I do not own nor possess any right over Harry Potter, all rights belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 11

Shimmer woke up as a ray of light pierced through the broken window of the little attic that he called his lair. His eyelids opened slowly as he yawned silently before shaking his head to finish waking himself up. Standing up, he did his everyday routine of checking his hoard, moving a few coins to put them where their beauty would be the best reflected before he recalled what happened yesterday night.

The panic in the school, the ugly and smelly creature, helping Hermione and winning the fight. He recalled all of it and wondered what happened to Hermione, a bit worried as he had left her alone since apparently no one else was allowed to see him because those 'teachers' were dangerous for him. He highly doubted that but since it was reassuring Hermione he chose to follow her advices. Focusing again on Hermione, Shimmer would have flown directly to her window if it wasn't for his very angry stomach that reminded him that he had to feed soon, having barely eaten anything in more than a day.

Leaving his hoard, he flew toward the fields and forests away from the castle and did quick work of his breakfast, his hunger pushing him as he caught a small pigeon in the air, devouring the flying snack in three bites. It wasn't much and he kept hunting until he caught a squirrel and only then did he felt his hunger being satiated. At least for now.

Now truly ready to start the day, the first thing Shimmer did when he arrived in sight of Hogwarts was to fly straight to Hermione's window. Slowing down, he landed on the window sill and peaked through the old glass, trying to see who was inside as he stuck the left side of his face to the window. But it appeared that he was unlucky, no one was in the room and there wasn't a single sign of Hermione. Knowing that knocking on the window wouldn't bring Hermione, and also because she told him to stop, he opened his wings and was about to jump back in the sky when the door of the bedroom flung open, startling him a bit as he lost his balance and fell.

But there was no reason to panic. He knew very well how to fly and it took him only a second to stabilize himself before he flapped his wings hard to carry himself back to the window where he saw the very recognizable hair of Hermione, the girl laying in her bed and sobbing silently in the middle of her cover. Had she been hurt again? He didn't know why she was like that but he decided to make himself known by gently taping his head against the window. The reaction was instantaneous, Hermione's head sprung upward before turning toward him, her eyes filled with tears as she briefly brushed away the tears on her face with her hand before opening the window.

"Good morning, Shimmer." Hermione said with a small smile even if a slight touch of sadness was present in her voice.

"Hermione okay?" He asked as she petted him on the head.

She let out a big sigh in reply before grabbing him in her arms to carry him on the bed where she let him go. He quickly moved around to look at her as she sat down next to him, her legs hanging from the border of the bed. He waited a few seconds for her to reply before letting out a small whimper to get her attention.

"Professor McGonagall asked me to come in her office this morning. She asked me to tell her everything, why I was crying in the bathroom yesterday and... she asked me to list what everyone did to me." Hermione said as small tears returned on her face.

Shimmer didn't like to see Hermione cry and he mainly didn't understand why she was crying. He had already guessed that something was wrong but he couldn't understand all the words that his friend said, only that a few of the words that she spoke of in the last days were about her being attacked by other humans even if there was no physical traces of violence on her. Maybe words could hurt too? He never thought about it before but since there were words like 'sorry' when you did something wrong then there might be words that could be used to harm. That was starting to be a bit too much for him, trying to think like a human really was too complicated. They created so much more problems than they already had that he couldn't follow anymore if something was wrong or bad.

But right now it was obvious that Hermione was sad and that something bad had happened to her and that it was still upsetting her. He didn't really know what humans did to reassure each other but he could do what he felt was the thing to do, nuzzling against her arm as he purred softly.

"I didn't wanted to at first but then she convinced me and I told her everything. How almost everyone was either insulting or ignoring me. The only one that has always been nice to me is Neville but he is also mocked because he is terrible at magic." Said Hermione continuing, still stroking his head.

"Not." Shimmer replied. He wanted to say something but he forgot the word that was coming next.

"Not? Not what?" She asked genuinely interested, taking her mind out of her dark thoughts for now.

"Shimmer not." He tried again as a flash of recognition went through Hermione's eyes.

"Is it that you don't understand?" She suggested.

"Yes! Shimmer not un-der-stand!" He exclaimed happily, finally getting the word even if it was a hard one to say.

