"All right," Harry addressed his group of friends, "in order to take down the cerberus, we need to put all three of its heads asleep at the same time. I doubt it will just let us do that, so we need to practice not only coordinating our spells so that we can cast at the same time, but we need to work on hitting targets while moving. I think we should start by trying to hit targets while moving, then work on casting simultaneously before we eventually combine the two. Sound good?"

Hermione, Daphne, and Tracey all nodded, so Harry moved back toward them. They had asked a few of the teachers if there were any places in the castle with targets to practice spellcasting, and Professor Flitwick was able to direct them to one of the training rooms used by the school's dueling club earlier in the century. The room obviously hadn't seen much use in the time since the dueling club's disbandment, so it had taken them a week to clean it to a usable state.

Now, though, they were finally ready to begin.

"What spells should we practice besides the sleeping charm?" Hermione asked.

Harry paused. "Um… I'm not actually sure. What spells are generally useful?"

"The fire charm!" Tracey shouted giddily.

Daphne sighed. "Tracey's pyromania aside, the fire charm is a good spell to know. It's a good spell for warding off all sorts of dangerous plants, and Hagrid did say that devil's snare was an obstacle in the corridor. Anyone else have any suggestions?"

"The knockback jinx is generally useful for dealing with anything that isn't alive." Harry added. "Though given that the last obstacle we know about is a troll, it wouldn't be very useful unless we had obstacles and debris that we could knock into it. What sorts of spells are useful against a troll, anyways?"

"Fire generally works well, from what Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them had to say." Hermione said. "Though basic spells like Incendio are too weak to do anything significant. We could try learning the fire stream charm, Imflamare. It's not taught until third year, but I don't think that it's too hard to cast from what I read about it."

"Spells that bypass its magic-resistant hide would also work." Daphne commented. "Most of those are sixth and seventh year spells, but we've already learned the tripping jinx. Trolls aren't known for having fine movement, so tripping one would likely incapacitate it."

"Hold on – you mean that when Hermione and I were running from the troll, I could have stopped it with a tripping jinx!?"

"Probably, but I wouldn't have counted on it. Even spells that bypass its hide would be weaker. At best, you would have stumbled it for a second. If we wanted it to have an effect, then we'd all have to hit it at the same time."

Harry nodded. "Right, so we'll add that to the list of spells to practice. Hermione, do you have any suggestions?"

Hermione paused and thought it over. "I think that we should practice moving around in smokescreens. Harry, I'm assuming from your fight against the troll that you're proficient in that charm?" At Harry's affirmation, she continued. "In that case, we should practice moving around under its effect."

"That would be useful, but I wouldn't put it as a high priority." Daphne interjected. "It's already likely to take us several months to learn this stuff, and we really shouldn't waste more time than necessary."

"That's true. We wouldn't want…" Harry trailed off, then blinked a few times. "Why are we doing this?"

"I want to steal the Philosopher's Stone!" Tracey exclaimed.

"I want to know if the headmaster is actually foolish enough to keep the Philosopher's Stone in a school." Daphne said dryly.

"I just couldn't resist a good mystery." Hermione said with a shrug.

"It's just…" Harry paused. "Is it really worth spending several months devoted to practice?"

"Do you have any better ideas for how we could spend our time? Hermione's already read her way through half the library." Daphne asked.

"…No. No, I guess I don't have any better ideas."

"I'm surprised that you're the one protesting." Hermione said. "After all, you're the one who always complains about doing too much studying and not enough practical work."

Harry ignored Hermione's jab and turned to face to row of dummies. "Okay then, let's get started. First exercise is casting sleeping spells while moving. Go!"

Harry whipped up his wand and gave it a quarter twist to the left as he began strafing in the same direction. Just as he was about to say the incantation to the sleeping spell, he ran headlong into someone. As the person he now identified as Tracey began falling on top of him, he saw her sleeping spell go wide and hit Hermione, causing her to fall to the ground.

Daphne revived Hermione with her usual air of calmness before turning to stare at them all neutrally.

"Well then, what did we learn from that?" She asked.

"I learned that we are going to need a lot of practice." Harry said as he shoved Tracey off of him.

