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

Chapter 10

It had been almost an entire month since Shimmer learned the difference between a Knut, a Sickle and a Galleon. During this time Hermione helped him a lot to work on his speech but it remained quite basic, just a few words and some basics about making sentences but it wasn't going much further than that as he was incapable to speak either too long or too complicated words and he simply couldn't grasp most of the human concepts that Hermione tried to taught him. These teachings also helped him a lot to better understand humans and how they lived and while he agreed with the concept of a school to teach the younglings how the world around them worked, he didn't understand why none were taught how to hunt. How would they be able to survive once they'll be adults? He had no answer to that question.

Of course, in all this time his hoard had kept growing even more as he got accustomed with the school and its many shortcuts, hidden entrances and the nightmare of a labyrinth that was the inside of the castle. Now his hoard was big enough that he slept on a pile of coins that was larger than his whole body, enough to not touch the planks of the floor of his hideout.

The last days had been quite calm but he could tell that something was bothering Hermione, she wasn't as happy as usual and she kept saying words that he couldn't understand like this 'egghead' thing, whatever it meant. He had tried to cheer her up by nuzzling her and purring and while it worked every time, he always had to try even harder the next time they met. He had never felt worry for anyone else other than himself in his life so it was quite unsettling for him to care about someone else and a human at that. But it didn't bothered him in the slightest, Hermione was very nice, patient enough to teach him how to speak human and always ended their meetings either by giving him a coin or a little slice of meat. Or both.

Today had been quite the quiet day, spent hunting in the morning without much success, watching the old man in his tower and his amazing collection of precious objects and trinkets in the early afternoon. The only thing that bothered him was when he went to see Hermione: she wasn't at the window at the time they usually met, a bit unusual but it happened before so he let it slide. Now he was taking a little flight in the early hours of the night, relaxing in the air currents that allowed him to fly without efforts for a few good long minutes.

He was however disturbed by a loud grunt followed by a few human words that he didn't know but the tone made it clear that the human saying them was angry. Curious, he flew down toward the direction he heard the sounds come from and his eyes widened as they defined the shadows going toward the castle. It was a creature that he never saw before, walking on two legs like a human an carrying himself similarly but that's where the similarities ended.

The creature was huge, walking clumsily on massive feet. His hands were as big as his feet and he carried a large wooden club on his shoulder, next to his small ugly head were a dumb expression laid between his eyes and opened mouth that revealed large teeth. Quite surprisingly, a human was hidden in the shadows near a door of the castle where he forced the troll to go inside. All he could see about that human was that he appeared to be male was wearing very long robes. The big creature lowered himself to get in and the human gave a quick glance outside before closing the door behind them.

Shimmer didn't really knew what to do of what just happened. He didn't know what creature was with the human and had no idea if it was normal or not, having never seen one before.

Perplex, he flew toward the main part of the castle and landed next to the big windows where he could see the big room where the humans ate. Their meals seemed to have already started, many were gorging themselves with food, especially the red-haired boy that he saw in the train and flew against a few weeks ago and Shimmer could only wonder how he could eat that much food that fast. Even he wouldn't be able to keep up.

The humans were all talking happily but he couldn't understand why the little ones were separated by different tables, with different colours on their clothes. He briefly remembered Hermione explained something about that but he forgot what. His eyes went to the food displayed on the tables and he wished so hard to at least be able to go down there at least once to try the many plates of food that looked delicious, especially the numerous meats that made him droll every time he got a catch of their scent.

But what got his attention at the table of the students with red robes was Hermione. And more especially the lack of Hermione. She was always sat at the same spot so it wasn't hard for him to notice her absence and he couldn't help but be worried; of all the times he watched over the dining hall, Hermione had never been absent. He looked around the whole place, hoping to find her at another seat but she was nowhere in sight. Even the teachers table didn't had the girl and he noticed that another seat was empty at their table, the one with the teacher wearing that weird piece of rag on his head and that smelled like death, but he didn't gave it anymore attention, focusing on finding Hermione.

