I do not own nor possess any right over Harry Potter, all rights belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 17
April came five days ago, and Spring was everywhere. The air was warmer, not too much but enough to be felt, the nature around Hogwarts was taking a more healthy green and the end of the cold days brought back some warmth in the hearts of Hogwarts' inhabitants.
Nothing much happened since they went to see Hagrid, just a few things that Shimmer didn't really understood. Hermione, Ron and Neville spent a lot of time looking around, researching what could be in the room on the third corridor, but so far they didn't found anything interesting. Yet as time passed, they noticed that professor Quirrell started to look unhealthy, pale and quite weaker than before. Again, they speculated and tried to find out why, but they had nothing truly concluding so far.
That morning, Shimmer was flying outside, not really wanting to stay in a classroom today, and simply looked for things to do or if, per chance, someone lost a coin that was free for taking. He spent a long time, flying around the whole school, before returning towards Hagrid's hut.
The giant human wasn't in sight, and so he didn't thought about getting closer, but when he flew close to the smoke coming out of the chimney, he nearly dropped one meter in the air. What he smelled, was a very distinctive smell, instantly getting all his attention. This was strange, because the scent mixed in the smoke was familiar, as if he had an idea of it's origin without being able to recall where he could have smell such a scent. And then, there was a taint, a very, very faint trace of a very bad smell that he also recalled.
A bit perplexed, he went to the hut's window, wanting to find out what this was about, but was surprised by the curtains that stopped him from looking in. He went to each window, and was surprised to see that all the curtains were closed. With a small huff of annoyance, he took off, still trying to remember about the two smells. The second one, the bad one, was easier, he knew he faced it not long ago. The first and familiar one, he was quite certain that he never had the chance to smell it before, yet it still appeared familiar to him.
He entered the school and went to the classroom where Hermione was supposed to be, with the very small human teacher. Then he had to wait, perched on the ceiling beams of the corridor, until the door opened. Thankfully, his wait was quickly over when the door was opened and a small flow of students poured out, all going to the right. Taking his chance as soon as he saw Hermione, he dropped from his perch, surprising a few students, before flying straight in Hermione's face, hovering on the spot.
"Oh, you're back already?" Happily asked Hermione, since they already saw each other at breakfast.
"Hagrid. Smell good. Smell bad. Not know." He replied.
"What's he saying?" Wondered Ron.
"I don't know. We still have Potion class to go before lunch. We'll have to go later, Shimmer." She told him.
Satisfied with that, Shimmer went after them to the Potion classroom, where Snape frowned very slightly at the sight of Shimmer, since the Slytherins, hence, Malfoy, were there too. He was concerned about how the small dragon was around his godson, but since nothing happened since their last interaction he pushed it aside. That didn't stop Shimmer of reminding Malfoy that he wasn't liked by the dragon, who gave him a small growl before he went next to Hermione, laying down on the ground as he started cleaning his scales.
Busy as Shimmer was, he didn't gave any attention to the class except when professor Snape came walking around Hermione's table, glancing at the man but not doing more.
"Miss Granger." Said the strict professor.
"Yes, sir?"
"The Headmaster told me that your presence would soon be required in his office, along with Shimmer. Do so at your earliest convenience." He told her.
"Yes, sir." She agreed.
Their interactions went no further except for grading Hermione's potion, and they soon found themselves in the Great Hall for lunch, which they rushed a bit to have the time to go see Hagrid. She, Ron, Neville and Shimmer came to Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door, only to be very surprised by the unusual reply they got.
"Busy! Go away!" Shouted Hagrid from the inside.
"Hagrid? It's Hermione, Ron, Neville and Shimmer. Can we come in please?" She asked, giving a small concerned look to her friends who only shrugged in reply, not having a clue about what was going on.
"Shimmer?"
The large footsteps of Hagrid echoed before he opened the door, his eyes going straight to Shimmer who was tilting his head, already feeling the scent double with the opened door.
"Come in, come in." He ushered them in, closing the door tightly behind him.