The Chief Gatherer entered the domain of the Dark Mistress of Knowledge and proceeded towards the backroom that housed their research department. The Head Researcher (who happened to be their only researcher) was hunched over the parchment that the Dark Mistress had obtained from the Weasley twins. The expression on the Researcher's face and his frequent sighs alerted the Gatherer to the fact that the research was likely not going well.

"The Dark Mistress would like an update, Head Researcher Atkins."

The Researcher let out a deep sigh. "It's not going as well as I would like. I think I've isolated the backdoor that this map uses to key into the wards, but I can't seem to be able to replicate it. It's like the map's creators had some sort of access permission that I don't. Also, the map keeps insulting me and laughing at me when I fail."

The Gatherer peered over at the map, and sure enough, a scrawl of text was visible that contained numerous insults against his skill and ability, and well as frequent sections full of written laughs.

"I wasn't aware that the map had a sense of humour." The Gatherer commented.

"There are four personalities in the map, and they all have a sense of humour. None of them have a good sense of humour, though. The one who identifies as Padfoot has the worst sense of humour." No sooner did the Researcher finish saying that before indignant shouts began appearing on the map in different scripts. "Do you see what I have to deal with, Carmichael? It's unbearable. If the boss-lady wasn't paying me extra for this, then I would have given up."

"You should refer to her by her proper title, Researcher." The Gatherer chided.

The Researcher let out another long sigh. "Carmichael, we're friends, right?"

The Gatherer blinked. They were really more acquaintances than anything. They weren't in the same year, and they each took different electives and didn't even have similar N.E.W.T. courses. Really, all they had in common was their mutual sorting into Ravenclaw and the fact that they had homes in the same area of the country. Still, the Gatherer suspected that the Researcher expected an affirmative reply rather than a negatory one.

"Yes, we're friends." The Gatherer replied.

"Then please, I beg of you, break character."

Carmichael winced. "I should never have let you find out about my hobbies."

Andrew Atkins, the head researcher, let out a full laugh. "Are you kidding me? Finding out that you, a wizard, engage in Live-Action RolePlay was the best thing that's ever happened during the summers away from Hogwarts. I mean, honestly, who's ever heard of a LARPing wizard before?"

Carmichael huffed indignantly. "Well, it's not like I can do magic over the summers, and my family lives way too far from Diagon Alley to go there when I want to feel magical again. LARPing seemed like a good way to keep in touch with that part of myself."

Andrew just shook his head. "I can't imagine that Dungeons and Dragons has much in common with real magic, Carmichael. And if you ever wanted to go to Diagon Alley, you could just ask to use my family's floo."

"I didn't know you lived nearby!" Carmichael said indignantly. "If I did, then I would have been more careful about being seen! I mean, honestly, what were the odds that not only would a wizard stumble upon one of our roleplaying scenes, let alone a wizard who would actually be able to recognise me!? Let alone a wizard who would know what LARPing even is!?" Carmichael pointed at Andrew. "It's you. You're the odds of it happening. And you play with rigged dice."

Andrew keeled over in hysterics. "I think you're mixing your metaphors there, 'gatherer'. Besides, if you were really so committed to having no one find out about your shameful summer activities, then you shouldn't have just jumped into character the moment Parvati started recruiting for her stupid little 'organisation'."

"I got caught up in the moment." Carmichael huffed.

"Well everyone else thinks that you're either insane or brainwashed."

"Oh… Anyways, what makes you think the organisation is stupid?" Carmichael asked, feeling a little hurt. He thought that it was great fun.

"She's eleven, Carmichael. Eleven year olds are not known for their cunning or long-term planning. Did you see how quickly Slytherin house imploded once they didn't know what to do? As soon as unexpected crowds came into their nice little pureblood house, a bunch of people made power grabs and all of the people they'd pissed off over the years tried to stop them from making power grabs. Parvati's just another eleven year old trying to play like an adult."

"Yet you still joined her organisation."

