DRAGON TROUBLE

Quirrel was getting thinner day by day. Natasha thought that he must be under a lot of pressure. Ron and Hermione thought that it was due to Professor Snape, but Natasha knew something was really mysterious about the turbaned professor. Hermione, however, had more on her mind than the Sorcerer's Stone. She had started drawing up study schedules and color coding all her notes. Natasha knew that it was due to the upcoming exams, and was getting a bit serious too. This offended Ron. Ron wouldn't have minded, but she kept nagging them to do the same. "Hermione, Natasha, the exams are ages away! I don't know why you both are so serious.", Ron said furiously. "Ten weeks," Hermione snapped. "Again we don't like to do anything at the last moment.", Natasha said. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel.". That was a poor argument as far as Natasha was concerned. "But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her. "Anyway, what are you studying for, you both already know it all.". Natasha was tired and sleepy of arguing, so she went to bed. Ron and Hermione continued to argue. They were arguing like a married couple.

The teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Natasha and Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. Natasha and Hermione spent their free time in the Library, along with Ron who was moaning and yawning. It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was a clear, forget-me-not blue, and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming. Natasha was looking at her History of Magic book when she heard "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?". Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat. Natasha thought it was highly unusual as, Hagrid never struck as a reading person. "Jus' lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once. "An' what're you lot up ter?" He looked suddenly suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?". "Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron impressively. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St -". Natasha kicked Ron in the leg, angry at the fact that he was saying it loudly. "Shhhh!", Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?", Hagrid said. "There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Hermione, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy -".

"SHHHH!" said Hagrid again. "Listen - come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh -". "See you later, then," said Natasha. Hagrid walked away fast. "He was hiding something behind her back.", Natasha said. "Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?", Hermione asked. "I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, who'd had enough of working. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table. "Dragons!" he whispered. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide. "Why is Hagrid taking books about Dragons?", Natasha asked. "Do you think, Hagrid wants to breed one?", Hermione asked. "But it's against our laws," said Ron. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' 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.".

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain.",said Natasha. "Of course there are," said Ron. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you.". Natasha had never bothered to read books on that topic, so she did not know. "So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" said Hermione. When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut an hour later, they were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed. Natasha found it really strange as Hagrid never did that. Hagrid called "Who is it?". Before he let them in, and then shut the door quickly behind them. It was stifling hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they refused.

"So wha' did yeh want to ask?", Hagrid said. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy.", Natasha asked. Hagrid frowned at her. "O' course I cant,'' he said. "Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts - I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all. Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy.". "Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling. "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." Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Natasha and Ron beamed at Hermione. "Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that... let's see... he borrowed Fluffy from me... then some o' the teachers did enchantments... Professor Sprout - Professor Flitwick - Professor McGonagall -" he ticked them off on his fingers, "Professor Quirrell - an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape.".

"See I told you, Professor Snape is innocent. He is one of the people guarding the stone.", Natasha told happily. "Even Quirrel is guarding it Natasha.", Hermione said. "Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it.", Hagrid said. Natasha was thinking that If Quirrel had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. She probably knew everything - except, it seemed, how to get past Fluffy. Natasha knew that Ron and Hermione was having the same line of thoughts as her, but was about Professor Snape. "You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" said Natasha anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?". "Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly. Natasha was relieved. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling.", Ron asked. "Can't, Ron, sorry," said Hagrid. Natasha noticed him glance at the fire. Three of them looked at it, too.". "Hagrid - what's that?",But Natasha already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.

"Umm... that's...that's", Hagrid said fiddling nervously with his beard. "Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune!". "Won it," said Hagrid. "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, ter be honest.". "But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?",said Hermione. "Well, I've bin doin' some readin'", said Hagrid, pulling a large book from 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 here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on I 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 - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them.". "But only reading will do you any good in this matter. This is a serious matter!", Natasha exclaimed. "That too you live in a wooden house!". Then the the egg started shaking. "Oh my god! It is hatching!", Hermione said. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it. They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.

All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. It wasn't exactly pretty; Natasha thought it looked like a crumpled, black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body, it had a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes. It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout. Natasha leaned back from the table in fear. "Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured. "I think it is a female Hagrid, not a he.", Ron said. "I will call it Norberta then.", Hagrid said happily. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs. "Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!" said Hagrid. Natasha thought, if snapping someone's fingers were a show of affection. She knew she did not want to see the show of anger. "Hagrid," said Hermione, "how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?" Hagrid was about to answer when the color suddenly drained from his face - he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.

