I certainly have no rights to Harry Potter, but this won't stop me writing this story. However, you probably already know this. As it is my specialty, and as in my other big stories, this shows how things go if something went different right at the beginning. Please note that I'm not a fan of bashing and also don't expect the pairings to differ from canon. However, the path to them sertainly will be quite different. I also want to try and subvert certain plots and things that became common in the fandom over the years.
For now, the story will update every second Saturday, until I say otherwise.
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Chapter 18: The Stress With the Dragon
It was December 25th, Christmas Day, and the Evans house was a hive of activity. The kitchen was practically closed off due to all the preparations for Christmas dinner. It would be a big one, as not only would Thomas, Veronica, Mark and Harry be present, but they had invited Sirius and Diane with their children as well - after last year and Diane nearly ripping her hair out due to Petunia constantly spying on her Christmas dinner preparations (had the woman nothing better to do?) - it was felt better to gather at their house instead, far away from the Dursley house.
Everyone present also included Diane's father, her brother and his fiancée, a primary school teacher, and Remus. Additionally, the Weasleys had agreed that Ginny and Ron could spend the Christmas break with Harry instead of staying at Hogwarts, so the house was quite packed. That was why Harry, Ron and Ginny decided to take a walk through wintry Little Whinging to escape all the activity. So far south, there was no snow, unlike in Scotland. Of course it still was cold.
"That's almost like Christmas in our house," Ginny remarked while they walked through the deserted park. "It's really packed, loud and sometimes you need to step out."
"Yes, but last year hadn't been nearly as bad as before. Aunt Muriel has been staying away ever since Fred and George set off that dungbomb under her chair, and that makes things a lot more relaxed," Ron replied.
"Aunt Muriel? Who is that?" Harry asked.
"The sister of our mother's mother. She's an old harpy who's never pleased and loves to criticize people. She attended all our Christmas dinners until that incident. She wrote the twins out of her will for that, but they said it was worth it," Ginny explained.
"Sounds a lot like my Aunt Petunia, only that she wants nothing to do with me. The few times I met her were enough." Harry made sure not to mention that the Dursleys were Sirius' neighbors. To him, that was a private matter.
"At least with Muriel it was the one time I was glad I didn't get the most attention," Ron remarked.
Ginny gave Ron an evil look. "Oh, that's because she gave her attention to me, the only girl! Muriel's attention is a punishment in itself, so I'm glad she's no longer visiting."
Slowly walking back to the house after seeing what the time was, Harry remarked "Good thing being in an non-magical house doesn't faze you two. Just imagine how you would have acted without previous contact with things non-magical."
"Don't make jokes like that, Harry! I still have vague memories how Dad used to act around Muggle stuff," Ron silenced his friend.
Finally again reaching the house, they saw that it was not yet time for dinner.
They however didn't get far when Diane stopped them. "Good, caught you. Children, wash up and change into good clothes before dinner. Harry, Ron, you two first. Ginny, you get into the bathroom after they are done." Seeing the girl wanting to protest, she shot that down. "No protest. I know we girls need longer for such things, that's why I want it in this order."
Once all three of them were clean, they sat at the table with the others, waiting for final preparations to be done. Harry looked around while waiting.
It was amusing to see Mark having some trouble with the twins, Steve and Kathleen being so excited they wanted to jump up and down in their seats. He then spotted Mr. Watson commenting that his son Archie had finally found the right woman to settle down with. Considering the little baby bump Archie's fiancée was showing, Harry guessed that the wedding would be rather sooner than later. Remus meanwhile was debating with Sirius which part would taste better: the wing or the thigh.
After several months at Hogwarts, it was a very mundane scene and Harry liked it for exactly that reason. After all, the unusual stuff lost its novelty factor it you interacted with it on a daily basis. Thus this 'return to reality', as he had dubbed it, helped a lot to ground him again. That, and it also helped him to appreciate the small things in life he had started to miss.
"It's really almost as lively as in our annual family gatherings," Ginny remarked to Harry.
"Yes, but only almost. Nothing can top our Uncle Bilius. He really livens up a party, especially with his trick where he pulls out bunches of flowers from where the sun doesn't shine," Ron added.
Harry needed a moment to understand. "You mean out of his...?" Both, Ginny and Ron, nodded, having seen it more than once. "Must be a really interesting character. But... ouch."
"That's what he said as well when the trick backfired on him one time." Ginny decided to spare Harry the details of the end result of that little mishap of Uncle Bilius, which included two healers having been needed in order to help the man who by then had been in great discomfort.
"Is your uncle some kind of stage magician?" Mr. Watson suddenly asked.
The children had forgotten to talk silently and were frozen for a moment, before Ginny spoke up. "Well, that's one way to put it." She hoped the cute act would be enough to deter any further questions.
It was at that moment that the kitchen door opened and under Veronica's leadership, the food was being brought in. The three children sighed in relief, knowing that now there wouldn't be any questions for sure. They also knew they should be more careful in the future.
o
There was an unspoken rule in the Granger house, which had come into being over the years: if Jean was busy in the kitchen, everyone else had to stay out. While it wasn't that Ian and Hermione were hopeless in the kitchen, they respected what Jean saw her her territory. This was, why father and daughter were currently being idle, waiting for being told to set the table.
"Again thanks that you no longer go to these Christmas events sponsored by the British Dental Association. I never liked those," Hermione again thanked her father while watching Crookshanks being busy with christening his new scratching post.
"Well, it was pretty obvious in recent years, but after what happened last year, I don't think we ever want to do that to you again," Ian told his daughter, remembering all too well what happened last year.
As said, Hermione had never liked these events, since the adults treated her more like a clever pet than a child - sad result of her being so smart for her age - and there always was an invisible barrier between her and the other children present - again caused by her standing out like that. She'd learned to hate these annual events, but had said nothing for the sake of her parents.
Well, that was until last year.
Last year had been worse than normal, and when one 13-year old daughter of a dentist spilled her drink on her on purpose, just to 'put her into her place', her already paper-thin nerves had finally snapped and caused an outburst of accidental magic. Next she knew the other girl suddenly was butt-naked and had grown a monkey tail as well as horrible buck teeth.
That of course had meant that Obliviators had to come in order to clean up the mess. Thankfully, her parents had quickly revealed that they already knew about magic, telling the Obliviators several things only someone in the know would have knowledge of. That had saved them and Hermione from a memory alteration - though it certainly would not have made them forget about magic after almost two years in the know.
After that little disaster and Hermione confessing how much she hated these events, it was decided to skip out on those in the future.
"Mum seems kind of energetic," Hermione then remarked, having noticed how her mother seemed different.
