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"Chapter 14 Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback," Remus began.
"A dragon?!" Fawn said at once, excited, much to everyone's amusement.
Quirrell, however, must have been braver than they'd thought. In the weeks that followed he seem to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't look at though he'd cracked yet.
"That is the biggest surprise so far," Remus remarked.
Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, Harry, Leo, Ron, and Hermione would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy was still growling inside. Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe.
"Or it could just be Severus," Regulus joked but quietened down when Snape glared at him.
Whenever Harry passes Quirrell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and Ron had started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter. Leo had started to pay attention in Defence Against the Dark Arts so that he wasn't stressing Quirrell out like he was when he doodled in class, instead of listening.
"You should be listening in your classes!" Fawn scolded.
"I couldn't focus in his class because of his stutter, I never understood what he was saying," Leo defended himself. It wasn't his fault that he found it hard to focus sometimes.
Hermione, however, had more on her mind than the Philosopher's Stone. She had started drawing up study schedules and colour coding all her notes. Harry and Ron wouldn't have minded, but she kept nagging them to do the same. Leo asked her to do the same with his notes just to get her off his back for a little while.
"I do the same thing," Lily beamed at Hermione.
"Me too," Remus added.
Hermione grinned at the two, happy that others took their notes seriously as well.
"Hermione, the exams are ages away."
"Ten weeks," Hermione snapped. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."
"In my first year I started reviewing ten weeks early too, I was so worried about failing my exams," Lily admitted shyly.
"I remember always seeing you studying in the library first year," Fawn said.
"The library is always quieter than the common room," said Lily.
"But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her. "Anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it."
"What am I studying for? Are you crazy? You realize we need to pass these exams to get into second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me…"
Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones.
"Easter holidays are never as fun as Christmas holidays," James moaned, he hated studying and the Easter holidays was full of studying.
It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood, (which Leo could tell her without looking up from his Transfiguration homework), or practicing wand movements. Moaning and yawning, Harry, Leo and Ron spent most of their free time in the library with her, trying to get through all their extra work, Leo was ahead of Harry and Ron though, since he starts his homework as soon as he possibly can.
"The quicker you do it, the quicker it's over," said Leo.
"That's a good point," Sirius nodded, never having thought that before.
"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window. It was the first really find 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.
"Why don't you guys just study outside?" Narcissa asked. "There are no rules that say you can't."
"We never thought of that," Ron said sheepishly.
Harry, who was looking up 'Dittany' in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, didn't look up until he heard Ron say, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"
"You don't usually go to the library Hagrid," said Andromeda in a way of asking why the gentle giant was there.
"Too small for meh in there," Hagrid shrugged. It was true, the isle were too small for Hagrid to mauver through without knocking something down as he went.
Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.
"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 the dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St-"
"Don't say it so causally!" Hagrid moaned.
"Shhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don't go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"
"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Harry, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy- "
"SHHHH!" said Hagrid again.
"Are you guys trying to get Hagrid into trouble?" Regulus asked.
"Of course not!" Harry said at once. "We just didn't think anyone else would overhear us."
"It's impossible not to overhear everything at Hogwarts, the walls have ears," James joked.
"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 talk yeh- "
"See you later, then," said Harry.
Hagrid shuffled off.
"I don't think that was the best idea," said Peter.
"What was he hiding behind his back?" she Hermione thoughtfully.
"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"
"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 clammed 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."
"There's nothing weird about that, I also look up things like that," Fawn said confused.
"That's because you help your dad raise his creatures, most people don't look up ways to look after a dragon," Sirius explained to her.
Leo was quick to abandoned his homework to grab the last book Ron read out and immersed himself in the book, blocking out everything, including them, as he started to read.
"Of course, you would," James laughed as his best friend's son grinned at him.
"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him," said Harry, chuckling at the expression of awe on Leo's face as he read.
"He always has that look on his face when it comes to creatures," Ginny giggled.
"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 from wild ones in Romania."