"Hagrid? What's going on?" Asked Ron.
Shimmer wasn't interested by the words. In the hut, the scent was quite strong and he appreciated the far warmer temperatures than usual. Walking around the group, he went to the chimney and started sniffing around the fire, certain that the smell was coming from there, until he looked up at a small thing attached over the fire. Not caring for the heat, not bothering him in the slightest, he placed the small claws of his wings on the edge of the perched thing and saw a small, oval thing.
The three students, as well as Hagrid, all watched him look around until he stopped over the fire. The very smooth appearance of the thing and its black colour was a bit surprising, but it was quite obviously an egg.
"What kind of egg is that?" Asked Neville.
"I know what it is." Affirmed Ron, amazed by the egg as he looked at Hagrid. "But, how did you get one? It's illegal."
"Won it at a bar last night. It's previous owner wasn't interested." He mumbled as he added coal on the fire.
"I think I saw one in my books about dragons." Said Hermione, starting to recognise the egg.
"Not just any dragon. Its a Norwegian Ridgeback." Said Ron, still awed to see such a rare breed of dragon.
"That it is." Confirmed Hagrid.
"Is?" Asked Shimmer, fervently sniffing around the egg as the smell was so strong that he could only wonder why it was familiar. All the eggs he ate before never had such a scent.
"It's a dragon egg." Replied Hermione with a small smile.
"Dragon? Shimmer?" He tried to confirm, eyes wide open as he started to realise what it was.
"Yes, not like you, but another type of dragon. Which reminds me that we still don't know what species you are." Answered Hermione before mumbling to herself.
Eyes filled with wonder, Shimmer explored every side of the egg, trying to memorise it. He couldn't ever remember seeing another dragon egg, even any other dragon at all, but he was excited at the idea of meeting another dragon.
But then, there was the bad scent. That close, it was unmistakable.
"Hermione." He called his friend.
"Yes?"
"Smell. Bad human." He said, looking at the egg.
This instantly got Hermione's attention and, after making sure Hagrid wouldn't hear her, lowered herself next to Shimmer.
"Are you talking about professor Quirrell?" She asked.
"Yes. Bad human. Quirrell."
She frowned heavily, wanting to discuss this more with Ron and Neville, but couldn't do so with Hagrid standing right there. But that wouldn't stop her to ask some questions.
"Hagrid? Why would someone have a dragon egg if its illegal?" She asked.
"Don't know. That man was actually very interested in Cerberuses, wanted to adopt one he said. So I told him I had Fluffy." Proudly explained Hagrid, much to Hermione's consternation as she realised what happened then.
"And what did you tell him about Fluffy?"
"Sorry, I can't tell you that." He stopped her.
"No, I'm not interested by what's in that room. Just Fluffy. Is he dangerous? What does he like?" Hermione said, aware that she was probably using the same tactic than Quirrell to get information out of Hagrid.
"Oh! Then it's alright, I guess. Fluffy's a bit boy, but he's all bark and no bite. Sure, he could hurt you, but he's just like any dog." He answered.
"A dog with three heads." Said Ron to Neville, who nodded.
"Really? And, let's imagine, that he was angry with me. Is there something that calms him down?" Continued Hermione.
"Well... lots of meat of course, makes him lazy. Or music. I've been putting him to bed with a music-box since he was a cub, the big loaf falls asleep with just that." Added Hagrid, using a large bellows.
"And you've said all of that to that man last night?"
"Sure did! The poor man knew some things, but he was no expert. He did well to come to me." Said Hagrid, please of himself.
Hermione could only shake her head as she realised what happened, how easily professor Quirrell bought Hagrid's informations on Fluffy with a dragon egg. The large man's love for exotic creatures being well know in the school.
She turned to Shimmer, still busy examining the dragon egg, wondering if Quirrell would be able to go around Fluffy with what Hagrid told him. She was also wondering if there might be something more to protect whatever was in that room. A dog, no matter how many heads or how big it is, must not be a hard challenge for a professor knowledgeable in the Dark Arts.