"Of course I joined her organisation!" Andrew exclaimed. "I mean, she was offering to pay me for gossiping! She was offering to pay me to do something that I already did for fun! I would have been a moron to turn down a deal like that! Hell, she's offering to continue to pay me after I graduate so long as I keep giving her juicy gossip! And when she offered me a pay raise for taking on a researcher position, I saw it as a great opportunity to avoid having to come up with a topic for my N.E.W.T. project on my own. Seriously, man, fuck N.E.W.T. projects. This map is giving me a good idea for one I can do about backdoors in ward systems, though."

"Hold on, you haven't started your N.E.W.T. project yet?" Carmichael had started his, and he knew that he was far from being a model student. Andrew clearly had academic issues if he still hadn't started his project despite being a year ahead of Carmichael.

"If I enjoyed working, then the Hat would have put me in Hufflepuff." Andrew retorted. "Seriously, though, I am currently getting paid to do work that I needed to do anyways. Anyone who hasn't followed up on one of Parvati's employment offers is an idiot. I don't think her organisation will last, but I'd be a fool to pass it up while it's still around, and if you were to ask around, I think most other people would say the same."

"…Do you think that the fact that an ambitious eleven-year-old was able to take control of the Hogwarts rumour mill by offering to pay people says something dark and disturbing about wizarding society as a whole?" Carmichael mused.

Andrew shrugged. "Yeah, probably. I can't bring myself to care so long as I get my paycheck, though."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about. I mean, if people don't care about corruption on a small scale then why would they-"

Andrew let out a loud groan. "I don't care, Carmichael."

"…Right. So what should I tell Parvati about your progress? The twins are pestering her about getting their map back, and I think she'd like to get it back to them before the decide to start 'pranking' us."

"That's going to be tricky. I expect to be done with the actual map in a week at the earliest. Honestly, this thing has so many different layered charms and enchantments on it that I'm amazed I've been able to make as much headway as I have." Additional script began appearing on the map, which caused Andrew to start swearing at it. "Oh, fuck off you stupid piece of parchment! You're not even alive! Fuck you!"

Carmichael took that as his cue to leave, though he remembered one last thing he should bring up as he neared the door. "You haven't told anyone about the map, have you?"

"I would rather not advertise the fact that I have spent most of the past two weeks being insulted by a piece of parchment, thank you very much."

"Right, well try and keep it that way, would you? The people not knowing about the map bit, that is, not the constant insults. Both Parvati and the twins have expressed their interest in letting as few people as possible know about it. Try and avoid mentioning it directly in your N.E.W.T. project, too." Carmichael did not expect Andrew to pass his N.E.W.T. project if he was this behind, though he didn't express that sentiment.

"Not telling people all the details about how my day sucked is the norm for me. You have nothing to worry about."

Carmichael found himself wondering how a man like Andrew could possibly think that LARPing was beneath him when his life was already that sad.

Carmichael slipped out of the room and fell back into the role of the Dark Mistress's Chief Gatherer. If he already had a reputation, then he may as well just roll with it. The Head Researcher could be skeptical all he wanted, but he was sure that the Dark Mistress would stick with her organisation for far longer that the usual flights of pre-adolescent fancy that struck most of those her age.

"You'll never guess what I just found out!" Draco excitedly told Ernie and Neville as he ran into the common room.

"Um… What is it?" Ernie asked hesitantly.

"So I was following Potter around to see if I could get him in trouble-"

"Why?" Neville asked, cutting Draco off.

Draco stared at Neville. "Why what?"

"I mean… why do you want to get Harry in trouble? He seems like a decent enough person, even if he is a bit closed off. Why would you want to put in the extra effort to get him in trouble?"

Draco scoffed. "You don't get it, do you? Stupid Potter has everything he could possibly want, but doesn't even use it. He has all sorts of money from his parents and bounties he collected for the defeat of the Dark Lord, but he still wears those atrocious muggle rags. He has all sorts of fame and influence, but instead he just keeps to himself and spends time reading or studying. He was sorted into Slytherin house, but he hasn't made any power plays or tried to amass political influence of any kind. He has that luxurious dark hair, but he doesn't even keep it tidy, and he keeps those gorgeous green eyes of his hidden behind those ugly beat-up glasses." Draco hated Potter so much.

