Handling a Dragon
The night was calm and without wind, even if the half-moon didn't quite provide enough light to see, a slightly modified 'lumos' was enough to make sure I wouldn't trip for no reason. The path from the castle to the mostly wooden hut was made easier by the inner lights of the habitation, which acted almost as a lighthouse in the otherwise dark evening.
Spring had more or less already set in, and so the sunset's light had taken a while to completely fade, but it wasn't like I had plans for the evening: Hermione had come to me the night before to inform me of Malfoy' discovering what they were up to, and of course, that left me with a very small window of opportunity to complete what was at all effects a heist.
I made my way to Hagrid's hut after a last perusal of the Marauders' Map: after a while, the preferred paths of the prefects and professors' patrols became obvious enough that I felt like I could brave the night without the incomparable aid of that particular artifact, but why take an unnecessary risk?
Like with every other action that happened in the periphery of Harry Potter, my decision to directly help had been borne out of many considerations: among those, the certainty that Dumbledore would likely learn the truth from Hagrid played a reasonably large part. If I was trying to mastermind the growth of Harry, and found a relative unknown hovering around the kid, even if peripherally, I would of course scrutinize this unknown until it was clear if it was acceptable or not.
Simple logic dictated that Dumbledore, who was now aware of me thanks to my sudden bout of altruism when the Troll was traipsing around, should be shown about me just what was necessary to make him feel comfortable with my presence around the 'Chosen One'. I simply don't need the kind of stress the Headmaster can bring in my life.
I soon reached the door of the Groundskeeper's hut, where I eagerly drummed with my fist for a couple of seconds.
The half-giant that opened the door was absolutely massive, to the point that his face looked small, hidden as it was under an untamed, shaggy mess of hair and unkempt beard, but he nodded in understanding when he saw me, and that was the important part.
"Good evening, Mr. Hagrid." having never spoken before with the man, I went with the same carefree and respectful attitude I always kept around those that I preferred to keep at an arm's length. Surely, the half-giant was as kind and as genuine as they came, but while endearing, thinking that someone was a good person wasn't enough to push me out of my way in order to befriend them.
Well, unless they are fated to be constantly threatened during their formative years. I corrected myself as the man let me in and my eyes landed on the other occupants of the hut: Potter and his small cohort were staring at me with wide eyes, while Hermione smiled openly, relief that I had actually come washing over her in an obvious way. "Did they tell you the whole plan?" I nodded towards the kids that more or less replied in the same manner.
"G'evenin', uh..." Hagrid frowned while he took a step back allowing me in his home. It was a singular, large circular room that hosted a lit fireplace, an immense armchair, and a large table of thick dark wood, with a bunch of a similar material between it and the wall made of large fluvial stones
"I'm Cedric, Cedric Diggory." I shook the half-giant's hand while my grey eyes quickly darted around the room until they landed on a thick wooden cage that was as big as your average trunk, with a couple of iron handles on the sides, "Is that the hatchling?"
As if to answer, a rumbled squawk echoed from the cage along with a plume of black smoke: "Nevermind."
I exchanged a grin with the three first years, while Hagrid spoke in his rumbling tone: "Rubeus Hagrid, Groundskeep'r here at Hogwarts."
"You should either remain here or go back to the castle." I turned towards the first years with a hint of seriousness in my otherwise cheerful tone, and I immediately rose my hand to prevent objections: "You confirmed to Hagrid that I was here to help, so your part in this mess is done: having you three around isn't helpful, while it gives Mr. Hagrid only more things to think about."
"No way!"
"What?"
"That makes sense."
The misshapen, off-tune chorus of the three first years -obviously Hermione was the only one with enough brains to agree with me- was coupled with the shaking of the half-giant's head.
"Call meh Hagrid, everyone does it." Rubeus nodded between an inopportune sniff and the following one, "He's right Harry, Ron, Hermione."
There was another brief uproar from Weasley and Potter, but between my uncaring silence, Hagrid's decision, and Hermione's unsurprisingly firm opposition, the kids decided to wait in the Groundskeeper's hut until our return, and that was as far as the compromise could go. I briefly toyed with the idea of stunning the lot and dropping them somewhere in the castle before getting along with the Groundskeeper, but it would unnecessarily waste a lot of time.
"Better get moving then." I turned towards Hagrid, who had secured his crossbow on one strap, took a lantern and the dragon's cage in his other hand, like some kind of ridiculously oversized pet-carrier.
Soon enough we were trodding into the Forbidden Forest, with Fang on one side and the half-giant guiding the way: I kept my wand ready, with a lumos to never lose sight of the half-giant feet. I wasn't particularly worried, as we were meant to move on the outer skirts of the Forbidden Forest, there was no full moon, and Quirrel had been in the castle when I checked with the Marauders' Map.
The forest, which ordinarily stood as looming as it could without the sun to chase away the gloom and doom underneath its boughs, didn't feel particularly threatening as I followed my guide.
