A/N
I did say more frequently didn't I? Expect more soon, and I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 8 – Dragon Smuggling
"I don't understand why you're getting so worked up Hermione," Jon sighed in frustration, running a hand back through his auburn hair. It was getting long, he noted. "We're consistently at the top of our classes in every subject and we've been studying all year long. Cramming is for people like Ron who haven't touched their books outside of class. A bit of revision of stuff from earlier in the year will be plenty. Besides, everyone knows the first-year exams aren't tough."
Hermione had flown into a frenzy when the fifth years and seventh years started panicking about their OWLs and NEWTs respectively, as if she would be sitting those herself. She was only trying to help, but Jon felt the intensive study schedules were a tad too far. Ron, having slacked off for most of the year, had embraced the idea wholeheartedly, and even Harry and Neville were going along with it.
"You don't know that!" Hermione said, her voice raising as she got more passionate. "What if you fail? You could get expelled!" People were starting to look at them over their lunch as their conversation got louder.
"Fine, I'll come to the library but I'm not doing the study schedule. I'll do revision, but I'm not slowing down my own studies."
On their way out, they spotted Hagrid making his way to the Great Hall. "'Ello there you lot!" He greeted them, "Glad to run into you actually, I've got quite the thing to show ya. Why don't you come by tomorrow afternoon?"
"Sure Hagrid, about two?" Harry replied, always eager to spend time with Hagrid.
Hagrid gave them a warm smile, "Aye, sounds great. See ya' then!"
Hermione was near bouncing on her feet in her impatience to get to the library. Lunch had taken longer than she wanted it to and if they were much later they wouldn't have time to cover the first few weeks of transfiguration in one sitting. Jon rolled his eyes at her, "Yes Hermione, to the library."
Hermione and Ron had elected to join them for tea with Hagrid, so it was four of them that knocked on his door after lunch the next day. When Hagrid opened up, the blast of heat that hit them was so strong that sweat started to gather on their brows.
"'Ello you lot, best come in quick!"
The inside of the hut was sweltering. All the windows were shut and blankets had been pressed against them to help keep the heat inside, and Hagrid had a fire roaring in his fireplace. All the other creatures that had once been kept in the hut were gone and even Fang had fled outside.
Hagrid busied himself donning a pair of thick oven gloves and reaching into the pot that hung above the fire. Moving quickly to avoid being burnt, Hagrid lifted something from the pot and placed it down on a metal stand in the centre of his table. It was an egg. A very large egg, at least the size of a human head and dark brown in colour.
"Hagrid, what exactly is that?" Harry asked.
"That? It's a, well it's a –" Hagrid stammered, looking far too nervous.
Ron gasped, "I know what that is! But Hagrid, how did you get one?"
"I won it, off a stranger I met down the pub. Seemed quite glad to be rid of it in a matter of fact." It seemed Hagrid's trips to the pub were never dull, first Fluffy and now this. The egg started shaking, whatever was inside was about to hatch. A hush settled over the hut broken only by the sound of the egg cracking. The shell fell away as a small reptile stretched its stubby wings, taking its first slow uncertain steps.
"Is that… A dragon?" Hermione asked.
"Not just any dragon!" Ron leaned in to look closer, "That's a Norwegian Ridgeback, my brother Charlie works with these in Romania." The baby dragon started to make cawing noises reminiscent of a baby bird.
"Isn't he beautiful?" The dragon turned at the sound of Hagrid's voice, cawing louder and crawling towards him. "Oh, bless him, look he knows his mummy! 'Allo Norbert." Hagrid reached forward and gave Norbert's chest a delicate scratch, the dragon cawing happily in response.
"Norbert?" Harry said incredulously.
"Well he's gotta have a name, don't he?" Hagrid replied. Ron and Harry shared an amused look at Hagrid's choice of names for dangerous creatures. With a sound disturbingly similar to that of a baby burping, Norbert coughed up a ball of flame big enough to singe Hagrid's beard. "Ooh ooh ooh!" Hagrid patted his beard furiously to douse the fire, "He'll have to be trained up a bit o' course!"