Neville and Ernie, meanwhile, were just exchanging a glance.

"Draco," Neville asked, "are you jealous of Harry Potter?"

"Of course I'm not jealous!" Draco sputtered indignantly. "He just offends my sensibilities. Anyways, you two never let me finish telling my story."

Neville and Ernie exchanged another glance. Draco noticed that they did that a lot around him. It must be a thing that friends did. Draco made a note to start exchanging glances with them when he could.

"So, anyways," Draco began, picking up his story, "I was following Potter and his friends to try and get them in trouble. They were heading down to the groundskeeper's hut, for whatever reason. I was hoping that maybe they were going down there to smuggle goods or steal things, or some other expellable offence." Draco wasn't sure if those were actually expellable offences, but he wasn't about to admit that. "When I got down there, I peered into the window to see what sort of trouble they were getting up to, but what I saw was even better than what I could have expected!"

"What was it?" Ernie said with a glint of genuine curiosity in his eye.

"A dragon's egg!" Draco exclaimed. "That oaf of a groundskeeper is trying to hatch an actual dragon in his wooden hut!"

"What!?" Neville exclaimed. "But-but that's dangerous! We have to do something!"

"That's exactly my point." Draco said smugly. "We've got to do something."

"We should tell Professor McGonagall." Ernie suggested. "Surely she'd know what to do. She is the deputy headmistress after all."

That idea hadn't even occurred to Draco, though it was certainly better than his original plan of catching Potter in the act when the dragon was moved elsewhere.

"Yes, we should tell Professor McGonagall." Draco stated. "That was my plan in the first place. And we can implicate Potter for dragon smuggling in the process, then he'll be expelled for sure! Now come on, let's go!"

"I can't believe Hagrid is trying to hatch a dragon!" Hermione loudly whispered as they left Hagrid's hut. "Does he have any idea how dangerous and illegal that is!"

"He seemed intentionally oblivious." Daphne commented. "It's like he didn't want to hear anything about what a bad idea hatching the dragon was. He ignored us every time we tried to point out that he lives in a wooden hut and that dragons grow extremely quickly."

"It's cool, though!" Tracey said. "I mean, how often do you get a chance to witness an actual dragon hatching!?"

"We are not letting Hagrid keep that egg long enough to let it hatch." Daphne said with finality. "We are going to do the sensible thing here and tell a teacher."

"And miss out on a once in a lifetime opportunity?" Tracey asked. "Think about what a valuable learning experience this would be!"

"You're not allowed to tempt me like this…" Hermione grumbled.

"Not to mention that we don't even know what kind of dragon it's going to hatch into." Daphne added. "While some are more benign at birth, others are born aggressive and hostile and don't need to grow into their ability to breathe fire."

"Hmph. Back me up here, Harry." Tracey said.

Harry's eyes flicked between his friends hesitantly. "I think that I'm with Hermione and Daphne on this. We just need to make sure we find and adult that will actually listen to us."

"Why wouldn't an adult listen to us? It's their job to listen to our concerns, isn't it?" Hermione asked.

Harry deliberately refrained from answering. "I think he should tell Professor Snape." He said, changing the subject. "He's our head of house, and he isn't likely to ask too many questions."

"He's also a very no-nonsense type of person, so he's unlikely to restrain himself in any possible courses of action that he would take." Daphne added. "Not to mention that we know where his office is. I don't even know where to find the headmaster's office."

"Right, let's go tell Professor Snape, then." Harry said as they entered the dungeon.

Professor Snape's office was located several doors further down the corridor from the potions classroom. Unlike most of the staff, Snape was in his office during almost all hours that he didn't have to teach or engage in other staff duties, likely owing to his reclusive nature. Harry found himself able to relate. If Harry had a job here, he would probably do much the same thing.

Harry lightly rapped his knuckles on the door to the office, which was quickly pulled open by a sour-faced Snape.

"Potter." He greeted flatly. "What do you need?"

Harry realised that since he was the one who knocked on the door, he would end up being the one who had to speak.

"It's, um…" Harry found himself wishing that he'd planned what to say, though he'd expected Daphne or Hermione to handle the speaking. He decided to get straight to the point. "Hagrid has a dragon egg!"

