It was two more days before Harry let Staros know about the meeting Snape had with Quirrelll in the Forbidden Forest. While Staros agreed that Snape seemed to dislike Harry for reasons unknown, he didn't think Snape was after the Stone and had been unaware of the Gryffindors' conclusions. Harry had Staros meet him in the library later that day where Hermione laid out their evidence. It made for a strong case, but not a definitive one in Staros' mind. Still, he promised not to say anything and to keep his eyes open for anything odd.
Harry, Ron and Hermione all checked on the third floor door to make sure Fluffy was still there on a frequent basis. Staros said it wasn't worth the time or the risk of being caught to check it as often as they did, but did check into it himself a few times for them.
The weeks went by with nothing coming of their checks and Staros was starting to wonder why he still involved himself with it at all. Carcerous kept him on his toes with the new strategy of popping up out of nowhere to throw things at his master. A few others asked about this and were informed about 'situational awareness' training. Soon after, Carcerous was doing the same to a couple other students. The Twins took this to be perfect cover for some of their own tricks and used Carcerous to their great advantage, sniping people with pranks whenever things were being thrown.
Things became decidedly worse for all as exams approached. Hermione started to develop a slight… insistence… that they all start studying. Two and a half months early. It seemed the teachers were of similar minds as the homework was piled on the students like dirt on a grave. Easter was about as exciting as doing taxes. It was hard to relax when every spare moment of the day, Hermione, and sometimes a few others, spent the entire time muttering about ingredients, practicing wand movements, or going on about Emric the Evil as if their lives depended on the answers. Everyone spent entirely too much time in the library, trying to catch up on all the extra work.
"I'll never remember all this!" Ron cried out one day, earning a pointed look from Madame Pince. He threw down his quill and looked out the window at the perfectly blue sky with the promise of summer on the wind. Staros merely chuckled at him and continued to write.
Harry, who was doing his potions essay, didn't even pause in his writing until he heard Ron say, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"
Hermione, slightly annoyed, piped up.
"Honestly, Ronald! Just because he's not in school with us doesn't mean he can't better himself with some self-study!"
Hagrid seemed to latch onto that like a lifeline, "Err… Jus' lookin.' Like she said, pickin' up a few things. What're ye lot up ter? Not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flammel are yeh?"
"Oh, figured that one out a while back, Hagrid," said Staros, looking up from his essay. Hagrid seemed to be hiding a book behind his back.
"AND we know what the dog's guarding, it's a Sorc…" was as far as Ron got, trying to look impressive.
"Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see who was near. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what the matter with yeh?"
"There are some things we wanted to ask about," said Harry. "Like what else is guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy."
"SHHH!" said Hagrid again. "Listen, come an' see me later. Not promisin' nottin, mind, but don go rabbitin' it about in here. Students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I told yeh."
"See you later then," said Harry as Hagrid walked off, hiding whatever book he had in his coat as he did so.
"What was he hiding I wonder," said Hermione thoughtfully.
"Think it has anything to do with the Stone?" asked Harry.
"I'll go check the section he was in," volunteered Ron, obviously just wanting to do anything besides study some more. He came back a few minutes later with several books in his arms. Putting them down, he started to pass them around.
"Look at these!" Ron said excitedly. "He's reading about dragons! Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland: From Egg to Inferno: A Dragon Keeper's Guide!"
There were a few other books as well, most relating to the raising and care of dragons.
"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon," Harry said quietly. "Told me so the first time I ever met him."
"But, it's against the law!" said Ron. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlock Convention of 1709, everyone knows that!"
Hermione humphed at that bit of 'common' knowledge obviously NOT knowing about it herself.
"Yeah, it is a bit hard to keep dragons part of the Statue of Secrecy. They're not known for playing well with the rules hiding magic," said Staros.
"Too right!" Ron shot back. "You should see the burns Charlie's got from the ones on the reserve in Romania."
"But aren't there wild dragons in Britain?" asked Harry.
"Of course there are," answered Ron. "Common ones like Welch Greens and the occasional Hebridean Blacks. Ministry has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on muggles who've spotted them, make them forget."
Hermione looked upset about the whole spelling mundanes thing, but also knew it was necessary for the Secrecy.
"I wonder what Hagrid's up to?" Harry mumbled.
When they approached the gamekeeper's hut an hour or so later, they were surprised to see he had all the windows covered and Fang was laying outside rather than at his customary place by the fire. They knocked on the front door, noticing the heat emanating from it.
"Who is it?" Hagrid called out, before he poked his head out, saw them, checked around to see if anyone else was looking, and then let them in, quickly shutting the door behind them. It was like being in a bad mystery or spy movie.
