Chapter 20: Dragon Flight

Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus
-Hogwarts' motto-

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"What happened?" Harry asked, once the unused classroom door was firmly shut behind him.

"We got a reply," Ron said, flipping Harry a parchment envelope with his left hand.

It went low and left and Harry had to lunge for it to keep it from hitting the ground.

"Sorry," Ron said with a grimace.

"Never mind that, what happened to your hand?" Harry asked. Ron's right hand was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief.

"Norbert," Ron said. "I was helping Hagrid feed him—thanks for lending me your cloak by the way."

"Sure," Harry said. The 'baby' dragon was eating rats by the crate-full. Many of the cats were looking distinctly put out.

"Anyway, the blasted thing bit me and then Hagrid told me off for frightening it," Ron said angrily. "I mean, here we are, trying to help him save his bloody monster, which he treats like it's a fluffy little bunny or something, and he has a go at me."

"Have you had Madam Pomfrey take a look at it?" Harry asked, letter momentarily forgotten.

"Of course he hasn't," Padma said. "Why would Ronald Weasley do something sensible for once?"

"And what, exactly, would he tell her?" Hermione asked Padma. "'I got bitten by a dragon that doesn't exist?'"

"Granger, he was bitten by a dragon," Padma said slowly, as though addressing a very inept student. "You don't think that maybe warrants at least a medi-magic examination?"

"All right, that's enough," Parvati said. "Now is get-rid-of-dragon-time. You two can have who's-the-smarter-witch-time later."

Hermione's lip curled at her dorm-mate, and Padma gave her sister a dark look, but both lapsed into silence.

Harry flipped open the note. "Dear Ron," he read, "I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback…send him over with some friends of mine…next week…tallest tower at midnight on Saturday. Charlie."

He flipped the letter closed and passed it back to Ron. "Which tallest tower?"

"What do you mean 'which tallest tower?'" Hermione asked. "'Tallest' is a superlative, that means—"

"We know what it means, Granger," Padma cut her off. "But Hogwarts rearranges itself and its geography doesn't have to make sense. I've talked to people who've been in Dumbledore's office, and they agree that you can look out his window down onto the Astronomy Tower."

"We aren't using Dumbledore's office," Harry said flatly.

"We'll use the Astronomy Tower," Hermione said.

"We'll have to take along some lanterns or something to indicate where we are, just in case," Padma added. "Do you think your invisibility cloak is big enough?"

Harry held up the cloak. "I don't know," he said, turning from it to his friends. "I suppose it'll depend upon how big a crate Hagrid has him in. I should be able to get one more person under it besides myself and Norbert. I hope."

"We'll have to carry it," Hermione said. "The crate, I mean. There's no telling how it…Norbert would react to a levitation charm."

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"A dragon of all things, Albus."

Albus sat back in his chair and savored a lemon drop as he watched his Deputy pace. He made a mental note to try and find out where the lemon drops that had been left for him on the Feast of St. Nicholas had come from.

"I am perfectly aware of Hagrid's new pet, Minerva," he said mildly.

"And what have you done about it?" she asked.

"Directly? Nothing," he said. "My hands are tied in this as much as yours…unless you prefer to take official notice of it?"

She started to do just that, then stopped. "Damn you, Albus."

"Perhaps," he said mildly. "But unless we want to accept the consequences, all of the consequences, there is little we can do. I have taken steps to insure the safety of the students and staff. At this point…Norbert is no more than mildly, if painfully, venomous. If the situation does not change in the near future more drastic measures can be contemplated."

"You're using students," Minerva seethed at him.

"Indeed I am," Albus said. "That people working unofficially, even illegally, can do more good—or at least better resolve situations—than those in authority taking official action is an unfortunate, but occasionally very real, fact of life. And I do not mean to leave them entirely unsupported. I fully intend to give them what aid I can. Since we resumed Prefect Patrols I have been shuffling them on occasion. I will do so again to give them a clear path from their common rooms to Hagrid's hut. Realistically there is little more that we can do at this time. Perhaps if we know what their plans are, if any, we can do more."

"And if they get caught anyway?" Minerva asked. "I recall having rather the same discussion with you once…more than once, actually."

"Harry is not a werewolf, Minerva, the situation is rather different."

"No," she said. "In this Severus is, unfortunately correct—and you didn't hear such a thing from me!—he's worse than a werewolf, Albus. He's a celebrity. If you don't think that the populace wouldn't turn on him in an eye-blink then all of those lemon drops have been rotting your mind as well as your teeth."