"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" said Harry.
"Of course, there are," said Ron.
"Wait, let me guess," James said. "Leo's going to name the dragons from Britain."
"Who do you take me for?" Leo asked. "Of course, I'm going to tell them."
"Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks are the most common in Britain," Leo said before going back to the book.
"The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."
"The world would be so much better if everyone knew about dragons," Fawn said sadly.
"So, what on earths Hagrid up to?" said Hermione
"Hagrid has a dragon," Sirius guessed.
"Hope so," said Hagrid excitedly.
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. Hagrid called 'Who is it?' before he let them in, and then shut the door quickly behind them.
"You're being very suspicious, Hagrid," Lily commented.
"I'm sure its nothin'," Hagrid waved off her concerns.
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- yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"
"Yes," said Harry. There was no point beating around the bush. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy."
Hagrid frowned at him.
"Hagrid can't just tell you guys that, he'll get into trouble," Narcissa said.
"We had to try," Harry shrugged.
"O' course I can't," he said. "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 abou' Fluffy."
"By being out of week to duel!" Lily frowned disapprovingly at Harry.
"We were out of our beds having an adventure," Leo chuckled, ignoring the red heads glare as Sirius high fived him.
"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."
"That's cheatin'," Hagrid chuckled.
"Sorry, Hagrid, but we needed to know," Hermione said sheepishly.
Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Harry and Ron beamed at Hermione. Leo too busy playing with Fang to look, but he was proud of Hermione.
"Of course, you would be," Ron joked.
"If my girl can get what she wants with only words then of course I'm going to be proud!" Leo bragged as if Hermione's father, making said girl roll her eyes fondly.
"You're girl?" James asked confused. "I thought you and Harry were together?"
"We are," Harry reassured. "But Hermione and Leo are basically siblings."
"Well, I don' s'ppose it could her 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. Hand on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."
"If Dumbledore has but up an obstacle then you guys really don't need to worry about the Stone being stolen," Remus said.
"Snape?"
"Yeah- yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."
"Of course, I don't want to steal the Stone," Snape scoffed at the idea.
Before James or Sirius could say anything, Professor McGonagall gave the pair a warning glare making them close their mouths.
Harry knew Ron, Leo and Hermione were thinking the same as he was. If Snape had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew everything- except, it seemed, Quirrell's spell and how to get past Fluffy.
"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" said Harry 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.
"Well, that's something," Harry muttered to the others. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."
"Can't, Harry, sorry," said Hagrid. Harry noticed him glance at the fire. Harry looked at it, too.
"You either have a dragon's egg or an actual dragon," Regulus smirked.
"Hagrid- what's that?"
But he already knew what it as. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.
"No way!" Fawn said quietly.
"What is it?" Sirius asked.
"That egg holds a Norwegian Ridgeback! They're very rare. I've always wanted to see one!" Fawn gushed.
"You could tell that by only knowing the colour of the egg?" Peter asked shocked.
"Of course, all breeds of dragons have different kinds of eggs and Norwegian Ridgeback's are the only ones who have black eggs," the blonde explained, happy to talk about creatures.
"Ah," said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard, "That's er…"
"Busted," James and Sirius sang as Hagrid blushed slightly but that didn't stop the wide, excited grin that was plastered on his face.
He had always wanted a dragon and it seems that he would actually raise one in the future.
"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 we was quite glad ter get ride of it, ter be honest."
"You don't find that suspicious at all, Hagrid?" Professor McGonagall asked her colleague.
"I musta had a few drinks," Hagrid suggested sheepishly. He knew what he was like when he drank.
"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 em, see an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour."
"That's the easy part, the hard part is learning it's temperament and behaviours while also keeping both yourself and the baby dragon safe," Fawn warned.
"You've got a Norwegian Ridgeback! They're so rare!" Leo gasped once he got a good look of the egg.
"Like mother like son," Regulus laughed.
Hagrid looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't.
