Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.

Chapter 11 – The Dragon

Harry, Hermione, and Ron were still adamant that Snape was going to try and steal the Philosopher's Stone. Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, the three of them would press their ears against the door to hear if Fluffy was still inside. Lucy was starting to get annoyed with it; it was not their business—not any student's business—what was going on in that corridor.

Unfortunately, Hermione had also started to worry about the end-of-term exams. She would badger the other three to study with her, although every time they would brush her off.

"Hermione, the exams are ages away," Harry told her one evening in the common room.

Hermione glared at him. "Ten weeks," she snapped. "That's not ages. That's like a second to Nicolas Flamel!"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Yes, but we're not six hundred years old, Hermione," she reminded her friend.

"Anyway, why are you studying?" Ron asked in an annoyed tone. "You already know it all."

Lucy groaned, putting her head in her hands. That was Ron, always setting Hermione off on a rant. And sure enough—

"What am I studying for?" Hermione screeched. "Are you crazy? You realize we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They're very important! I should have started studying months ago. I don't know what's gotten into me—"

"'Mione, please stop worrying," Lucy finally cut in. "Everything will be fine, okay?" Her words seemed to calm Hermione a little, and she nodded in defeat.

"Fine, you three can carry on doing whatever it is that you feel is more important than studying," she huffed, pulling a book into her lap.

Harry shrugged and returned to the house he and Ron were building with an Exploding Snap deck.

"Bloody mental," Ron murmured so quietly that Lucy almost didn't hear him; almost.

She glared at him. She got up to go sit with Fred and George but paused briefly to pinch Ron's arm. He scowled at her as she walked by him.

"Hey there, Lu," Fred greeted as soon as she walked up to them. "Grab a seat."

Lucy grinned and plopped herself onto the couch between the twins. Fred smiled back and tossed over a pastry.

"Okay, I give up on guessing," Lucy sighed after she took a bite. "How do you two always manage to have extra food after dinner?"

Fred tweaked her nose playfully. "Unfortunately, I cannot answer that question, my dear," he said. "Then you would know one of our secrets, and we can't have that—right, George, old boy?"

Lucy looked around at George with a smile on her face.

"You heard my brother," George said. "We have to have some secrets for ourselves!"

"Even if I said pretty please?" Lucy asked, pouting and looking between the brothers.

"Well then, I suppose we can tell you that we go on an extremely dangerous journey to find this food," Fred said, pretending to be serious. "We risk our lives to be sure that Gryffindor house can have extra desserts."

"But maybe we can let you in on our little secret when you're older," George added, winking at Lucy.

She sighed with a smirk before tipping her head onto George's shoulder.

~LJ:TH~

The Easter holiday came quickly, but it wasn't anywhere near as enjoyable as Christmas had been. All the teachers had started to pile on extra work, and Lucy was beginning to feel the stress. She, Harry, and Ron often joined Hermione in the library, who was endlessly studying for her exams.

"I'll never remember this," Ron moaned when they were gathered in the library one afternoon. He tossed his quill on top of his work and stared longingly out the window.

Lucy glanced outside, as well, taking note of how nice it looked. Then she buried her nose in her Transfiguration homework once more. Harry was next to her, reading One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.

Then Ron announced, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

The other three looked up immediately to see Hagrid shuffling out from behind a bookcase. He was very obviously hiding something behind his back. Lucy looked at him quizzically.

"Jus' lookin'," Hagrid replied, his voice sounding guilty. "So, what're you lot up ter? Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," Ron answered brightly—Lucy assumed that he was happy because he was being distracted from his studies. "And we know what the dog's guarding!" Ron added. "It's a Philosopher's St—"

He was quickly cut off by Lucy, Hagrid, and Hermione hissing, "Shhh!"

Hagrid looked around for a moment before turning back to Ron. "Don' go shoutin' abou' it! Wha's the matter with yeh?" he asked.

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," Harry cut in. "About what's guarding the stone, apart from Fluffy—"

"SHHH!" Hagrid repeated. "Listen—come an' see me later. I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' abou' it in here. Students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh.…"

"See you later, then," Harry replied, and Hagrid hurried off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" Hermione asked in a hushed voice.

"Do you think it had anything to do with the stone?" Harry asked excitedly.

"I'm going to see what section he was in," Ron replied. Lucy nodded in approval, and Ron disappeared into the section Hagrid had come out of.

A minute later he returned, carrying a few large books with him. "Dragons!" Ron said hoarsely. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons!" He set the books onto their table, and Lucy looked over the titles curiously.

