respective exchange. Seth somehow managed to catch Santiago, one of the Caretakers of Isla de Dragon, during one of his rare good moods.

Senor Seth Sorenson,

I can't believe I just wrote that. The day I acknowledged even a modicum of your maturity should be the day demons invade our realm again but alas, no demons. Your mental maturity aside, I will begrudgingly take in this young Ridgeback dragon and prove it sanctuary in Isla de Dragon. As much as I dislike you, I do take my duties as a Caretaker seriously. No way in the nine circles of hell would I allow those narrow minded, backwards thinking bastardos and puttanas living in a society stuck in the medieval ages ruin another dragon to boast their undeserved egos. It's the 20th century for God's sake!

Anyways, I am free this Saturday at midnight to come take the little bambino away. I enclosed an artifact which will allow a portal to be created between your location and the sanctuary. However, please exercise some restraint. I know you Americans like to press big shiny red buttons all the time but this artifact is limited in its uses and I rather it not be wasted because a stupid American boy couldn't practice self control.

Ciao,

Santiago Giordano

PS. Stop asking if I can send you pizza. My family name shall not be tainted by that American Chicago pizzeria. It's deep dish isn't even that good.

Yesh, even his good moods had Seth weary of getting on the Caretaker's bad side. But at least the perpetually cranky man was willing to take in Norbert. On the downside, he now had to race against his friends to see who would get the baby Ridgeback first and no way in hell was he going to lose.

Unfortunately, the one time he slept past his alarms just happened to be the night when the exchange would happen. He cursed vehemently under his breath as he raced through the dark halls of the castle. Portraits watched him pass by in interest or disinterest in which grumbling and choice words would be tossed his way because how dare he interrupt their sleep with his thundering footsteps and he'll certainly be punished for breaking curfew!

Geez, what a bunch of grumpy ass magical paintings. If they wanted to get on his nerves, then they couldn't blame him when he came for them with paint stripper. Magical or not, powerful chemicals were powerful for a reason. But that was an annoyance for another time when the fate of a baby dragon wasn't on the line.

As he ran down the 'way too long to be legal, goddammit magic why you are you like this' hallway leading to the Astronomy Tower, a head of blonde hair flashed by in the corner of his eyes. He immediately came to a halt and slowly backpedaled, staring in bewilderment as Draco Malfoy stared back at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

"The hell are you doing here out of bed way past curfew?" Seth blurted out, quietly of course. He may have a free pass but he was not malicious or petty enough to get anyone in trouble...yet.

"What are you doing out of bed way past curfew?" Draco retorted defensively.

"Touché," Seth gracefully conceded, "But that still doesn't answer my question."

Draco fidgeted under Seth's questioning gaze, refusing to look him in the eye or answer.

Seth sighed. "You're here to see the dragon, aren't you?"

"What dragon?" Draco quickly asked in a manner that was definitely not suspicious at all. "I don't know anything about a dragon."

"Don't lie. You really suck at it," Seth flatly stated. "Plus I saw you running away from Hagrid's hut when the dragon hatched and you haven't gotten a clear look at the dragon since, otherwise Hagrid would've told us about someone else sniffing around his hut. And because you obviously heard us talking about giving the dragon away, you jumped on this chance to finally get a glimpse at a real dragon and probably get a bunch of Gryffindors in trouble as a bonus. Does that sound about right?"

"Alright, fine. I really wanted to see the dragon and maybe take Weasel down a peg, happy?" Draco petulantly admitted. "Now tell me where it is."

"Uhhh, how about no," Seth dryly said.

"Tell me where the dragon is!" Draco demanded, stomping his foot like a spoiled brat.

"Why the hell would I tell you when you just admitted you wanted to get my friends in trouble?" Seth retorted, growing annoyed at how brattish the Slytherin was acting. He really wasn't this bad as an 11-year-old, was he?

"Because I can find a way for you to get caught by a professor instead of Weasley," Draco smugly rebuked.

Seth raised an eyebrow, impressed but only by a little bit. "One problem with that, you'll also get caught too. Also, unlike you, I have an excuse to be out of bed right now."

That remark stunned Draco. "An excuse to be out after curfew?"

Seth nodded. "Yup," he says, popping the word at the end.

"What? How?" Draco asked, looking completely bewildered.

Then, as if she'd been summoned by the presence of rule breaking students, Professor McGonagall appeared around the corner. She immediately zeroed in on them standing in the middle of the hall like idiots begging to be caught. She marched towards them like a harbinger of death, destruction, and detention.

"Shit, now you've gone and got us caught, " Draco muttered as he glared darkly at Seth.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Seth murmured in retort, "And I'm not the one who was wandering around in the open hallways like an idiot."

"Mr. Malfoy. Mr. Sorenson. Care to explain why the two of you are out wandering about hours past curfew instead of tucked in your beds?" McGonagall asked in a stern manner with a severe looking frown marring her face.