"Well, she noticed how different things are, now that you are away for a good part of the year. Never doubt she loves you, but she rediscovered some things she didn't have the time for in previous years. She's also openly thinking about us giving you a sibling," Ian explained, then noticed Hermione blush. "Does this embarrass you?"
Hermione was not ignorant, she knew what was involved, but didn't want to think of her parents that way. In that way she was like many children her age. "No details, please!"
Ian couldn't help but be amused how much Hermione right now acted her age. Their daughter had always been proud to be more mature than others her age, but right now that certainly was not the case. Truth to be told, they probably wouldn't have understood much of Hermione's enthusiastic explanation of what she was doing at school, if not for the fact they had known a few reasonable adult wizards for almost two years. Having things explained to them however, made it possible for them to understand what she was talking about.
It also came as a relief that Hermione understood that a degree from Hogwarts alone would not help her outside of the ridiculously small employment pool of the magical world, thus her plan to enter adult education after Hogwarts to make up for what she missed during that time. They knew at least Harry was planning to do the same.
"Less talking, more action!" Jean called from the kitchen. "I'm almost done here, so set the table."
The smell from the kitchen certainly was promising. It actually caused Crookshanks to abandon his scratching post and look longingly to the kitchen. However, he was smart enough to know he would not be welcomed in there - not after the very stern words Jean had given him the first time he'd tried to do so. She certainly was one of the few people he would never try to annoy.
While helping to set the table, Hermione couldn't help but to notice how happy she was with her life.
Being away from them for a longer time, Hermione had learned to appreciate her parents more. And while she had feared she could drift away from them, it came as a pleasant surprise that they had actually read up about what she was doing and understood what she was talking about. While they could not do any magic of their own, them understanding what she was doing helped to avoid a rift growing between them.
She was happy with her life and how things were right now.
o
"Careful, Daddy, you almost sat onto that thistle," Luna reminded her father while they sat outside of their magical tent, illuminated by the light of a camp fire.
"Oh my," Xenophilius gasped, quickly removing the problematic plant.
"See, dear, at times you have the head in the clouds and your daughter has to watch out for you," Pandora remarked while stepping out of the magical tent with thee cups of warm cocoa.
Christmas was quite a bit different for the Lovegood family. Instead of being at home, they in general went on some kind of camping trip starting with the day of the winter solstice. Despite the generally cold weather, the entire family enjoyed these each year. This year, they were in the hills of Wales, and like each year part of the fun was looking for unusual magical creatures.
Luna did remember the trip two years ago, and how her parents should have planned it better. While it had looked like a good idea to set up camp near Stonehenge, it turned out to be a bad idea, as it had gotten them into trouble with the management of the site, who thought they were some neo-druids flaunting the no-camping rule of the area. That had resulted in a hefty fine and Obliviators unwilling to do anything, since the guards never discovered the tent was magical.
"Daddy, are you certain we'll find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack so close to the dragon sanctuary? You told me they don't like big predators," Luna asked.
"Yes, now that Luna said it... Xeno, could it be you overlooked that in your enthusiasm?" Pandora asked her husband.
"Well, perhaps... Though it's not too bad, after all we found plenty of other interesting creatures," Xenophilius said, before taking a sip from his warm cocoa. "That grindylow however gave me a scare. Luna, next time be a little more careful before approaching a pond in a magical area."
Pandora had paled a little at the reminder. "Yes, please be more careful. Thankfully, nothing happened this time since I was close by, but I could sleep better if you show more common sense."
"I... will try to..." Luna couldn't help but to feel shame rise at the reminder that she had almost gotten hurt due to her own stupidity.
"But now, enough of this!" Pandora clearly wanted no more heavy talk. "I see you are wearing the present your friend Ginny got you."
Luna couldn't help but touch the present Ginny had given her. It was a necklace with a butterbeer cork as a pendant. These were said to keep Nargles at bay. Luna knew Ginny didn't really believe in a lot of the things she herself did believe in, so she had felt really moved that Ginny had sent her this and decided to wear it all the time.
"A very thoughtful gift at that, to make you Nargle-proof," Xenophilius added.
"Ginny does not believe in Nargles, but she told me on the card it wouldn't stop her from giving me something thoughtful to keep me safe." Luna by now was smart enough to accept that others more likely than not didn't believe in the same things she did. "She said it's the thought that counts."
"You know, we could use a little music..." Vanishing into the tent for a moment, Xenophilius returned with a ridiculous-looking instrument, which looked like a cross between a banjo and a rake.
Luna's eyes widened comically behind her glasses, her normally calm demeanor wiped aside by the look of sheer horror at this particular instrument, having bad memories of it. Pandora on the other hand clamly set her cup aside, stood up and then faced her husband. She then gave him the look, which she only reserved for certain situations when things were beyond words.
"Eh... Pandora, darling?" Xenophilius said nervously, knowing his wife was displeased in some way.
A few minutes later the offending instrument had joined the camp fire, making everyone feel quite a bit warmer.
o
"This is different," Neville remarked. "I like it."
"We realized that while Frank's mother loves these upper-class Christmas parties, you've never liked them. You never were good with big crowds," his mother remarked while they waited for the house-elves to finish the Christmas dinner.
"Thanks... It always was horrible. The adults were as stiff as boards, and the other children saw me as an opportunity to get more clout. I won't miss these parties," Neville admitted, having too many bad memories of past Christmases.
"To be honest, I didn't like them, either. I only did it for my mother," Frank admitted.
Honestly, this essentially was another piece of the puzzle that showed how much of a difference there was between the generation of Augusta Longbottom, and that of her son Frank. Augusta had grown up with unshakable beliefs in class and a rigid social order, which already in Frank's generation had come under serious doubt by many - though of course not by all, otherwise certain conservative circles wouldn't exist.
However, since those in power of politics and society were almost without exception old people, the changing sentiments were of course attacked by those who felt it threatened their well-ordered world - a world that allowed them to be at the top. Frank had experienced the sharp difference himself, having felt the sheer rejection of his relationship with Alice, who many of the older generations felt was way below his station. However, in the end both of them had prevailed, but never forgotten.
Oh sure, many of those who before had shown nothing but contempt for her had tried to suck up to Alice starting right at the wedding, but she would never forget how badly they had treated her. So while it mainly was for Neville's benefit to have Christmas for the family alone, Frank and Alice felt it was an added bonus that these people would no longer sour this time of the year for them.
-pflop- "Oh, he likes exploring the house, doesn't he?" Neville said when seeing the source of that sound.
Alice had to laugh. "Yes, he surely does. Good thing you wanted him to stay at home, this toad constantly needs movement."