Albus raised an eyebrow. "Nevertheless, Minerva, we will take no official notice. If they are caught out after hours, so be it. We may applaud whatever action they take, but only in private."

"And what do you think Pomona would think about this? It is her student we are talking about after all."

"What makes you think that we have not already talked about this?" Albus asked in reply.

"She would never have allowed herself into going along with this, not where the students are concerned."

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"Hello, Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey said as Harry walked into the hospital wing. "You're earlier than I expected. No Quidditch games or practices scheduled for you. I had hoped you would make it through to the end of the year, you know."

"I'm fine," Harry said quickly. "I was told Ron was in the hospital wing."

The medi-witch nodded briskly. "He is. A dog bite, or so he claims." She gave him a searching look. "Is there anything you'd like to say?"

"I'm not sure what you mean," Harry said.

"Mr. Potter, I am not stupid," she said crossly. "Mr. Weasley was bit by something. Bit by something that was either poisonous, diseased, or that he is having an allergic reaction to, perhaps all three. Bit by something that was most definitely not a dog. My oaths as a medi-witch and Healer insure my silence where my patients' privacy is concerned, and Headmaster Dumbledore has assured me that no student will be in trouble for anything they admit to while in my care. I have seen no reason to doubt his word."

Harry hesitated and looked down the ward to where Hermione and the Patil twins were clustered around a bed. Turning back to Madam Pomfrey he said in a hushed voice. "It was a dragon."

"A dragon," she repeated skeptically.

Harry nodded. "Hagrid got a Norwegian Ridgeback egg. It hatched last week. Ron was helping him feed Norbert."

"Norbert," she said flatly. "Of course. Hagrid would give a dragon a name like that wouldn't he?" she asked. After a moment she sighed. "Someone is going to have to have a talk with him about his choice of pets."

"You said you wouldn't tell anyone about—"

"And I won't, Mr. Potter," she said testily. "But you are not the person with juvenile dragon poisoning, nor the person who will have to administer treatment for the same." She turned abruptly. "Go to your friend, Mr. Potter. You have twenty minutes and then Mr. Weasley needs to rest. I am going to go check my stocks of burn creams."

Harry watched her retreat to her office, then turned and walked down the ward to Ron's bed.

"Madam Pomfrey said that you said that you got bit by a dog," he said.

"I've never heard of a dog bite turning green before," Padma said mildly.

Ron grimaced. "I don't think she believed me but I couldn't think of anything else to tell her."

"Even I could think of a better lie than that!" Parvati said. "I mean, where are you going to even find a dog except Fang and he's, well, fangless, really."

"Thanks for pointing that out," Ron said sourly, "I don't think I noticed."

"Well," Hermione said with a forced smile at least you'll have all sorts of time to study. "I can get you your assignments."

"Speaking of," Ron said. "Can you find me a copy of the Charms textbook?"

"What happened to yours?" Hermione asked. "I was sure I already brought it up—"

"You did," Ron said. "Malfoy stopped by. Told Madam Pomfrey that he was here to borrow a book, and stood there and had a good laugh. Spent the whole time threatening to tell her what really bit me."

"How did he find out?" Hermione asked.

Ron shrugged.

"Face it, Granger, Hagrid isn't the subtlest person around," Padma said. "Malfoy doesn't always think things through, but that doesn't mean he's stupid."

"Well, I suppose we can report him to Professor McGonagall for theft," Hermione said in a huff. She shook her head. "At least it'll all be over at midnight on Saturday."

But that didn't soothe Ron at all. Instead he bolted upright in bed. His face instantly turned a paste white and he only barely muffled a cry of pain from resting his weight on his injured hand. "My book!" he said through clenched teeth as he slumped back against the pillows. "We were working on charms when Charlie's letter came. I stuck it inside my book. He's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."

Harry didn't get a chance to respond as Madam Pomfrey came back and made them leave so Ron could rest.

"What are we going to do?" Hermione whispered as soon as they were out of the hospital wing.

"I'm going to let you and Parvati borrow my cloak," Harry said. "You're both in the same dorm. Less chance of you being noticed that way. Otherwise no matter how we did it someone would have to pick someone else up and drop them off."

"And Malfoy?"

"Allie," Padma said. "She can get the book and letter back before Malfoy goes to one of the teachers with it, if she knows about it quickly enough."