"Well, it might be a bit too hard for you. It's just silly, stupid human things. Even back in primary school it was almost the same, not as bad but other children don't like me because I always try to answer right. Don't worry about all of that. Besides, if what professor McGonagall said is true then I shouldn't have any more problems with my classmates, at least from Gryffindor." Hermione said as she dried her tears.

Preferring to stay silent, partly because he wasn't used yet to talk and didn't like it more than that, Shimmer simply purred as he rested his head on Hermione's lap. A few moments passed like that, in a nice and relaxing silence that did cheered up Hermione enough for her to focus on something else.

"I just remembered; headmaster Dumbledore took me to his office yesterday to talk about how you defeated the troll. I told him everything except that I know you and he said that he will try to introduce you to the rest of the school very soon." She explained.

Shimmer listened lazily, not that he didn't wanted to listen to Hermione but simply because he didn't understood all the words she just used. He did recognized a few bits like this Dumbledore that was apparently some sort of human ranked above the teachers and he wondered if it was the old man living with all the gold stuff as who else but the richest man in the castle to control the rest of the human pack.

His musings got interrupted by Hermione who caught his head between her hands and forced him to look at her in the eyes, he squirmed a bit but she had a strong enough grip to stop him to move.

"Shimmer you must be very careful; I can't believe I'm saying that about a teacher but I'm not sure if I can trust Dumbledore. I know he is a great wizard and the headmaster of Hogwarts but I- you're my best friend here Shimmer. I don't want to lose you." She said releasing his head only to hug him gently.

As much as he liked Hermione, Shimmer wasn't used to hugs and very close contacts so it was to no surprise that he squirmed even more until he broke away from the hug, sitting down on the bed and looking warily at the danger that were the two arms of Hermione. His reaction got a chuckle from the girl that settled for a simple pet on his head before she reached for her pocket with her other hand to offer him a Knut. By now she was so used to his desire and love for coins that she always carried a few on herself, just so that she would always have one for Shimmer.

"I need to prepare for my next class." Hermione said as he grabbed the coin between his teeth.

By now Shimmer knew that those classes were where young humans learned how to be adult humans. It was still a weird concept for him, why their parents weren't teaching their children how to be good humans. But he didn't bother thinking more than that, humans were weird, had weird ideas and could do weird things. He wasn't interested in the slightest about figuring the why.

Jumping from the bed to the window sill, helped by a few flaps of his wings, Shimmer looked at Hermione that did looked happier than when he came in.

"Bye-bye." He said, dropping the coin just for a moment before grabbing it again.

"Bye-bye." Replied Hermione waving at him.

Opening his wings, Shimmer flew straight to his hoard to let the new sickle join his hoard. He didn't really know what was bothering Hermione but from what he understood things were going to be better for her so he didn't worry more than that, focusing instead on how he would spend his afternoon to loot the castle for more coins and precious things to add to his hoard.

The day went slowly for Hermione, first her talk with professor McGonagall, her short but very relaxing conversation with Shimmer even if she was the one to do most of the talking, her next classes and the few snarky and horrible comments about her that still hadn't stopped. Her head of house told her that she would take care of the problem tonight and this only served to make Hermione more nervous, she would be glad once it would be over but now she just hoped that she wouldn't be thrown into the spotlight. A part of her feared that it would only make the attacks against her more frequent.

As she reached her seat at the Gryffindor table, Hermione noticed that a small stone pedestal had been placed in the center of the room, in front of the teachers table and with nothing on top of it. She, like most of the other students around her, tried to figure out why the pedestal was there, but most quickly put it on either a speech of the teachers or chalked it up to magic.

When the last students finally arrived in the hall and took their seats, Dumbledore stood up and silence fell as everyone got ready to listen to him, if only to start eating sooner as the headmaster could sometimes speak for far too long to their taste.

But before he started Hermione caught him looking quickly at one of the windows before a small smile made its way on the headmaster's lips and she could only wonder what he was looking at.

"Dear students of Hogwarts, there are three announcements that I would like to make tonight. Do not worry, I won't be long." He assured.

"I bet he will." Whispered Ron.

"First of all, and probably the most obvious, the troll that entered the castle yesterday."

A few whispers erupted around the hall but quickly silenced themselves, waiting for the rest of the explanation.