Draco opened his mouth to answer but grew completely bewildered when nothing came out. He flapped his jaws uselessly, trying to make some sort of sound come out but still nothing. His internal panic grew the longer he tried to speak that he was completely unaware of how Seth managed to position himself to stand behind the Slytherin. The Shadow Charmer had acted quickly to step on the area of Draco's shadow where his mouth was to prevent the boy from saying anything incriminating for the both of them.

Draco's face burned red in embarrassment when McGonagall raised an unimpressed eyebrow in the face of his silent excuses. "I presume that a cat has got your tongue now, Mr. Malfoy?"

Seth quietly snorted as he lifted his foot up, allowing Draco to finally make sounds come out of his mouth. "I-I have a good reason, I swear!"

"Regardless of the reason, Mr. Malfoy, you are still out of bed after curfew and thus breaking school rules," McGonagall sternly remarked, "You will march yourself back to your dormitory immediately while I inform your head of house of this transgression who will handle the details of your detention."

"D-Detention!?" Draco cried out. "B-But-"

"But nothing," She cut him off with a brisk tone.

Seth coughed to stop the laughter threatening to bubble up as he took in Draco's expression that twisted from indignation, outrage, nervousness, and all sorts of other emotions.

McGonagall immediately turned her hawk eye gaze onto him. "Is something the matter, Mr. Sorenson?"

Seth cleared his throat, swallowing thickly under her intense gaze that felt like the academic version of Grandpa's patented disappointed grandparent look. "Nothing serious. Just think I might be developing a bit of a cold."

"Well we certainly can't have that. Come along with me to the hospital wing," McGonagall said conveniently before returning her attention to Draco. "And you will march straight back to your dormitory now, Mr. Malfoy. No lollygagging else your detention will be extended."

"Yes, Professor," Draco muttered petulantly. He glared at Seth before whirling around and sweeping away down the halls back towards the Slytherin common rooms.

McGonagall shook her head with a sigh. "I swear that boy takes more after Severus than his own parents. Merlin help us all if I have to deal with another cantankerous man with a genius mind and terrible social skills," she muttered under her breath.

"Did you say something, professor?" Seth asked, eyeing her with curiosity.

"That's none of your business, Mr. Sorenson," she said sharply as she gestured at the pack on his back, "And don't you have business to attend to?"

Seth jolted at the reminder, smiling at her sheepishly as he subtly shifted to hide the backpack that was definitely carrying a dragon and not his dirty socks from her examining gaze. "Oh yeah, sure. I almost forgot after running into Draco but I'll go take care of it now."

"Alright then, hurry up and finish your duties. Then march yourself straight to your dorm without any detours, are we clear?" She stated in a manner that sounded more like a demand than a suggestion.

Seth eagerly nodded. "Crystal. Thanks professor and have a good night!"

Then he ran off without hesitation, booking it for the Astronomy Tower and ignoring any patrolling professor and rule-breaking student who happened to cross his path. He managed to reach the tower without a second to spare and rushed up the staircase taking two steps at a time. He arrived at the top just in time to see Harry hold baby Norbert out for a short, stocky longhaired redhead to take.

"Wait!" he shouted as he tried to dramatically 'burst' into the room only to immediately kneel over as he stopped to catch his breath. He silently lamented at his 11-year-old physique, missing the stamina and endurance of his 21-year-old body. Once he no longer felt like dying, he straightened up to face the group of people now staring incredulously at him.

"You," he said, pointing at the redhead he could only assume was Charlie Wealsey considering the man's other companions was tall, buff, heavily scarred, and definitely not a redhead, "Are not taking that dragon with you."

"Excuse me?" Charlie asked, looking as bewildered as everyone else most certainly felt.

"Seth, what in the world are you doing? Of course the dragon's going with them," Hermione hissed.

Seth didn't respond, taking a small copper box with runes carved all over its surface. He pushed the big shiny red button on top and an old fashioned oak door suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. Everyone stared wide-eyed at the door until it swung open with a bang, almost startling them all into simultaneous heart attacks.

Santiago Giordano came storming out through the magical doorway in all his grumpy Italian glory. His scarred yet handsome features twisted in irritation as his dark green gaze zeroed in on Seth who waved cheerfully at him.

"You had one job, Sorenson, one job," Santiago hissed angrily in heavily accented English, "Do you know how long I was waiting? There's an hour time difference from here and Italy and I need proper sleep if I'm to perform my duties to the utmost of my abilities."

"Well..." Seth said, trying to defend himself only to get cut off by the irate Italian.

"You are an American! How hard was it for you to push a big red button?" Santiago exclaimed in between curses of fast flowing Italian, "Don't all Americans like pressing big red buttons?"

"Hey! I take great offense to that on behalf of all Americans," Seth gasped out dramatically, "Though you ain't wrong."

"Aren't, Sorenson, aren't," Santiago scolded like the grammar nazi he was, "Honestly, how come I, a purebreed Italian raised man, have better English grammar than you? Now where is the little bambino?"

