Ron wasted no time in contacting his brother while Hermione and Mary ducked into the library before it closed. Madam Pince glowered at Mary, so Mary gave her a friendly smile and waved in return. Hermione tried not to laugh, preferring to stay on the librarian's good side.
"What's her deal?" Mary whispered. "My card isn't suspended, anymore, and I've stayed here while reading the library's books."
Hermione selected Dragon Species of Great Britain & Ireland, and they settled in chairs as far from any other student as they could get. She opened to a page of dragon eggs and they started scanning for a familiar form.
"This is wild," Mary breathed. "I mean, Hagrid's always wanted a dragon. He told me so, back in Diagon Alley."
Hermione put a finger to her lips and Mary winced. Talking about it where anyone could potentially hear was foolish.
They were both amazed to see how many dragons existed. Common Welsh Greens were apparently everywhere, but that didn't match the pattern of Hagrid's egg. After narrowing it down to three possibilities, they were fairly certain that their little friend would be a Norwegian Ridgeback. Hermione flipped to the section all about Ridgebacks, and traced a line noting how rare they are. They put the book away before Madam Pince could chase them out, and joined the rest of the student body in the Great Hall for supper.
Everyone was still excited about the quidditch match, and Gryffindors were storing foods to bring up to the common room for what promised to be quite the party. Lee had a stash of treats from the most recent trip into Hogsmeade, while Fred and George snuck through the kitchens for leftovers.
"You see," Fred later explained, "people think we just take whatever we want, but the real success is in finding goods that nobody is going to miss!"
"You're still thieves," said Hermione, without any real heat. Mary suspected she couldn't feel much conviction while caught up in dodgy activities, herself.
The common room became louder as more Gryffindors joined the party, which made it easier for Mary, Hermione, and Ron to speak without being overheard. Hermione created a makeshift tent with one of the large window curtains and a couple of the lighter wooden chairs as stakes. Percy, on his furious rounds to make sure nobody was breaking any rules, stopped and inspected their project. Hermione held up a finger, charmed the curtain, and then motioned the four of them into the shelter. The front was wide open, but they could hear each other without needing to raise their voices.
"This is clever, Hermione," said Percy. "How long does the charm last?"
"Mine only lasts about an hour, but it gives us enough time to fall asleep before Sophie's snoring gets really bad."
"You all know this charm?" Percy asked, impressed.
"No, just Mary and me."
Mary wobbled her hand to indicate that she hadn't quite gotten it, yet. "Hermione only needs to baffle Sophie's curtains, though."
Percy left and they could sit down to talk.
"It's going to be a few days before we receive a response from Charlie," said Ron, "but I think I have an idea of how this is going to work."
"How?" Hermione asked. "I mean, how can you have any idea how this is going to work? We're in way over our heads!"
Mary agreed, heart pounding at the thought of more people knowing about the dragon.
"Some of his colleagues are dragon riders. They could contrive some reason to be here, collect the dragonet, and be on their way."
"And what are we supposed to do?" asked Mary. "Meet them at the owlery?"
"I don't know," snapped Ron. "I'm just telling you what I think might happen, based on stuff I've already learned from Charlie."
Mary apologized. "I don't know why I'm freaking out like this, but anytime I think about getting caught…"
"I'm worried, too," said Hermione. "We just need to stay calm, for now."
"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighed.
Just then, a couple second years poked their noses into the tent.
"Hello?" said one of them. "Percy said you have a quiet room set up?"
Hermione ended up charming every set of curtains in the common room, which drained more energy than she'd prepared for. She topped off their first tent before retiring to the dormitories early. Mary wanted to do likewise, but everyone expected her to continue celebrating Gryffindor's victory.
Was that really just today? Mary marveled.
How could so much change in only a few hours? She pretended nothing had happened since the match, and shared the story of how she caught the Snitch without needing to race the Hufflepuff Seeker.
A sixth year laughed, "Oh, that's got to be embarrassing!"
"He took it really well, I think!" Mary told her audience. "Pretty sure their captain is going to give him a rough time, though."
Mary scanned the rafters before remembering that Hedwig was out delivering Ron's letter.
In this awful weather, she despaired.
Hagrid had told her that having an owl would be useful, but she hadn't anticipated how much she would worry while waiting for Hedwig to return.
The following week was excruciating. After having an open-door policy, students found it odd that Hagrid suddenly kept his hut locked tight. His cover story was that he had sick cockatrice chicks, and he couldn't risk anyone getting burned. It was a flimsy lie, but it did the job for as long as it needed to. On Wednesday, Mary, Ron, and Hermione visited for tea, as Hagrid felt they had a right to see the baby dragon at least once.