He might have stayed there the whole night in a hope to see Hermione when the great doors of the hall opened loudly and he recognized the missing teacher coming in quickly and shouting something, a troll apparently, before falling face first on the ground, completely exhausted or terrorized. Frankly, Shimmer couldn't tell which one brought him down.

But whatever the teacher had said, the effects were instantaneous. All the children in the hall started to scream and ran around when the old man spoke far louder than Shimmer thought him capable of, stopping all the students in their steps and reducing them to silence. He said a few more words and some of the older humans started to organise the evacuation. Shimmer remained there for a few seconds and then took off, worried for Hermione as all the humans seemed to be afraid of something, until he heard a sound that sounded like a heavy crash, like if a tree had just broken down.

Slowing down as he passed around a few buildings, trying to get closer to the sound he just heard, a loud scream suddenly pierced the night in one building a bit behind him. Turning around, he passed in front of several windows quickly until he saw one of them being broke down by a massive club, wood, glass and stone falling toward the ground quickly and leaving a small hole in the wall as another scream followed, coming from a voice he instantly recognized.

"Ahhhh! Help!"

Folding his wings, he passed through the hole and instantly recognized the weird creature that he saw earlier, the same one that had been let in by a human. It was even uglier under the light of the room and appeared even more stupid than before, not noticing Shimmer's presence and focusing only on Hermione that crawled from under a pile of crushed wood.

The monster raised his club, ready to strike again as Hermione tried in vain to crawl away.

Not waiting a second longer, Shimmer let out a threatening screech and dove straight on the monster's head, all claws and fangs out. He passed a first time, trying to dig his talons in the scalp of its head but it didn't appeared to do much and he passed a second time only to have the same result. He tried to dig all of his sharp weapons on the creature's head but it was completely useless, its skin was so hard that he barely managed to leave a scratch. During all this time Hermione kept avoiding the club, falling left and right and missing her by only a couple of centimeters.

At least his attacks seemed to annoy the creature a bit as it raised its empty hand to push him away like one would try to remove an annoying fly. Another scream from Hermione was all Shimmer needed to double his assaults and he aimed for a softer and easier part of the monster: its ears. Opening his mouth wide, he bit down hard on the overly big left ear of the monster that let out a roar of pain as blood started to run on the creature's head and neck, Shimmer tasting both the blood and the disgusting skin of the ear.

"Shimmer! Help-me!" Screamed Hermione as she jumped to her right to avoid another strike, falling hard on her stomach.

Figuring that he wouldn't beat the monster like that, Shimmer let go of the ear right as the massive hand of the creature rushed to its ear, almost catching him. He had no doubt that a single strike of the massive hand would be enough crush his body but he was far more agile and kept flying around, making himself a very hard target for the slow and clumsy creature.

Opening his mouth again, Shimmer unleashed a stream of fire right in the monster's face before moving away as the monster howled in pain and dropped its club, putting one hand on its face to protect it from the flames while using the other in a useless attempt to catch him. It was hard to admit for the little dragon but the creature was incredibly resilient, barely burned with only a few scorched black spots but at least it was impossible to tell if it ever had any eyebrows.

Flying around, always staying on the move, Shimmer let out another jet of flames on the monster's face but it didn't do much. Even this didn't really helped Hermione as she was trapped in a corner of the room with the monster flailing left and right, making it impossible for her to pass next to it.

But he wasn't the only one changing tactic. The monster grabbed his club again and tried to crush him only to smash the weapon into the wall, stones falling on the ground as Hermione screamed again, terrified and afraid to see Shimmer being crushed to death.

Returning to his original strategy, Shimmer stopped right in the face of the ugly creature and bit down on his nose as hard as he could with a small stream of blood following. Another scream of pain came from its big mouth, almost deafening him in the process. He had no idea of what was going on inside the creature's head but it raised its club and, right as Shimmer moved away to not be crushed, smashed itself in the head with a sickening crunch. Shimmer stood in the air near the monster's head as it wobbled a bit before falling down hard on its belly, its body going completely limp. Only for good measure, he landed on its head and bit on the ear again but got no reaction, meaning that this fight was over.