They of course meant Trevor the toad, the not exactly ideal present sent by Neville's Uncle Algie. Said toad normally was content to spend his time in his terrarium, but as his parents had written to him, at times he liked to explore the house. They'd had to outfit him with a tracking spell to make sure to always be able to find him. The toad currently lounging on a cushion would have made a poor pet at Hogwarts, not counting the fact that toads had fallen out of fashion anyway.
"I guess he also wants some Christmas dinner. He seems quite aware whenever something edible is in play," Neville remarked, understanding why his parents seemed to have so much fun with Trevor. Still didn't mean he wanted him at school as a pet.
It was then when a house-elf appeared. "Dinner is now ready, Masters," she announced.
"Thanks, Lanka. I'm sure you and Yerdo have created a culinary masterpiece," Frank commented while taking hold of his cane.
The house-elf blushed at this praise. "Master Frank, please..."
"Oh no, Lanka, praise where it is warrented," Alice reminded the elf. "Both of you after all always give it your very best."
"Mum, Dad. Better stop before poor Lanka resembles a tomato," Neville laughed. He knew Lanka did get a bit embarrassed at praise, but deep inside liked it.
While walking to the table, Neville couldn't help but to be thankful that despite the Longbottoms being an old and very rich family, his parents were not like those stuffy pure-bloods everyone associated with that blood status. He had no idea how they'd been in their youth, but the fact that both of them had went into law enforcement - at least until the incident that forced them into retirement - instead of sitting on the money and playing political games, filled him with relief.
He had heard the arguments his grandmother had had with his father about him being so apolitical, but Neville understood why his parents didn't want to enter that viper nest.
o
"I really don't think this is such a good idea," Dudley said a little nervously while following Millicent.
"Oh, come on. The castle is next to empty, so it's the perfect time for us to explore a little," Millicent waved off his concerns.
Both of them spent Christmas break at Hogwarts. Millicent, because her parents had made some plans for a romantic vacation, and Dudley because he had asked his parents if he could stay. While he had written it was for the experience, in reality he'd felt Christmas with them so shortly after starting school would be too awkward.
His parents probably needed more time to arrange themselves with the new situation; that seemed to be the reason they agreed so readily. Considering how much his father's mood had deteriorated in the days before him leaving for Hogwarts, Dudley didn't want to test his patience too soon. Hopefully, him not being present for a longer time would make his father ignore the matter.
Dudley felt a bit depressed when remembering how the Headmaster had approached him after the troll incident and told him why he had not notified his parents about it. The Headmaster's reasoning was, that the elder Dursleys could react highly irrational to the news, with very negative consequences for him. Depressingly, Dudley actually agreed. He didn't want to imagine how his parents would have reacted.
The castle was almost entirely empty, with the vast majority of students having gone home for the holidays. Even though it only was late in the afternoon, thanks to the time of the year it already was dark outside, giving the castle an interesting atmosphere. It was a tiny bit spooky - even if it was ignored that the castle did have real ghosts.
"I'm still afraid we'll get into trouble. Is it really allowed for us to look into these rooms?" Dudley wondered, going along with Millicent while she opened doors to see what's behind them.
"Oh, it's not like we're unlocking them, does it? I feel if they don't lock a door, we can see what's behind it," Millicent returned.
Dudley had no answer to that. Indeed, a number of doors they encountered were locked and they left those alone. Others were unlocked, but there weren't many secrets behind those. Mainly classrooms - some of which clearly haven't been used for years - and storage rooms with rather uninteresting stuff. The most interesting thing they encountered was a storage room filled with cauldrons that had molten through - silent evidence of past mishaps in Potions class. They found no possible reason why the school did keep those.
They tried another door, and got a surprise behind it.
"Look, there's a big mirror in here," Millicent said, pointing to the mirror in question in the otherwise empty room.
Looking around, Dudley found this a bit strange. "I wonder what that is doing here?"
"Who cares? I wonder what it is good for?" Millicent wondered, then walked in front of the mirror to check herself. She blinked at what she saw. "What the...?"
It was not her eleven-year old self looking back at her. Instead, she was looking at an adult woman - her as an adult. However, she did look different. She had always been afraid she would grow up into a highly butch woman. Her adult self looking at her was nothing like that. Wearing a two-piece bathing suit, only little of her was hidden.
Yes, she was tall and had muscles - she had quite beautiful abs and her arms and legs looked like they got some serious strength - but this did not make her look masculine. The woman looking at her after all also had quite big breasts, very feminine hips and curves while feminine softness took the edge off the muscles and made them blend into something beautiful. Her adult self, who was gently smiling at her, was an amazonian beauty.
"Is something wrong?" Dudley asked, stepping beside her.
"I..." Millicent felt unsure about the experience. "Dudley, could you look into the mirror and tell me what you see?"
"What do you mean? I of course... Huh?" Dudley stopped when realizing he was not seeing his reflection.
He saw himself, but he looked older and was receiving some sort of diploma from the Headmaster. But the focus was not that. Instead, it was that directly afterwards his parents walked up to him and couldn't look prouder of what he had accomplished, followed by teenage Millicent and Daphne looking very happy for him, as well as Harry, who looked proud of him.
Dudley finally found words. "I see myself. I finished Hogwarts and my parents are there to congratulate me and they look so proud of me. You and Daphne are there as well, you look so happy for me. And..." Dudley realized he still hadn't told her about Harry being his cousin. "Can you keep a secret that has nothing to do with that?"
"Sure, but why?" Millicent wondered.
"It's that Harry Potter is my cousin." Seeing her eyes widen, he sighed. "That's why I hesitated to tell. We also aren't close; not after I bullied him until the age of nine."
Millicent shook her head. "Sorry, it was just the surprise. I won't hold it against you. I guess you saw him and both of you got along well. However, you'll tell Daphne once she's back."
"Great..." He was not looking forward to that conversation. "What did you see?"
Millicent hesitated for a moment, then realized that not telling him would be unfair. "I saw myself as an adult. While I was tall and strong I..." Millicent now blushed. "...I also was incredibly sexy."
"I wonder what this mirror is about?" Dudley wondered, feeling a bit uncomfortable with his friend's confession.
"The Mirror of Erised holds many secrets."
Startled by the voice, both children gasped and looked to the door, where they spotted Headmaster Dumbledore watching them. Of course they had to get caught by him of all people. However, he didn't look disappointed or angry, just a bit concerned. He approached them, looking to the mirror.
"Headmaster... we..." Millicent had no idea how to explain their presence here.
"No, no excuses needed. It was my negligence that caused the room not to be locked, though I still was alarmed right away when you opened the door." He then pointed at the mirror. "Now, why do you think the mirror showed you the things it did?"