"When will it hatch?" Asked Ron.
"Shouldn't be long. Need to be kept warm at all times. I'll sent you an owl whenever it's ready." Replied Hagrid.
"Alright. Come on boys, we still have the afternoon classes."
With a small groan from Ron, they left the hut, with many, many things to talk about.
"So Quirrell knows how to avoid Fluffy? But why would he be barmy enough to even get close to one?" Wondered Ron.
"I don't know, but it has to be because of what's Fluffy keeping." Replied Hermione, slightly frustrated that after so long, they still didn't know what was inside that room.
"But Quirrell is the most scared professor of the whole school. I really can't see him getting even close to that thing." Said Neville.
"It could be acting." Assured Hermione. "Though, now that I recall, Dumbledore really didn't do anything since we talk with him. He said that he would investigate."
"Yeah? Well he isn't doing anything at all. I'm pretty sure he just dismissed us as soon as we were done." Replied Ron.
"That's not very wise." Said Hermione concerned.
"Dumbledore is a magical genius, but like Percy says, he's quite mad too."
"Arhheugh."
The three stopped at that, turning around to see Shimmer retching something half-digested in a small bush.
"Shimmer! That's disgusting!" Recoiled Hermione, trying to forget what she just saw.
"Maybe he ate something in Hagrid's hut?" Suggested Neville, also not comfortable at the sight.
"Bad meat." Said Shimmer once he was done, flying away with the intention to find a better meal than the last one. He had wondered if some of the weird creatures filled with magic had good taste. So that morning, for breakfast, he found some magical, flying, small humanish creature with blue skin, and ate it as the rest of these blue things fled in terror. The magic part was delicious, the flesh, not so much.
"I never want to see that again." Muttered Hermione as the three students walked back to the castle for their afternoon classes.
The next day was a Saturday, so Hermione was free to go see the Headmaster early in the morning, accompanied by Shimmer. They reached the stairs to Dumbledore's office, which were thankfully opened, and they arrived in front of his office. The old Headmaster was busy reading a letter when they came in and he quickly put it aside as he saw who entered, a smile on his face.
"Ah! Miss Granger, Shimmer. Good to see you." He welcomed them.
"Good morning, sir." Politely greeted Hermione.
"Dumb door." Said Shimmer, landing on his office.
"Not quite there yet?" Dumbledore asked with a chuckle.
"Not yet." Agreed Hermione with a small sigh.
"I'm sure you'll have corrected him in no time. But he calling me names isn't why I asked for you. You see, there is still one unsolved problem around our dear Shimmer, this being all the coins and precious jewels he took." Said Dumbledore.
"What should we do?" Asked Hermione, not really having considered that problem. Honestly though? She had mostly forgotten about it.
"I wanted to ask if Shimmer could give the coins he took back to their original owners."
Shimmer may not be the smartest dragon, nor the most well versed in human speech, not knowing he actually was, but he understood what the old man said. And he could only disagree with him. How mad could he be? To ask for him to give away his hoard? That was madness!
"No! Shimmer coins!" He hissed at the Headmaster.
"Shimmer." Sighed Dumbledore. "I think Hermione told you already, that taking coins is bad, right?"
"Yes." He said firmly, not seeing what was wrong with the coins he already have.
"Except for the coins that someone gave to you, or that you found on the ground, you need to give the rest back. It's bad to steal from others." Continued Dumbledore.
"But. Shimmer sleep coins. Shimmer want coins. Need coins." He whined and growled at the same time.
"Shimmer, professor Dumbledore is right. You need to give the coins back." Gently said Hermione.
He mulled over the idea, but no matter how many times or how he thought about it, the answer was still the same. He wouldn't give up his coins, they were his and his only.
"No."
"Professor, what's going to happen if Shimmer doesn't give the coins back?" Asked Hermione worried.