Snape stared at them for a moment, expression unchanging, before he abruptly addressed them. "Inside, now."

Harry quickly entered the room and sat down in one of the four chairs that had appeared in front of Professor Snape's desk. Daphne, Hermione, and Tracey quickly followed suit as Snape sat at his desk, hands steepled in front of his face.

"Explain." Snape said, his voice level and short.

Harry quickly ran through all of the details that led up to their visit with Hagrid, including Hagrid's strange visits to the library and his refusal to see reason. The only part Harry skipped was the fact that they originally visited Hagrid to try and get more information about the third floor corridor gauntlet out of him. When Harry finished his explanation, Snape continued to stare silently at them for a moment before he spoke up.

"Fifteen points to Slytherin for being sensible about illegal behaviours. You four can be off to the common room for now. I will bring this to the staff's attention and ensure that it is taken care of."

Harry recognised the dismissal for what it was, and quickly began to leave. Snape always left him feeling a little unnerved. As Harry's hand gripped the door handle, Snape's voice broke the silence once again.

"If this turns out the be a prank, then I will see you each in detention every weekend until April. Good day."

Harry spoke quietly to his friends once they were a reasonable distance from the common room.

"How did I end up being the one who gave him an explanation?!"

Hermione shrugged. "You were the one who insisted on going to him instead of one of the other teachers, and when you knocked on the door I just assumed you were taking the lead for once."

"I can't say I enjoy taking the lead."

"Well, it's done." Daphne said, cutting off further complaints. "We did the sensible thing and spoke to a teacher and hopefully avoided a whole slew of dragon-related deaths. Now we just need to let the staff take care of it."

"With any luck, they'll be so distracted by this that we might be able to do some more snooping around the third floor." Tracey added.

"Tracey, we've only been practicing spells for a few weeks. I don't think we're going to learn much from further investigation of the third floor if we can't even get past the first obstacle."

"Ugh. Fine. Let's see if we can't find some sort of mayhem to cause in the meantime, though. It would be a shame to waste all of this time while the staff are distracted."

"Mister Malfoy, I swear, if this is your idea of a joke…"

"It's not a joke, Professor, I swear! Hagrid really has a dragon egg!"

Draco Malfoy was currently standing in Professor McGonagall's office with Ernie and Neville flanking him. McGonagall was regarding him skeptically, obviously doubting the truthfulness of his story.

"Explain to me exactly how you came into the knowledge that Hagrid is in possession of a dragon egg." She demanded.

"Well, it all started when I was following Potter-"

"Why were you following Mister Potter around? I believe it should go without saying that the school does not condone stalking."

Draco balked and tried to come up with a believable lie. "I was, um, trying to return something that he dropped. I saw him drop something in the entrance hall and chased him down to try and give it back. When he entered the groundskeeper's hut with his friends, I decided to peer in the window and see what they were up to… to make sure I wasn't disturbing them, you see."

McGonagall continued to glare at him, though Malfoy paid it no mind as he continued his story.

"But as soon as I looked inside, I saw the groundskeeper removing a dragon's egg from the fire! Dragon breeding is clearly illegal in Britain, and Potter and his friends were acting as accomplices to the whole thing and should be expelled."

McGonagall continued to glare at him for a moment before she spoke up. "Did you ever return the item that Mister Potter dropped?"

"What? Oh, uh, no, I did the responsible thing and came here as soon as I saw there was a dragon egg."

"Very well, then. Please give the item to me now, and I'll see that it's returned to Mister Potter."

Draco fidgeted. "It's… I left it in the dorm when I went to get Neville and Ernie. I'll see that it's returned to him later.

McGonagall regarded him with undisguised suspicion. "See that it is. I will investigate your claims of a dragon egg on the premises on my own. Return to your common room with your… friends… for now. And I hope for your sake that this is not a prank, Mister Malfoy. I would hate to see you in detention."

Draco was too giddy to pay heed to McGonagall's threat. He'd finally caught Potter!

"Stephens! Stephens! Carmichael! Get in here! I need your help!" A voice frantically whispered.

