Huge chapter alert! - Tom

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All of the characters except for my own handful of originals, as well as locations, names, titles etc. are and remain the property of JKR and I hope you like it.

Principles such as Splicing are mine as well as all unique books, histories, titles, traditions and spells. I give users permission to use them, but only if you reference me in your work.

Review please whether you like it or not. Tell me what you do and do not like and why! I do love having my ego stroked with 'Wow, great!' etc. but it's not as useful for my process as having some real examples and effects. If any of you would like to PM me a review or opinions or just talk about my story, please do so.

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Chapter 22: Great Serpents and Rock Cakes

Hermione did not like Fay - that much became perfectly obvious to Harry upon his arrival to lunch in the great hall after the quidditch practice.

As soon as they took a seat opposite the other first year lions – from whom Ron was conspicuously absent - Hermione slammed her book shut, stood and left without a word.

'I think you've upset her ladyship, Harry.' Said Seamus, a smirk across his face.

'Why, what have I done?' Harry asked innocently, taking a chicken sandwich from the centre of the table.

'My gods, boys are blind.' Tina-Marie said, looking pointedly at the space Hermione had vacated then back at Harry. 'She's upset because until today, you've belonged to her.'

'What?' Harry exclaimed through bread and lettuce.

'Oh yeah, Harry,' Fay said frowning, 'she's always going on and on about how you and her are best friends and how you met on the train to school and blah blah blah. Anytime any of us in the dorm talk about you she butts in with how she knows all about your aunt and uncle and all these deep conversations you have.'

Harry's stomach lurched and he was suddenly a very long way from hungry.

Tina-Marie picked up from Fay. 'Until now we've never had any reason to doubt that she was your best friend, other than maybe Dean. But now that you've spoken to another girl, her dominance is broken!'

Even Lavender laughed as Seamus, Dean, Fay and Tina-Marie cheered.

'Welcome to the world of girls, my friend.' Dean said mockingly.

'Cheers.' Harry said, horrified.

'There's no going back now. Just so you know, they're all insane.' Seamus whispered before being slapped around the back of the head by Fay.

'Hang on, hang on.' Harry said, holding his hands out and waiting for calm. 'I've spoken to all of you, as well as Tonks, Angelina and loads of other girls, there's even that okay Slytherin girl Daphne Greegrass and she's never gone like this when I've talked to them.'

'Well no, but this is different, isn't it?' Lavender sighed, her nosiness breaking through her determination to not get involved.

'I don't see how.'

'Well of course you don't, you're a boy.' She said like his gender itself was a bad thing.

'I must admit, I'm a bit lost myself.' Seamus said, frowning.

Dean nodded his agreement.

Lavender, Fay and Tina-Marie huffed at the same time, giggled together and started speaking together.

From what Harry could gather, it wasn't because he had spoken with Fay, but the fact that he had spent time with her away from everyone else. Apparently it was something to do with the fact that he had chosen to be with Fay instead of her. This, according to the girls was tantamount to him telling the whole school, if not the whole wizarding world that he preferred Fay over Hermione.

'But that's…' Harry started before giving up, lost for words.

'Mental.' Dean finished for him, his mouth slightly open and eyes tight with concentration.

'Thanks.' Harry muttered. 'So you're saying that Hermione's not talking to me because I took Fay with me to the quidditch practice?'

'Almost,' Lavender said in a way that reminded Harry of the motherly herbology teacher, Professor Pomona Sprout, 'It's the fact that you took Fay to the quidditch practice instead of her.'

'Hermione hates quidditch!' Harry exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

'That's not the point!' said a pair of identical red faces, appearing next to Dean on the bench.

'Really Harry, you're digging yourself into a pit here, mate.' Said Fred or George.

'Better escape while you can.' Said the other.

'No,' grumbled Tina-Marie, 'we're teaching him something important.

'You might think you are, but fact is that we men are incapable of untangling the unintelligible ball of string that you women-folk call logic.' Said one of the twins, grabbing Harry's plate from in front of him.

The other took hold of Harry under the arms and dragged him off the table. 'We need to steal the boy-who-doesn't understand women for a bit, anyway.' He said, dragging a very relieved Harry up toward the rest of the newly arrived quidditch team.

Harry was deposited next to Wood at the end of the bench. The burly captain had a severe bruise rising on his face and was grimacing uncomfortably. He winced visibly when he nodded a greeting to Harry.

'Alright Harry.' Alicia said, smiling broadly, her hair a cloud of brown fuzz now that it had been freed from her helmet.

'I'm fine, what's wrong with him?' Harry asked.

One of the twins – the one who had taken Harry's plate – laughed. Well you know when I caught him with my beater stick?'

Harry nodded.