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But Allie wasn't able to get the letter back.

The next day when they were in the library the Slytherin walked up and dropped Ron's Charms textbook in front of Hermione. "Don't ask how I got it," she said shortly.

Hermione immediately opened it and began to rifle through the pages.

"Don't bother. It isn't there."

Hermione looked up sharply. "I don't know what you mean."

"I told her," Harry said.

"What?" Hermione asked. "Why?"

"Hagrid's her friend too," Harry said. "Besides, she had to know what to look for."

"The letter isn't here?" Hermione asked.

"It isn't in the book, and it isn't in Slytherin," Allie said.

"You checked the whole dorms?"

"Not personally," Allie said. "Look, I made some discrete inquiries. Malfoy had the letter yesterday and was seen leaving the Slytherin common room with it. He's either keeping it right on his person, or he's stashed it somewhere outside of the dorms."

"He could have given it to a teacher," Hermione said. "We're in so much trouble."

"If he did we would have heard something by now," Harry said. "I mean, keeping a dragon like that is illegal. Dumbledore would have had to have alerted the Ministry if he was informed…right?"

"And Lavender hasn't said anything about there being a dragon in the castle or on the grounds," Parvati said. "That kind of thing is too juicy for the rumors to miss if there was even a hint of it."

"That doesn't tell us where the letter is," Hermione said.

"It doesn't matter, Hermione," Harry said. "I don't think there's anything we can do about it. All we can do is continue on like we planned." He glanced around the table once. Seeing the nods of agreement from the others he turned to Allie. "Can you keep an eye on Malfoy?"

"I suppose, but I don't know how much good it'd do." Allie stood again. "If I pass you any notes, however, make sure you burn them once you've read them. There's already been quite enough stupidity where notes are concerned."

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Harry was heading down to supper on Saturday when a commotion in the Entrance Hall brought him to a stop. "What's happening?" he asked, trying to squeeze past a couple of older students in order to see.

"DMLE law enforcement patrol," one of them said. "There's a couple of wizards from the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures too."

Harry spun around and started for a staircase he knew led to the Gryffindor common room.

"Harry!"

He looked up to find Parvati almost literally sailing down the stair to him. Hermione was right behind her. "The Ministry—"

"I know," he said quickly. "Can you get in contact with Padma? Fast?"

She nodded.

"Good, see if you can find Allie as well, met me in front of the fruit-bowl still life in the Hufflepuff corridor."

"We have to warn Hagrid," Hermione hissed.

"We have to get Norbert out before the Ministry starts looking," Harry said. "You still have my invisibility cloak, go get it and tell Hagrid. Hopefully he'll have a way of moving Norbert and you can get him in it and quiet quickly."

"If nothing else we can let it go in the forest and coax it back with brandy and chicken blood once the Ministry people leave," Hermione said. "But what about Charlie's friends? If the Ministry has people on the Astronomy Tower…"

"I've got an idea for that," Harry said. "I'm going to send Hedwig off with a note. We'll take Norbert to a different tower."

"All right," Hermione said reluctantly. "I'll see you at Hagrid's."

"You're going to take her to the Tower?" Parvati hissed.

"Do you have a better idea?" Harry asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Parvati said. "Go, I'll see you in a bit."

Harry hurried back down the staircase and tore down the corridor to the Hufflepuff common room. Hedwig was waiting on the small perch that he had put in the deep round window by his bed. How the Hufflepuff dormitories had windows that opened outside while the rooms were underground was one of Hogwarts' many internal inconsistencies he tried not to think about. Now he penned a short note to look for a pair of blue lights and a red. No information about where or who had sent the note.

"Take this to Charlie's friends," he said. "Do you think you can find them?"

Hedwig huffed and bunched her feathers and glared at him for doubting her. Then straightened and stretched her wings as though to say 'Am I not the most magnificent owl in the world?'

"Sorry, Hedwig," Harry said. "I should have known better."

Hedwig nodded in agreement. He really should have. Foolish wizard.

She took the note and he let her out through the window. Harry hurried out of the sett and down the hall to where the other first years were gathered.

"Parvati filled us in," Padma said. "Plan?"

"Hermione and I move Norbert out of Hagrid's hut and stash him somewhere until we can move him into the Tower of Turmoil," Harry said.

"You'll have to wait until curfew," Allie said. "Unless you think you can manage to keep you, Granger, and the crate under your cloak without anything peeking out and manage to avoid bumping into anyone."