"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," she said.
But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire.
"That's merely a complication," Hagrid shrugged, he didn't see anything wrong with raising a baby dragon in his hut.
"Hagrid, please let me help when it hatches. I've always wanted to raise a dragon!" Leo begged and Hagrid was all too happy to agree, excited that someone else was excited as he was.
"Yes! My son is going to help raise a dragon!" Fawn squealed in excitement.
So now they had something else to worry about: what might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he was hiding an illegal dragon in his hut. "Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighed, as evening after evening they struggled through all the extra homework they were getting. Hermione had now started making study schedules for Harry and Ron, too, Leo not needing one since he kept on top of his homework. It was driving them nuts.
"The quicker you do it, the quicker it's over," Leo said wisely.
Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brought Harry another note from Hagrid. He had written onto two words: It's hatching.
Harry had to grab onto Leo's arm to stop him from bolting from his chair down to Hagrid's hut to watch.
"No, let him go and see it," Sirius whined, he would love to see a baby dragon hatch. Maybe he could see it happen with Fawn.
Ron wanted to skip Herbology too and go straight down to the hut. Hermione wouldn't hear of it.
"Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?"
"Please, Hermione?" said Leo with puppy dog eyes.
"The only time that Leo's puppy dog eyes didn't work on Hermione," Ginny smirked.
"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.
Malfoy was only a few feet away and he stopped dead to listen. How much had he heard? Harry didn't like the look on Malfoy's face at all.
"That boy better not tell anyone what he heard!" Narcissa snapped to the shock of everyone.
Ron and Hermione argued all the way to Herbology, Leo was being pulled slightly by Harry who had grabbed onto his hand when he went to sneak off, -
"I almost got away as well," Leo pouted.
-in the end, Hermione agreed to run down to Hagrid's with the other three during morning break. When the bell sounded from the castle at the end of their lesson, the four dropped their trowels at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the forest, Leo in the lead. Hagrid greeted them, looking flushed and excited.
"I'm so excited!" Fawn bounced in her seat, Leo joining her just as excited to read about it as he was to see it happen.
"It's nearly out," he ushered them inside.
The egg was lying on the table. 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 spilt open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. It wasn't exactly pretty; Harry thought it looked like a crumpled, black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet-black body, it had a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes.
"How dare you!" Leo said offended. "That is the cutest baby dragon that you will ever have the privilege of laying your eyes on."
Fawn nodded next to her son as Harry rolled his eyes at his dramatic boyfriend.
It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.
"That's so cute!" Lily gushed when the screen shows a photo of the baby dragon sitting on Hagrid's table with the five of them sitting in the chairs surrounding it.
"It's kind of cute," Andromeda admitted.
"Oh, bless him, he's beautiful!" Hagrid gushed with teary eyes.
"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured. He reached out a hand to stoke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs. "Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!" said Hagrid.
"That's one of the cutest things Hagrid has ever said," Hermione said.
"He's gorgeous!" Leo breathed, wiggling his fingers at the baby dragon when it turned to him. Harry watched as the dragon stumbled over to Leo who was quick to start to stroke its spine, making it let out a noise like a purr.
"You're a natural," Fawn said proudly.
Harry wouldn't say it out loud but he was pretty sure the dragon liked Leo more than it liked Hagrid.
"Sorry, Hagrid," Harry winced.
"Don' worry abou' it, it's naturally for creatures to be attracted to the Scamander family," Hagrid said proudly making Leo and Fawn beam at the gentle giant.
"Hagrid," said Hermione, "How fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"
"They grow quite fast, most dragons do," Fawn said.
Hagrid was about to answer when the colour suddenly drained from his face- he leapt on his feet and ran to the window.
"What's the matter?"
"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains- it's a kid- he'd running back up ter the school."
"Wonder who that is," James said sarcastically.
Harry bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him.
Malfoy had seen the dragon.
"I knew it," James scoffed.