"Is it because it's what we wanted to see?" Dudley guessed.
"Close enough. It shows you your heart's desire, though that is something that can change with age. You, Dudley, are yearning for your parents to accept you as you are, surrounded by friends and the rift between you and your cousin healed. And you, Millicent, hope that despite your height and strength, you will grow up into a beautiful woman," the Headmaster explained.
Both children knew Dumbledore had hit dead-center. Millicent then asked the important question. "Eh, so there is no punishment for going in here?"
"No, I will grant you mercy. Please vacate the room so that I can lock it properly." The children left and Dumbledore looked at the mirror himself, feeling an old pain in his heart when seeing his - sadly impossible - biggest desire looking back at him.
Can she find it in her heart to forgive me once we meet again? he wondered.
...January 5th 1992...
As it always was, every good thing had to come to an end, and on this Sunday the Hogwarts Express had transported the students back to the school. Returning after the holidays always felt a bit strange, and this time was no exception. Classes would again start the next day on Monday and many of the students were still trying to acclimate to again being in the school. It by now was early evening and everyone was trying to relax for a bit before bed and school starting again the next day.
Such also was the case in the Gryffindor common room.
"I'm just glad I don't have to carry my trunk around. Can you imagine hundreds of students having to do that at the same time?" Neville asked while falling into one of the comfortable armchairs in the common room.
"I bet Crookshanks could tell us how it is done. After all, pets are transported as well," Hermione remarked while petting said cat who had made himself comfortable on her lap. "Considering the good mood he's in, the process must be easy."
"Crookshanks and a good mood? Sure. Hermione, your cat got an attitude, and that's a fact." Ron said, then saw Crookshanks giving him a look. "And the looks he's giving me prove it."
"Honestly, Ron?" Hermione looked more amused than anything. "Sounds like you see Crookshanks more as a rival than anything else."
"What a topic." Harry wondered if they spoke of that only because they'd already talked about everything important on the train and thus had run out of meaningful topics. "I'm just glad Hedwig spends most of her time in the owlery, though she does get a bit annoyed if I don't give her attention regularly."
"I think lots of owls are like that." Ginny remembered that Trigon, Errol's successor, always looked a bit annoyed whenever his now retired predecessor got some attention in his old age, and he didn't. Not to speak of his seeming rivalry with Percy's owl Hermes.
"I think it is a vanity contest." Luna of course had her own ideas. "All owls are naturally vain nad they are constantly competing who gets the most attention. I suspect there has to be an owl queen somewhere who is keeping the whole thing running."
"Are you sure you didn't eat too many chocolate frogs and all the sugar is now messing with your head?" Ginny asked her friend.
Luna however took that statement at face value. "Oh, I don't think so. Though I did read speculation that they add something to the sugar to make it more addictive so they can sell more chocolate frogs."
Hermione shivered at the mere idea. Something like that would be a dentist's nightmare. After all the horror stories her parents had told her of children with really bad teeth who had found their way into their practice, she sure as hell didn't want to end up like that. Problem was... at times she simply couldn't resist Honeydukes candy, making her wonder if there was something to the speculation Luna just cited.
"Son of a *$§#&!"
That was a girl cursing. Looking to the portrait hole, they saw Kellah Miller hop in, her legs looking as if glued together. "Guys, help me! That cow Parkinson used a leg-locker on me and I don't know how to counter it!"
"Oh dear!" Quickly putting Crookshanks aside, Hermione used the correct counter-curse to release Kellah's legs. "Why did she do that?"
"Because she thinks it's funny - said it's a welcome back present. That arse Malfoy laughed the entire time while I hopped away. Oh, I bet he showed her how to do it!" Kellah cursed. "What problem do these two have?!"
"They're bigoted tossers with families way too rich, thus they think they can do as they please," Harry said, by now having seen the pattern with these two. "They did it to you because your parents don't have magic."
"As if I didn't get enough of that shit due to my skin color..." Yes, Kellah had quite the potty-mouth when she was truly angry. They knew enough of her to know that she had been the victim of racism before, so this right now was a painful reminder for her.
"Here, I've got one left from the train! Maybe that makes you feel better." Ron threw her a chocolate frog, which she caught.
"You really know how to lift a girl's spirits." Kellah didn't even wait for the frog to stop moving, before she bit into it. After making short work of it, she returned the card from the packaging to Ron.
Ron took one look at the card, and sighed. "Another Dumbledore card. I already have three dozen of those. I swear his card must be the most common one." He knew he would leave it out for someone to take - no way he wanted even more of those.
"How many of these cards are there anyway?" Neville wondered, never having bothered to ask about that.
"Oh, they haven't reached the maximum yet, they are only up to 120 individual cards as of now, but the highest number will be 666," Ron explained.
"The biblical number of the beast?" Hermione got blank looks for her discovery. "Oh, it's not too important. It only made me realize that someone must have had a strange sense of humor when setting that upper limit for the cards."
Still not knowing what she was talking about, they just took that at face value before returning to what they were doing before.
o
At the same time, the Headmaster was having a conversation with McGonagall and Snape.
"So that incredibly convoluted trap is finally set up for real? Thank all goodness. It was starting to get nerve-wrecking to make sure no one unauthorized would go through that door," McGonagall said, thankful that that was finally over.
"And I still say I have my doubts. Everything is based on your assumption that the thief will do as you predicted," Snape told the Headmaster. "Are you really that sure nothing unplanned will happen? A lot is at stake."
"And you have told me your reasoning in convincing detail, Severus. Sadly, if we want to deprive Voldemort of his servant, whoever that is, a trap is the only way to accomplish that. His helper is very clever, not having made any obvious moves, apart from the botched scouting that freed the troll," Dumbledore replied.
"Oh yes, you better believe that our thief got seriously punished for that blunder." Snape had no illusions what Voldemort's style of punishment was like. "Also, his master clearly must have told him to keep his hands off Potter. Like he would allow anyone but himself to kill the boy," Snape remarked.
"Severus..." McGonagall had noticed how Snape had said the last word. "Control yourself."
Snape knew he was not a good person by nature. His upbringing until he'd joined Hogwarts had jaded him to such a degree that the damage could never be undone. The rational part of him knew it was wrong to project his bitterness onto Harry, but his emotional part was very difficult to control. He could only hope that by Potter's fifth year he could hold it down better, or he was sure the Headmaster would be very displeased with him.
"Sorry... but my point stands. As long as the Dark Lord wants Potter to be his personal kill, no harm will come to him," Snape clarified.
McGonagall found the whole thing to be a bizarre irony. "What a questionable honor. It's also bizarre that nothing will happen to Harry simply because Voldemort is convinced that he has to do the deed himself."