Harry grimaced. "And Norbert probably isn't going to be quiet in his crate and despite it being Hedwig I don't know if she can find Charlie's friends." The girls all looked at him. "Okay, that was pretty stupid. Of course she'll find them. But I don't know if they'll figure out the note, or follow it."

"I'll take care of the Astronomy Tower," Allie said reluctantly. "If they show up maybe I can wave them off before the Ministry people notice them. How did you plan to signal them?"

Harry explained his idea to use colored lights.

"We can rig a prank or two as distractions," Parvati said. "And get Justin, Ernie, and—"

"No," Harry said. "No sense in getting more people involved, or in trouble. And it would ruin Cedric's chances at being a Prefect and Tonks has been allowed into the Auror Academy. I don't want to ruin things for them."

"I suppose we'd better get to work then," Padma said.

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Harry hurried across the grounds to Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. The wizards and witches from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement were searching the dungeons. Malfoy may have known there was a dragon on the grounds, but it was clear that he didn't know where it was.

Hagrid cracked the door open when he knocked, and opened the door just wide enough for Harry to slip inside. The hut was a mess. Chicken feathers, blood, spilled brandy, and broken bottles littered the floor and splashed up onto the walls. The quilt and sheets from Hagrid's giant bed were shredded ruins. Furniture was upended and broken. The table and floors had deep gouges from claws. Scorch marks liberally decorated everything, and the smell of burning wood filled the hut.

In the center of the floor was a large crate which rocked back and forth and made hissing sounds.

"I meant ter have a stock o' rats ter keep him fer the journey," Hagrid said, "an' brandy too, but there wasn' time. An' I've packed along his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."

The crate stopped moving. A hissing growl issued, followed by the crate rocking violently as something tore. It sounded like the teddy bear had just been attacked by an unhappy dragon.

"How much time do we have?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," Harry said. "They're searching the dungeons right now, but they're going to come here sooner or later."

"Sooner," Hermione said definitely. "We have to get out of here."

"Bye bye, Norbert!" Hagrid said as they put the cloak over the crate before ducking under it themselves. "Mommy will never forget you!"

"Er, Hagrid?" Harry asked from under the cloak.

Hagrid stopped cooing. "Harry? Why haven' yeh left yet?"

"We need you to open the door."

"Oh! Right."

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The crate was very heavy and Norbert did not make things any easier. He moved about constantly, even violently, throwing off their balance. They almost dropped the crate and the cloak slid, threatening to fall off.

In the distance Harry saw several figures in bright robes walk out of Hogwarts. He muttered a word that made Hermione hiss his name.

"Ministry," he said. "They're heading this way."

"Head over for the lake," Hermione said.

They skirted the lake, pausing to set the crate down when it became too much and hushing for Norbert to be quiet which the dragon mostly ignored.

As they got closer to the main door of Hogwarts, Harry spotted two wizards wearing blue robes watching over the entrance. "Ministry wizards," he hissed to Hermione.

"Law Enforcement Patrol by the look of the robes, I've read the Aurors were scarlet," she replied. "What should we do?"

They needed a place to hide until the Ministry people left. Aside from the cloak they were wide out in the open. Unfortunately they were on the broad grass field that led up to Hogwarts and the only outstanding terrain feature was the lake.

"Down into the docks," Harry whispered back. They went down into the little underground harbor where the fleet of boats that had brought them to Hogwarts the first night was moored.

"We're never going to get past those guards!" Hermione cried once they were hidden.

"Never thou fear, MiLady."

Harry had the cloak whipped off and his wand out before whoever had spoken had finished. "Show yourself!"

A ghost glided out of one rough-hewn wall. He reminded Harry a little of the Gryffindor ghost with his antique dress, but it was something several centuries later. Instead of the ruff he wore a neck-cloth that spilled foamy lace from his throat to where it disappeared inside his coat, and a half-cape floated around his shoulders. He wore a rapier at his waist, and the plume in his very broad-brimmed hat was longer than Harry's arm. With only tight stockings on his legs Harry thought he looked rather top-heavy.

"I am here, young Master," he told Harry before turning to Hermione. He doffed his hat and made a very elaborate bow. "I, MiLady, am thy humble servant, Sir Armand Delaney." He straightened and put his hat back on. "Sir Nicholas has bid me escort thou into Hogwarts."