He had won, proving that he was stronger that this monster. He fully opened his wings and let out a roar of victory. Or it might have been a roar if he had been a massive dragon which he was not, his scream being closer to a loud screech than an actual roar.

With his victory, the pressure of the battle finally dropped and he smelled the horrible scent of the monster. It was very strong and disgusting but also mixed with another scent, one that he didn't know but felt terribly wrong and close to the scent of death. It was so bad that it forced him to close his nostrils in an attempt to block the smell.

"Shimmer?"

That took him out of his musings and he turned to his left, looking at Hermione that was still huddled in the corner of then room, looking at him wide wide eyes and a shallow breath, covered in dust and broken pieces of wood. Seeing the girl reminded him of the many times the creature tried to harm her and he forgot everything about his victory, opening his wings for a second, just the time to land in front of her. As soon as his talons touched the ground, he started to sniff her entirely, looking for any scent of blood as he looked at her arms, legs and head quickly.

But before he could even finish he got trapped between a pair of arms as a sobbing sound came from above, letting out a small squeak at the surprise attack. He raised his head and looked at Hermione that was crying, hugging him tightly to the point it was almost hurting his shoulder blades but he ignored it, returning to his checking as he searched for injuries around her neck.

"I- I'm fine Shimmer... it was... I was so scared!" She cried getting louder at the end as tears flowed freely on her cheeks.

He replied by licking her tears, trying to cheer her up.

"I thought that I... that no one was coming to help me." Hermione sobbed tightening her hug slightly.

"Hermione okay?" Shimmer asked before nuzzling her chin.

"Yes. I'm okay. Just... very scared."

She finally let go of her hug, keeping him on her lap and petting his head, more to reassure herself than him, as he turned to look at the body of the creature that was thankfully still knocked out. He let out a small snort as he could still smell its horrible scent but remained where he was, appreciating the strokes on his head and neck.

"Thank you Shimmer." She said with a very small smile coming on her face.

Hermione really thought that it was over when she saw the giant troll towering her as she exited the toilets. She had barely got the time to walk back that the troll had tried to smash her with its club and she kept avoiding his strikes by a few centimetres until Shimmer arrived, defending her against the troll and ultimately vanquished it. She had been so terrified that she didn't even thought about using her wand to defend herself and she was certain that she would have died if not for Shimmer's intervention. For just a second she thought about how on his own, Shimmer was nicer than almost all of her class, excluding Lavender and Parvati and the two other girls in her room that basically ignored her most of the time. It wasn't much but it was better than being insulted all the time for being a good student.

They remained in the rumbles of the bathroom for two more minutes before the sound of voices and footsteps came from the corridor leading here. While Hermione didn't know how she would explain everything to the teachers, she couldn't let Shimmer be seen here or he would be in even more troubles than he already was. Standing up, she carried him in her arms even if he was pretty heavy for her 11 years old body and walked toward the destroyed window.

"Shimmer you have to go now! No one must see you!" She said quickly, pushing him toward the hole.

"Hermione?" He asked surprised to see her put him outside even if it wasn't the first time that she said that. It took him only a few sessions with Hermione to understand that he shouldn't be seen around her but he didn't wanted to leave her alone after everything that just happened, worried that another monster would come to harm her.

"Bye-bye Shimmer!" Hermione said using their usual farewell, knowing he would understand like that.

He moved from her arms to the window and gave her a last look, a last check to make sure that she was fine.

"Bye-bye." He said before jumping in the air and flying away from the building, toward his hoard where he couldn't wait to fall asleep on. It had been a very taxing evening and even if he could have kept fighting for far longer, it had still taken a lot from him as he hadn't eaten anything since this morning. But he would catch up later.