"Am I imagining things," asked Hermione, "or has it already doubled in size?"
"No, they do grow fast," said Hagrid, setting a plate of fish down for the dragon.
It scrambled over to the meal and began devouring the offering.
"Easy, Norbert!" Hagrid chortled.
"Norbert?" all three asked.
"Well, little guy's gotta have a name."
"How do you know it's a boy?" Mary asked.
"I don't," Hagrid admitted. "But it looks like a Norbert to me."
Hermione looked over to Ron, who shrugged.
"I've never been close enough to a dragon to know what kind of name they should have," he told them.
"Oh!" Hermione said, jumping up and rifling through her bag for a notebook. "I almost forgot! Hagrid, I wanted to ask about Norbert's shell. I read that they have a lot of uses, and I was wondering if you had any plans for it."
He'd stored the shards in the same basket Norbert had hatched in, and he shared them with Hermione. Hagrid was happy to share his knowledge with an enthusiastic pupil, while Mary and Ron sat and listened, enjoying their tea and a tray of crumpets Hagrid had baked.
Amid the chatter, a tapping came from one of the vaulted windows. Hedwig had returned, and she had a letter! Mary cracked the window to let her in, hugging the owl while Ron opened the letter and read it aloud.
Dear Ron,
Thanks for the letter! I'd ask how you're doing, but I can see that times are interesting. I'd be happy to help you out. Be advised, this will take a bit of coordination. I've contacted friends in Scotland who can be there around midnight on Saturday. They'll arrive on a pair of Hebridean Blacks, if you can meet them at the top of the Astronomy Tower – it has an appropriate landing zone.
Send me an answer as soon as possible.
Love,
Charlie
He'd drawn a simple caricature of a Norwegian Ridgeback under his name, and Mary smiled at the whimsical touch. They all turned to Hagrid, who looked guilty and shook his head.
"It figures. I'm helping Professor Kettleburn with a presentation on nocturnal creatures, this Saturday. I can't be in two places at once."
"We'll handle it," said Ron and Mary nodded, as Hermione suddenly said, "NO!"
They all stared at her.
"I feel the same way, Hermione," Mary said, carefully, "but this is our only option."
"I know," said Hermione, putting a hand to her forehead, "but I suddenly feel like this is a horrible idea. I think I'm having a panic attack."
Ron set the letter down and looked around the room. He crossed his arms, pressing a fist to his mouth, and paced a few times.
"We're all in agreement that Charlie's friends need to take Norbert," he said.
Hermione looked like she might vomit, but she nodded along with Mary and Hagrid. Ron pulled a small scrap of parchment from his bag and scratched a quick note to Charlie. He rolled it up and set it next to Hedwig, who was helping herself to water. Hagrid called one of his owls from a window and sent the note on its way.
One day, Mary wanted to know how these creatures knew where they were going.
That done, Ron pressed his hands together and then steepled his fingers, weighing his words. "What if I go to Dumbledore and tell him about Norbert?"
All three of them voiced their distress over that idea, and then stopped when they realized Ron was observing them. Hermione's irritation spiked, as though it were the worst thing in the world for someone to think they knew something that she didn't.
"What's your point?" she asked him.
"Something is wrong," he said. "There's no reason any of us should be afraid of talking to Dumbledore about, well, probably anything."
He knelt down next to Norbert and picked the little dragon up. It belched and a short stream of fire came within inches of Ron's face. He put the dragon down and said, "I don't know Professor Kettleburn, but we could ask him about dragons."
Again, they all dissented. Ron nodded.
"What are you doing?" Mary asked, as Ron began touching stuff at random.
"There's no reason we couldn't tell Neville about Norbert, is there?"
"What?" cried Hagrid.
"Why would we do that?" Hermione demanded.
Mary felt the same way, but she thought she knew what Ron was after. She picked up the basket of shell shards and held it up to Ron. He took a breath and selected one. His eyes went wide and a cold sweat broke out across his forehead.
"The shell was cursed," Ron whispered, lowering himself into a seat.
Hermione closed her eyes and groaned into her hands. "I should have seen it!"
"Maybe that's why someone would want to get rid of a dragon's egg that quickly," said Mary.
Hagrid was shaking his head. "I never should have gotten you three involved."
"I think we're magnets for this sort of trouble, mate," said Ron.
While they waited for Saturday, Hermione had started drawing up study schedules.
"Hermione," Mary moaned, "the exams are ages away."