"I could take some of my personal funds to replace the money lost, but I'm afraid this wouldn't be considered either fair or legal for the ministry. Same for Hogwarts' funds. We do have a policy of reimbursing destroyed items, and stolen ones can be recovered with magic, but I'm afraid that it wouldn't work in Shimmer's case since he took so many from different students." Explained Dumbledore who looked a bit more tired. "If they can't be recovered, and the student's parents ask for a refund, I'll have no choice but call the ministry, who will call the dragon reserve to take Shimmer away and recover the stolen properties."
Hermione froze for a second, before realising that they couldn't let that happen. Her brain went into overcharge as she tried to come up with a way to convince Shimmer to give the money back. But she was interrupted by Shimmer himself. He had to nearly burn his brain to recall so many different words, but defending his hoard was worth it.
"If Shimmer no coins. No more coins. Shimmer go bye-bye. Go coins not here."
It felt like another stone dropped in Hermione's stomach. She wasn't certain if Shimmer was bluffing or not, simply because he wasn't even supposed to know that concept yet, but she knew he liked coins very much. She could see him leaving if he had to lose his hoard. And that was something she couldn't agree with.
"Professor Dumbledore! We can't-" She started to panic.
"Calm down, Miss Granger." Waved Dumbledore with a hand, silencing the young student. "I do not want to see Shimmer leave too."
Taking a deep breath, Hermione looked at Shimmer who looked even more adamant than usual. And that was with him having a dragon face, not extremely expressive compared to humans.
"Shimmer." Continued Dumbledore. "All the coins that I gave you, that Hermione gave you, you can keep them. They are yours. The Galleons are yours. But the rest must be returned to the other students."
Knowing that he could keep the Galleons helped Shimmer calm down a bit, but he was still very unsure about giving up the other coins. Even if they were less interesting than the Galleons, he still wanted to keep them.
"Shimmer want coins." He whined.
"I know, young Shimmer, I know. But you must learn to do the right thing. What you did, stealing from my students and staff, would normally have you arrested and in prison." Explained Dumbledore.
"Prison?" He said, recalling what it was. He didn't like it. He still wanted to keep his coins though. He made an effort to come up with a suitable idea, something that wouldn't leave him losing. "Shimmer back coins. Shimmer Galleon?"
"Negotiating now? Well I suppose it fits you." Laughed a bit Dumbledore before taking a letter from a drawer. "Let me see... hmm, that would be more beneficial for us."
"Professor?" Asked Hermione.
"Shimmer. If I give you one Galleon, will you give back the coins that you stole?" Offered Dumbledore.
"Two Galleon." Instantly shot out Shimmer.
"From my list, what you stole doesn't equal to two Galleons. One Galleon is already a lot you know."
Shimmer was partially convinced already. He didn't wanted to lose so many coins. They made for a nice bed after all. But having one more Galleon would be worth it. He would only have the Galleons, three Sickles and some Knuts from Hermione. It wouldn't be that bad. Horrible, sad and devastating, but still with one more Galleon.
"Shimmer okay." He nodded hardly, forcing himself to agree and keeping the Galleon in mind.
"Perfect! Thank you Shimmer, you're taking a thorn out of my side." Thanked Dumbledore happily.
"Excuse-me professor, but will the Galleon be coming from you?" Asked Hermione.
"Don't worry, Miss Granger. I have plenty more to spare that are currently useless to me. Not to brag, but being Hogwarts' Headmaster pays well." He said with a smile.
"Oh. I understand."
"Shimmer? I will give you this Galleon once all the objects on my list have been returned. Do you think you could do this today?"
"Yes!" Agreed Shimmer as he ran to the window, waiting for someone to open it.
He spent the morning going back and forth a few times from his lair to the old human, but at the end he was free to leave with a new Galleon. His fourth one. He was saddened by the horrible sight of his hoard, his bed, his everything, being almost naked against the ground, four Galleons, three Sickles and thirty Knuts. Not enough for him to sleep on entirely without touching the ground, but he would remake it. He would be patient. No matter if he had to stay perched on the roofs of Hogwarts waiting for someone to lose a coin, but he would get his hoard back.