Now he just wanted to go to his hoard and profit of a well-deserved rest, happy to know that Hermione was safe.

In the girl's bathroom, Hermione had just forced Shimmer to leave that she turned around and a second later a few of the professors arrived, including professor McGonagall followed by professor Snape, professor Quirrell and lastly by headmaster Dumbledore. They all wore a look of surprise and awe at seen the little girl standing next to the wall with a hole inside, the troll knocked out between them as Quirrell sat down apparently scared of the monster, clutching his heart.

"Miss Granger what are you doing here? Why are you not in your dormitory?" Started Minerva McGonagall looking very strictly and sternly at Hermione, barely hiding her fury.

"I- I'm sorry, I didn't know about that. I've been here for the last hour." She answered lowering her head.

"And what were you doing here that stopped you to go eat with your friends?" Continued the stern woman.

Hermione didn't replied. How could she tell them that she was crying because said 'friends' preferred to be mean and cruel to her rather than anything else. In shame, she kept her head down and remained silent, avoid the stern gaze of both professor McGonagall and Snape.

"Speak girl! Why were you here?!" Harshly asked the head of the Slytherin house.

Hermione winced under the order and she could barely contain herself anymore, she was hiding the truth from her teachers and it went against everything she ever did in a school.

"I- I came here b-because my classmates k-keeps laughing and insulting me each time I'm trying to answer in class. They say that I... that I'm an egghead and a nightmare." She said incapable to stop the small sobs.

At that the stern face of Minerva melted, replaced by empathy for a few seconds and then again by anger but this time directed toward her own house. She wouldn't allow this kind of behaviour to continue between the members of her house.

"My apologies, Miss Granger, it seems that my outburst was uncalled for. Rest assured that everything will be done to rectify this tomorrow, I only ask of you to inform me sooner of such issues in the future." Said Minerva putting a hand on the girl's shoulder, still a bit stern even if her eyes were saying otherwise.

By now Hermione was breathing heavily and she nodded, incapable to speak for now. She kept her head low until the unmistakable robes of the headmaster appeared in front of her and she raised her head to look at the headmaster. He was looking at her with his grandfatherly smile and spoke with great care as she looked at him.

"It is good to know that you are safe Miss Granger. I believe it is the first time a first year defeats a troll on her own, truly a remarkable feet. Would you mind telling me how you managed to do that?" He asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

Panic suddenly surged in her mind that went overcharged in an attempt to find a solution but she wasn't good at all at lying and she had no idea of what she could say that would not appear ridiculous or anything that would be credible. She kept thinking for a few seconds as everyone around her waited in a heavy silence that only made it harder for her to come up with something.

"Well Miss Granger?" Asked professor Snape towering her with a cold glare.

"I- I-..." No matter what she thought she had no idea of what she could say beside the truth but she didn't wanted to put Shimmer in danger. He had risked his life for her and she would be damned if she didn't do the same for him.

She was however interrupted by the gentle hand falling on her shoulder and she looked up again at Dumbledore that still had a smile plastered on his face.

"I believe me and Miss Granger will have a little chat in my office." He said very gently, only making it worse for Hermione that could already see herself being expelled from the school for lying to the teachers.

She stood silent and refrained to cry as the old Headmaster took her toward his office, fearing that she would never see Shimmer again.

The door of the headmaster closed behind her that she stood up in front of his office, waiting for the old man to sit and invite her to do the same.

"Please take a seat, Miss Granger."

She obeyed and kept her head low, avoiding to look in his eyes.

"Now Miss Granger, can I call you Hermione?" He asked.

She replied by nodding quickly.

"Good. Sherbet lemon?" He asked showing a little bowl full of yellow candy.

Now she shook her head even quicker.

"Hermione, I will first say that you are not in trouble. You will not be excluded and I see no reason to contact your parents other than to tell them that you are fine."

Her head snapped up so fast that she almost broke her neck. She stared at him incredulously, not believing that he was saying the truth.