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon. He told me so the first time I ever met him," Harry said, scooting forward in his seat to get a closer look at the book nearest to him.

"It's against our laws, though," Ron started. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlock's Convention of 1709; everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden—anyway, you can't tame dragons. It's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"Sometimes I'm surprised that you're not doing better in school, Ron," Lucy butted in, impressed by the knowledge Ron had about dragons.

"For the record, I find this stuff much more interesting than the stuff we learn in class," Ron said airily, and Lucy smirked at him.

"But… there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" Harry asked, his voice a mix of worry and interest.

"Of course there are," Ron replied. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

"Well, maybe Hagrid was just looking up information for fun, since he seems so interested," Lucy suggested.

"If that was the case, then I think he'd be up here a lot more often," Harry countered.

Lucy shrugged and nodded.

"So, what on earth's Hagrid up to?" Hermione asked in a quiet voice.

The four students looked around at each other, at a loss for why Hagrid seemed to suddenly have such a strong interest in dragons.

~LJ:TH~

An hour later, the four of them rushed across the grounds to Hagrid's hut. The curtains were all pulled shut. They pounded on the door for a minute before Hagrid's voice finally answered, asking who it was. When he heard it was the four of them, he let them in. The door was shut firmly as soon as Lucy, the last in line, had skirted inside.

It was boiling hot inside the hut, and Lucy immediately rolled up the sleeves of her uniform. Hagrid busied himself by making some tea and offering them sandwiches, which they all refused.

"So—yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?" Hagrid prompted them as soon as they were all sitting with their tea.

"Yes," Harry piped up right away. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone, apart from Fluffy."

"Subtle, Harry," Lucy muttered.

Hagrid frowned at Harry. "O' course I can't," he replied. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. Tha' stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts—I s'ppose yeh've worked tha' out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid," Hermione pressed. "You might not want to tell us, but you do know. You know everything that goes on around here."

Lucy rolled her eyes at Hermione's flattering words.

"We only wondered who had done the guarding, really," Hermione went on. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Harry and Ron shot approving looks at Hermione after her speech, while Lucy difficultly repressed a snort.

"Well, I don' s'ppose it could hurt ter tell yeh tha'," Hagrid admitted, and the other four could tell he was smiling by the twitch in his beard. "Let's see.… He borrowed Fluffy from me.… Then some o' the teachers did enchantments.… Professor Sprout—Professor Flitwick—Professor McGonagall—Professor Quirrell—an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh, yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape?" Harry and Ron burst out at the same time.

"Yeah," Hagrid confirmed with a nod of his head. "Yer still not on abou' tha', are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the stone. He's not abou' ter steal it."

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" Harry asked nervously. "You wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," Hagrid proclaimed proudly.

"Well, that's something," Harry muttered under his breath—Hagrid seemed to be the only one who missed it. Then Harry asked, "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

"Can't, Harry, sorry," Hagrid replied, glancing quickly towards the fire.

The other four looked at the fire for the first time since they'd entered the hut.

"Hagrid—what's that?" Harry asked.

Lucy leaned forward to confirm her suspicions, and she was correct. It was a dragon egg, huge and jet black.

"Ah.… Tha's—er…" Hagrid trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

Ron got up and moved towards the fire for a better look. "Where did you get it, Hagrid?" he asked curiously. "It must've cost you a fortune."

"Won it," Hagrid replied simply. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, teh be honest."

"Who wouldn't have been glad to get rid of one of those?" Lucy asked incredulously, staring at Hagrid like he had lost his mind.

"What are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," Hagrid replied easily, as though hatching a dragon in a fireplace was perfectly normal. He reached over to his bed and pulled out a large book that was hidden under his pillow. "Got this outta the library—Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit—it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in 'ere. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see. 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—wha' I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them." Hagrid shut the book, looking like a proud father.

"Hagrid," Hermione insisted, "you live in a wooden house."

Hagrid either didn't hear her or chose not to listen. He stoked the fire a few times, starting to hum. Lucy shook her head; if Hagrid wasn't careful, he was going to get himself fired.

~LJ:TH~

Days went by, and the four first-years were constantly worrying about their gamekeeper friend. Lucy still didn't know what he was going to do once the dragon egg hatched. There was no way he could keep it; or, at least, he wouldn't be able to keep it for long.

Meanwhile, homework was still being piled on them as the professors insisted that they learn as much as possible before the end-of-term exams. Hermione, who had set up her own study schedule weeks ago, decided to also make up schedules for Lucy, Harry, and Ron. When they weren't sleeping, eating, or in class, they were doing schoolwork. The only time Lucy felt truly relaxed these days was when she was lying in her four-poster bed as she dozed off for the night.