Still, the walk that I had more or less planned wasn't a short one, and making all the way with a sniffling half-giant and the still awake was going to be terribly boring: "Hagrid, if everything goes as it should, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to visit the reserve during the summer, maybe we could go together? I'm sure that my father would be accommodating."
And so it began the grateful, overbearing half-sobbing included, chat with Hogwarts' Groundskeeper.
'Do you know much about Magical Creatures?'
'I did consider taking Care of Magical Creatures, but I got into Divination and Arithmancy before thinking about the animals that I'd miss.'
I wasn't necessarily playing around with the half-giant: Care of Magical Creatures was surely more interesting than Divination, but the latter needed to be checked out before totally giving up. Knowing that Harry's prophecy was the real deal had more or less forced my hand back in my third year, and besides, bullshitting all those homework left me with a staggering amount of free time to dedicate to worthier pursuits.
"Misunderstood creatures, dragons are." Hagrid confided in me between a retelling of Norbert's first fire-breathing and a story about an ashwinder -whatever the hell that was- that he once found 'playing' with a salamander into a bonfire.
"I'm sure." I grinned behind his back, "If nothing else, they're surely magnificent once they're grown up."
Our chat lasted almost a full hour, and I was grateful for the many staircases that I took every day by the time we reached the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest by Hogsmeade: into the dark barely held back by the faint moonlight and uncanny streetlamps, by the first line of houses of the magical village, there was a dim blue light.
"There we are." I walked in front of Hagrid and made sure that his lantern couldn't be seen from the village, "Have you already said goodbye?"
Suddenly sniffling as I didn't spend the past hour almost panting to keep up with him while chatting animatedly about the merits of Magical Creatures, Hagrid managed to force himself apart from the cage, and the thankfully asleep hatchling it held: "Wait for me here, ok?"
After I was sure that Hagrid understood, and took a couple of instinctive steps when the half-giant blew his nose in a napkin the size of a curtain, I silently levitated the cage and flashed a bronze light from the boundary of the Forbidden Forest.
As an answer, the blue light from the 'retireval team' turned bright yellow.
With a smile, I fully walked out of the forest with the cage trailing behind me, and from the darkness near the first line of houses of the magical village emerged a familiar, portly wizard: "Ced." he greeted me.
With a smile that I knew was barely illuminated by our respective faint 'lumos', I hugged the man who slapped me soundly on my back: "When we talked about a reward for your achievements, this was far from my mind, my son."
"It's been an interesting time here at school." I grinned unashamedly as I levitated the cage forward: "Here's a female Norwegian Ridgeback, her name's Norberta."
My father's smile was a bit strained as he took the cage from my hands, "Norberta uh? Did you already bond with it?"
"Not quite." I grinned back, "I was thinking of Fafnir, but most stories aren't really favorable to dragons, you know?"
"Well, I'm sure that you could take the O.W.L. for Care of Magical Creatures next year, given your sudden luck with animals." Amos had never truly agreed with my decision of skipping the subject mandatory to access his Department at the Ministry, and while I was going to take that as a joke, I stopped, considering the possibility.
"You mean that I can take O.W.L.s which I haven't attended classes for?" not that I cared particularly about the outcome of my grades, but there was something true about 'quantity being a quality of its own', and between my metaknowledge and maturity, I was pretty sure that I could take Muggle Studies without wasting a single second on it.
"If you manage to convince the professors, you can." Amos replied, "And you could conduct a separate study on this dragon for extra credit to prove your dedication and be allowed to take your O.W.L. without attending the lessons, couldn't you? I'll be sure to write to Professor Grubby Plank next week, he and I go way back you know? It was thanks to him that I decided to go into my Department at the Ministry."
Ah, here's the old nepotism that I missed for so long. I knew that Amos wouldn't sell me out, but given the massive favor he just did me, no matter if I was his son or not, I could just as well throw him a bone. And if I study Care for my N.E.W.T.s, I may be able to sway Hagrid into not risking Buckbeak. "I'll think about it, ok?"
"Good lad." my father replied, only for his expression to turn serious, "Listen, this is perilously close to breaking the law, and the only thing that makes it somewhat acceptable is that I am one of the authorities authorized to deal with this level of magical creature, as well as being your father." his expression softened as he regarded me as if under a new light, "I'm glad that you're willing to take risks out of loyalty to this mysterious 'friend'..."
"My friend?" I backtracked immediately, "I don't know what..."
"Son, I may be a Hufflepuff, but don't take me for an idiot, yes? You are many things, but someone so impulsive as to 'capture a newly born dragon into the Forbidden Forest' isn't really something that makes sense." his uncharacteristically serious tone rang off-tune against the proud smile he wore on his faintly illuminated face, "I'm proud and honored that you trusted me with this, but we'll talk more about this in the summer, ok?"
"Deal." I smiled faintly at my father, who grasped my shoulder one last time before he started to walk back into the village.
"I'll write soon with the news, Ced." he waved from over his shoulder while I quickly trodded back into the Forest, where a sobbing half-giant was waiting for me.