"Hagrid, you must realise you can't keep him?" Jon said.
"Why not? I managed to hatch him just fine." Hagrid coaxed Norbert into his lap, putting a meaty hand on him protectively.
"Well you live in a wooden hut for one. All it would take is one mistake when you're not watching and your whole home would burn down. If you're lucky and that doesn't happen, then eventually Norbert is gonna outgrow the hut and you'll have nowhere to keep him. He can't go into the forest, he'll burn it down and if he stays on the grounds the students will be at risk. I'm sorry Hagrid but he has to go." Jon tried not to sound too harsh, but Hagrid needed to realise that he was putting lives at risk.
Hagrid looked heartbroken. He had tears gathering in his eyes and was holding Norbert to him like a protective parent. "I suppose yer right." Hagrid held back a sob, he had always wanted a dragon. "I'll speak ta Dumbledore, maybe he can help."
"My brother Charlie could help, I could write him and ask him to take Norbert to the dragon reserves. He'd be safe there." Ron suggested, tentatively approaching for a closer look at the dragon.
"That'd be kind, Ron. I can keep the lil' darling for a wee while at least."
Ron jumped back as Norbert let out another cough with a snort of flame.
"The sooner the better I think." Hermione added with a frown.
Ron sent the letter away that night with Hedwig, whom Harry thought would be far more reliable than any school owl. He wrote of the circumstances surrounding the birth of the dragon and the situation Hagrid now found himself in, unable to keep it but not willing to let it go somewhere it would be treated badly.
The reply from Charlie came quickly. As Hagrid didn't acquire the dragon egg through legal means they couldn't waltz up to Hogwarts and collect the dragon where anyone could see, so the collection would have to be done covertly. Charlie promised to meet them on top of the Astronomy Tower at midnight in five days. He and a few associates would collect Norbert from there.
"We can use the invisibility cloak to cover the cage when me move it. We won't be able to cover ourselves too but if we move quickly then it should be fine." Harry was brainstorming ideas on how exactly to get a crate with a dragon up to the highest point in Hogwarts.
"Surely you aren't going to go through with this?" Hermione whispered fiercely, her question more aimed towards Jon than either of the other two.
Jon sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes and back into his hair. "Hagrid introduced me and Harry to this world; we owe him for that. Besides, someone has to look after Harry." Hermione rolled her eyes as Harry protested.
When the night came, Jon, Harry and Ron snuck down to Hagrid's under the invisibility cloak. Hagrid was waiting, a sleeping Norbert curled up in his arms.
"Alright Hagrid?" Jon asked. The tears were visible in Hagrid's eyes; despite the short amount of time they had been together Hagrid had really bonded with the baby dragon he had hatched himself. "I'm sorry Hagrid, it's time to go."
Hagrid gently placed Norbert in the crate he had prepared for him. Though it was reinforced and fire-proof, the crate was far from uncomfortable. The bottom of the crate was made soft by a tattered blanket and there were some small pieces of meat should Norbert get hungry on the journey. The tenderness on display was heart wrenching, but the dragon couldn't stay.
Hagrid whispered a quiet 'thank you' and disappeared into his hut. Jon pretended not to notice the sound of muffled sobbing coming through the door. With the crate covered by the invisibility cloak, the three boys lifted the box together and made the trek towards the top of the Astronomy Tower.
The school was quiet, eerily so. Though by now Jon was more than used to sneaking through the school, the threat of discovery was far more intimidating with the dragon in tow. Getting caught sneaking through the halls after hours most often resulted in a detention or two. The punishment for illegal dragon smuggling was time in Azkaban and major fines. Jon was beyond tense. He crept alongside the other two, peering carefully around corners and moving as soundlessly as he was able.
The faint patter of footsteps brought their procession to a halt. Jon thought he caught a glimpse of blonde hair disappear around a corner a few floors below but they were almost at the seventh floor, too close to stop now. They would have to hurry and hope that it was another student out after curfew and not a prefect off to report them to a teacher. The spiral staircase proved tricky; it was only wide enough for two students abreast so the crate occasionally scrapped the walls.