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron moaned one night while he and Lucy were working on a particularly difficult Potions essay.

"You and me both, brother," Lucy grumbled back.

~LJ:TH~

Only a few days later, Hedwig brought Harry a note. It was from Hagrid, and all it said was It's hatching. Lucy exchanged a worried look with Hermione.

"Let's bunk off Herbology," Ron piped up.

Hermione shot a look at him. "No way," she snapped.

"Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?" Ron asked.

Lucy tapped his arm nervously. "Keep your voice down, Ron," she murmured, but neither he nor Hermione seemed to hear her.

"We've got lessons!" Hermione started ranting. "We'll get into trouble! Which is nothing compared to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing—!"

"Shut up!" Harry hissed, casting a glance over Lucy's and Hermione's shoulders.

Lucy stole a look behind her, as well, and saw Malfoy standing frozen just a little way away with an odd look on his face. Lucy turned back around, meeting Harry's eyes, and she knew what he was thinking: what had Malfoy heard, if anything?

~LJ:TH~

On the way to Herbology, Hermione and Ron continued to bicker, causing Lucy and Harry to shush them periodically when their voices got too loud. Hermione finally agreed to visit Hagrid during their morning break, which was directly after Herbology.

Hagrid met them outside his hut as soon as class was over, whispering, "It's nearly out." He excitedly showed them in, making sure to close the door tightly behind them.

The five of them took seats around the table, where the egg was now sitting. There were many cracks all over it.

They only had to wait a few minutes before there was a large scratching sound. The egg split open rather violently, sending Lucy and Hermione leaping back from the table in surprise. Hagrid, Ron, and Harry, on the other hand, all leaned forward to look at the baby dragon, which flopped ungracefully onto the tabletop.

It was a skinny, black little thing with wide orange eyes and tiny bumps where its horns were meant to be. It turned about a bit on the table and let out a sneeze, spraying a few sparks from its nose. Harry and Ron now backed away, avoiding the fire.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid breathed in awe. He moved to pat the dragon on its head, but it snapped at his fingers. Hagrid didn't seem fazed at all, announcing, "Bless him, he knows his mummy!"

"Hagrid, how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?" Hermione asked, trying to bring the man a voice of reason.

Hagrid opened his mouth, but before he could answer, he leapt up from his chair and rushed to the window.

"What's the matter?" Lucy asked worriedly.

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains," Hagrid explained. "It's a kid—he's runnin' back up ter the school."

Harry was on the move the instant Hagrid finished his sentence. He opened the door a crack and looked out. After a moment, he pulled his head back in and said in a shaking voice, "Malfoy."

~LJ:TH~

To Lucy's surprise, Hagrid didn't get in trouble in the next few days. It seemed as though Malfoy was intending on holding the information over them to use as blackmail.

Whenever they had some free time, Lucy and her friends were down in Hagrid's hut, trying to reason with him.

"Just let him go," Harry said one day. "Set him free."

Lucy nodded in agreement.

"I can't," Hagrid replied. "He's too little. He'd die."

Lucy let out a groan of frustration. "Can't or won't, Hagrid?" she asked a little more harshly than she meant.

Hagrid barely paid her any attention, though. All his interest was on the baby dragon, which could hardly be called a baby anymore. It had already grown about three times in length since it had been born.

"I've decided to call him Norbert," Hagrid announced proudly. "He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mummy?"

"He's lost his marbles," Ron muttered so that the other three could hear him, but Hagrid couldn't.

"Hagrid," Harry said firmly, "give it two weeks, and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment."

"And if Malfoy goes to Dumbledore, there goes your job," Lucy threatened.

"I—I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him. I can't," Hagrid moaned.

Lucy let out a deep sigh. She looked over to her friends, who looked as helpless as she felt.

Then Harry, his eyes widening, turned to Ron and stated, "Charlie."

"You're losing it, too," Ron replied, looking bewildered. "I'm Ron, remember?"

"No, Charlie!" Lucy said, catching on. "Your brother, Charlie. In Romania, studying dragons."

"We could send Norbert to him," Harry picked up. "Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"

"Brilliant!" Ron shot back, an excited grin appearing on his face. "How about it, Hagrid?"

It took a little bit more persuading, which Hermione proved that she excelled at doing, and Hagrid eventually agreed to let Ron send Charlie an owl.

~LJ:TH~

By the next week, not only were they worried about Hagrid, but Hermione was stressing herself over her end-of-term exams. They had begun to take it in turns to visit Hagrid and help with Norbert so that they had time to study, as well. Harry's Invisibility Cloak came in very handy to help them sneak out at night.