McGonagall made sure to keep silent about knowing the full prophecy. The only ones beside herself knowing the full prophecy that started the whole mess were Dumbledore, Sirius and Remus. Snape didn't know it for his own safety, in case his mind would get under attack. After all, it was pretty certain Snape's job would get really dangerous in the future.
Having listened to their exchange, Dumbledore leaned back. "Alas, now we can only wait and see what happens next."
...February 17th, Quirrell's quarters...
Once again Quirrell's quarters were only lit by a single candle, and he again was kneeling while being in deep conversation with Voldemort about the progress they had made in their quest to gain the Philosopher's Stone. They had run into numerous difficult obstacles, though since Voldemort had expected these, his mood was not particularly bad - he was only annoyed.
"The old goat is very creative with all the security measures. Of course nothing that can stop Lord Voldemort, but even to me these are a challenge to break."
Quirrell had to admit there was something to that. He himself had been utterly stumped at the enchantments and magical mechanisms blocking their way to the stone. It certainly would be slow going to find the correct ways to get through them - without destroying them, as that could cause unwanted attention. If even his Master was challenged by that security, it was close to being insanely tight. Quirrell knew he himself would've never had a chance to get through on his own.
"Master, I'm more concerned with that three-headed beast of a dog. Getting past it so regularly is starting to become a huge hassle," Quirrell added, remembering some close calls.
"Yes, and we always lose so much time to make sure we can get by - time we could use more fruitfully. Who else but the huge oaf Hagrid could have acquired that thing as a guard dog?"
"Master, he must surely know ways how to control the dog, but I don't think he's going to tell us willingly. I don't think even getting him drunk will be enough to make him talk in this case. His loyalty to Dumbledore is too great," Quirrell remarked.
"Leave that problem to me. Hearing him talk, I already know something additional to alcohol that will weaken him enough."
Voldemort did explain his plan.
Quirrell's eyebrows rose when hearing what was needed. "While this surely will work, Master, getting it will be the true difficulty. After all, these sadly are very difficult to acquire."
"Leave that to me as well. Once the time is right, find an excuse to leave the castle. It is easy to find what we need if you know the correct channels. Mess this one up, and you will wish being dead."
Quirrell knew that his Master meant that literally. He was very creative in his punishments, but they were also highly efficient and well-suited to make him learn how to avoid future mistakes. He couldn't hemp but to admire this sheer efficiency. Quirrell then felt faint for a few moments all of a sudden.
"What was that?"
"I felt a bit weak for a moment, Master. I don't know from where it came from." Quirrell truly was clueless why he suddenly had felt faint for a moment.
"Mmmmh... perhaps. If it is what I suspect, it will give you even more incentive to get through to the stone as fast as possible."
...Quidditch pitch, February 22nd...
The second game for the Gryffindor team had come.
Interestingly, it was not them, but their opponents from Hufflepuff that were under intense pressure. Hufflepuff had lost their first game against Ravenclaw and now already was in the defensive; they needed a win against Gryffindor, or they would be out of the running for the cup. Of course there was no way Gryffindor wanted to allow them to win - that after all was the reason for the competition.
While it was not exactly warm, the sky at least was clear and there was no wind - perfect conditions for Quidditch. Indeed, the worst thing at the moment actually was Wood, who seemed even more nervous than in the previous game. His constant harping on how this game had to be won was worrisome and the others hoped that Wood's nerves would not effect the rest of the team.
"Now, we can't lose this one! If we lose here, we are done for! We have to win!" Wood finished his speech to them. It certainly was different than his speech from the previous game.
"Oliver seems to be the most nervous here," Ginny remarked while they walked to the pitch.
"Can you blame him? He still thinks it's his fault that Charlie's final game got ruined and he has to make up for it," Ron reminded his sister.
"You should have heard what he told me," Harry threw in when hearing his friends talking. "He said 'it's win or die'."
"Maybe this is going a bit too far..." While Ginny was really into Quidditch, she only now realized how desperate Wood had to be.
"At least the Hufflepuffs won't foul as much as Slytherin. Their captain is really big on fair play," Ron threw in, having made himself familiar with the other teams. He surprisingly was also the only one not to be bored by Wood's lessons on tactics.
"I only hope I don't try to eat the snitch this time. Yuck, that thing tastes horribly." Despite the uniqueness of the catch, Harry didn't want to repeat it. "I still wonder who made that photo and put it up in the common room."
His friends held up their hands to show they were innocent. He knew it had to be someone from the reserve team, since all the regular players had still been in the air when he'd spat out the snitch. However, no one had come forward to take responsibility for the photo.
Entering the pitch, the players remembered some of the drama preceding the game.
Fred and George had thought it funny to spread a rumor that Professor Snape would referee the game, which had caused somewhat of a panic and so much unrest, that the man himself had actually appeared once the rumor had reached his ears. He'd made it clear that not only would he not referee, but also that he already knew the guilty party for this particular rumor, before slapping four nights of detention in the Potions lab onto Fred and George.
Considering the look of dread on the twins' faces, Harry guessed they would have to do unpleasant tasks. This also was the first time he'd been in the presence of Professor Snape for any meaningful time. To be honest, Harry found the man to be somewhat scary. That he seemed to have some sort of sixth sense that made it easy for him to determine who was a troublemaker didn't help, either. He also seemed to have the uncanny ability to enforce discipline quickly.
Harry thanked all goodness that it was like normal Madam Hooch who would referee.
Again up in the stands the Gryffindors had gathered to watch the game.
Neville was looking around the crowd, when noticing who was sitting behind them. "Strange coincidence that you two again sit near us."
"Oh, after the previous experience, we felt that the little toad and his satellite wouldn't want to sit anywhere near you, therefore we can enjoy the game most by sitting right here," Daphne said, seeing how this got the attention of Luna and Hermione, as well as several other Gryffindors.
They then also noticed a really stocky Slytherin boy sitting next to the girls, looking a bit uncomfortable with the sudden attention. "Friend of yours?" Luna asked without hesitation.
"Yep, you're looking at the first muggleborn student in Slytherin for several decades," Millicent introduced Dudley.
"Sometimes it doesn't feel like an honor at all," Dudley grumbled. "You guys try to share a dorm with Malfoy and his two overgrown apes. Sometimes makes me wish for solitary confinement."
"Having to live with Parkinson isn't much better," Millicent threw in.
Daphne snorted. "Oh yes, for how high and mighty she acts, she's a complete slob that leaves junk and her dirty underwear on the floor. I pity the poor elves that have to clean up her mess."
They honestly wanted to ask for their names - having long forgotten the names from the sorting which felt so long ago and never put attention to these three during Potions class when their names could have come up - but it was that moment the whistle was blown and the game was on.