The month of April went by quietly, with not much happening except a few visits to see if the dragon in Hagrid's hut had hatched, but no success yet. This did nothing to deter Hagrid, and the end of the month was coming without sign of a small dragon. Smaller than Shimmer that is.
But finally, at lunch, they got an owl from Hagrid with only two words: It's hatching.
The rest of the day was long, as they excitedly whispered between them about the little dragon, with Shimmer being the most excited as soon as Hermione got him to understand what was happening. Sadly, in their joy and trepidation, they saw that one Drago Malfoy had heard nearly everything being said.
That night, right after lunch, the four ran, or flew, outside toward Hagrid's hut who opened it quickly, giving a small look behind them to see if anyone else was coming before closing the door.
"Where is it?" Asked Ron ecstatic.
"Right on the table." Replied Hagrid, as they could all see the egg shaking on the table.
Spreading out around it, they watched with excitement as the egg was about to hatch. Shimmer was right next to it, taking a good space around the egg with only Hagrid being the other one right next to it. It didn't took much longer for a crack to appear on the egg, and withing a few more seconds, it fell appart to reveal the creature inside it.
Awe, joy and a little bit of fear went through the three students. Hagrid was in heaven, already cooing at the little dragon who was slipping a bit on the shells of its egg.
And Shimmer was... surprised. Almost disappointed even. He expected to see a dragon much like himself, and even if Hermione repeated many times that it was another breed of dragon, he thought it would still look like him. But no. This dragon had dark green scales that looked too fleshy, a much rounder snout, and was perhaps three times smaller than him.
"Isn't he beautiful." Sighed Hagrid just as the dragon turned toward him. "Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!"
The dragon's head snapped at him, curious. Hagrid brought one of his large hands toward the small Norwegian Ridgeback but had to retreat it promptly as it snapped at his fingers.
"Isn't it a bit dangerous?" Cautiously said Ron.
"Of course it is! His bite's poisonous and he can already breath fire. But he would never hurt his mommy." Said Hagrid, trying again to pet the little dragon.
The answer he got was a little puff of flames that burned part of his beard.
That didn't made Shimmer happy at all. This young dragon wasn't being taught anything but bad manners. He would have to fix that.
While Hagrid was busy extinguishing his beard, Shimmer stood next to the small dragon and gave her a warning growl. He got one back in reply but wasn't impressed by this hatching still covered by egg shells.
"What are they doing?" Asked Neville confused.
"Don't know. Shimmer, leaves Norbert alone. He's just a little baby." Hagrid tried to shoo Shimmer away.
"Not boy. Girl." Replied Shimmer, having a staring, or rather glaring, contest with the Norwegian Ridgeback.
"A girl? Oh well. Norberta it is then." Cheered Hagrid.
"He's lost his marbles." Whispered Ron to Neville, both admiring and truly surprised by how Hagrid could sometime be so simple.
Shimmer didn't listen. He was busy making this hatchling understand who was the strongest dragon around. He suddenly jumped in front of Norberta and growled harshly. The newborn cowed before her elder, taking a step back and retracting her neck as she let out a small whine, submitting. Satisfied, he walked back to his spot on the side of the table, content with watching from afar.
It all happened in front of the three students and Hagrid, who were a bit tensed as they watched Shimmer seemingly attack, only to move back as soon as Norberta submitted.
"Its a bit like dogs." Noted Ron. "Show who the boss is."
"It's actually a bit strange. I read that dragons didn't do well with hatchlings that aren't their own." Added Hermione, glancing at Shimmer.
"What do you mean?" Asked Neville.
"It ends up with the hatchling killed. Sometimes eaten." She didn't said it, but she was glad that Shimmer didn't do that. It would have been a nightmare to make him understand how wrong it was.
"Bloody hell." Gasped Ron a bit green at the thought.
"Language." Said Hermione by reflex.
