NOTHING ELSE REALLY CHANGED. Quirrell had grown paler and thinner than usual, meaning he hadn't cracked yet. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Harper always made sure to walk past the hidden door to hear Fluffy growling. Snape was still grumpy which meant the stone was still safe.

With the exams coming closer and closer, Hermione had started drawing a study schedules and colour coding all of her notes. Harper copied her. Though the stone might be in danger, she still wanted good grades.

However, nagging the boys to do the same wasn't Hermione's smartest plan.

"Hermione, the exams are ages away!" Harry exclaimed.

"Ten weeks!" Hermione snapped.

"I'm ready!" Ron boasted and Harper rolled her eyes.

"Alright then," Hermione began. "What are the three most crucial ingredients in a Forgetfulness Potion?"

Ron looked irritated and defeated at the same time. "I forgot."

"And may I ask what you will do if this comes up in an exam?" Hermione asked snobbishly.

"Copy of you!"

"No you won't," Hermione snapped angrily. "Besides, I've heard that Professor McGonagall will be giving us special quills with an anti-cheating spell."

"That's insulting!" Ron exclaimed. "It's like they don't even trust us!"

Harper shook her head, smiling, as she opened one of her books. They were currently doing their homework in the library. The teachers had given them a workload for the Easter Holidays, so this holiday wasn't near as fun as the Christmas holiday had been.

"Hagrid!" Ron exclaimed and Harper's head snapped up. "What are you doing in the library?"

Hagrid shuffled towards them and Harper could tell he was hiding something behind his back. Suspicious.

"Jus' looking," he replied. "An' what're you lot up ter? Yer not still lookin' for Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Nah," Harper replied. "We have found out about him ages ago."

"And we know what the dog is guarding," Ron added. "It's the Philosopher—"

"Shh!" Hagrid interrupted him while looking around, trying to see if anyone had heard him. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we would like to ask you," Harry began. "About what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy—"

"SHHH!" Hagrid shushed again. "Listen—come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', but don' go rabbitin' about it here, students aren' supposed to know. They'll think I've told yeh."

He walked out of the library and Harper looked at the others. "What was he hiding behind his back?"

"I'll go and see what section he was in," Ron said while standing up. He quickly disappeared behind the shelves of book only to come out with a pile of books in his arms.

He slammed it on the table. "Dragons!" He whispered. "Hagrid was looking for stuff about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno; A Dragon Keeper's Guide."

"Hagrid always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time we met." Harry said.

Harper's eyes widened in realization. She took her things, threw them in her bag, and hurried out of the library. She could hear the others running behind her and asking her where she was going.

"Hagrid," Harper replied while slowing down. "I think, no, I am almost sure he's got a dragon."

"But how?" Ron asked. "That's illegal."

Harper shrugged. "You know Hagrid. He must have found a way."

They arrived at Hagrid's door and were surprised to see that the curtains were closed. Harper gave the others a pointed look. Hagrid's curtains were never closed.

Harry knocked and Hagrid called a "who is it?" before opening the door to let them in. Harper found this even more suspicious.

They entered the hut and the first thing Harper noticed was that it was steaming hot inside. Taking off her cloak, she went to sit next to Ron while Hagrid was making some tea. The four of them kindly refused the stoat sandwiches he offered, knowing it was better if they didn't eat them.

"So—yeh wanted to ask me something'?"

"Yeah," Harry replied. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned at them. "O' course I can' tell yeh. Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I won' tell yeh if I could. That's Stone is here for a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts—I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

"We just wondered who Dumbledore trusted enough to help him, apart from you," Harper said.

"Well," Hagrid said, "I don' s'ppose it could hurt yer tell yeh that, let's see . . . he borrowed Fluffy from me . . . then some o' teachers did enchantments; Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, Professor Quirrel and—" he stopped, thinking about something "—I think I forgot someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape?" Harry repeated, trying to find out if he had heard it right.

"Yeh," Hagrid replied, looking at them suspiciously. "Yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not abou' to steal it."

Harper and the others exchanged a worried glance. If Snape was one of the teachers protecting the Stone, it'd be easy for him to pass the other obstacles.

"So you're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" Harry asked anxious. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," Hagrid replied proudly and Harper let out a relieved sigh.