"While you were very right to panic yesterday, I want to assure you that no one got injured and that the troll has been defeated into the girl's bathroom." Announced the headmaster a bit more cheerful.

A large sigh of relief washed through the students that didn't already know, a few having already asked the teachers in the morning about the troll.

"Yes, yes, it is good news but I am not over with our troll. You see, it wasn't a teacher that saved our school yesterday but a student. A first year like many of you."

This time the voices of the students weren't silent at all, many talking about who could have done this and even more looking around in a hope to identify the student that achieved this. As he kept talking, Hermione had this inner feeling that the headmaster wouldn't hide the truth from the students and she was already dreading the reaction of those around her, especially Ron Weasley.

"Silence please." Called Dumbledore as the hall quieted down. "Thank you. Now I would like to thank Miss Hermione Granger for her great victory yesterday!"

The entire hall remained silenced for just a second before cheering fused in the air and heads swirled toward Hermione that was trying her best to make herself look smaller. She knew it was coming but it was still too much for her and she just stood there as all those around her stared speaking to her.

'I haven't done anything; Shimmer defeated the troll.' Hermione thought as she looked at her hands embarrassed by the attention.

"No way..." Said Ron standing there mouth agape.

"Well, it looks like she is more Gryffindor than Ravenclaw right Fred?" Smugly said the twin George.

"Well, it appears that she is more of a lion than a raven right George?" Replied Fred.

"You really did that?" Asked Neville in awe.

Quite a lot of other people were congratulating her at her table and even a from a few other tables but no praises came from the Slytherin table. It was more of disbelieving glares and even one that almost look like hatred from Malfoy. At least some things didn't change.

"Quiet please!" Called Dumbledore.

It took a few moments but everyone was finally back at their seats and either looking at the headmaster or at Hermione that did her best to focus on the old man and ignore the looks that some were giving her.

"While it is true that Miss Granger did something that most wouldn't had been able to do in first year, other issues are to be addressed and for this I will let professor McGonagall continue." Announced Dumbledore before sitting down as professor McGonagall rose from her seat.

"Thank you Albus. Now, as much as it pains me to say so, I need to explain why Miss Granger was in the bathroom that night when she should have been eating with us." She started keeping a stern tone, making sure that no one dared to interrupt her.

Hermione couldn't believe that her head of house was going to do that but she listened silently as a few students looked at her again before focusing back on the professor.

"It appears that quite a few students of my house have taken a liking to harass and insult Miss Granger for her involvement in class. Let me say that I am extremely disappointed by all of my Gryffindors, never in my career did I ever had to say such words so soon after the beginning of the year." She continued not mentioning how quickly the Weasley twins broke that record last year.

At that many instantly understood what she was talking about and a few heads lowered in shame, a guilty silence weighting heavily on the Gryffindor table as the rest of the hall listened in silence to the teacher's remonstrance.

"I have talked in details with Miss Granger about this unacceptable behaviour and a few of you will be called at a later date in my office so that appropriate punishment can be given. In addition, I'm saddened to say that I will be taking a hundred points from Gryffindor and hope that I will never have to hear about such behaviour again." Finished professor McGonagall, staring coldly at her students before sitting down.

Many of the Gryffindors were keeping their heads low, all those who were mean to Hermione at some point and the rest were ashamed for not having done anything. All of them were thinking about their behaviour and how it costed them quite a lot of points while a few were white as sheets and worried about what their punishment would be. Hermione dared to look at her classmates and saw that Ron more than anyone else was looking down at his empty plate.

"Now that this has been addressed, there is a last announcement that I would like to make." Continued Dumbledore standing up again.

This got Hermione out of her thoughts and she listened with trepidation as she feared what could be the last announcement.

"Hermione wasn't the only one to face the troll..."

'I knew it.' Sighed Hermione as she tensed, listening with attention the headmaster's words.

Shimmer had been staying at the window of the great hall for a little while now. He came to make sure that Hermione was there and was relieved to see her in the mass of students. After that he listened to the old man talking and he noticed that he was looking at him a few times, even when he wasn't speaking and the other old female human talked. He almost laughed when the young humans got agitated all of a sudden by the old woman's word, going from quiet to excited only to do it again but this time with all of them looking at Hermione.