"Ten weeks," Hermione snapped, "is not ages! That's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."
"We're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her. "Why are you studying so hard, anyway? You already know it all."
Mary assumed he hadn't meant it the way it sounded, but she smacked him in the face with a rolled up parchment, just in case. In truth, they appreciated Hermione's help – then drew a line when she insisted they color-code their notes in accordance with her methods. Neville, Lily, and Seamus asked Hermione for help, and she was soon directing full study sessions for all Gryffindor first years.
"If I'm honest," Mary quietly admitted in Hermione's absence, "I don't know how I'd get any of this done without her help, right now."
Quidditch practice was still going strong, and the homework continued to pile up as though each professor forgot that the other was issuing assignments at the same rate. A few students did end up in the hospital wing with panic attacks, and Mary hoped she could keep her nerves under control. If she had a meltdown, could it at least wait until after Saturday?
The night finally arrived, with low wind and light overcast. Hedwig had brought Mary a set of instructions from Hagrid on how to appease the excitable Fang when they approached the hut, and a list of everything he included for Norbert's journey. Ron and Hermione read it by the common room fireplace before they set off.
"A teddy bear?" Ron asked.
"They hatch in clutches, don't they?" Hermione reasoned. "It must be lonely without a brood of siblings."
They made sure the coast was clear, and made sure the cloak covered all of them. Once they matched each other's gait, it was a little easier moving in the bulky cloak with three people rather than two. Invisible or no, Fang charged them, tail wagging when he caught their scent. Mary pulled out her owl whistle and blew steady notes through it. Fang sat down, whimpered like a chastened puppy, and Hermione tossed him a treat through one of the sleeves. Fang gave it his full attention as Mary folded the cloak and the trio slipped through the front door.
"Ya made it!" Hagrid said in relief.
"Nothing to it!" said Ron.
"I've just given Norbert his last meal of the day, so he should have a full belly for the trip."
Mary thought she caught a note of sadness in Hagrid's voice.
Norbert was licking up the last crumbs and started trying to eat the plate before giving up on the prospect of more food. Ron moved to retrieve the dish before any harm could come to the baby dragon, and for his concern, found baby teeth sunk into his hand.
"Norbert, no!" Hagrid cried, rushing over to detach the dragon from Ron.
"No, no, no…" Hermione panicked. "Ridgebacks are venomous!"
"Wash it, quick!" Hagrid instructed, putting a fussy Norbert into the travel crate. "That'll slow the venom down, but you need to go to Madam Pomfrey immediately."
"But Hagrid–"
"Ron," Hagrid interrupted, "if you don't get it treated, you could lose your hand. I don't know how fast or slowly it will spread, but it isn't worth waiting."
"Okay," said Ron. "But after we get Norbert up to the tower. It doesn't feel worse than a bee sting, right now."
"We'll drop everything and carry him if we need to," Mary promised.
Hagrid could see this was the best he could get out of these three stubborn pre-teens.
"All right, then," he conceded. "You got the list, you know what's in there. Got a good handle on the crate? Okay. Good luck."
They took the crate outside and covered themselves in the cloak before Hagrid left for his presentation. He would be surprised to see them gone so quickly, but no need to let him know about the invisibility cloak it was necessary.
Staircase upon staircase, midnight ticked nearer. Ron had to drop a corner of the crate, as his hand began to burn. By the time they reached the tower's roof, Mary and Hermione carried the crate as Ron tried not to groan in pain.
"Take the cloak and go," said Mary.
"You're sure?" Ron asked.
"You need it more than we do," said Hermione. "There's no way you can keep out of sight in your condition."
He looked up to the sky and smiled as dragon wings appeared overhead. "Okay, I'll see you back in the common room."
Ron threw the cloak over himself, and vanished before the dragon riders landed.
Charlie's friends were a jovial sort. They complimented Norbert's appearance, and cooed over such a dangerous beast fast asleep while curled up around a teddy bear. Mary gave them the list of everything Hagrid put in the crate for the trip, and they showed the girls the rig they had for transporting large parcels via dragon flight. After all was settled, they shook hands and said their goodbyes. At last, Operation Norbert was a success.
"You know," Mary said. "I think I'm going to miss the critter."
Hermione snorted. "It won't be a mere 'critter' for very long."
"Yeah, but still…"
They crept down the stairs and paused at the landing. When they didn't hear anything, they made to sprint for the next staircase, then stumbled to a stop when they saw Filch step out of the shadows.
"My, my," he said. "We are in trouble, aren't we?"