'Well it might have broken his nose.'

'And he was going to go straight up to the hospital wing until Kimberly Eisenhorn, you know, the seventh-year, told him he looked really manly all bruised-up.' Said the other twin.

'Next thing we know he's sitting down saying it doesn't hurt at all.' Said Angelina shaking her head. 'Idiot.'

Harry looked at Wood's nose: it was very swollen and upon closer inspection he saw a nasty bend three-quarters of the way up the bridge. 'Ouch.' He said, trying not to laugh.

'Sit down Potter, it's fine.' Wood said through clenched teeth.

'Definitely broken, you say?' Harry asked the twins.

They nodded.

'I know what a nose feels like when I break one,' the plate moving twin said, 'and that was a corker.'

'Good.' Harry said. In a quick motion, he pulled his wand from his robes and twitched it in front of Wood's face, saying 'Episkey.'

An audible click sounded from Wood's face as his nose straightened.

The keeper and captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team winced again and let out a sigh of relief that bordered on pleasure. 'Oww-ow-ow, ooh!' he said, the last sounding like he was settling into a warm bath.

'Better?' Asked Harry, trying to sound calm despite the way his ego was doing backflips.

'mmm-hmm.' Mumbled wood. 'Much better, thanks Potter.'

'Where did you learn that?' Alicia said with what Harry thought – and hoped – was a note of pleasant surprise in her voice.

'Just something I've been looking at since the accident at the flying lesson yesterday. It was in a little book of helpful spells I bought in Diagon Alley but didn't know how to use until just now.'

'Well it's pretty bloody good Potter, I'll give you that!' Said Wood, his swollen face full of ecstatic relief.

'Yeah, he can show off his bruises with pride now.' Said the Harry-dragging twin, rolling his eyes.

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After charms - where Harry gained Gryffindor ten house points for being the first to manage to make a playing card stand on-end and walk across his desk – and potions - where he lost fifteen for not opening his textbook to the right page quickly enough – the lions settled into the common room to try and cut through some of their growing heap of homework.

By ten pm they surrendered to their heavy eyelids and retreated to bed.

Harry found Nidhogg under his blankets, apparently waiting for him. He couldn't be sure, but from the patches of broken scales he could have sworn that the snake was noticeably longer and thicker than even two nights previous.

'Hi Nidhogg.' Harry said, lifting the snake out of the way so he could collapse onto the mattress.

'Found new food. Good for sssscales.' Nishogg said happily.

Harry was pleased with how much easier communication had become between them since arriving at Hogwarts. 'Really, what is it?'

'Strange plant that great-two-legs grows inside wood-fence. Went there looking for eggssss but found strange plant that smell good. Fixes sssscales.' He said, raising the end of his tail which had been dry and cracked.

Harry saw that the damage was all but repaired and the new scales underneath were thicker and glossier than the ones Nidhogg had lost.

'Well done.' Harry wriggled deeper into bed, pulling up his sheets, the last of the summer was fading quickly and the long, warm days that stretched on forever had faded into lingering cold night where the old stones of the castles seemed to radiate a permanent chill.

Nidhogg slid over Harry's arm and his head emerged onto his pillow. He stared at Harry, his broad wedge-shaped head gleaming black in the diffuse moonlight that filtered through the curtains of the four poster. 'Another great snake here. In castle.'

'Really, where?' Harry, who was starting to drift to sleep, tried to fight through the cotton wool that was clouding his mind.

'Don't know. Deep, dark and very old. Maybe left by great snake two-legs long ago. It sleeps.'

Harry was fading fast, despite his desire to listen. 'You think it's something you could learn from…'

He was asleep before he finished his sentence, the question that had been on his lips left unanswered and forgotten.

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Nidhogg was gone when Harry woke the following morning. He was greeted by Seamus' rumbling snores and fat grey clouds outside the windows.

Ron rolled out of his bed and farted loudly which Dean laughed at as he walked back into the dorm.

Harry ran his hand through his hair, 'How do you get up so early?'

Dean shrugged, replacing his toiletry back in his immaculately ordered chest of drawers. Dean was a bit of a clean-freak, obsessed with his space being tidy and everything being "in its place". It was a habit he'd inherited from his mother who was in the army.

'I just do, everyone back home gets up at dawn. Just the way we do it. My mom only sleeps four, maybe five hours a night and I guess I'm just like her.'

Harry pulled on his bathrobe and went to the bathroom, dousing his head in cold water to wake him. He had a vague memory about Nidhogg saying something the previous night but he couldn't recall anything about it.

Returning to the dorm, he found Ron and Dean laughing at Seamus.

'I swear, it keeps me up. It's really annoying.' Seamus said, scratching his messy hair.