He almost tried to break the window seeing how uncomfortable Hermione was but it all calmed down when the old man talked again and he listened to his words, not getting everything but trying to.

"Now that this has been addressed, there is a last announcement that I would like to make." Said the old man.

That was too hard for him to understand, too many foreign words and not having a clue of what he was talking about.

"Hermione wasn't the only one to face the troll, she had help and I would like to introduce this other saviour to our school today for he is not a student."

Now he got Shimmer's attention at the mention of Hermione's name and he understood that they were talking about the creature of last night, he quickly associated the word troll with the creature as it had only started to be used once the monster appeared in the school.

The entire hall was plunged in silence as everyone waited for the headmaster to continue and Shimmer looked at Hermione and saw that she was very clearly distressed even if couldn't tell why. His eyes quickly darted back when the old man left his chair and walked in front of a small pedestal of stone that he never saw before, standing in the middle of the room and he waited expectantly to see what he would do.

But these thoughts changed quickly when the old man took out a golden coin, a Galleon, and showed it to everyone around the room, lifting his hand at his head level to be certain that all could see it. Shimmer's eyes never lost sight of the beautiful coin and didn't saw the look of terror that went through Hermione's face when she understood what the headmaster was up to. He then placed the Galleon on the pedestal and Shimmer stared at the coin as the headmaster brought the weird stick that Hermione called wand on top of it and then nothing happened. No light or nothing, the coin simply remained there while the headmaster returned to his seat.

By now the entire hall's attention was focused on the coin and everyone wondered why the coin was there but Shimmer feared that another human would grab it before him. He was already starting to plan how to get the Galleon when the window that blocked his way simply vanished before his startled eyes, leaving nothing but emptiness as he stared at the coin that was now in his reach.

"Now I ask of you to not panic and remain calm as our friend enters. We wouldn't want to startle him after all." The man said with a twinkle in his eyes as he glanced very briefly at Shimmer one more time.

"Albus, what are you doing?" Asked Minerva that knew he was about to do something that would give her a headache.

"Don't worry dear Minerva, you will understand as soon as you see him." He simply replied.

At the Gryffindor table, Hermione was sweating out of fear as she understood what the headmaster wanted to do and she completely ignored those around her that tried to ask her who was this mysterious person that helped her defeat the troll. She knew that if Shimmer was there he wouldn't be able to stop himself to take the galleon and it was actually very likely that he didn't even saw that at a trap.

She was of course absolutely right as Shimmer prepared himself to jump, stretching his wings a bit as he calculated the trajectory he would follow to grab the coin and leave the room as fast as possible to bring the Galleon back to his hoard. He knew the concept of ambushing his prey but he never made any trap before so he didn't even consider the possibility of being in danger.

"Please welcome Shimmer!" The headmaster's voice boomed in the hall as everyone waited impatiently except Hermione.

As soon as the headmaster said his name, Shimmer figured that the coin truly was for him to take and he jumped from the window.

He dove straight for the Galleon as he ignored the screaming students and the shouts of surprise coming from the teachers, focusing only on the coin as he extended his talons forward to grab it in flight. Time slowed down as he moved through the air and in a few seconds he got close to the Galleon and he could already see it resting in the middle of his hoard with him asleep on top of it.

Just a meter. Then only half-a-meter. Ten centimetres.

Then his claws grasped the Galleon and he gave a powerful flap of his wings to fly upward. But as soon as he flapped his wings he knew that something was wrong as his talons were empty when he was sure that he had the Galleon firmly in his grasp. He let out a little cry of indignation as he turned around and saw the coin still on the pedestal, almost taunting him to try again and that's exactly what he did.

He tried to grab it a second time and again he felt the coin between his claws but it simply remained on the pedestal as he flew off. He tried again, and again and even with his teeth but the Galleon seemed to be stuck to the pedestal, impossible to move and resting on the stone.

By now the hall was a cacophony of shouts and whispers that he simply ignored in favour of catching the coin. Many of the students and a few of the teachers had fearful expressions on their face but others were simply too surprised to react or in awe when they understood that the dragon was only focused on the coin sticking to the pedestal. But all of them were talking loudly as they never left the dragon out of their eyesight, a few teachers even having drawn their wands out.

"Please be quiet!" Called Dumbledore with a strong, stern, yet calm voice, having no need to appear angry as their fearful reactions were justified.