It was close to midnight, and Lucy, Harry, and Hermione were sitting in an empty common room. Hermione was the only one who was still studying; Lucy and Harry were waiting anxiously for Ron to return from Hagrid's.

Just as the clock struck twelve, the two got their wish. Ron burst through the portrait hole, ripping off the cloak angrily.

"It bit me!" he announced savagely, holding out his hand. It was wrapped only in a handkerchief, which was slightly bloodstained.

"C'mere and let me see that," Lucy said gently, beckoning Ron to join her and Harry on the couch.

Ron marched over and planted himself in between them, holding his hand out to Lucy. She carefully unwrapped the handkerchief to look at the bite. At this point, it didn't look too bad, and she rewrapped it carefully but tightly. She pulled a roll of spellotape out of her backpack and taped the handkerchief, so it wouldn't fall off.

As she did this, Ron continued his rant. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week," he moaned. "I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me, he told me off for frightening it! And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a sharp tap on a nearby window.

Harry jumped up. "It's Hedwig!" he exclaimed, rushing to let the owl in. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"

Hedwig flew over and landed on the table, holding her leg out towards Hermione. Hermione pulled the parchment off and read it aloud for the other three to hear. Lucy leaned forward and stroked Hedwig's snow-white feathers as Hermione read Charlie's answer.

"So basically, we have to get Norbert to the tallest tower at midnight?" Lucy clarified once Hermione was finished.

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

"Again, taking a dragon to the tallest tower at midnight?" Lucy repeated. "Are you nuts?"

"Then you can stay here, Lucy," Ron retorted.

That shut Lucy up right away. As crazy as the idea was, she knew that they had to do it, to get rid of Norbert—and keep Hagrid out of trouble.

~LJ:TH~

"My hand," Ron moaned quietly as Lucy took the handkerchief off the next morning before they went down to breakfast. The four of them were huddled in a corner of the common room to keep the injury out of sight.

"Merlin, it's really swollen," Lucy murmured worriedly before she wrapped it back up. "Do you think he should go to Madam Pomfrey?" she asked, looking at Harry and Hermione.

Ron shook his head fearfully.

"We'll wait and see if it gets worse," Hermione consoled him.

"I can't go to the hospital wing," Ron insisted. "Then I'll have to tell Madam Pomfrey that there's a dragon around here."

"I know, but if it does get any worse, Ron, you're going to have to go," Hermione reasoned. "That bite could be more dangerous than it seems."

~LJ:TH~

Luck was not on Ron's side. After lunch, Lucy checked under the handkerchief to see if the swelling had gone down at all. Instead, the skin around the bite had turned a violent shade of green.

"Ron, you have to go to the hospital wing," Lucy insisted. "You have to. That looks like Norbert's fangs had some kind of poison in them."

So, Ron grudgingly excused himself to go to the hospital wing, while Lucy, Harry, and Hermione finished their lessons of the day.

~LJ:TH~

As soon as classes were over, the three of them practically ran for the hospital wing to find out if Ron was okay.

"You look terrible. What's wrong?" Lucy asked immediately as the three of them gathered around his bed. "I mean, besides the obvious dragon bite."

"Well, my hand does feel like it's about to fall off," Ron whispered hoarsely. "It's Malfoy. He told Madam Pomfrey that he wanted to borrow one of my books, so he could come in and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me—I've told her it was a dog, but I don't think she believes me—I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match. That's why he's doing this."

"Ron, everything's going to be fine," Harry said.

"It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday," Hermione added.

Ron's eyes widened even more, and he quickly sat upright. "Midnight on Saturday!" he murmured faintly.

Lucy gently pushed him down by the shoulder to ease him back into bed.

"Oh no—oh no," he gasped. "I've just remembered—Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took. He's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."

The other three stared dumbfounded at Ron, who was whiter than usual. Madam Pomfrey took this as her chance to swoop down on them. She ordered Lucy, Harry, and Hermione out, insisting that Ron needed to get some rest.

~LJ:TH~

"It's too late to change the plan now," Harry told the girls when they were safely back in the boys' dormitory. Lucy and Hermione were sitting on Ron's bed, and Harry was sitting on his, facing them. "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl," he went on, "and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. Also, we have got the Invisibility Cloak. Malfoy doesn't know about that."

Lucy and Hermione agreed.

"We should go and tell Hagrid," Hermione put in. "We need to make sure he has Norbert ready for us on Saturday night."

"Right," Harry agreed.

