I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR DRACULA! REVIEW!

LADY OF THE NIGHT:

CHAPTER SEVEN:

Quirrell, though, proved to be stronger than we thought. Granted, over the next few weeks, he did seem to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't look as though he'd caved yet. Snape was still storming around in his usual bad mood, so the Stone was definitely still safe.

Hermione, though, seemed to have more on her mind than the Sorcerer's Stone lately. She'd started making study schedules and color-coded her notes, which was perfectly fine with us. Then she stepped over the line when she began nagging us to do the same thing. Ron massaged his temples in frustration. "Hermione, the exams are ages away!"

"Ten weeks! That's not ages. To Nicolas Flamel, ten weeks are like a second." Ron stared over at her in disbelief. "Hermione, we're not Nicolas Flamel. Anyway, what are you studying for? You already know it all!"

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

Unfortunately for us, the teachers seemed to be thinking the exact same thing. They gave us so much homework that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as fun as the Christmas holidays. It also wasn't that easy to relax when we had Hermione sitting right beside us, practicing wand movements or reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood.

Ron threw down his quill, frustration clearly written on his face. "I'm never gonna remember this." I currently had my face buried in a textbook, reading and re-reading the same line, my eyes glazing over.

I snapped out of my haze when Ron spoke. "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?" I looked up to see Hagrid stopping beside our table, holding something behind his back, looking nervous. "Jus' lookin'." The dismissive way he said it immediately caught our attention. "An' what're you lot up to? Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?" I smirked. "Nope. We found out who he is ages ago. And we know what Fluffy's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St-"

"Shh!" He glanced around to see if anyone had overheard. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's wrong with yeh?" Harry took over. "Look, Hagrid, we just wanted to ask you a few things about what's guarding the Stone other than Fluffy-"

"SHHH! 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'upposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh-"

"Fine. See you later, then." We watched him walk off, still hiding the thing he'd been carrying behind his back.

Hermione frowned, watching him leave. "What was he hiding behind his back?" I shrugged. "Maybe it had to do with the Stone." Ron stood up. "I'm going to see what section he was in." He came back a few minutes later, a pile of books in his arms. "Dragons! Hagrid was looking up stuff on dragons! Look at this: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, a Dragon Keeper's Guide."

Harry spoke up. "Hagrid's always wanted a dragon. Told me so the first time I met him."

Ron shook his head. "But it's against our laws. Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's kind of hard to stop Muggles noticing if you've got a dragon in your backyard. Anyway, you can't tame dragons. You should see the burns Charlie's got off of wild ones in Romania." Harry stared at him. "But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?"

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

"So what's Hagrid up to?"

An hour later, we headed for Hagrid's hut, and were surprised to see all the curtains were closed. Hagrid called out to see who it was before letting us in. It was hot as a furnace inside. Even though it was warm outside, there was a fire going in the fireplace.

"So...yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?" Harry nodded. "Yes. We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy."

"O' course I can't. Number one, I don' know meself. 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 about Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on around here." Hermione said this in her most flattering voice, and Hagrid's beard twitched, tipping us off that he was smiling. "We were only wondering who had done the guarding, really. We wondered who Dumbledore trusted enough to help him, apart from you, that is."

Hagrid beamed at this, and we grinned over at her. "Well, I don' s'ppose 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-Professor Quirrell-an' Dumbledore himself, o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh, yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape?!"

"Yeah-yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not abou' ter steal it." Harry sighed. "You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, right, Hagrid? And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore." Ron nodded. "Well, that's something. Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling." Hagrid shifted awkwardly. "Sorry, Ron, can't do that." As he said this, he glanced over at the fireplace. Ron's eyes narrowed. "Hagrid-what's that?" In the fire sat a huge, black egg. "Ah-that's-er-" Ron knelt down to look at it. "Where did you get it, Hagrid? It must have cost a fortune!"

"Won it. 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 o' it, ter be honest." I stared at him. "But what are you going to do with it once it's hatched?"

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'. 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 '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." He looked very pleased with himself, whereas Hermione looked extremely frustrated. "Hagrid, you live in a wooden house." He didn't seem to be listening, as he hummed while he stoked the fire.

A couple mornings later, Hedwig brought Harry a note from Hagrid: It's hatching.

Ron and I were all for skipping Herbology and going straight down to Hagrid's hut, but Hermione was totally against that idea. I groaned. "Come on, Hermione. It's not every day you see a dragon hatching."

"We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing compared to what Hagrid'll be in when someone finds out what he's doing-"

"Shut up!" Harry hissed. Malfoy had stopped dead a few feet away to listen.

Ron and I argued with Hermione all the way to Herbology and in the end, Hermione agreed to come down with us during morning break. When the bell sounded for the end of our lesson, we ran down to his hut. Hagrid greeted us, his face flushed. "It's nearly out." The egg was lying on the table, deep cracks on it. Something inside was making a funny clicking noise. We pulled up chairs to watch.