Hagrid was picking up a small slice of bacon and was about to give it to her that she jumped toward the piece of bacon, nearly biting Hagrid as she missed, not quite used to move around yet. No one got the time to say anything that Shimmer was standing right above Norberta, snarling and showing his teeth. That quickly brought Norberta to a perfect state of immobility, waiting as Shimmer glared at her a little bit more before moving back to let her stand up.
"He's gonna be a better parent then you." Joked Ron toward Hagrid.
"Well, he is a dragon. But I'm his mommy. You hear that Shimmer? I'm his mommy." Hagrid tried to validate his point to Shimmer, who didn't understand.
"What mommy?" He asked, looking around.
"Shimmer? We got that covered already." Said Hermione, knowing that he should know what it meant.
"Hagrid. Not mommy. Mommy girl. Hagrid boy. Hagrid daddy." Surmised Shimmer, quite certain of himself.
"I- that's very good Shimmer!" Praised him Hermione, petting his head, happy to see he was remembering well as well as being capable more complex reasoning.
"It's a figure of speech. I'm his daddy." Nodded Hagrid, understanding the little dragon's mistake.
Purring under Hermione's hand, Shimmer turned to look at her, and just as he did so, his eyes passed on an opened window. And the boy behind it.
Screeching loudly, scaring everyone, he leapt from his place on the table to the window, making the boy fall.
"There's someone outside!" Realised Neville.
Rushing to the door, Ron and Hermione got the time to see the shape of another student running away in the night, quickly vanishing in the shadows of the night. But even that far away, it was impossible not to recognise the very unique blond hair on the student's head. Closing the door again, they looked at Hagrid that was positively ashen.
"Oh dear." He said, letting discouragement colour his voice.
Malfoy had seen the dragon.
"It was Malfoy." Sombrely said Ron.
"Do you think he'll tell a teacher?" Wondered Neville.
"Maybe?" Tentatively said Hermione. "Hagrid?"
"I- it's just, I don't want to lose Norberta." He said with a small tear in his eye.
"He's already crazy about her." Said Ron impressed.
Shimmer was growling in his corner. He recognised both the face and the name of the human boy, and was starting to be really angry at him. His tail was lashing out angrily behind him, and in the middle of it all Norberta was devouring her bacon without a care in the world, only wary of those who might steal her bacon. At least, Shimmer thought, she had the good reaction about keeping her food.
"What should we do?" Asked Neville.
"You've already done enough. It's already late, you should be in your dormitory. Here, I'll give you a note." Firmly said Hagrid, standing up and taking a large feather to write down a few words on a bit of perchment.
"Are you going to be okay?" Asked Hermione.
"Ay. I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow." He said, handing Hermione the note.
A bit forced out of the hut, the four friends made their way back to their beds. Three humans toward the dormitory, one dragon to his hoard.
Shimmer was wondering if this new dragon, Norberta if he heard correctly, would need to be shown how to get a proper hoard. He wouldn't give her a single coin, not even to demonstrate anything, yet he would happily go coin hunting with her. But there was one thing that worried him a lot.
Hermione gave him coins almost everyday. She would do well not to do the same with Norberta. He wouldn't share coins with her.
AN:
Hi! Valexto at the Keyboard!
Thanks a lot for the great reviews, as always! It's good to see the story being appreciated.
Some of the ideas I see in the reviews are quite interesting. Some, like Hoodedgenius98 's idea, are similar to some of the possibilities I have either thought of or read. I hadn't thought yet of having Shimmer guarding the stone, it would probably be efficient as no one would know where to look at or even know that he has the stone, but getting it back would indeed be a pain.
I should probably gather all the ideas I saw in the reviews, to not forget about them. I could pass next to some great possibilities otherwise.
Today's chapter was supposed to be longer, but it's because I want to take a bit more time for Shimmer and Norberta to interact with each other, so this chapter is more about the birth of Norberta. And how Shimmer reacted to her. Like this, I'll be free to make another chapter or two with Norberta.
See you soon!