I remained a bit awkwardly to pat the back of the Groundskeeper while he collected himself: "There, there, Hagrid, this isn't a farewell after all. I'm surely going to visit during the summer, and I don't see why you couldn't come with me."
Cajoling and promising, I got my guide to get a grip, and went on with the suddenly added curriculum that my father had finally found a way to trap me with: "Listen Hagrid, my da' kind of pushed me into studying on my own for Care of Magical Creatures, may I come to visit you from time to time to ask a few things? I noticed that you're very knowledgeable about all manners of Fantastical Beasts."
"You think so?" the unnaturally tall man managed to talk without hiccups as we walked back through the forest, and at my confirmation of my high esteem of the man -it was surprisingly heartbreaking to see an adult so utterly, openly genuine about something- and we bid farewell after a "Yer a good lad, Cedric."
I keep having more and more stuff to do. I complained to myself as I collected the three first years from Hagrid's hut. What shall I do if I actually get my hands on the Stone?
It was the most sought-after artifact of the wizarding world. Or at least a meaningful copy: after all, if I were in Flamels' shoes, I'd organize a fake death eventually in order to escape both fame as in six centuries, it could tire everyone out, and the undoubtedly endless attempts at stealing the Stone that he had to suffer through.
With the three first years after me, I took a roundabout way that wouldn't have us pass through the main doors of the school, and I limited myself to walking in relative silence despite the flurry of questions that the others kept sending at my back.
"Have you considered that making noise isn't conducive to sneaking?" I sent them a heavy stare from over my shoulder as we slipped into the castle through one of the secret passageways that the Map had long since revealed to me, "In any case, if you're capable of hiding yourself in any way, I suggest you do so while I'm not looking."
My tone positively dripped with subtext, and just as I turned an angle of the ancient castle's hallways, I quietly fished out the Marauders' Map and whispered the passcode, using my body to keep it hidden from the three first years behind my back, and I momentarily froze as I looked towards the shortest path that would lead the first years to Gryffindor.
"Apparently, we're going to be discovered," I spoke calmly despite my heart thundering in my chest, and I cast a Silencio over the three first-year students behind me as Harry had apparently neglected to put everyone under the cloak: "McGonagall is sitting in front of the portrait of your common room, so I suggest one of you gets busted while the other two sneak in once the Professor drags the 'guilty' to her office to discuss a detention."
"Given that Hermione is the only one why the events of tonight have been successful, and she's a lady, I suggest one of the boys two boys takes the blame." I spoke idly as I kept leading the three towards their best chance through the prefects' patrols. Hermione could be safely hidden under the Invisibility Cloak, as she had been the one to share my opinion that those three should return to the castle while I and Hagrid dealt with Norberta. So of course, I really wanted to throw the other two under the bus. Will they be sentenced to the Forbidden Forest if they're caught? I don't remember this part very well.
"Wait, what about you?" Weasley narrowed his eyes at me while I subtly pocketed the Map.
"I've been sleepwalking since my first year here," with a wave of my wand, my heavy robes and boots -chosen to move at night across the Forbidden Forest- turned into bronze and blue colored pajamas with a pair of woolen slippers, "and I'm only a few minutes away from my tower."
I offered a mocking bow, and I left them to their -this time not deadly- fate.
I could have probably sought another way to make sure they'd pass unseen under the patrolling McGonagall -the idea of using the RoR to sneak them where they were meant to came to mind- but what if the Transfiguration Professor had made a simple count of the students sleeping in their beds? Finding them tucked in their covers tomorrow would have simply dragged attention to their ability to move freely in the castle. But while I was more or less fine with the idea that Dumbledore could figure out that I had a hand in the dragon handling, I really wanted to keep the best tricks of the Room of Requirement to myself.
Besides, if Voldemort had a revelation about it because of some unexplainable butterfly effect, I would only have myself to blame.
It seemed awfully coincidental that Harry and his cohort plus Malfoy would be sent in the forest to casually meet Voldemort: I had no idea if that was Dumbledore's hand or Fate's, given the presence of the mistifying centaur that saved the Chosen One's life. In any case, reducing the number of students sent to detention from four to two, or one if I was lucky, meant that there would be no eleven years old child defenselessly walking about a half-dead Dark Lord.
If worse came to worse, I'd figure out a way to help. But only if guilt forces me to.
I eventually reached Ravenclaw Tower, and after a thankfully banal riddle, I managed to sneak back into my dorm, where I collapsed still with my transfigured pajamas on.
AN
The opportunity that the dragon's existence offered for character development and well-disguised plot-railroading was simply too big for me to set aside, and I hope that the punctual thoughts of the MC at various points of the chapter managed to give a solid insight as to what kind of person he is. Not quite the heartless opportunist that most SI tend to be, not the dull goody two shoes that the truly boring stories keep as a focus.
As for the 'abandoning of the kids': they were safe once more within the castle, given the lack of Malfoy around, the MC's not perfect recall of the minor event that ed to Harry meeting Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest, and the significant changes into Cedric's future caused by this night... the MC simply felt that he had done enough.
Still, I'm eager to hear your opinions: hopes, suggestions?