The egg split open and the baby dragon flopped onto the table. It sneezed, and a couple of sparks flew out of its nose. Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid reached out to stroke the dragon, and it snapped at his fingers. "Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!" Hermione stared at him. "Hagrid, how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?" Hagrid was about to answer when he looked up, and the color drained from his face. He lept to his feet and ran to the window.

"What's wrong?"

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains-it's a kid-he's runnin' back up ter the school." Harry ran to the door and looked out. "Malfoy."

"Shit."

The self-satisfied smirk on Malfoy's face that week made us extremely nervous. We spent most of our time in Hagrid's hut, trying to reason with him. "Just let him go. Set him free."

"I can't. He's too little. He'd die." I looked over at the dragon. He'd grown three times his length in just a week. "I've decided ter call him Norbert. He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mommy?" We all stared at him incredulously. Ron whispered to us, "He's lost his marbles." I nodded in agreement.

Harry spoke. "Hagrid, give it a week, and Norbert'll be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any minute."

"I-I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him, I can't." Harry turned to Ron. "Charlie."

"Now you're losing it. I'm Ron, remember?"

"No-Charlie-your brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"

"Brilliant! How about it, Hagrid?" Finally, Hagrid agreed that we could send a letter to Charlie to ask him.

The following week dragged by. Wednesday night found me, Hermione and Harry sitting in the common room alone, after everyone else had gone to bed. The clock on the wall had just sounded midnight when Ron came into the common room, pulling the Invisibility Cloak off. He'd been down at Hagrid's hut, helping him feed Norbert. "It bit me!" He cradled 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 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 window. "It's Hedwig! She must have Charlie's answer!" He opened the letter quickly, and read it.

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

We looked at each other. We've got the Invisibility Cloak. It shouldn't be too hard-I think the Cloak's big enough to cover three of us and Norbert."

There was a hitch. By the next morning, Ron's bitten hand had swollen to twice its normal size. He couldn't decide whether to go to Madam Pomfrey, unsure if she would recognize a dragon bite. By that afternoon, though, he didn't have a choice. His hand had turned an awful shade of green.

We ran up to the hospital wing at the end of the day to check on him. "It's not just my hand, although it feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me-I 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." We tried to calm him down. "It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday."

Ron sat bolt upright. "Midnight on Saturday! Oh, no-Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took. He'll know we're getting rid of Norbert!" We didn't get a chance to respond, because Madam Pomfrey came over, insisting Ron needed his sleep.

Harry, Hermione and I sat in the common room alone. "It's too late to change the plan now. We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl, and this may 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."

We went down to Hagrid's hut, and saw Fang sitting outside with a bandaged tail. Hagrid opened a window to talk to us. "I won't let you in. Norbert's at a tricky stage-nothin' I can't handle."

When we told him about Charlie's letter, his eyes filled with tears, but that was probably 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." Norbert banged his tail on the wall, making the windows rattle. We walked back to the castle, feeling this Saturday couldn't come fast enough.

That Saturday, we headed down to Hagrid's, and we were a bit late arriving because we'd had to wait for Peeves to get out of the way, since he was playing tennis in the entrance hall. When we arrived, Hagrid had Norbert packed in a large crate. "He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey. An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely." Judging from the ripping sounds inside the crate, it sounded like the teddy bear was having his head torn off.

"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed as we covered the crate with the Invisibility Cloak, and then stepped under it ourselves. "Mommy will never forget you!"

How on Earth we managed to get the crate back up to the castle, I had no idea. Midnight came closer as we lugged Norbert up the staircase in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors. Even Harry's shortcuts didn't make the work any easier. "Nearly there!" Then a sudden movement up ahead made us nearly drop the crate. Forgetting we were invisible, we stepped into the shadows, staring at the outlines of two people up ahead. Then a lamp flared.

Professor McGonagall had Malfoy by the ear. "Detention! And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night! How dare you!"

"You don't understand, Professor-Harry Potter's coming-he's got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on-I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!" With that, she dragged Malfoy off.

The steep spiral stairs up to the top tower seemed easy after that. Once we were in the cold night air, we threw off the cloak, and Hermione danced. "Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"

"Don't." Laughing about Malfoy, we waited. Ten minutes later, four broomsticks showed up out of the darkness. Charlie's friends rigged Norbert's crate up to the harness they'd made between the brooms, so they could suspend Norbert between them. We helped buckle Norbert in, and thanked Charlie's friends before they took off.

Finally, Norbert was gone. We went back down the spiral stairs, grinning. No more Norbert-Malfoy was in detention-what could spoil things? The answer waited at the foot of the stairs. Filch's face came out of the darkness. "Well, well, well. We are in trouble." We'd left the cloak at the top of the tower.