Seth wordlessly pointed towards Harry who had somehow managed to place the squirming baby Ridgeback into the still dumbfounded Charlie's hands. Santiago immediately zeroed in on the wizards with their archaic methods of transportation and saw red. The Italian Caretaker started cursing up a storm as he marched over like a man on a mission.

"Give me that, you disgraceful excuse of a dragon handler!" he exclaimed while gently snatching Norbert out of Charlie's hold.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Charlie protested, trying to reclaim the baby Ridgeback. "You can't-"

Charlie's protests died when he saw how well the man handled the baby dragon. He and his friend stared at the man with starstruck expressions of awe.

"Holy shit," his friend whispered, "What the f-"

"Hugh!" Charlie interjected with a smack upside the head, "There are children here!"

"There, there, little bambino," Santiago cooed like a doting father as Norbert chirped back cheerfully in response, "You're going to be coming with me where you can grow up to be a big strong dragon. No terrible wizard preserves for you. They're much too disgusting and disorderly for dragons to properly thrive."

"I'll drink to that," Seth said while raising an imaginary shot glass.

Santiago deadpanned at him. "Absolutely not. I would prefer to not have Senor Stan call for my head because I gave his underage nephew alcohol."

"Oh come on," Seth whined as he crossed his arms with a pout.

"Ummm...sir?" Charlie called out hesitantly.

Santiago whirled around to pin him with a glare, expecting more wizarding stupidity about how they're right and everyone else was wrong. "What!"

Charlie didn't even flinch as he and Hugh bowed their heads towards Santiago and simultaneously asked, "We humbly request for an apprenticeship to study dragons under your guidance!"

Santiago gaped at them in surprise.

Seth whistled, impressed by their bravery. "Damn, now that's a plot twist."

Santiago glared at Seth who raised his hands in surrender. Then he returned his attention to the two men before him and sighed. "Alright, it is much too late in the night to be having this conversation. Come along if you're actually serious about this and we will discuss the details in the morning."

Without another word, Santiago turned on his heel and marched towards the open doorway. Along the way, he snatched the artifact out of Seth's hands all without disturbing the now sleeping dragon in his arms. Charlie and Hugh eagerly followed after him, whispering excitingly between themselves as Santiago gestured for them to walk through. Once the two ex-wizarding dragonologist apprentices disappeared through the magical portal, Santiago pinned Seth with a burning glare.

"Never again, Sorenson, especially not at what you Americans call 'ass o'clock' in the morning," he spat out venomously.

"Always nice doing business with you, Santiago! We'll be sure to stop by Italy this summer," Seth responded with a cheeky grin.

Santiago sent a rude gesture his way that had Harry gasping while Hermione clutched her metaphorical pearls. Then the door slammed shut behind Santiago and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"What...just happened?" Hermione asked, staring bewildered at where the door once stood.

"At least the dragon's gone?" Harry hesitantly offered.

"Thank Merlin for that. I think I've got a few years shaved off my life after tonight," Ron remarked with a sigh.

Seth blinked at the sudden reminder that his friends were still here and he scowled. "Guys! What the hell! I told you all I had it handled."

"Huh? When?" Harry asked, tilting his head in confusion. They seriously needed to get some meat on those bones so that the poor boy didn't look like a kicked puppy all the time.

"This was you handling a delicate situation?" Ron asked, eyeing him skeptically.

"Okay, I will admit I would've liked to have it more handled," Seth reluctantly admitted, "But that's besides the point." He crossed his arms and entered the Kendra patented scolding mode with her trademark look of disappointment and impatiently tapping foot. "Do you know how close you all were to getting caught by Draco Malfoy of all people? He could've snitched on you all if I hadn't run into him on the way here and gotten him caught by McGonagall who gave him detention by the way."

"Malfoy's got detention trying to snitch on us?" Ron giddily said before doing a little jig. "I could sing!"

"Please don't," Hermione deadpanned.

"Glad to know that that's what you got out of all of that," Seth dryly remarked. "Now come on. Let's get out of here before-"

A vicious sounding meow interrupted him and they all froze. Dread filled them as they all turned their heads to see Filch smiling darkly at them.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here," the caretaker giddily stated, "A trio of troublemakers out of bed after curfew and a student who's abused his privilege by allowing his friends to tag along."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were stunned speechless by fear as Seth glared at them.

"Thanks a lot guys," he sarcastically remarked, "I was trying to go at least a week without giving my grandma an aneurysm or my grandpa the excuse to murder me and I couldn't even last 3 days. Great team effort all around, really."


I apologize that this update took so long. I started a new job back in September that's been very fulfilling but has been draining my energy and motivation to do anything except fulfill my body's basic needs and play video games to de-stress. But I promise I'm gonna do my best to try and finish this story by New Year's so that I can finally get a move on with the list of stories I need to write that's only growing more and more by the day. God...why do I do this to myself? Anyways, see you guys at the next chapter!