'You're losing it mate.' Dean laughed, smoothing wrinkles out of his shirt.

'Have you heard it, Harry?' Ron asked, his face flushed from laughing.

'Heard what?'

'Seamus is hearing noises.'

'I'm not hearing noises.' Seamus shouted, throwing a sock at Ron. 'It's a hissing sound, like… well I don't know what it's like.'

Harry laughed and started dressing, dragging out the silence in the room as the others waited for a reply. 'Losing it.' He eventually said.

'Ah bugger you all!' Seamus said, bouncing out of bed and toward the bathrooms.

They all laughed.

'I never hear anything at night,' Dean said, 'I sleep like a log.'

'Until sunrise.' Harry pointed out.'

Dean nodded.

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At breakfast, a huge black barn owl delivered a tiny scroll of paper to Harry's place along with six new pairs of boxer shorts from Madame Malkin. Unrolling the scroll, Harry found Hagrid's unmistakable scrawl.

Harry, hope you're doing well. Would you like to come for lunch at my house today?

R.H.

'Cool,' Harry said, showing Fay and Dean the message. He'd been hoping to see Hagrid, mainly to ask the giant more questions about his parents. He leaned back in is seat, saw Hagrid and gave him a thumbs up. Hagrid smiled broadly.

'Can I come, Harry?' Asked Tina-Marie as she ladled baked beans onto her plate.

'Sure, you're all welcome I'm sure.' Said Harry, noticing Hermione's interested expression.

'Why would you want to go to see Hagrid?' Lavender asked snootily. 'He's all hairy and smelly.'

'So are you.' Said Fay, flicking Lavender's big, bushy blonde hair.

Lavender made an affronted sound. 'I do not smell!'

Seeing the start of an argument, Harry cut in. 'Look, Hagrid's a friend, the one who told me I was a wizard and I'm going to see him for lunch. If you want to come and will be polite, you can come. Simple.'

That settled the matter, though Lavender was still seething.

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That day was what Ron disparagingly called "muggle day" on account of the morning spent in English followed by PE and Art.

By the time they broke for lunch, Ron was in such a foul mood and exhausted from a small obstacle course in the school grounds that he went for a nap. Fay, Dean and, to the surprise of all, Hermione followed Harry down the hill to Hagrid's.

Hagrid's house was big, round, wooden and thatched as heavily as its resident. The front door was almost ten feet tall and of what looked like oak, black with age that looked like it had been taken from the school. There was a large knocker in brass, high enough that Harry had to stand on tiptoe to use it.

Before the second knock had fell, the door was pulled open, revealing Hagrid's furry face which was bright with excitement. He was wearing a vast pink apron covered with tiny cupcakes.

'Afternoon 'Arry.' He said before noticing the others Harry had bought with him. 'Oh, I see you bought some friends.'

'Yeah, is that okay?'

Hagrid thought about it for a long moment. 'Umm… yeah, that's fine, come on in all of you.'

He stepped back from the front door revealing a huge open space that took up what must have been almost the entire house. Inside it was cosy and warm with a huge fire burning in a stone hearth over which was an iron pot.

'It's not much, but it's home.' Hagrid said sheepishly.

Harry took in the whole place, from the vast bed to the six pheasants hanging by their necks in the rafters and grinned. 'It's great, I love it.' The house had a homely atmosphere unlike any he'd ever felt. It wasn't dirty not Petunia clean nor as grand as the great hall – it was simply a home.

Hagrid beamed again and offered them all chairs and huge mugs filled with strong, sweet tea followed by plates of sandwiches on bread sliced three inches thick. 'There's chicken, cheese and beef.'

They ate in silence, the meat on the sandwiches were still warm and while they were quite plain the group were more than full by the time Hagrid offered round a plate of small round rock cakes. 'Watch your teeth on these. They really live up to their name, but they're bloomin' gorgeous.' He chortled.

Harry tried one. They were incredibly hard, but when he broke a chunk off and chewed, he found it spicy and moist inside. 'Not bad.' He said, wincing as a piece scratched the roof of his mouth. 'You know you don't have to actually use rocks as an ingredient thought, right?'

Hermione chuckled loudly, drawing raised eyebrows from everyone. 'What? It was funny.' she said.

They sipped their tea in silence for a while, enjoying the heat from the fire.

'So how're you finding Hogwarts?' Hagrid asked as he drank from a bucket sized cup.

'Good,' Harry said, slouching in his seat, full to bursting. 'It's weird how lazy everyone is though, almost everyone moans and moans whenever we have to do anything beyond walking to the toilet.'

Dean laughed, 'That's right, man. Almost every non-muggleborn can barely run from the dorm to the common room.'