So, the three of them hurried down to Hagrid's hut. The sun was setting, and they had to rush to make sure they wouldn't get in trouble for being outside after dark.

When they reached the hut, they found Fang sitting outside, his tail bandaged. He jumped up excitedly, and Lucy immediately began to scratch his ears.

"It's okay, Fang," she murmured to him. "We're going to get rid of that nasty old dragon, so it'll be just you and Hagrid again, and you won't have to sleep outside anymore."

Harry and Hermione, meanwhile, banged on the front door.

The window nearby opened, and Hagrid's face appeared. "I won't let you in," he stated. "Norbert's at a tricky stage—nothin' I can't handle."

"Never mind that, Hagrid—listen," Harry started before launching into Charlie's letter and their plan to hand Norbert off.

Hagrid's eyes filled with tears; Lucy wasn't sure if it was because of the idea of Norbert leaving or because Norbert had just bitten his leg. "Aargh! It's all righ'. He only got my boot—jus' playin'—he's only a baby, after all," Hagrid explained before disappearing back into the hut.

"If Norbert is a baby," Lucy started darkly, "then I'm a unicorn."

The three Gryffindors walked back up to the castle in silence. Saturday night could not come soon enough.

~LJ:TH~

Unfortunately, Saturday night started off badly. They had a difficult time being quiet with three of them under the cloak, and so they had to make their way very slowly. Then they had to wait for Peeves to clear out of the entrance hall, so they wouldn't get spotted. Because of all that, they were late arriving at Hagrid's hut, who was crying when they reached him.

"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," Hagrid said in a weepy voice. "And I've packed his teddy bear, in case he gets lonely."

A ripping noise came from inside the crate that Norbert was currently occupying, and Lucy jumped away in surprise.

Harry stepped up and threw the cloak over the crate, and the three of them positioned themselves around it. Lucy and Hermione quickly disappeared under the cloak.

"Don't worry, Hagrid. He'll be fine," Harry assured the gamekeeper before joining the girls under the cloak.

"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid wailed. "Mummy will never forget you!"

Lucy cringed as his voice carried across the grounds.

The three of them started the slow haul back to the castle. Between the three of them, the crate really wasn't too heavy, but Norbert wasn't making it any easier. He would thrash around for a bit and then pause before beginning to thrash again. If that wasn't difficult enough, they had to walk in a slightly stooped manner to stay hidden under the cloak. Lucy's back quickly began to ache.

Nevertheless, they continued: up staircases, down dark corridors, and up more staircases. Harry led them through a shortcut at one point, although it didn't seem to help.

"Nearly there!" Harry panted finally, breaking the silence.

They hobbled down the corridor just below the tallest tower, but before they could reach the stairs, they heard movement ahead of them. The three instinctively shrank into the shadows, and Lucy silently begged that Norbert would stay quiet for the moment. A lamp flickered to life, and the three students held their breath.

Professor McGonagall came into view, holding Malfoy by his ear and wearing an angry look on her face. "Detention!" she was shouting at him. "Twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night.… How dare you!"

"You don't understand, Professor," Malfoy interrupted. "Harry Potter's coming—he's got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies!" Professor McGonagall scolded. "Come on—I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

As soon as their voices died away, Lucy, Harry, and Hermione hurried to the stairs of the tower. They climbed them easily, slipping out from under the cloak as soon as they were at the top. After carefully setting the crate down, Lucy stretched onto her tiptoes, raising her arms above her head.

Hermione did a little dance. "Malfoy's got detention!" she gloated. "I could sing!"

"Don't," Harry advised her, yet he chuckled at her antics.

Norbert chose that time to start thrashing in his crate again, and Lucy couldn't help but bend down to say something. "Thank you for keeping quiet in the hallway downstairs, Norbert," she said. Then she plopped herself down onto the stone floor to wait for Charlie's friends.

It was about ten minutes later when the first-years spotted four broomsticks flying through the air towards them. There were four young men on those brooms, and they landed gracefully on top of the tower.

They introduced themselves and showed the Gryffindors the harnesses they'd brought to carry Norbert between them. Then they saddled up quickly and got ready to take off again. Lucy, Harry, and Hermione bid them thanks and good night, and finally Norbert was on his way to Romania.

The three of them practically skipped down the stairs, feeling light and giggly. As soon as they stepped into the corridor at the bottom of the staircase, however, a face appeared that made all their stomachs sink.

"Well, well, well," Filch whispered, his voice dripping with satisfaction. "We are in trouble."

Lucy realized their mistake too late: they had left the cloak up on the tower.

~LJ:TH~