"Does he have a way of getting us inside past the guards?" Harry asked.

"Indeed, young Master, he does, but it is a way fraught with great peril," Armand said. "Even now he is guiding thy comrade to open the Water Gate. Whence thou hast past through yon Gate, thou shalt be able to approach Hogwarts from the sea-ward side. The sea-stair is narrow and perilous, but unguarded save in times of war and siege."

"Hogwarts is in the middle of Scotland!" Hermione protested. "Even by the Hogwarts Express we're hours from the sea."

"Hogwarts, MiLady, is unplottable," Armand said. "The greatest of Navigators and gifted of Astronomers could not place its location upon the mortal sphere even through aid of the celestial lights. Nor could the best of Cartographers chart its location upon a map. If Hogwarts were to reside in only one place, even a dumb deaf and blind fool—for such people the Lord in His wisdom takes particular care to watch over—could wander across her. But if she were to reside in more than one place, why, she might be neither here nor there but rather there or here."

"Did that make any sense to you, Hermione?" Harry asked. He felt rather turned about by the ghost's explanation.

"Yes, a little," Hermione said, looking at the ghost intently. "Okay, let's get Norbert into a boat."

"Thou wilt need oars, MiLady, two pairs," the ghost said. "And a tiller and rudder for the boats are only self-navigating upon the Black Lake. And ropes. And warm clothing, for the sea is particularly frigid at this time of year."

"If we can't get into the castle, we can't get any warmer clothes," Hermione said tightly.

Magic the boats may be, but there was a long rack that Harry hadn't noticed when they had first come this way at the beginning of the year. On it were oars of a great many sizes, large coils of rope, rudders, and other things he couldn't begin to identify.

He grabbed four oars that were about the same size and walked to where Hermione was fussing about in one of the boats.

"Look," she said. "There are oarlocks that are fitted right into the gunnels so that they can be slid away. And this back here is obviously a mounting point for a rudder…"

It took some doing but they managed to fit out a single boat—though it was much larger than Harry remembered, easily large enough to hold eight people or more sitting two to a bench. Norbert, predictably, did not like the gentle rocking motion of the boat. He growled and hissed and spat. Little sparks found their way through a crack in the crate followed by a thin wisp of smoke. How much worse was he going to be when they left the sheltered water of the harbor?

"Ready?" Hermione asked from the rear of the boat.

Harry nodded.

"Lines in?"

"Lines?" Harry asked.

She sighed. "The ropes. Ropes on ships are called lines."

"This isn't a ship," Harry said.

She glared at him.

Harry rolled his eyes and climbed back out to undo the rope that secured the back end of the boat which he dumped onto Hermione's lap. She squealed in outrage as he did the same with the rope at the front end before climbing in again.

"Ropes in," he said.

She glared at him, then tapped the boat and it began to drift away from the dock. The dark glassine water of the cave-harbor rippled as the boat cut through it towards the cut in the cliff that led out into the lake.

"Heads down," Armand said from where he was standing in the front.

Harry ducked, and looked up just in time to see the ghost cut in half by the rock face. For a moment there were a pair of legs and a rapier that ended in the roof, then they rippled as the boat went through the ivy and they were out onto the lake.

"Port your rudder, MiLady," Armand said.

Harry turned back to see Hermione throw the pole—tiller, he reminded himself—that was attached to the rudder to the right. The small boat cut to the left, and Hermione straightened it so that the boat was gently gliding along the base of the cliff that Hogwarts was perched on top of.

"I hope no one is looking this way," Hermione said. The boat was far too large to cover with Harry's cloak.

"Slow down…stop, turn here, MiLady," Armand called.

There was a wall of stone without even the ivy of the harbor.

"MiLady?" the ghost asked. "The turn to the Water Gate!"

"But it's solid stone!" Hermione protested.

"It's only pretending," the ghost assured them. "Even if it feels solid as rock. You must turn here and pass through the stone into the passage that leads to the Gate."

Reluctantly Harry nodded to Hermione to do as the ghost said.

Hermione didn't like it, but she didn't seem to have any better idea.

Harry reached out past the ghost. The wall felt solid as Hermione turned the boat into it. The front of the boat disappeared into the rock, his hand was pushed back. Harry quickly closed his eyes, and put up his arms, expecting to be slammed into the wall and thrown into the water. Instead there was a cool sensation, then he was past it. The air around him was suddenly warm, moist, and fetid.