"What's the matter?", Ron asked. "Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains - it's a kid - he's runnin' back up ter the school." ,Natasha bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him. Draco had seen the dragon. Natasha knew it meant big trouble. The smirk on Draco's face made her very nervous. The most of the next week was spent in Hagrid's hut. "Hagrid! Draco has seen the dragon! You will be in big trouble if he says it to someone.", Natasha said. Hagrid looked very fearful. "Just let him go," Natasha urged. "Set him free.". "I can't," said Hagrid. "He's too little. He'd die.". They looked at the dragon. It had grown three times in length in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils. Hagrid hadn't been doing his gamekeeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There were empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor. "Hagrid seriously has gome mad!", Ron said to Natasha and Hermione while Hagrid was busy. "Hagrid," said Natasha loudly, "give it two weeks and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment!" Hagrid bit his lip.

"I - I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him, I can't.", Hagrid wailed. "Hey Ron, why can't we give the dragon to charlie. He is a dragon tamer isn't it?", Natasha asked. "Brilliant!" said Ron. "How about it, Hagrid?" And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could send an owl to Charlie to ask him. In the following week ,Ron started to help Hagrid with the Dragon. He even went at the nighttime. Natasha and Hermione refused to go with him, as they hated breaking the rules. Natasha gave her cloak to Ron for helping him. Wednesday night found Hermione and Natasha sitting alone in the common room, revising their after everyone else had gone to bed. The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight when the portrait hole burst open. Ron appeared out of nowhere as he pulled off Harry's invisibility cloak. He had been down at Hagrid's hut, helping him feed Norbert, who was now eating dead rats by the crate. "It bit me!" he said, showing them his hand, which was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. 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." There was a tap on the dark window. "It's Hedwig!" said Natasha, hurrying to let her in. "She'll have Charlie's answer!" The three of them put their heads together to read the note.

Dear Ron,

How are you? Thanks for the letter - I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.

Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark.

Send me an answer as soon as possible.

Love, Charlie.

"I can't go to meet them, as i have injured my hand. I am sure Madam Pomfrey will make sure of that. You both have to go.", Ron said. Hermione was about to start an argument, but Natasha stopped her as Natasha knew there was no other way. "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl, and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we have got the invisibility cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that.", Natasha said. The next morning in the potions class, and the letter was in Hermione's book. When Hermione went to take the ingredients and came back, the letter was missing. Natasha saw Draco smiling and sitting nearby. She knew Draco had got the word about the plan. They both went to Hagrid's to tell about the plan. They found Fang, the boarhound, sitting outside with a bandaged tail when they went, who opened a window to talk to them. "I won't let you in," he puffed. "Norbert's at a tricky stage - nothin' I can't handle.". When they told him about Charlie's letter, his eyes filled with tears, although that might have been because Norbert had just bitten him on the leg. "Aargh! It's all right, he only got my boot - jus' playin' - he's only a baby, after all.". The baby banged its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle. Natasha and Hermione walked back to the castle feeling Saturday couldn't come quickly enough. They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say good-bye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do. They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say good-bye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do.

It was a very dark, cloudy night, and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they'd had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the Entrance Hall, where he'd been playing tennis against the wall. Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate. "He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely.". From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Natasha as though the teddy was having his head torn off. "Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as Natasha and Hermione covered the crate with the invisibility cloak and stepped underneath it themselves. "Mummy will never forget you!". How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew. Midnight ticked nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors, up another staircase, then another - even one of Natasha's shortcuts didn't make the work much easier. "Nearly there!",Natasha panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower. "Seriously! I hate ron for making us do this.", Natasha said angrily. Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate. Forgetting that they were already invisible, they shrank into the shadows, staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared.

Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair net, had Malfoy by the ear. "Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you -". "You don't understand, Professor. Ronald weasley's coming - he's got a dragon!". Natasha thought that Draco thought Ron will be coming here. She thought what will be Draco's reaction if he saw her. "What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on - I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!", Professor said. The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. Not until they'd stepped out into the cold night air did they throw off the cloak, glad to be able to breathe properly again. Hermione did a sort of jig. "Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!", she said merrily. "Don't," Natasha advised her. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness. Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed Natasha and Hermione the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then Natasha and Hermione shook hands with the others and thanked them very much. At last, Norbert was going... going... gone.

They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was off them. No more dragon, what could spoil their happiness?. The answer to that was waiting at the foot of the stairs. As they stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed suddenly out of the darkness. "Well, well, well," he whispered, "we are in trouble." They'd left the invisibility cloak on top of the tower.