The first few minutes were however not very exciting, so Hermione asked about something else that had aroused her interest. "What kind of elves did she talk about?" The only elves she'd ever heard of were those in high fantasy.
"Oh, she meant house-elves!" Luna said, sounding excited. "Truly fascinating people, finding such enjoyment in work. But only the wealthy can afford their services, as always."
Neville saw that Hermione looked more puzzled by that answer. "Eh, yes. House-elves are a species that really likes domestic work. Luna is right that their services are quite expensive, but no one gets the work done like them. My family has two of them."
Hermione honestly had never before heard of house-elves, or seen one. "Wait, does that mean here at Hogwarts...?"
Luna giggled. "Who do you think cooks the meals, does the laundry and keeps the castle clean?" she asked the older girl. "Hogwarts has a huge staff of elves. It's them who keep the castle running and Daddy says it's the highest honor for them to work here."
Further discussion was stopped and the topic fled Hermione's mind when suddenly Seamus shouted beside them "Look! Harry has seen something!"
Indeed, Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. Hermione stood up, her crossed fingers in her mouth, as Harry streaked toward the ground like a bullet. Madam Hooch barely managed to get out of Harry's way as he zoomed past her. The next moment Harry had come out of the dive, his arm raised to present the snitch to everyone.
Cheers erupted when they saw this and heard the whistle to officially conclude the game.
It had to be a record, no one could remember the snitch being caught so quickly. Of course the Hufflepuffs were not cheering, since that meant a crushing defeat by a high margin and them now having no chance anymore at winning the cup. They had barely managed to get into the game before Harry had caught the snitch. What a great way to demoralize them.
Landing, Harry was quickly surrounded by the team.
"Harry! That has to be a record! Continue like this and the cup is ours!" Clearly, Wood was at the hight of excitement, which was a nice change from his earlier nervousness.
"Eh, record?" Harry honestly had no idea about that, having just acted on instinct.
Ron couldn't believe Harry's reaction and gave his sister a look. "Is he for real?"
Ginny, also having trouble to understand Harry's flabbergasted reaction, needed a few moments to reply. "Talk about achievement in ignorance."
...April 2nd, Hogwarts library...
"Sometimes Ron is really lazy..." Hermione grumbled while looking for the correct book they would need for their homework.
They needed the book One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi for their homework, but Ron clearly was again procrastinating on doing his homework, and thus saw no reason to go to the library right now. He'd said he would do it in time. While Hermione knew he actually would do so, it went against all of her habits of getting the work done as fast as possible.
Since the others also were not in the mood to go to the library, that of course left her to get the book in question. Yesterday had been too busy, but today she got the time to get the book so they could get their Herbology homework out of the way.
It had not helped that she was battling with her instinct to start learning for the end-of-years exams too far ahead of time. Intellectually she knew that just starting three weeks ahead was more than enough time for everyone involved, but old habits were difficult to break. Her friends had nothing against her being so smart, but were at times concerned that it caused her to develop unhealthy habits.
Ah, there it is! Hermione fished the book out of the shelf, but when turning around she noticed someone off to the side. Someone who was next to impossible to miss.
"Oh, hello Hagrid. What brings you to the library?" Hermione asked the big man once realizing who it was.
"Oh, I'm just looking for something." Hagrid however was not a good liar and Hermione also saw him putting a book into his coat.
"That book must have something to do with animals, right? After all, you do take over next year." While Hermione wanted to ask him about the book he'd hidden, she knew that wouldn't get her an answer.
Hagrid still looked a little pained, but tried to overplay it. "Yes, a really interesting read. Must ask Miss Pince if she got the book in question..."
Watching Hagrid leave, Hermione got a strange feeling. His behavior had been, to put it mildly, highly suspicious. Walking over to where she'd seen Hagrid pull out the book, she gulped when seeing that this was the section about dragons - and the gap was tight in the middle of the books about dragon breeding. Considering how much she had heard by now about Hagrid's love for big - and often dangerous - animals, she didn't put it above him to try and get a dragon.
This can't be good, she thought, then made haste to check out her book before returning to Gryffindor tower.
Getting into the tower and entering the common room, she saw that beside some random students, all of her friends were present, loitering near an open window. Ron was being busy with playing a game of chess against himself - feeling he shouldn't steamroll others too often - Luna was playing with Crookshanks by pulling an animated mouse toy on a string for him to catch, Harry was actually polishing his Nimbus, and to her surprise, Ginny and Neville were already working on their homework.
"Guys, I think Hagrid is doing something he's going to regret," Hermione whispered while sitting down next to them.
That stopped them in their tracks. "Why? What has he done?" Harry asked, wondering what could have happened.
"Hagrid checked out a book about dragons and tried his hardest to not let me see the book. You all know about his passion, so do you think he's capable of...?" Hermione didn't finish the question.
"But it's against our laws," Ron explained. "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 pictures of the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."
"But what could Hagrid then want the book for? There aren't wild dragons in Britain, right?" Harry asked.
"There actually are, though I don't fault Mr. Lupin for not having that as a topic," Ron explained further. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. There are not many in the wild left, however. The Ministry finds it too much of a hassle and most by now are in the sanctuary in Wales."
Neville groaned, being afraid of dragons. "Oh, what is Hagrid doing now?"
Half an hour later they had all arrived in front of Hagrid's hut.
They felt that if their friend was about to do something stupid, they should be there to try and stop him before it was too late. Surprisingly, all the curtains were closed and when Hagrid let them in, they were greeted by an intense heat from the fire in the grate. Combined with the warm temperatures outside, it made Hagrid's hut feel like a sauna.
"Hagrid, what in all names are you doing?" Hermione asked bluntly, feeling there was no time to beat around the bush. "You're already sweating like mad, this can't be healthy for you!"
"I... I can't! I need that fire for..." Hagrid stopped himself, but it already was too late.
They looked at the fire and saw that in the middle of the flames was a huge, black egg. Ron hissed when recognizing right away what it was. "Hagrid, have you gone mad? If you get caught..."
"Well, I..." Clearly, Hagrid had not thought that far yet.
"Ron, what is that?" Ginny asked her brother, though she got a bad feeling about it.
"That's a dragon egg. Hagrid, they'll nail you to the cross if they catch you with this and you can forget about teaching. Where did you even get this?" It was kind of intimidating how the normally easygoing Ron had become dead-serious at the sight of the egg.
Hagrid knew the gig was up. "I... I always wanted a dragon. Last night, I was down in Hogsmeade for some drinks. Met another fellow and had some drinks with him. I won it off him after some rounds of cards. My memory is a bit hazy. He looked quite glad to get rid of it."