The boys arrived on top of the Astronomy Tower as the clock struck midnight, and Ron's brother was nowhere to be seen. They set the crate down on the edge of the balcony and settled down to catch their breath and wait.
"Hey Ron, fancy seeing you here!" A voice greeted them from above. Four figures on brooms were descending towards the tower, led by a broad man with long red hair in the same shade as Ron's. He touched down and pulled Ron into a one-armed hug.
"Hiya Charlie, thanks for helping with this. These are my friends, Harry and Jon Potter." Ron introduced them, pointing to each in turn. Charlie stepped forward and greeted them with a firm handshake, allowing Jon to get a better look at him. While the resemblance between the Weasley brothers was clear for all to see, Charlie was evidently one of the more physically active of the family. His wide shoulders were packed with muscle and he was lean in a way that suggested he worked long hard days in the outdoors. The only indication of the man's profession was the dragon tooth dangling from his right ear.
Charlie's three associates were already moving the crate, lashing it between two of the brooms they arrived on. They worked quickly and with competence; it wouldn't be long before Norbert was secure and they could be on their way, which suited Jon just fine. He was getting nervous.
"We're gonna have to be quick getting back to the dorm. I still think there's a chance someone saw us coming up this way." Jon told Harry in low tones, "The sooner this is done the better."
Charlie was talking with Ron, asking about his school life and congratulating him for getting into Gryffindor, when one of his associates called him over. The crate was secure and they were ready to leave. After hugging Ron goodbye and promising to catch up soon, Charlie swung himself onto his broom and took off elegantly into the night sky, with the others close behind.
Jon sighed in relief, glad to have accomplished their task. "Come on. We'd best go quickly, we can put the cloak on once we're all down those stairs." As they stepped off the last stair, the trio were confronted by one of the last people they wanted to see.
"And just what do you three think you are doing, up at this hour?" McGonagall asked, fixing the boys with a severe glare. Just behind her, Draco stood with a smirk on his face. "No response? Hmm, then I think all four of you shall be serving detention."
The smirk fell from Draco's face. "Four Professor? Don't you mean three?"
McGonagall turned her glare onto Draco, and it was the other's turn to smirk. "I think not Mr Malfoy. You were out after curfew too if I'm not mistaken, and so far from your dormitory as well. You will all serve detention together."
"I did try to warn you all." Hermione told Jon the next morning after he was caught her up on the events of the previous night. They were sat on the couch in the common room, basking in the heat from the roaring fireplace. Jon sighed, running a hand back through his hair.
"You did," He acknowledged, "We were lucky that Charlie had already taken the dragon. Ultimately, getting a detention is much better than either us or Hagrid getting caught with an illegal dragon. The punishment for that usually involves Azkaban."
"A detention is definitely better. You did a good thing." Hermione reached into her ever present bookbag and removed her transfiguration textbook. Even all these months later Transfiguration was still Hermione's favourite subject, though Charms was a close second. Jon removed a book of his own, the Occlumency book that Professor Flitwick had given him at Christmas time.
They settled into companionable silence. More than anyone else at Hogwarts, Jon had come to like Hermione. While Jon appreciated his brother's energy and his encouragement to do things, it could easily grow tiresome and start to grate on Jon's more subdued personality. Hermione was a much more calm and quiet individual; she was more than happy to spend time reading or lost in thought, enjoying each other's company. When they spoke, Hermione's near eidetic memory and impressive study habits kept their academic conversations interesting to a level none of their peers could match. Even Jon's own recall, which was slowly improving as he practiced occlumency, wasn't anywhere near Hermione's ability.
"You're my best friend." Jon muttered, the realisation striking him in the middle of his musings.
Hermione looked up from her book with wide eyes, "What, sorry?"
Jon's blushed furiously, "Um, I – I mean,"
Hermione's face broke into a wide grin at his flustered state, "Thanks, you're mine too." Her cheeks turned pink and she looked back at her book, unable to hide the happy smile on her face.