"I'm not? But I-" She started before stopping as Dumbledore raised his hand.

"As I said, you're not in trouble. I believe that facing a troll is a traumatizing enough experience for today, no need to go any further. I promise you that nothing will happened to you, I simply want to know what happened within the bathroom." He said smiling.

Even if she was apparently saved from any consequences, she couldn't speak about Shimmer. It would either mean his death or him being taken away and she didn't wanted her only friend to disappear. But she was again stopped by the headmaster's next words.

"Now Hermione, far from me the idea of taking away the feet of taking down a troll tonight, but we both know that you didn't do it alone. Our little flying fire-breathing friend was there, Hermione." He continued with a small smile.

At that her mouth dropped and it was all the old man needed to confirm his doubts.

"The smell of dragon fire is something that I know very well, there's no need to go around the bush. I've met him too you know? He keeps coming at my window and spend a few minutes every day to stare at all of this." He said pointing the many objects made out of gold lying on shelves.

"I- Really?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yes, and I can assure you that I have no wish to take him away, I appreciate his regular visits and I believe that he has his place at Hogwarts. All I want to know is what happened in the bathroom."

She took a long breathe, letting go of her fears and choosing to trust the headmaster since there was no way to hide the truth. At least not all of it.

"I was crying in the toilets after being insulted again and I saw the troll when I came out. He tried to crush me with his club until he made a hole in the wall and that's when... the dragon came in. He attacked the troll, bit him even if it didn't work until he breathed fire at it. The dragon kept annoying him until the troll got enough and smashed itself in the head with his club in an attempt to kill the dragon. After it was over the dragon just looked at the body and flew away by the window." She explained, omitting only the most important details like Shimmer's name or that she hugged him when she was terrified.

The headmaster kept thinking silently for a few seconds, eyes closed and passing his right hand through his long beard until his eyes focused again on Hermione.

"I see. It seems our little friend is more active than I thought, not that it's a bad thing mind you."

Hermione let out a small sigh of relief but it didn't last long.

"Now, would you mind telling me everything you know about our little dragon? I believe you know a little more than that. It also reminds me that Hagrid met him too and it appears that our friend is called Shimmer, as he told Hagrid. Any idea why?" He asked as another twinkle appeared in his eyes.

Hermione was panicking again at the thought of telling what she had learned from the dragon and what she had taught him. While she trusted Dumbledore, she was worried at the idea to reveal everything about Shimmer since it might take her only friend at Hogwarts away. But it could also make things easier for her to see Shimmer more frequently without the fear of getting caught by a teacher or another student if Shimmer was allowed on the school grounds.

She took a deep breath before giving her answer.

"Can I- do I have to answer this question sir?" She asked.

This seemed to genuinely surprise the old Headmaster if the fading smile was of any indication.

"Well, you don't have to but I would like you to." He replied.

"Sir I want to tell you the truth but... I don't want to lose my friend." She explained with a pleading look in her eyes.

Dumbledore remained silent for a few seconds and she felt like he was looking into her soul for a couple of seconds. And suddenly it was over and the old man let out a long sigh before relaxing in his chair.

"Alright Hermione, I understand and will respect your concerns for Shimmer. Let me tell you that I plan to officially introduce him to the school very soon, nothing excessive and I will make sure that nothing happens to him. You're free to return to your dormitory, it is getting late after all. A good night sleep will do you the best."

Hermione would have liked to know what he meant by introducing Shimmer but the conversation was already over. She would have to wait and see what Dumbledore was talking about, but she dreaded to think about how wrong it could go. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if Shimmer was harmed because of her lack of faith in the headmaster or, at the contrary, if she choose to trust him only to see Shimmer be put in a cage and taken away. Her mind told her to trust the old Headmaster but she couldn't, not with the life of Shimmer being at stake.

"Goodnight, sir." Hermione said standing up.

"Goodnight, Miss Granger."