"The little brat better not go and tell anyone!" Sirius growled.
Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy's face during the next week made Harry, Leo, Ron, and Hermione very nervous. They spent most of their free time in Hagrid's darkened hut, trying to reason with him. All of them, expect Leo, who was trying to think of way to get the dragon somewhere safe.
"Just let him go," Harry urged. "Set him free."
"I can't," said Hagrid. "He's too little. He'd die."
"When their that young they rely on their mothers to provide food, safety and warmth for them. It wouldn't have survived if it was just let go," Leo explained.
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.
"Sooner or later, someone is going to notice your absence, Hagrid," Lily said concerned.
"I've decided to call him Norbert," said Hagrid, looking at the dragon with misty eyes. "He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's mummy?"
"He's lost his marbles," Ron muttered in Harry's ear before turning to Leo who was cooing at Norbert, "Leo too."
"He was cute!" Leo defended himself as everyone laughed.
"Hagrid," said Harry 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."
Leo suddenly turned to Ron. "Charlie," he said.
"That's Ron," Sirius said looking a little concern for his son but Leo just rolled his eyes with a chuckle.
"You've defiantly lost it," said Ron. "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!"
"One of my best ideas," Leo joked.
"You're right, nothing was broken with this idea," Ron laughed.
"Brilliant!" said Ron. "How about it, Hagrid?"
And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could send an owl to Charlie to asked him. Although it was mostly Leo who had to convince him that it was what was best for Norbert.
"Norbert would be with his own kind and giving specialist attention if he went to Romania," Professor McGonagall said when Hagrid started to look a little sad that his baby dragon was going to be taken from him so soon.
"I know," Hagrid said sadly.
The follow week dragged by. Wednesday night found Leo, Hermione and Harry sitting alone in the common room, long 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.
"They grow up so fast," Hagrid said proudly.
"It bit me!" he said, showing them his hand, which was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief.
"I'm sure he was jus' playin'," Hagrid tried to reassure, not that anyone believed him.
"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 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."
"He's just a baby, he doesn't know he was hurting you," Fawn frowned.
"Ron, it's a dragon, it doesn't know right from wrong," said Leo, defending Norbert.
"Exactly!" Fawn and Hagrid said.
There was a tap on the dark window.
"It's Hedwig!" said Harry, hurrying to let her in. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"
"I hope he can take Norbert," Lily said.
"I'm sure he will," James assured her.
The four 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
"That's a relief!" Narcissa smiled.
They looked at one another.
"We've got the invisibility cloak," said Harry. "It shouldn't be too difficult- I think the cloaks big enough to cover two of us and Norbert."
"It might make people not see you but I would imagine a baby dragon would be quite loud," Remus said unsure about the fours plan.
It was a mark of how bad the last week had been that the other three agreed with him. Anything to get rid of Norbert- and Malfoy.
"I didn't want to get rid of him, I just wanted what was best for him," Leo frowned.
"If it was up to you mate, you would have raised Norbert in our dorm," Ron said.
There was a hitch. By the next morning, Ron's bitten hand had swollen to twice its usual size. He didn't know whether it was safe to go Madam Pomfrey- would she recognize a dragon bite? By the afternoon, though, he had no choice. The cut had turned a nasty shade of green. Leo told them that Norbert must be a girl because females have poisonous fangs.
"That's just rotten luck," Andromeda said.
Harry, Leo and Hermione rushed up to the hospital wing at the end of the day to find Ron in a terrible state in bed.
"It's not just my hand," he whispered, "although that 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've 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."
"He's doing this because he's a miserable, little git," Regulus scoffed before turning to Narcissa with wide eyes, "Sorry Cissy."
"It's fine, you're right," Narcissa assured her cousin.
Harry, Leo and Hermione tried to calm Ron down.
"It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday," said Hermione, but this didn't sooth Ron at all. On the contrary, he sat bolt upright and broke into a sweat.