Carmichael turned to see Andrew sticking his head out of the door to the research department. He sighed and followed him into the room.

"What do you need, Andrew? I've got to get these papers to Parvati. Looks like the latest gossip is that the groundskeeper got himself a dragon egg somehow."

Andrew waved his arms frantically. "I don't care about that! I just need to test something on you! It won't take but a minute and you won't feel a thing."

Carmichael frowned. "I don't like the sound of that."

"It'll be fine, just let me try out a few things…" Andrew said before waving his wand at Carmichael for a good half-minute.

Carmichael watched Andrew stare at the results for a moment before the latter spoke up.

"Huh. Well that's unusual. You're muggleborn, right Carmichael?"

"Yeah, I've told you as much before. Why?"

"Nah, sorry man, I really shouldn't tell you. Don't wanna risk tainting the results of the experiment and all that jazz."

"What, so you can't even tell me why you needed me back here? I have stuff to do, Andrew."

"Of course I can't tell you! You're not supposed to tell test subjects what they're being tested on! Didn't you pay attention when they taught the scientific method in primary school?"

Carmichael raised an eyebrow. "How did you end up attending primary school? I thought both of your parents were magical?"

Andrew paced back towards his desk and began staring at the map. "Dad's a muggleborn, and he didn't want me to come to Hogwarts with no education. Seriously, though, didn't they teach you the scientific method when you did your science fair project?"

"Science fair was optional in my school."

Andrew whistled. "Damn, that's lucky. It was a pain in the arse, doing all that extra work. Anyways, I'm done with you, so go make your report or whatever. Oh, and tell the boss lady that I should be done with the map in a day or two. I can't wait to get rid of this cheeky little fucker."

Carmichael could see additional scrawl appearing on the map, and left the room just as Andrew began yelling at it. Again.

Minerva strode down the stairs towards the dungeons so she could fetch Severus. Calling an emergency staff meeting seemed to be the best way to address Mister Malfoys allegations of a dragon egg in Hagrid's possession. Most of the staff was near the private floos in their offices, and it was easy enough to have the few staff members that weren't in their offices be fetched by other teachers. Severus, however, was a different matter. The floo in his office was closed, and the fact that he insisted on keeping his office in the dungeons meant that there were never any other staff members nearby. Someone was going to have to fetch him, and Minerva decided to take on the task of fetching him herself, rather than stick someone else with the job.

Thankfully, fortune appeared to be on her side in this instance, as she ran into Severus as he was leaving the dungeons, sparing her from taking the final part of the trek. The fact that he was making a rare excursion out of the dungeons also explained why his floo was closed, as he usually kept it open whenever he wasn't teaching or experimenting.

"Minerva, I'm glad I ran into you." Severus began before she could get in a single word. "Several students have just come to me with claims that Hagrid has managed to… 'acquire' a dragon egg for himself. While I couldn't even begin to imagine where Hagrid would stumble upon such high-value smuggled goods, I know that there is no end to his foolishness, particularly where magical creatures are involved. We should at least look into the matter, to ensure that he's not about to get the forest burned down in an act of idiocy."

Minerva blinked. That certainly lent credence to the story Mister Malfoy had told her. She was trying to be unbiased, but she maintained what she viewed as a healthy skepticism where he was involved. Having a second set of witnesses with the same story certainly lent credibility to the story, especially since they were in a different house.

"I've just received an identical claim from Mister Malfoy, and have already called a staff meeting in regards to how we should approach this. Goodness only knows that Albus will try and hush the whole matter up to prevent negative press coverage."

"As well as try and keep his pet half-giant out of legal trouble…" Severus grumbled.

Minerva ignored his grumbles and continued her plan. "As such, I have called a full staff meeting, and requested that Pomona fetch Hagrid so we can confront him directly before coming up with a plan. Silvanus may also need to be involved, so we can weave some fantasy that involves him coming into the egg through somewhat legitimate channels."

"I'm sure Silvanus would love to help us with a dragon. I doubt he needs his remaining leg, after all." Severus replied dryly as the two began making their way back towards the staff room. "Perhaps he'll be able to lose all of his limbs by the time he retires."