Even if his powerful voice did silenced the majority of the students, the little dragon was just too much for some to listen to the headmaster.

"That's the dragon that was in the train!" Recognized Ron.

"Really? It doesn't seem very dangerous." Said Parvati a bit disappointed.

"Its the one that bit me! My father will have his head!" Almost screamed Draco even if no one listened to him.

'Oh Shimmer.' Thought Hermione as she watched her friend try his very best to take the Galleon that had obviously been enchanted to be stuck to the pedestal. She glanced at the headmaster that bore a very satisfied smile, also looking at Shimmer getting upset as he couldn't grab the coin. Looking at the rest of the teachers, it was obvious that professor McGonagall was containing herself very hard to not shout at Albus even if the cold glare she had for him made it obvious that she had her own opinion about this situation. Professor Snape looked absolutely furious and had his wand in hand and would probably have used it if not for professor Flitwick who was bearing a huge smile on his face and excitedly pointing at Shimmer, a hand on Snape's wrist to stop him to do anything.

Her eyes returned to Shimmer and she saw that he had landed on the pedestal, trying to pull the Galleon with his mouth without success. Her eyes widened as she realized what easy target he made for the teachers were any of them to wish harm to him.

"There is nothing to be afraid of so please quiet down." Repeated Dumbledore until the silence returned, only broken by Shimmer's talons scrapping against the stone and his small growls of annoyance as he tried to pull the coin. "As I said, Shimmer is completely harmless so please remain calm for now."

"He bit me!" Exclaimed Draco getting the attention of everyone.

"While this is true Mr. Malfoy, I am certain that there was a good reason for that and I believe that you won't make the same mistake again." Scolded him the headmaster, his smile vanishing for a few seconds until he was sure that Draco wouldn't interrupt him again.

Hermione watched everything happening in silence but she could hardly contain herself much longer, the stress of tonight starting to be too much for her to handle. And when she saw the headmaster pull out his wand, she couldn't stop herself from intervening.

"Shimmer!" She called him loudly, standing up as everyone in the hall looked at her.

Their gaze didn't lingered on her as all noticed that the little dragon had actually listened to her and was watching her intently.

"No!" She firmly told him.

He let out a little whine of sadness at that, understanding that she wanted him to give up the coin even if it had been put out for him. He didn't understand why the Galleon wouldn't move but he would not let such an easy catch escape him that easily.

"No Shimmer! Come here." She said softening her tone as she showed him a Sickle.

Shimmer looked at the Galleon laying in front of him that wouldn't move and then at the Sickle that Hermione was giving her. One very precious but apparently unobtainable and the other less precious but a very easy catch. Letting out a small whine at the idea of abandoning the Galleon, he opened his wings and panic surged through the hall before he even took to the air.

Everyone watched in fear and awe as the dragon left the pedestal and flew straight toward Hermione, a few teachers screaming to intervene but stopped by Dumbledore and the whole Gryffindor table lowering themselves as Shimmer passed above them, most screaming in fear. He slowed down before reaching Hermione and landed on the table, pushing aside the empty plates and cutlery as his talons scrapped the table slightly. All those sitting near Hermione had walked away from them and everyone watched in trepidation as Shimmer looked at Hermione expectantly, giving a few glances at the coin.

"Good." She said petting his head and giving him the Sickle as a large number of gasps spread through the whole hall.

He grabbed the coin between his teeth and let it down on the table, looking at Hermione with a look that she understood very well but didn't obliged.

"What do you say?" Hermione asked.

He knew the answer but it was still a bit annoying to say it every time he got a coin, only the perspective that it might get him more coin forced him to say it.

"Ank you." Shimmer said with his slightly not human voice, shocking the entire room for the fourth time tonight/

"Almost, it's 'thank you'." She corrected him.

"Thank you."

"Very good, here you go." She said taking out a second Sickle and giving it to him.

Adding it to the first one, he looked again at Hermione.

"Hermione. Sickle?" He asked.

"No, its enough." Hermione relied petting his head.

It had been worth asking.

Only now did Hermione remembered where she was and she looked around to see that everyone, students and teachers included, were all standing immobile and completely silent. They all had faces of clear disbelief or awe and no one dared to speak until Dumbledore stood up from his seat.