He opened his eyes. They were in an underground passage. A giant brick arch rose from the waters on one side, passed over them, and disappeared into the other. Something green and black and slimy-looking grew on the bricks. Light came from occasional sky-lights set in deep iron-barred shafts, and by torches set in metal holders on either side of the channel.

Out of the gloom loomed a giant grid.

No, not a grid, Harry realized a moment later. A metal grating of some kind that blocked the channel. "The Water Gate?" he asked.

"Aye, young Master, a part of it," Armand said. "The whole of this passage is the Water Gate."

The boat slowed to a stop.

"How do we get past it?" Hermione asked.

No sooner had she spoken than there was a scream of rusting-metal-on-metal and the gate began to lift portcullis-like from the water. The parts that had been under water, Harry saw, were even fouler than the walls. The only thing missing from the horror-movie feel was that there was no skeleton pinned to it.

The portcullis slid up out of sight and the boat continued. Harry saw landings, little more than shelf-like ledges with iron-bound doors set into recesses, on either side. "Why can't we land there?"

"Those are the prisons," Armand said softly. "Reserved for traitors and the most dangerous of criminals. Hogwarts is not just a school, young Master, but a Bastion of Magic. A Fortress in times of peril. A Stronghold most potent. It has more than just magical defenses. The dungeons yon doors lead to connect to none of the school's basements."

"Were they ever used?" Hermione asked.

The ghost turned, "That is no question a lady such as thyself should be asking, MiLady."

"Yet I do ask," Hermione said stiffly.

The ghost turned away. "Aye, they have been used. Poor wretches, not that they didn't deserve it."

There was a boom and a splash from behind them and a moment later the boat was bounced on small waves.

"Get out the oars, beyond the second portcullis the boats do not guide themselves."

Harry and Hermione got their oars, carefully set along the insides of the boat for just this moment, oat. There was another scream of rusting metal and a second gate lifted out of the water. They floated through and half-way past the gate they stopped.

Harry dropped his oars in the water, the handles were about level with his head, and he pulled them towards him. They swept out of the water with a splash just as Hermione put hers in the water and for a moment they were locked together.

"Harry!" Hermione protested. "Drop your oars, that is, push them up so I can go past."

Harry pushed his handles upwards and the boat went forward slightly as Hermione pulled.

"Okay, now push yours back and—"

The boat went backwards.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"You said push," Harry protested.

"You have to take your oars out of the water first!"

"Well you didn't say that!"

Hermione made a sound much like Norbert. "Lift and push."

Harry started to lift his handles, but that made the oar-blades go down so instead he pushed them down and away.

In front of him Hermione mimicked the move much more smoothly. "Okay, now drop them and pull…" They went forward this time, enough to clear the gate. "Again, lift and push…drop and pull… "

With Hermione's coaching and calling the strokes they were able to resume their passage at a very slow pace.

"Thou wilt have to do better or the sea shall surely smash thee upon the rocks," Armand said.

"Wonderful," Harry muttered. "I'm going to be killed by the sea the first time I see it."

"You've never been to the ocean before?" Hermione asked. "Harry, you live on an island. How can you have never seen the sea before?"

"I…just never went." Harry said awkwardly. "The Dursleys didn't like it."

"What about school trips?" Hermione asked. "You said you lived with muggles, right?"

"I…er…I didn't go on any."

"But—"

"Hermione," Harry said sharply, "just…leave it alone."

"Fine," she huffed.

"Pull lively now, thou art nearly at the end and it won't do to have the sea sweep thee back upon the rocky cliffs."

They pulled, slowly, Hermione calling the movements which at least kept them from locking oars again. Harry's arms quickly got tired and the strokes weren't all that crisp, the right oar kept entering the water first and he could pull it further than the left. Hermione used her legs to move the rudder, but she too had lost most of her control of it.

A cool sensation hit Harry and before he realized it they were through the passage. Almost immediately the bow, behind where he sat, dipped and he turned to look over his shoulder as the receding water came back at them in a wave. The boat rode up it, and over with a splash that soaked Harry in a spray of sea water.

"Pull Harry!"

Somehow, he wasn't sure how, they maneuvered the boat with a very angry Norbert along the cliff face. A few times they almost struck it and Harry and Hermione were forced to fend it off with their oars. Both were quickly soaked by the freezing spray, but they managed to reach the shelf-like platform that was the landing of the sea-stairs.