"Geez, I wonder why," Harry said with biting sarcasm, feeling that Hargid had been quite foolish. Perhaps he still had lots of alcohol in his system.
"But what were you planning to do with it when it's hatched?" Hermione asked, already seeing the problem.
"Well, I've been doing some reading," Hagrid said, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this out of the library - Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit - it's a bit out of date, but it's all in here. That's how I know this egg is from a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're a rare breed."
"Hagrid..." some of them sighed, knowing this was a mess.
Luna, who had stayed silent up until now, spoke up. "Hagrid, there are several logical problems with this. First, raising a dragon stops you from attending your duties. Second, raising a fire-breathing dragon in a wooden hut will only result in the hut being set ablaze. Third, once this does come out - and there is no way for you to hide it for long - you'll not only lose your teaching position, but also be sentenced to years in Azkaban."
Hagrid had gone still with shock over Luna's cold and logical analysis. Luna deep inside hated that she had to be so cruel, but they had to save Hagrid from himself. He'd done something incredibly stupid, and they had to help before he could compound on it.
Hagrid looked desperate, clearly only now understanding the trouble he was in. "Oh no... B-but I can't leave the egg now! The dragon would die! Goodness... and I can't bring myself to talk to Dumbledore. He did so much for me, and I..."
Seeing that Hagrid finally understood the gravity of the situation, the six friends were a bit at a loss. "What do we do now? It's not like we can go to the Headmaster and ask for help. We would never get past his secretary. And telling any other teacher would create a problem for Hagrid," Neville said, seeing the problem.
"Ron, can't you ask your brother Charlie for help? After all, he works with dragons," Harry asked his friend.
"I could. Charlie would certainly not ask questions. But with all the secrecy, that could take a long time. Too long for Hagrid. I know dragons grow fast, once hatched," Ron answered, looking to where Hagrid sat, now looking downright miserable.
"Harry, write to Sirius!" Ginny suggested all of a sudden. "He can talk with the Headmaster easily and then they can get Charlie to get along with it much faster."
"Yes, we are over our heads with this. I'll write Uncle Sirius right away and he can surely help solve this mess so Hagrid won't get into trouble," Harry agreed.
Harry was not averse to involve adults if a problem was simply too big for him, and writing to Sirius certainly would be the best course of action. Sirius also got a soft spot for Hagrid and surely would help him avoid getting into trouble for his drunken foolishness.
...April 10th...
"I've had the strange feeling this day would take a bad turn..." Neville mumbled while they all made their way to Hagrid's hut.
"And just when we thought things were going in our favor," Ginny added, feeling that fate really wanted to screw them over in some way after how well things had went in the past few days.
Ginny was not wrong about that. Things had gone well up until this moment.
After seeing the huge trouble Hagrid would get into with that dragon egg, Harry had written to Sirius, explained the entire situation and their idea to involve Charlie Weasley, but that they could never reach the headmaster on their own without causing wrong attention on themselves. That had resulted the very next day into them actually being called to the Headmaster's office, where Sirius was already waiting. They had told the entire story and how they didn't want Hagrid to get into trouble due to someone playing such a cruel trick on him.
Thankfully, Dumbledore and Sirius were all for keeping Hagrid out of trouble, but they also wanted to protect the dragon egg, which right now was quite fragile and shouldn't be moved without the right equipment. So after talking with Hagrid himself, it was decided to call Charlie Weasley and plan how to remove the dragon without causing any attention. Hagrid was given an excuse to stay at home for the time being as well.
Of course Charlie first had to make sure this under the table deal had a proper paper trail, and answered he would come with trustworthy men to take away the egg - or dragon, should it hatch before that point. The date for his arrival was during the Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin match, which was tomorrow, as it would mean next to the entire school would be busy. So it was really bad luck that the dragon selected today to hatch, as Hagrid had told them via a message delivered by Hedwig.
All the curtains were closed, but after knocking on the door, Hagrid let them in. "Just in time, the little one is about to break the shell."
The egg was lying on the table and 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 anticipation. All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. It wasn't exactly pretty - it looked like a crumpled, black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body, it had a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes.
The dragon then sneezed and a few sparks flew from its snout.
Hermione gulped when seeing that. "Uh-oh. Hagrid, I hope you have something ready to make sure your hut won't catch on fire."
"Oh, don't worry..." Hagrid said, pointing at his wand. "Now, isn't he a beautiful one? I'm going to name him Norbert."
"Hagrid, you know Charlie is coming tomorrow to transport the dragon to the sanctuary," Harry reminded his big friend.
Hagrid sighed. "I know... But at least give me this, before he's shipped off."
They honestly felt bad when seeing how disappointed Hagrid looked. After all, he had always wanted a dragon - regardless how illegal that was - and giving him one single day actually caring for one before he would have to give it away wasn't too much to ask for, right? They looked at each other, before Ron spoke up.
"Well, since you can stay indoors anyway... Just don't complain if Norbert bites you or sets something on fire," Ron told Hagrid.
"Oh, don't worry. I'll be very c... Hm..." Hagrid then got up and walked to one window, where he had forgotten to close the curtains fully, and looked through the window.
"Hagrid, is something wrong?" Harry asked.
"I could have sworn I saw someone at the window, but I don't see anyone run up the lawn to the castle, and the forest next to my hut has the age line. Maybe it was nothing." Hagrid then pulled the curtains fully closed for the sake of privacy.
What Hagrid had not seen was, that someone indeed had spied on them.
Lying flat on the ground directly below the window, and outside of sight from the window without someone opening it and sticking their head out, Draco Malfoy breathed in relief when peeking up and seeing the curtains being fully closed now. Hagrid had not seen him. Not wasting any time, he quickly ran to the castle before anyone would leave the hut.
It was only in the safety of the walls that he realized what he had seen.
That big oaf has a dragon. A really illegal one! he thought in glee.
His gut instinct, that these six were up to something when seeing them go to the hut after Hagrid had not been seen for some days, had paid off. Sadly, he had been unable to hear anything through the closed window, but he felt that was no loss. That was a really damaging secret, which could easily result in Hagrid ending up in Azkaban.
Draco then thought about who to tell. In the end, his egoism won out. No way I share that with anyone. Sorry, Pansy, but this victory will be purely mine!
However, despite the great temptation to nail Hagrid to the cross right away, Draco remembered his father telling him that there always was the correct moment to strike. Draco felt right now it wouldn't be that moment. He knew dragons grow really fast, so he would wait a few days before reporting Hagrid. The effect of a much bigger dragon should be even better and Draco tried hard not to laugh at the mental image of Hagrid trying to keep the dragon inside.