"Thank you for the introduction, Miss Granger, I knew I could count on you." He said with his trademark smile.

Hermione groaned at first when she realized how the headmaster had set her up until she noticed that everyone was still staring at her and she blushed before quickly sitting down as Shimmer looked at his two Sickles. The little dragon did so as everyone remained silent and when he raised his head to look at the humans some flinched when his eyes passed on them, much to his fun and stroking his ego at the sight of so many humans cowering before him.

"Now, as you can see, Miss Granger knows very well how to handle our little dragon neighbour and is still in the process of teaching him our language. While I am certain that you have many questions, I will ask you to keep them for later as I believe it is time to start our diner." The headmaster said before clapping his hands and attending to his plate like if everything was perfectly normal.

As soon as he had clapped, food started to appear out of nowhere and landed on the tables. Shimmer let out a small squeak of surprise at seeing the food appearing but quickly recovered when the many scents of meat assaulted his nostrils and he looked with a ferocious glint in his eyes at the nearest plate of pork that was barely half-a-meter away. He sprung forward in an attempt to catch the food but was stopped by Hermione who caught him by the neck with a surprising amount of strength.

"That's not how you should eat Shimmer." She scolded him.

"Not understand!" He replied loudly between two squeaks and trying to get free without hurting her.

"Of course you don't. We haven't talked about table manners yet." Hermione sighed.

No one had started to eat beside the headmaster and all were still staring at them and Hermione was frankly getting fed up by all the attention. She turned toward Neville that was sat to her right, whiter that a ghost.

"Neville, can you put some meat on a plate please?" She asked the terrified boy.

More by mechanical reflexes than anything else, the child complied and quickly handed her a plate with three slices of pork.

"Thank you. Here you go Shimmer." Hermione said grabbing the plate and leaving it in front of Shimmer that she had just released.

Not waiting another second, Shimmer started to tear out the flesh from the meat and that finally seemed to take out most of the humans in the hall, many starting to talk in small groups but all still staring at him, watching in slight horror at how easily his teeth cut through the meat and the sound that it made. Hermione picked up a few vegetables and a single slice of meat, such a normal action that took out of their stupor many of her classmates all around.

"So Hermione..." Started George quite blankly.

"...it seems that you..." Continued Fred as expressionless.

"...found a very unique..."

"...dragon as a pet."

"He is not a pet, he is my friend." She said a bit harsher than necessary but it was all those around needed to remember what they did to her.

That quickly put them all back into silence and they started to put food on their plates as the rest of the hall did the same. Some now had a huge respect for the girl who apparently tamed a dragon and who was also teaching him speech, something that baffled both the students and the teachers as talking dragons were completely unheard of. All only had a single subject on their lips and it wasn't hard to guess which one. Yet one did broke that silence.

"Can I pet him?"

Hermione turn around and looked incredulously at Neville that had just asked this question. Him, probably the worst student between all the first years and maybe even the whole school, was brave enough to ask such an dangerous act barely minutes after seeing Shimmer so close to him again.

"I-I don't know, he doesn't like it when he is eating. Maybe after?" She suggested still shocked.

"Oh okay." He agreed before turning to his own plate as he started to eat too.

Looking at Shimmer, Hermione brought her hand closer to the dragon and she was barely twenty centimetres away that he started to growl dangerously at her, seemingly frozen while keeping his eyes on her hand.

"Definitely after." She said before returning to her meal.

"Was he... did you had him with you all this time? Since the train?" Asked Ron still a bit in awe.

"No. Well almost. The next day after we arrived he was in my drawer looking for coins, I gave him some and he left me alone. After that he kept coming, not every day but once or twice a week at first and now he is here almost all the time." Hermione answered even if she didn't want to look at Ron.

"Wicked. Does he sleep in your room?"

"I hope not, I never saw it before so please don't tell me you were keeping it somewhere in our bedroom." Stated Parvati looking at Hermione and Shimmer.

"I can assure you that he isn't, I don't even know where he sleeps. Or maybe I should say where is his nest?" Wondered Hermione.

"Was he..." Started George.

"...the one..." Pursued Fred.

"...who took..." Continued the first twin.

"...all our valuables?" Finished the other twin.