'Hey!' Complained Fay.

'Present company excluded.' said Harry diplomatically.

'You are right though,' chuckled Hagrid, 'most wizards are right lazy beasts.' He stood then, slipped on a huge mitten and lifted the pot from the fireplace, setting it down gingerly.

'What's in there?'

'What, in there? Nothin' nothin' at all important.'

'You're a terrible liar Hagrid.' Said Fay, a grin spreading over her face.

'Oh, alright then, come see.' He moved the pot closer to them and removed the lid. The inside was packed with sand that was steaming. 'Has to be kept hot for a certain amount of time then left to cool y'see.' He said, digging into the sand with his mitten.

Everyone leaned in close to get a better look and Dean bumped heads with Hermione. A shape became visible in the sand, a long oval around ten inches long. It was smooth as Hagrid dusted the sand away and revealed a mottled green-black surface. He scooped the object out and set it on a small table next to the teapot.

Hermione and Fay's mouths fell open.

'That's… that's a…' they said together, astonished.

'A big egg. So what?' Harry asked.

'That's no ordinary egg, Harry.' Hermione said, her anger at him apparently forgotten. 'That's a dragon egg.'

Harry's eyes went wide and the hairs on his arms and on his neck lifted immediately.

'Where did you get that thing, Hagrid?' Fay asked astonished.

'From this Irish fella I met down the pub. Took it from him in a game of Potkin's Folly. He reckons it's got about a month to go before it hatches.'

'You need to get rid of it!' Fay shouted, getting to her feet. 'Dragons are dangerous, they need to be in reserves and registered and all sorts. You'd get in huge trouble if people found out you had one.'

Hagrid waved a hand carelessly. 'Nah, it's okay, it'll only be a baby after all. I've always wanted a dragon too.'

Fay looked at Harry with concern etched into her face.

Hermione moved closer to look at the egg. 'That's incredible, but Fay's right, you can't keep it Hagrid. Dragons are wild creatures and enormously powerful both magically and physically. It'll be the size of your dog in a couple of months, a horse in less than two years.'

'Really?' Harry asked. He'd been fascinated by the little he'd read on the subject of dragons but hadn't had time to learn more than the absolute basics.

'Yes!' Hermione and Fay said together.

'Now hush you lot. I'll be fine, I've got a couple of weeks still to put my affairs in order and I've already got some dragongrass growing out in the garden to help him through any growth spurts. I've read up a lot on this, so don't you worry.'

In the distance, the signalling the end of lunch rang. Hermione shot to her feet and threw her bag on.

'Come on,' she cried, 'we're going to be late for charms!' The subject of the dragon egg seemed forgotten.

'Hermionie's right, come on you lot, get yourselves off to class.' Hagrid said, gingerly replacing the egg in the hot sand.

Outside, Hermione sprinted back toward the school, leaving Harry, Dean and Fay together.

'He's mad!' Shouted Fay, 'Does he really think he can raise a dragon by himself?'

'He's not mad.' Harry said, 'he's just… a bit, umm, different.'

'A dragon would seriously be the size of a horse in a couple of years?' Asked Dean raising his hand over his head.

'Yes, and that's not counting the length of the thing. A two year old dragon won't be able to get in his house, let alone live there with him. Dragons need to be on reserves, where they can fly and hunt and be free.'

Harry disagreed: that was exactly the attitude that had been taken with him after his parents had been killed. 'Speaking on behalf of creatures that need to be separated from the rest of the world for their own good, I couldn't disagree more. Dragons are smart, aren't they?'

'Some are, apparently they used to be a lot smarter in the past. They used to be much more powerful too, some of the greatest of them ruled huge parts of the world. Not that I've met one, but apparently most of them aren't much smarter than normal animals now, just with more powerful instincts and, of course how magically awesome they are. Their scales and size alone apparently make them virtually immune to most spells.'

Harry and Dean nodded gravely.

'I still don't think that the only place for them is on reservations.' Harry said, grumbling. 'I'm not saying they should have free rein to eat people and rule the world or anything, but if they're intelligent then they can be made to understand that we can live together.'

'I don't know Harry,' Dean said, musing, 'my mom always says that people aren't capable of living in peace, that as a species we're just too greedy and love war too much. How do you think most people would react to having a giant lizard living on the hill nearby?'

'I don't care.' Harry said, remembering the snake from London Zoo and its depressing little sign "Bred in Captivity." He paused. 'I really do understand that dragons are dangerous and everything, but no matter what, I don't think any creatures should be held in captivity of any sort.'

'I agree Harry,' said Fay, 'but that's just not the world we live in.'

'Then the world needs to change.' Harry said, his voice hard and cold like the lump that had risen in his throat.

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