Laughing in anticipation while walking to the Slytherin dorms, Draco had no idea that his decision would backfire on him most spectacularly.
...the next day...
The day of the Quidditch game Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin had come. Both teams, unlike the Hufflepuffs, still had all chance to win the cup, so they certainly would give it all to win and get into the best position to challenge Gryffindor's lead in their final games. However, Harry and his friends were wating little thought on that fact while looking around the stands.
No, ever since the morning Malfoy had given them strange looks and smiles that were making them very uneasy. It was like a silent message that he knew something and they had a very good idea what it was about. Clearly, Hagrid had not imagined someone being at the window the previous day. That raised the danger of Malfoy actually ratting out Hagrid.
However, up to now nothing had happened and considering that Charlie would remove Norbert during the game, they only had to make sure that Malfoy was present in the stands. Once the game was over and Norbert far away from Hogwarts, Malfoy could no longer do any damage - except to himself should he still decide to be a little snitch.
"Feels strange for us to actually make sure if Malfoy is here. Normally we try our hardest to just ignore him," Hermione mused.
"Remember the old wisdom to keep your friends close, but your enemies closer," Luna reminded Hermione. "It is best not to be ignorant of what he is doing."
"Still, I hope he turns up and this is over soon. I have not particular wish to see his face too often," Ron complained.
"Hey, there he is!" Neville said, pointing to some seats further up.
Indeed, Malfoy had shown up together with Parkinson and his two loyal gorillas. He also did notice them as well and again gave them the knowing smirk, before explaining to Parkinson that it's supposed to be a surprise and for her to have patience.
"Is something going on between you and Malfoy?" Daphne, who with Millicent again did sit behind them, asked, having noticed the silent exchange.
"No, nothing apart from him thinking he's smarter than he actually is," Harry told them. "No offense, but who are the two of you?"
"Oh, how rude of us. I'm Daphne Greengrass. My friend here is Millicent Bulstrode," Daphne introduced the two of them. "Our friend Dudley is currently down there in the reserve, thus he's not present."
Harry barely managed not to react to these two girls being friends with Dudley. He'd only thought they were loose acquaintances from the little he'd seen of them during Potions and in the great hall. Then again, he had made it a habit of his to ignore Dudley as much as Dudley ignored him. It was an arrangement both of them up until now had lived well with.
Hearing the whistle, they turned around, everyone now putting the attention to the game.
Thankfully, Malfoy had not seen their expressions of relief at his presence in the stands. "Well, he's here. That means we can stop to worry. Whatever he does after the game at most will be worth a laugh," Ginny remarked, now looking quite relaxed.
All of them felt the tension leave with the knowledge that Malfoy waited too long and now no longer could be dangerous in any way to Hagrid. It was only too bad that they probably wouldn't be present once he'd try to cash in on his knowledge, which by that point would be outdated. They even found a certain kind of humor in the situation.
They then concentrated on the game, trying to put Malfoy and Norbert out of their mind.
Next to Hagrid's hut meanwhile, Dumbledore heard the cheers and other noise coming from the pitch and knew the game was now running, meaning they wouldn't be disturbed. Taking out his pocket watch, he checked the time, then looked up and saw five men - correction, four men and a woman - on brooms fly towards his postion.
"Very punctual," Dumbledore commented when they landed beside him.
"Well, we certainly couldn't miss the opportunity to have a Norwegian Ridgeback in the sanctuary. That, and helping Hagrid to avoid trouble is a big plus in my eyes," Charlie commented. "All right, people, let's carry the transport box into the hut!"
Carrying the box inside, they saw Hagrid being busy with the baby dragon.
"Hello, Hagrid! Is that the little dragon you all on you own managed to get to hatch?" Charlie asked.
Hagrid, who had always liked Charlie, looked up in pride. "Yes, that is little Norbert. Isn't he cute?"
Charlie walked up to him. "Let me take a closer look..." Charlie visually inspected the dragon, then had to try hard not to laugh. "Eh, Hagrid, you might know your creatures well, but not your dragons. You were a bit wrong about this little one's gender. This one is actually female."
"Eh, ooops?" Hagrid blushed a little. "So little Norbert actually is little Norberta?"
"Now, better be glad we take her off your hands now. Female Norwegian Ridgebacks can be really vicious and I doubt even your thick hide could protect you," Charlie remarked while the others opened the special transport box for young dragons.
Hagrid gulped hard at Charlie's words, then carefully put Norberta into the box, flinching back when the small dragon almost sent a marble-sized fireball into his face. "Goodbye, little Norberta. It's just too sad I can't watch you grow up."
"Oh, don't worry, Hagrid. You can always come to visit her in the sanctuary when school is not in session," Charlie reminded the man, who visibly brightened up at this reminder.
Charlie's co-workers quickly moved the box outside and fastened it onto a transport harness that connected to their four brooms. Charlie looked pleased with how everything was done without problem. "Guys, fly ahead and take the portkey. I have some personal business to attend first and will arrive via the floo a bit later."
"You are the boss, despite being younger than us," the only woman in the team said. They then took off on their brooms, carefully suspending the box between their brooms, and quickly vanished from the school property. Thus Norberta the dragon left Hogwarts, and no one outside of a small circle was any the wiser about it.
"Well, Mr. Weasley, what is this personal business you speak of?" Dumbledore asked, though he already had a good idea what it could be.
"Oh, I see my siblings so rarely, now that I have a job abroad. It's a nice Saturday, so first I'll walk to the stands and surprise them, and then spend several hours with them. After all, I did get the entire day off for this job, so I should use it," Charlie told the Headmaster. "Until later, Sir!"
Watching Charlie leave, Dumbledore couldn't help but to think. He is such a good brother. It again makes me wish I would be on such good terms with my own brother.
to be continued...
Next Episode:
"Mars is Bright Tonight"
Notes:
Here the notes.
Don't expect extended Christmas scenes in the future, I wrote this one because it's first year. It did help me however to show what they are doing when not together as a single group. It also gave me the opportunity the write more background information for our protagonists.
Well, unlike in canon Harry clearly didn't find the mirror. Bet you didn't expect Dudley of all people to find it. So, what do you think of the desires of Dudley and Millicent?
I also got a laugh at making that card also completely not-important. After all, Dumbledore here is not setting up some kind of scavanger hunt.
Like in canon, most of the second Gryffindor game takes place in the stands. Only here the scene has completely different content.
The whole canon story with the dargon would never work here. In canon, the children had no one they could ask for help since they feared Hagrid could get in trouble and they were quite passive about it as well. Here they do have a trusted adult in Sirius and they right away want to prevent Hagrid from getting into trouble. Also notice how Hagrid here does realize the trouble he now is in.