Hermione flinched at that, looking at every other student that heard the twins as a look of understanding passed on most of them. She had hoped that no one would associate the loss of coins with Shimmer but both Dumbledore and her threw that possibility away when they used coins to get Shimmer's attention, there was no way to hide the truth and it might actually be better to do it now than latter.

"Yes. I've been trying to get him to stop but he doesn't want to." She explained looking at Shimmer attacking his last slice of meat.

"So you're the one who took all of our money!?" Exclaimed Dean Thomas, one of her fellow Gryffindor classmates.

"No I-" Started Hermione.

"Really?!" Said a Ravenclaw student that was listening to the conversation.

"Not only does she have a dragon but she stole from everyone?" Added another student.

"Its not me I-" Tried again Hermione getting flustered and upset, talking a bit louder even if it didn't helped in front of the angered mass of students around her.

"I've lost more than five Sickles!" Complained a student somewhere behind her.

Overwhelmed, Hermione couldn't do anything else than looking down at her plate with tears forming in her eyes. She had feared that tonight would made things worst but now she couldn't imagine anything else than the harsher words everyone was and would unleash on her.

A very loud growl pierced the cacophony, everyone silenced as they looked at the dragon that a few had forgotten in their anger against Hermione.

Shimmer didn't understood why the young humans were getting angry and loud but he clearly saw how their words and anger was directed toward Hermione and he didn't liked it one bit. Not only did it stopped him to finish his meal but they were making his human friend cry. Darting his head left and right, glaring and growling at a few students that he judged too close to Hermione, he raised his head high and opened his wings slightly to appear bigger, forcing almost all of them to take a step back as Hermione looked at him with a thanking look in her eyes.

The tension was thick and many feared that the dragon would attack, even Hermione wasn't sure how he would behave. But one voice cut through it with a powerful tone that left no doubt nor to argument.

"Thank you, Shimmer. May I remind you that while Shimmer is quite friendly, he remains a dragon that isn't fully tamed so please don't antagonize him. I would also add that Shimmer is indeed the one that took a few coins from all of us, even a Galleon from me, but Miss Granger is in no way accountable for these thefts and is still trying to get him to stop. Let it be clear that no one is to turn against Miss Granger for Shimmer's actions, in fact it would partially be my fault since I allowed him to remain here this long." Dumbledore explained, making it very explicit that if anyone had a problem with Shimmer they would have to talk about it with the Headmaster and not many would take the risk to anger the most powerful magus alive.

The entire hall fell into silence as the words sunk into everyone's mind until it was broken by Shimmer finishing his meal, the dragon not carrying anymore about the humans since they returned to silence after the words of their pack leader. He of course had no clue of what had been said except that his name and Hermione's had been said a few times and that he talked about coins.

"What about our coins?" Asked a voice from the Ravenclaw table.

"I understand your concerns but rest assured that you will get your coins back at some point during the year. We have kept a record of every coin and jewels stolen since the beginning of the year and if we can't take them back from Shimmer then I shall see to it myself. Does this satisfy your request?" Replied the Headmaster.

"Yes sir." Agreed Terry Boot, not wishing to remain the point of everyone's attention any longer.

"Perfect! Now please continue your meal and let Miss Granger breathe a bit, I believe that is enough questions for tonight and you will all have the time to question her later." Said the Headmaster, no reassuring Hermione in the slightest.

All returned to their meal except for the one who was already done, Shimmer licking his teeth satiated. He had only smelled the meats displayed on the tables before but now he was certain that there were almost nothing better than that, the taste of cooked meat was simply divine and he would have called it perfect if it had been a tad more bloody. But he wouldn't complain since his stomach was full.

Looking around, he saw that the young humans had return to talking even if they were now far quieter and a few were still looking at him, probably admiring his scales or trembling in fear at the mere thought of him being near them as many flinched or looked away when his gaze fell on said students.

But now was the time for him to leave, it was quite late already, he was completely satiated and getting a bit sleepy as he yawned loudly. He glanced at Hermione, silently eating her meal and even he could see that she wasn't perfectly fine, keeping her eyes fixed on the plate in front of her and ignoring the few other students around her.

"Hermione." He said to get her attention.

"Yes Shimmer?" She replied instantly, looking at him as he somehow got the attention of everyone around even if he wasn't talking to them.