Minerva rolled her eyes at Severus's sarcasm, but made no attempt to chide him for it. She knew that he was just too insecure to express emotions in any normal ways, so this was how he coped.

Carmichael watched as Head Researcher Atkins gave a short bow before starting his report to the Dark Mistress.

"So, I have bad news, good news, more bad news, and more good news." He said somewhat nervously. "Um, in that specific order." He clarified.

Parvati gestured for him to continue, so he did.

"Well, the first bad news is that I cannot replicate the map. The charm work is far too complicated, and it would likely take me years of work with additional help for me to create a suitable replica of the map."

"That is unfortunate. I was really hoping we could make one of our own. Being able to track everyone's locations would be a great tool." She said plainly.

"Yes, well, onto the good news. I was able to isolate the backdoor the map uses and figure out how to access it. After several attempts, I was able to confirm that the person-tracking ward was impossible to access without some form of interface, since it seems to be incompatible with the human minds. That said, we can fulfill your original goal of gaining access to the portrait networks."

"We can? That is very good news. The amount of effort that we could save by doing our information gathering through such means is incredible."

Andrew hesitated. "Yes, and that brings me to my next point. For reasons that continue to evade me, not everyone has… permission to access this ward. I am unable to access it personally, and I have yet to determine exactly what it is that allows people permission to access the ward. For the most part, it seems random."

"For the most part?" Parvati said as she leaned forward, steepling her fingers.

"It's mostly random, but there are trends." He pulled out a sheet of parchment. "Everyone who has descendants from an old British wizarding family has permission, as do around sixty percent of those from minor families. Of the muggleborns I tested, less than forty percent had access permission. No recent immigrants to the country have access unless they have heritage somewhere in the country."

"…I see. And as a member of a recently immigrated family, I would have no way to access the wards." She concluded.

"Yes, that is correct. However, I do have another solution prepared, which is my final piece of good news. Carmichael is able to access the wards."

Carmichael blinked. He certainly wasn't expecting that.

Parvati, for her part, simply nodded. "See that it's done. I take it you no longer need the map, then?"

Andrew scowled. "Take that damnable thing away from me."

Parvati nodded and hopped off her throne. "I will return the map personally. Key Carmichael in so he can access that wards and make the portraits report to him. I believe that concludes everything that needs to be done?" Andrew nodded in reply, so Parvati left the room, leaving Carmichael alone with Andrew.

"I'm compatible with the wards?" Carmichael asked, breaking the silence. "How? Why?"

Andrew shrugged. "If I knew I would have told the boss lady. Anyways, time to key you into the wards."

"Will… will it hurt?"

"Hell if I know. Now let's get started."

A/N: Well, this too far longer to write than I would have liked.

Carmichael and Andrew are both oddballs and they have an interesting dynamic. It was becoming increasingly necessary for the PoV of other people in her organisation to be shown, as I don't think I clearly established that Parvati is a highly unreliable narrator by this point. Do people follow her anyways? Absolutely. She's paying them, after all.

Carmichael being a LARPer was something I decided on the first time I was actually forced to give him a name and make him into someone more complex than "Parvati's weirdly devoted second-in-command". I liked the idea of him just getting really in-character and everyone else just assuming he's weird and/or crazy. Which, to be fair, he probably is.

There is one more thing I'd like to talk about, but I am going to put a very large disclaimer first.

THIS IS NOT AND NEVER WILL BE A DRARRY FIC.

That said, yes, Draco does have a schoolboy crush on Harry, and yes, it is totally one-sided. As a lesbian, I have no interest in portraying M/M relationships as a major point in my fics, but I have always been a fan of the idea that Draco is gay, has a crush on Harry, and is just too bad at dealing with his emotions to actually put the pieces together.

E/N (Xgenje): I love being able to beta this story because most of the stuff Ten comes up will has me dying from laughing so hard. I honestly had to stop reading the Drarry section TWICE because I couldn't stop laughing.

On another note, I feel like the Dragon Egg could have lived up to more hype than the shut down I feel coming but with the right play this could be EPIC. I honestly can't wait until the next "beta" task I get ;)