Except for the part where Hagrid's hut felt like an oven. Despite the nice day outside, there was a large fire blazing away in the grate. Hagrid offered to make a pot of tea and sandwiches which everyone refused, taking plain water instead as they were starting to sweat immensely.
"So… yeh wanted t' ask me somethin'," Hagrid said.
"Yes," said Harry. No point beating around the bush. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy."
Hagrid frowned for a moment, then sighed and sat back on his bed.
"O' course, I can't," he started, raising his hand at the signs of protest. "Number one, I don' rightly know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's there fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outa Gringotts, I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."
"That one's easy, Hagrid" said Staros, "we walked in on him by mistake."
Hagrid frowned slightly at the thought of students being that close to the large three-headed dog.
"Come on now, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know. You know about everything else that goes on around here," piped up Hermione in a warm, flattery voice. "We only wondered about who had done the guarding really. Who Professor Dumbledore trusted enough to help him, apart from you."
Seeing Hagrid sit up a little straighter and puff up a bit at Hermione's words made Staros wonder just how Slytherin the girl could get.
"Well, I don' s'ppose it could hurt ter tell yeh that… let's see… he borrowed Fluffy from me… then some o' the other teachers did their own enchantments… Pr'fessor Sprout… Pr'fessor Flitwick… Pr'fessor McGonagall… "said Hagrid as he ticked off his fingers. "Pr'fessor Quirrell… an' Dumbledore himself did soemthin' o' course. Oh, and Pr'fessor Snape."
"Really? Snape?" asked Ron.
"Yeah, yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not abou' ter steal it."
The students all glanced at each other, each thinking that if Snape was involved in the Stone' protection, it wouldn't be hard for him to work out the other teachers' tricks as well. If he was trying to steal it, he might be having a difficult time working out how to get past all their ideas, Fluffy being one of the harder ones it seemed.
"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" Harry asked anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"
"Not a soul knows 'cept me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.
"Well, that's something," Harry muttered to the others.
Hermione was fanning herself in the rising heat.
"Hagrid, can we open a window or something? It's really hot and I'm boiling," she asked.
"Can't, sorry," Hagrid said, glancing at the fire. Harry noticed.
"Hagrid, what's that?"
Everyone's attention was drawn to the almost hidden on the far side of the fire large black roundish object. Remembering what books Hagrid had looked into, they were all pretty sure what it was.
"Ah… that's… er…"
"Where'd ya get it?" Ron asked, crouching down to get a better look at what must be a dragon egg. "It must have cost a fortune."
Staros couldn't help but notice that even with his awe over the egg, Ron couldn't keep the tinge of jealousy out of his voice when asking about the value.
"Won it," said Hagrid, smiling. "Las' night, I did. I was down in the village, havin' a few pints an' got inta a game o' cards with a strange feller. Seem'd like he was glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."
"Probably because dragon breeding is illegal," said Staros.
"What are you going to do with it when it hatches?" asked Hermione.
"well, I been doin' some readin'," Hagrid said with a wide grin. He pulled a book out from behind him. "Got this outta the library."
The book was titled Dragon Breeding for Fun 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 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed wit' chicken blood every half hour. An' see here, how ter rec'nize dif'rent eggs. What I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."
Hagrid looked decidedly pleased with himself as he poked the egg with a stick to roll it over a bit and make sure it was in the hottest part of the fire. Hermione, on the other hand, looked very irritated.
"Hagrid, you live in a WOODEN HOUSE," she said pointedly.
Hagrid ignored her, humming to himself and poking at the fire.
Naturally, of course, this now meant that there was a new thing to worry about, namely what would happen when, not if, but when, people found out about Hagrid's 'pet.' It was only a matter of time before someone either noticed Hagrid's preoccupation or his hut was burned to the ground.
"I wonder what it's like to have a normal life, not surrounded by scaly things," Ron sighed one evening. They were in the library pushing through the piles of extra homework assigned. Hermione had gone so far as to devise study schedules for her friends. It had been quite amusing to see her tentatively hand the ones she'd made for Staros to him, like he was going to bite her or something. Instead, he merely thanked her and tried to make those scheduled times as often as he could, much to Ron's continued annoyance.
A couple days later, Harry got another note via Hedwig from Hagrid. Despite Ron's protests, Harry insisted on telling Staros and Hermione backed up Harry saying that 'the slimy Slytherin' had kept it a secret when he didn't have to and deserved to know. The note only had two words. "It's hatching."
That morning, Harry and Ron had Herbology. Ron wanted to skive off, but Hermione was having none of that. Staros left as he had Charms that morning and promised to see them at Hagrid's hut.
"Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?" protested Ron.
"We've got lessons! We'll get into trouble and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing!"
"Shut up!" Harry whispered.
Draco had been walking by and stopped dead at some point. Had he heard? How much? Harry didn't like the look on Draco's face at all.