Chapter Eight: Dungeons and Dragons
On a crisp Friday evening, Hermione was walking outside in the grounds thinking. What was Hogwarts going to be like after graduation? She knew it was too early to dwell on it, but she had to be prepared. Hermione was always prepared. In light of recent events, Gryffindor had beaten Slytherin by at least 60 points in the run for House Cup, but she feared that they would catch up and exceed, and not a moment too soon. What was she going to do after Hogwarts besides support house-elf awareness? What were Ginny and Luna gonna do? What are Harry and Ron planning without any NEWTs? She knew Harry was going to become an Auror, and Ron was on his way to being an Auror as well. Was it going to be enough? Still, she had seven months left in the school year. She still had to remain focused on her revisions.
When she entered inside, Professor McGonagall called over. "Miss Granger!" "Professor. Is there something wrong?" "No, not at all. I understand there have been some complaints as of late about Professor
Periwinkle." Hermione felt her heart race a bit. "Um, complaints? By who?" McGonagall said, "There have been complaints from some other students. Apparently they share the same suspicions as you."
"Suspicions?"
"Hermione, I do not blame you for having your worries, but the woman is clean. No criminal records, no messy behavior, she achieved high marks whilst here." "What makes you think I had anything to do with this?" McGonagall gave her a look. "All right, look, we're all just a little on edge what with everything that's been going on and that's happened." McGonagall patted her shoulder and said, "That's all I wanted to hear. Good night, Miss Granger."
"Good night, professor."
By the time it was getting close to Thanksgiving, the girls were getting prepared to go to the feast in the Great Hall. On all the tables, the students were looking forward to what was on the plates. Turkeys were cooling off, and the mashed potatoes were fresh. The house-elves were tending to the pumpkin pies in the kitchens. Hermione inhaled through her nose deeply, enjoying the amazing sensational fragrance of the feast. "Mmm, Hogwarts really goes all out during the Thanksgiving holidays." "I'll say," Ginny said, "I mean, look at how well those house-elves are dressed." Hermione looked confused and then she saw some of the elves were wearing tuxedos.
By the time everybody was done with the feast, the girls were headed to their common rooms to sleep it off. Hermione could've sworn she heard a noise somewhere. She turned around trying to make out what that sound was. She walked to the Viaduct. She walked down the corridor and heard what sounded like a growl. Hermione walked downstairs into the dungeons, into the corridor and headed towards a door. She stepped closer and almost pressed her ear onto the door. There was a loud roar, and Hermione stepped back. "What on Earth?" she asked.
Hermione went back to the Gryffindor common room with a worried look on her face. "Hermione, where did you go?" Ginny asked. "I waited for you." "Ginny, I heard something coming from the dungeons."
"All the way from the Great Hall?"
"It was coming from underneath. Anyway, when I got there, it sounded like a dragon." "Dragons again?" Ginny asked. "What would dragons be doing in the dungeons?"
"That's what I intend to find out."
Growling was heard in the dungeons. The girls tiptoed downstairs into one of the unknown rooms below. Hermione took out her wand and started to point it. "Lumos," and the tip of her wand lit up. Dragons were in cages. One by one, they were all awake, standing in a corner so that no one will go anywhere near them. These dragons, Hermione noticed, were very different than the ones from the first Triwizard task. Ginny was astonished by how very well groomed they were. Luna was astonished by the sight of them. Ginny asked, "Why are they keeping dragons in the dungeons? Are they holding another Triwizard Tournament?" Hermione was beside herself, "Don't be ridiculous, Ginny, there's not going to be another tournament for another couple of years, decades even." "This one looks awful," Luna piped up and the other two looked into a cage and noticed a tiny little dragon with no claws of its own. "Oh, that poor little guy," said Ginny as she examined him. Hermione was thinking about this, she felt like she needed to talk to an expert on magical creatures, and she knew just the person with the exact same experience.
Hagrid was pouring tea for the girls. "I suspect yer wondering why there are dragons here again." Ginny said, "We saw there were at least three or four dragons there." Hagrid explained, "Well, the reason for that is the Ministry has recently been running out of places to take care of them, so they asked me to take them in." Hermione looked confused, "Why are they asking you to take care of them? Not that you can't handle it, it's just that... Well, Hagrid, the last time you took care of a dragon..."
Hagrid remembered Norberta and Hermione continued on, "I just don't want you getting too attached." Hagrid sighed, "Hermione, the dragons need us. It's not just me taking care of them. Flitwick and Sprout are doing their part, and Madam Pomfrey is doing a remedy for the cute little one without claws." Luna piped up, "Why did that little one look so sad?"
"Tha' lil dragon has been through a lot. He lost 'is father to a hunter a while back." Ginny said, "That can't be possible." "Oh, but sadly, it's true," Hagrid said. "The hunter's the one that took his claws. We need to find new families for these guys." Hermione said, "Is there any other reason for keeping them here? I mean, besides taking care of them?"
"No," Hagrid said, "we enjoy having them here. I guess it would be nice to keep dragons 'round here, and it's technically legal, what with permission given by the Ministry, so..." Hermione was pleased, but she still felt like the dragons needed a home. No better home than Hogwarts. The little one without the claws, however, still needed time to recover from the lack of claws, so without any question, she was finally content with all this, though she was still not comfortable with the growling.
"Hagrid, you could always take care of that little one. It really is a boy this time, so maybe you could name him Norbert. Or come up with another name." Hagrid smiled, "I'd enjoy that, Hermione. I really would. Heh."