It wasn't very high, maybe a foot or two above the waves and from the markings on the cliff it'd be under water when the water rose, but seated in the boat it was effectively impossible to climb up without risk losing your balance. Fortunately there was a ladder and Hermione scrambled up it while Harry tried to keep the boat from being swept out to sea or shattered on the rocks. She tied them off, and with Harry lifting and her pulling they managed to get Norbert up on the platform

"We can't leave this here," Hermione said.

"We'll come back for it," Harry said, making sure his cloak was still tucked in his belt.

"Where to now?" Hermione asked the ghost.

"The Sea Stairs, MiLady." The ghost gestured to a set of very narrow stairs that were carved out of the cliff-face. They were very high and very narrow and there was no railing at all. A single miss-step would send them falling into the sea, or onto one of the rocks in front of the cliff. "There is a chamber above yon stair, large enough to stow thy vessel if thou wish."

"How do we get it up?" Harry asked.

"We'll have to relay levitation charms, I think," Hermione said. "One of us levitates while the other climbs."

"Can we actually do that?" Harry asked.

"I can't think of why not," Hermione said after a moment. "We'll have to drop ours so that the other person has full control. If you levitate first, wait for me to say that I have it before you end your spell."

"Okay," Harry said, "and if we do that it means we can put Norbert back in the boat and levitate him."

"But—"

"Hermione," Harry said. "Do you really want to try carrying him up these stairs?"

Hermione looked at the Sea Stairs which were so narrow Harry wanted to go up them sideways hugging the cliff, so high that it made Harry think of pictures of mountain climbers with fancy harnesses and miles of rope, and were slick with spray.

\|/\|/\|/

The heavy doors at the top of the Stairs slammed shut behind Harry and his robes, which had been cold and wet and quite heavy, were instantly dried. Hermione, who had been holding the boat under the levitation charm, set it down.

"Where do you think we are?" Harry asked.

"Well," Hermione said, "it looks like some sort of boat-house. Either that or a model museum."

Harry could only nod in agreement. There were racks with rowboats and canoes and kayaks and surfboards and other small water craft on each of the walls. Taking up places on the floor were large model boats. There were wooden sailing ships that had sides as high as Harry was tall, and bundles of poles next to them which he thought might be their masts. Several were even taller, including one that had no less than three decks of miniature antique cannon studding its flanks.

"Father would love this," Hermione said. "I think this one is supposed to be the Mary Rose."

"I thought he was into trains," Harry said.

Hermione shook her head. "He likes miniatures of all kinds. Boats, trains, aero-planes. Mum told him he had to pick one a few years ago." She turned to Harry. "Which tower were you planning to use?"

"One of the abandoned ones," Harry said. "I'm not sure if it has a proper name." He looked out through a window set next to the doors. In the sea beyond the Sea Stairs then sun had slipped below the horizon. "Time to get moving again, I suppose."

Hermione closed the doors and Harry looked around, but the ghost of Sir Armand Delaney was gone. He spread the cloak over the crate, then he and Hermione ducked under the cloak as well, lifted the crate, and slipped out into the halls of Hogwarts.

\|/\|/\|/

How they managed to make it passed the teachers, Prefects, magical law enforcement patrol, and magical animal control officers Harry would never be able to recall. The next hours were reduced to a series of snapshots. Ducking into unused classrooms as Prefects or more Ministry people walked past, and muscling the crate through narrow secret passages and up flights of stairs. A team of four robed wizards marched down a hall and they used levitation charms to lift a suit of armor over a balcony to distract them. Norbert would hiss and growl and struggle in his crate and they would slip into an alcove behind a tapestry as Prefects came running.

If that wasn't bad enough, the room with the boats let out in a section of the castle Harry had never seen before. Harry and Hermione wandered through a maze of passages, the crate growing heavier and heavier, for what seemed like hours before they a hallway near the charms corridor that they recognized.

"Where are we going, Harry?" Hermione hissed as he led her through a series of galleries.

"Tower," Harry panted. "This is a tricky bit, close your eyes."

"You want me to what?"

"Close your eyes," Harry repeated from the front end of the crate. He looked over his shoulder at her. "Just…let me guide you. Trust me, this is the easiest way."

"But…" Hermione gave him a long look under the folds of the cloak. "Alright," she said.

Harry turned back to face forward and began to lead her down the gallery to the door to the Tower of Turmoil.

