"What is going on here?" Minerva asked as she came down to the Entrance Hall to pick up the basket of wood Hagrid had brought in for her fire. It was as if the Hall was filled by a thick mist, so many ghosts had gathered in there.

Fred floated out of one of the larger crowds. "I'm not entirely sure," he said. "Everyone just seems to end up here today. It's like it's more… pleasant, than the rest of the castle."

Minerva frowned. "The Entrance Hall? If anything, I'd say it's more drafty…" But as she spoke the words, she realised it wasn't entirely true. In fact, the Hall felt rather warmer than her own office.

"Not just the Hall," Fred said, gesturing to a group of giggling girls drifting down a corridor. "Most of the ground floor, actually. Do you suppose your spell could be having a delayed effect?"

"I doubt it," Minerva said with a sigh. "But it's strange… If you're all here, it should be colder, shouldn't it?"

He frowned. "I… I suppose so…" He was interrupted by a loud hoot of laughter and then a group of ghosts, led by Sir Nicholas, came rushing into the hall, circled it a couple of times and disappeared up through the ceiling.

Everyone laughed as they watched them and then went back to gliding and chatting happily. "To tell you the truth, Professor," Fred said. "I think the cold has been getting to us too. A lot of us have been growing quite… slow, lately. But today… Well, look at us. Everyone seems more alive. So to speak."

Nodding slowly, Minerva walked between some of the ghosts in the direction Nick had come from. As she had expected, it turned out to be classroom eleven's corridor. "Of course," she mumbled to herself, remembering how much warmer it had been near Hagrid's cabin.

Fred began laughing. "Of course," he echoed. "We should have guessed those little fireballs would be good for something."

"Why didn't I think of this earlier?" Minerva said, shaking her head. "If we could spread them through the castle… without actually letting them wreck it…"

"Like putting them in cages?" Fred asked. "I don't think they'd like that…"

"No, but surely we can figure something out," Minerva said thoughtfully. "Hagrid will be delighted when he hears there's a chance they don't have to go. Maybe he knows a way to make them behave."

"He could make it a project for the NEWTs," Fred said. "Dragon taming. That ought to impress the examiners."

"I'm not sure the Ministry would allow it," Minerva said. "Besides, if we have to wait until they're trained well enough not to burn down the castle..."

"I guess we better hear what Hagrid has to say before we decide anything," Fred said. "He is the Care of Magical Creatures teacher."

…

"Oh, I can handle tha', Professor," Hagrid said, beaming at her. "They're really quite well-behaved. They've jus' bin so excited abou' moving up ter the castle an' all tha'. Yeh'll see. I'll calm 'em down."

"And we can help," Fred said. "They seem to like us. When we're not chasing them."

"Still…" Minerva said hesitantly. "We should find some way that they don't burn the books and parchment. This is, after all, a school."

"They need ter be house trained, certainly," Hagrid said. "Bu' they're really quite bright. They don' have ter flame, see? They just do it fer laughs an' when they ge' too eager."

"And until they learn, the students must learn not to let their homework and such lying about," Fred said, grinning. "But we should separate them. It seems that they get each other all worked up when they are together. I think they'll be much more manageable in smaller groups. Wouldn't you say so, Hagrid?"

"Aye. An' their heat will be spread out too," Hagrid said, before he dug an old piece of parchment out of his pocket and began sketching on it.

"Perhaps we could construct some kind of fireproof places for them to stay the night," Minerva mused as she had watched Hagrid's drawing for a moment. "So they won't really be locked up, but it's still safe for us to sleep."

Hagrid nodded. "I think I've go' some fireproof wood lying abou' from the crates I made fer the Blast-Ended Skrewts. I'll start building some lairs fer the little darlin's. How many will we be needin'?"

The rest of the day was filled with floor plans of the castle, changing the distribution of the dragons so many times that a faint buzz had started in Minerva's head, though the result looked like it would be worth it. Hagrid proudly showed her his first lair and after expressing her approval and gratitude, Minerva wrote a quick letter to Olympe, telling her that a solution had finally been found. Her last thought before she fell asleep was that now, even Sybill would have to concede that she was up to the job of Headmistress.