Chương 53: ITW,H - Chapter 53 - Norbert Hatches

(Word Count: 1, 446) Harry leaned over to Neville, Ron, and Hermione.

"Guys, it's happening," he whispered. Ron looked at him, confused, "What's happening?" Harry cast a quick muffliato around them and showed them the letter.

"The dragon's hatching!"

"Right now?" Ron stood up quickly, "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" He made to run off, but Hermione stopped him.

"Not so fast! Herbology is about to start. We can't go now." Ron looked at her like she was daft.

"We can just skip it! How many times are we going to be able to see a real life dragon hatching?"

"We can't just skip our classes, Weasley," Hermione said stubbornly.

"I don't think I want to skip Herbology," Neville said quietly.

"We don't have to skip the class," Harry said, "The dragon won't hatch until after the class ends. We'll have plenty of time to get down to Hagrid's after Herbology." Hermione crossed her arms and gave a pointed look at Ron, who glowered back.

"Fine," Ron grumbled. They had Herbology with the Slytherins today, so Harry took the time to tell the news to Daphne and Tracey. Tracey was on board with Ron's idea to just skip Herbology all together, but Daphne reasoned that if Harry was here, it must be fine to attend class first. All throughout the class, Ron was grumbling and was barely paying attention at all. As soon as the class ended, everyone scrambled out the door in a rush to get to Hagrid's.

"Hurry up," Ron and Tracey urged the group to go faster.

"What if we miss it?"

"Tracey, don't pull me!" Daphne complained as she was dragged along. When they made it to Hagrid's, Hagrid opened the door for them, and a wave of heat hit them. Hagrid was just as flushed and sweaty as before, but he gave them a relieved smile.

"Well there ye are! I was worried ye were gonna miss it! Come in quick!" He waved them all in. They entered and found a large black egg wobbling on the table. The egg already had deep cracks in it, but it still had a ways to go before it would be able to pull itself out. Everyone gathered around the table in awe.

"What kind of dragon is it?" Tracey asked softly.

"It's a Norwegian Ridgeback! They're really rare! They only have a handful in the dragon reserves!" Ron's eyes glowed in excitement!

"But Hagrid, how on earth did you get it?" Hagrid puffed up his chest in pride.

"I won it! A few nights ago, I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest." As they waited for it to hatch, Hagrid went on to explain everything he knew about raising dragons, patting the book he got from the library.

"All I've to do is feed it a bucket o' brandy every half hour!" Everyone rolled their eyes.

"Yes," Hermione sighed, "you've said as much several times already!" The egg wobbled violently, and from inside they could all hear a shrill cry. The conversation stopped and everyone turned just in time to see the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped out onto the table. It… was wrinkly. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. It had spiny wings that were far larger than its skinny jet black body.

It had a long neck, with a long snout, stubs where horns were already starting to come in, and large, bulging orange eyes. It cooed adorably, causing Hagrid, Ron, and Tracey to all coo themselves with stars in their eyes. Then it sneezed, sending sparks of fire towards Neville. He gasped and flailed back in his chair.

"Ah!"

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured. He reached out to stroke the dragon's head. Seeing the large meaty fingers approaching, it bared its fangs and snapped at them.

"Bless him! Look, he knows his mommy!" Hagrid gushed excitedly to everyone.

"I think you just scared him," Daphne said bluntly.

"Do dragons imprint?" Tracey asked curiously.

"They don't," Ron whispered.

"Hagrid," Hermione started, concerned.

"How fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?" Hagrid was about to answer when he suddenly paled. He leapt to his feet and ran to the window.' And cue Malfoy,' Harry thought. He rushed out the door to see Malfoy running up the hill back to the castle. Harry raised his wand.' Accio!' Draco's clothes jerked him backward, and he was dragged back to Harry. Draco was flailing and cursing when he came to a stop on his back at Harry's feet. When the spell was released, Draco shot to his feet.

"My father will hear about this, Potter!" Harry threw an arm around Draco's shoulders.

"Now, Draco, there's no need to be so dramatic. Why run off? It's not every day you get to see a baby dragon. Come on in!"

"Who said I wanted to see the stupid dragon?" Draco tried to refuse, but Harry ignored that and led him into the hut. He found everyone staring at him. Hagrid was shifting back and forth nervously, awkwardly trying to hide the dragon still on the table.

"Harry, what are you doing? Why are you bringing him in here?" Ron asked, giving Draco a glare. At that, Draco stiffened his posture and stepped forward.

"And why shouldn't I come here?"

"You're just going to snitch and get Hagrid in trouble!" Ron shouted. Draco was about to respond, when Harry interrupted.

"Now, why would he go and do that? I'm sure he just wanted to see the dragon, just like us, right?" Harry then leaned forward and whispered into his ear.

"Say anything about the dragon, and I'll out the secret that you have a muggle gameboy." Draco whirled on him, indignation on his face.

"You! You…" He growled, then huffed and looked away.

"Whatever! I just wanted to see what this dragon egg you were talking about in Herbology." He peaked around Hagrid to get a better look. Hagrid, meanwhile, shuffled over to Harry.

"You sure this is a good idea, Harry?" Hagrid whispered nervously. Harry patted his hands reassuringly.

"Don't worry, Hagrid," He whispered back, "I've got some blackmail on him. He won't tell anyone. Still, it would be for the best if we found a more permanent home for the dragon." Hagrid recoiled as if slapped.

"No way! I can't! He's only a baby!" Neville cried out, and they looked over to find him trying to pull his robe's sleeve out of the dragon's mouth.

"Get it off!" Malfoy laughed, "Don't let it bite you, Longbottom! Dragons are venomous!" Hagrid stepped in and gently pried the dragon's jaws away from Neville's sleeve, and held it gently in his arms like a baby. Its tiny size was dwarfed even further by Hagrid's massive frame.

"Oh, it wouldn't hurt a fly!" Hagrid said, "Dragons are seriously misunderstood creatures!" Harry sighed, "Come on guys, let's leave Hagrid to take care of it. If we stay here any longer, we might not get any lunch." Hermione gave one last worried look back at Hagrid's wooden hut, but turned to follow them all out. ~~ ITW, H ~~ The rest of the day panned out slowly, with Harry nervously fidgeting with his wand holster. Quirrellmort will be going into the forest tonight, and Harry was going to stop him.

Not just that, but he had decided to end things here and now. He would defeat Quirrell, and force Voldemort's shade to flee the castle. Why wait until Voldemort is right in front of the Mirror? Quirrell was already getting weaker and weaker right now! Without being strengthened by the unicorn's blood, he wouldn't last much longer. This was the best time to do it. He couldn't help but be nervous. This would be his first time actually fighting someone to the death. Still, he steeled himself.

He had prepared for this, practically since he had first regained his memories here. Hours passed by and soon dinner was here, but Harry was barely even picking at it.

"Harry, what's wrong? You're hardly eating," Hermione noticed his lack of appetite and was concerned. He smiled at her and brushed it off.

"It's nothing, just… worried about Hagrid." Hagrid wasn't at the teacher's table, obviously too busy with the baby dragon to come. Quirrell wasn't either. As soon as dinner was over, Harry excused himself and stealthily made his way out of the castle with the invisibility cloak. When he was out of sight, he transformed into a crow and flew to the forbidden forest.' $Master! $' One of the snakes spoke.' $The man is here! $'