All of a sudden there was a jerk from behind him, spilling them and Norbert to the floor.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Hermione demanded.

"You have to close your eyes or this corridor turns you around," Harry said. There was a sound from somewhere behind them. "There isn't time to teach you how to get past it," he said quickly, "just trust me, close your eyes, and follow. Please, Hermione, don't ask now."

"Fine," Hermione hissed.

Harry threw the cloak over them again, picked up his end of the crate, and they nearly flew down the gallery.

"Can I open them now?" Hermione asked.

"Not yet," Harry said as he let go of the crate with one hand to frantically draw his wand. "Mellon."

The door clicked and he opened it and pulled crate and Hermione into the tower.

"Put the crate down for a second."

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Need to reposition my grip," Harry said, reaching past her and pushing the door closed.

"That was a door," Hermione said.

"And now we have some stairs," Harry said. "You can open your eyes now."

Hermione looked around. "I don't recognize this place."

Harry shrugged. "Let's go."

Allie had closed all of the doors and likely locked them. Even if she had been curious Hermione likely wouldn't have stopped for the Clock Tower began to toll midnight.

Getting Norbert's long crate up the narrow iron staircase was the hardest thing they had done all night, but at last they were in the Library.

Harry and Hermione shucked the cloak and set the crate down. Hermione stared in wonder at the bookcases lining the circular room until Harry extinguished the lights.

"Hey!" she protested.

"We don't want anyone to see us," Harry said.

"Oh." Then, "wait, how are they going to get Norbert? This is a closed room!"

In the darkness Harry smirked. "Open Sesame!" he cried while manipulating the brass device that controlled the observatory. A section of the tower roof slid to the side, then the entire room began to slowly spin until the open section was pointing away from the rest of Hogwarts. Lanterns had already had been hung and it didn't take more than a flick of his wand before red and blue lights offered a dim illumination to the room.

"Oh wow," Hermione said. "This is a lot more than some abandoned tower, Harry."

"Well…it was an abandoned tower…at one point," Harry said. "Now it is the Tower of Turmoil."

In the darkened library Hermione shot around to stare at him.

"Don't tell me you don't have it figured out," Harry said.

"Oh fine," Hermione said, crossing her arms. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you'd be in if the Professors knew?"

Harry raised an eyebrow, then realized she couldn't see it in the dim light. "And?" he asked.

"Which one are you?" she asked at last.

"The Baron of Banality," he said dryly.

"Who else?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not telling, but you can probably figure most of them out," he conceded with a sigh.

Hermione didn't reply right away. "We can discuss that later," she said at length.

"I thought you would've wanted to know right now," Harry said.

"I do, but there are people on brooms coming this way."

Four figures on broomsticks came swooping in.

"Ron?" one asked.

"No names," Harry said. "Isn't that the way these things are usually done?"

"Wouldn't know, I've never smuggled anything before," he said cheerfully. "Where's the dragon?"

"Give me a moment," Harry said. "Is everyone in?"

"Yes, why?"

Harry manipulated the device, causing the ceiling to slide closed. A wave of his hand caused a number of candles scattered around the room to light up. Not enough to ruin their darkness-adapted eyesight, but enough to provide a little light to see by.

"Thanks," one of Charlie's friends said.

"The dragon," Hermione said, gesturing towards the crate that Norbert was thrashing around in. "Norwegian Ridgeback, answers to Norbert…as much as it answers to anything."

They chuckled.

They had a harness that could be attached to their brooms so that the crate hung suspended from all of them. Harry and Hermione helped them buckle Norbert's crate safely in it. They all shook hands and thanked each other very much. A Norwegian Ridgeback would be most welcome at the dragon reserve and Norbert was most welcome to leave before he got anyone in trouble. Harry warned them again about the Ministry and they assured him and Hermione that the Ministry wasn't a problem, the DMLE broom corps had been axed in the latest round of budget cuts. They all shook hands again and then Harry doused the candles and opened the roof again. Charlie's friends took off with Norbert's crate hanging suspended from their brooms.

Harry cycled the door closed again and returned normal illumination to the Library. Hermione obviously wanted to stay, but it was after midnight. They skipped down the stairs Norbert's leaving was like a giant weight lifted from them.

A shadow detached itself from a wall as they walked down a hall near the transfiguration classroom. Filch loomed over them in the darkness.

"Well, well, well," he said, "we are in trouble."

They'd left the invisibility cloak in the tower.