"Midnight on Saturday!" he said in a hoarse voice. "Oh no, oh no- I've just remembered- Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."
"Why would you put such an important letter in book? Why didn't you burn it?" Snape asked as if Ron was stupid.
"We were eleven, we weren't thinking about burning things at that age," Ron snapped.
Harry, Leo and Hermione didn't get a chance to answer. Madam Pomfrey came over at the moment and made them leave, saying Ron needed sleep.
"It's too late to change the plan now," Harry told Leo and Hermione. "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."
"He better not find out about it, ever," James warned. It was better if the less people who know about the cloak the better.
They found Fang, the boarhound, sitting outside with a bandaged tail when they went to tell Hagrid, who opened a window to talk to them. Leo was quick to sit in front of the dog and cuddle him when he let out a little whine.
"I love that dog," said Leo.
"He's a good boy," Hagrid agreed.
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' playing- he's only a baby, after all."
"That dragon needs a chew toy," Peter said.
The baby banged its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle, and Fang cower into Leo. Harry, Leo 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. 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 the large crate.
"I hope nothing goes wrong," Lily said.
Harry and Hermione shared a quick look before looking away before anyone could catch them.
"He's got lost 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."
"You gave him a teddy bear?" Sirius asked bewildered.
"That's so sweet," Fawn gushed.
From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Harry as though the teddy was having his head torn off.
"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as Harry and Hermione covered the crate with the invisibility cloak and stepped under it themselves. "Mummy will never forget you!"
Hagrid gave a sniff as tears gathered in his eyes getting sympathetic looks from everyone in the room.
"It's going to okay, Hagrid," Professor McGonagall comforted him.
Leo would have come but Hermione said she wanted to go before he could, the cloak only fit two with the crate.
"Why did you volunteer?" Leo asked.
"Because you get into enough trouble on a normal day as it is, you couldn't be the one to help because if we got caught you would have been expelled," Hermione said.
How they managed to get the crate back to the castle, they never knew. Midnight ticked nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircases in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors. Up another staircase, then other- even one of Harry's shortcuts didn't make the work much easier.
"The worst thing about Hogwarts is all the stairs," Narcissa whined as everyone agreed.
"Nearly there!" Harry panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.
Then a sudden movement ahead 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.
"Little rat tried to get them in trouble!" Sirius growled.
"Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you- "
"Good! Got what you deserve!" James cackled.
"You don't understand, Professor. Harry Potter's coming- he'd got a dragon!"
"Like anyone is actually going to believe that!" Remus huffed a laugh.
"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on- I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"
"Snape's not going to do anything!" Sirius moaned as Snape glared at him.
The steep spiral staircase up 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 breath properly again. Hermione did a sort of jig.
"Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"
"Don't," Harry advised her.
"I would have loved to see that," Leo laughed.
Chuckling about Malfoy, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.
Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed Harry and Hermione the harness they'd rig up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then Harry and Hermione shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.
At last, Norbert was going… going… gone.
"Yes! Finally!" James cheered.
They slipped back done the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was off them. No more dragon- Malfoy in detention- what could spoil their happiness?
"Don't say that, something bad is going to happen now," Remus sighed.
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.
"I knew it," Remus moaned.
"Well, well, well," he whispered, "we are in trouble."
They'd left the invisibility cloak on top of the tower.
"No!" James gasped. "You can't just leave in the cloak behind! First rule, Bambi!"
"Bambi?" Harry asked confused.
"Don't worry about it," James said quickly, unsure if Harry and his friends knew about him, Sirius and Peter being animagus.
"I think that is all for tonight," Professor McGonagall said. "We only have a few chapters left so we will finish the book tomorrow night."
Everyone was quick to say goodnight with Lily and Fawn giving their sons hugs before leaving. Everyone was excited for the next night, to finally find out who and why someone wanted the Stone.
A/N: Hi everyone, thanks for all the support so far, only 3 more chapters until the first books is over so look forward to that!