"Bye-bye." Shimmer said before grasping the coins with his teeth.

"Already?" She said looking a bit sadder for a second before she let out a sigh. "Okay, bye-bye Shimmer, have a good night."

"Hermione okay?" He still asked concerned.

"Yeah I- it should be okay." Hermione assured with a very faint smile that barely convinced him that it was fine. But he was no human expert so he let it go.

"Shimmer." Called the strong voice of the old human.

Shimmer turned around to see the pack leader of the school standing up and coming close to the coin. He watched him take out his wand and tap it on the coin before reaching for the coin and, under Shimmer's incredulous eyes, took it away from the pedestal. Shimmer couldn't believe how he did it but he could only suppose that it was thanks to the weird stick that could apparently turn boxes into mouses and stick coins everywhere, he was so surprised that he completely froze and kept looking at the Galleon into the old man's hand.

"Come over here please, this is for you after all." Said the headmaster handing the golden coin towards him, shocking many pupils who couldn't believe how he was giving so much money to a simple dragon.

It was absolutely not greed that powered him to fly towards the old man and landing right on the stone pedestal, looking expectantly at the coin. He was so focused on the coin that he didn't noticed the twinkle shinning into the old eyes of the human above him.

"What do you say?" Asked Dumbledore far too amused to not say it.

"Plea." Replied Shimmer still focused on the coin.

"Its 'Please', young Shimmer." Corrected Dumbledore much like Hermione did.

"Please. Galleon." Said Shimmer even if he didn't understood the meaning of 'young'.

"Much better." Approved the headmaster, pushing his hand and the coin right in front of him.

Not waiting any longer, Shimmer caught the Galleon and as soon as it was resting next to the two Sickles already there he opened his wings wide and flew toward the window he came from, leaving the hall under the eyes of every human inside as the glass of the window magically reappeared right after the dragon left. As soon as he left he flew toward his hoard to add his three new rightfully acquired coins to the many already gathered there, leaving behind the humans who suddenly started to be noisy and loud again. He was exalted to know that he now had a new Galleon, his second one ever.

Hermione spent the rest of the night to answer her classmates' questions about Shimmer, how he was, how he defeated the troll, if he was really dangerous and all sorts of other questions. It had been very hard for her at first but when she realized that the questions weren't about her and that no one seemed to have any bad or angry feelings for her she relaxed, answering as many questions as possible. She even had the surprise to see a few of her classmates apologize to her but it was only those who were the least insulting or those who did nothing. It seemed like it would take at least one more day for Ron Weasley to apologize. Their talks about Shimmer continued until the teachers had to force them to go to their dorms.

Even on the way out, Hermione quickly caught the look in Professor McGonagall's eyes, one that was both of disappointment but also some sort of pride. Although she didn't had the time to talk with her head of house, many classmates only begged to have more time to talk with her but she was starting to feel tired herself and left the majority of the chaotic Gryffindors behind as she finally sat on her bed, yawning already and only asking for it to be over.

"He won't come tonight, right?" Asked her roommate Lavender Brown.

"He never did before, I don't think he will tonight." Replied Hermione removing her robes for her much more comfortable nightwear, slipping under the cover of her bed.

"Good. It would be creepy otherwise."

"Yeah, like a flying stalker." Agreed Parvati Patil.

"He isn't like that. Plus, he is a dragon, I'm pretty sure he don't even know the concept of being a creep. Can we go sleep now?" Assured Hermione starting to have enough of all these questions and only wishing to go to bed.

"Sure, goodnight." Parvati said

"Goodnight." Continued Lavender.

"Thanks, goodnight." Whispered Hermione finally going towards the dream realm.

AN:

Hi! Valexto at the Keyboard!

Sorry for the long wait but as you may have noticed, this is the longest chapter yet and it carries a significant importance as the chapter introducing Shimmer to the rest of Hogwarts. It took a long time to write, to find the right way to write it and make it look good and even more time spent to re-read and remove as many mistakes as possible even if I'm certain there are a lot I must have missed. If you see any you're very welcome to point them, it will only make the story better.

I'm a bit unsure about the next chapter, I think it will go towards the winter break or something like this, maybe annoying a few teachers along the way.

I just want to thank you all for the support given to this story and the many suggestions that some of you have made.

See you next time!