"Well," Ron muttered, "that's something."

"Hagrid," Harry began, while taking off his robe, "can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

Harper was glad he asked. It was getting hot inside. Her hairs were starting to stick against here forehead.

"Can't Harry, sorry," he replied while looking in the fire. 

Harper followed his gaze and her mouth fell open. She crouched down to come closer.

"Ron," she said, tugging his sleeve to get his attention. "Is that what I think it is?"

In the heart of the fire, Harper could see a huge black egg.

"A dragon egg," Ron said while narrowing his eyes. "Where did you get that?"

"It must have cost a fortune!" Harper added while standing back up to look at Hagrid.

"Won it," Hagrid replied. "Las' night. I was down the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game of cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

Harper narrowed my eyes and exchanged a glance with the other. How in Merlin's name did anyone get a dragon egg? Last time she saw Charlie, he told her it was hard to come by.

"But what are you going to do with it when it hatches?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," Hagrid said and he pulled out a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library—Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit—it's a bit outta date, o'course, but it's all here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breath on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour—what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare."

Harper beamed enthusiastically. She had always found dragons interesting. This would be fun.

• ✧ •

     HARPER WOULD BE LYING IF SHE SAID THAT she wasn't excited for the egg to hatch, but she was also worried that someone would find out about Hagrid's egg and that he would get in trouble for it.

The four of them were currently in the library doing their homework, while Hermione was drilling them about the exams. It was driving Harry and Ron nuts.

Then, in the morning a week later, they finally received a letter from Hagrid.

It's hatching.

As quick as she could, Harper grabbed her things things to run to Hagrid's but was stopped by no other than Hermione.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Harper looked at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Going to Hagrid's. I wanna see the egg hatch." She could see Harry and Ron agreeing next to her.

"We've got classes," Hermione replied as matter of factly. "We'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's been doing . . ."

"Shut up!" Harry whispered while looking at something behind them.

The three of them turned their heads and saw Malfoy standing just a few feet behind them. He must have stopped dead to listen. Harper stiffened at the look on his face. How much had he heard?

"Come on," Harry said while pulling the others with him. Hermione leaded them to Herbology, to Harper's dismay, but at least she agreed to go at breakfast break.

Once the bell rang, the four of them dropped everything they were doing and dashed out of the classroom. They ran towards the grounds to the edge of the forest. Hagrid greeted them.

"Did we missed it?" Harper asked out of breath. "Please say we didn't."

Hagrid laughed. "You're right on time, it's nearly out." He ushered them inside and Harper's eyes sparkled when she saw the still unhatched egg lying on the table.

We were on time.

The moment they kneeled down to watch the egg, it started to crack.

"This is amazing," Harper whispered.

There was a scraping noise and the egg split open. Harper smiled when she saw the baby dragon tumbling out of its egg.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid whispered while reaching out to stroke the head of the dragon.

"He sure is," Harper agreed.

The dragon snapped at Hagrid's fingers, showing pointed fangs.

"Bless him, look!" Hagrid exclaimed. "He knows his mummy!"

Hermione frowned at the dragon. "Hagrid," she started. "How fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"

Hagrid was about to answer when all the colour was suddenly drained from his face with something he saw behind them. Harper turned around to follow his gaze. "What's wrong, Hagrid?"

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains—it's a kid—he's running back up ter the school."

Harper dashed towards the door and pulled it open. She could see a boy with platinum blond hair running towards the castle and cursed.

Malfoy had seen the dragon.

• ✧ •

NONE OF THEM LIKED THE DEVIOUS LOOKS Malfoy send their way. Harper and the others  spend most of their time at Hagrid's, trying to reason with him.

"Just let him go," Harry urged. "Set him free."

"I can't," Hagrid argued. "He's too little, he'd die."

Harper raised her eyebrow. That 'little' dragon started to grow and grow. It was already three times his length in a week and Hagrid wasn't been doing all his tasks since he was so busy with his dragon.

"I decided to call him Norbert," Hagrid proudly said. "He really knows me now, Norbert! Norbert! Where is mummy?"

"Hagrid," Hermione said, "give it two weeks and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment."

That's when an idea popped into Harper's head.

"I've got it!" she exclaimed. "We can send Norbert to Charlie! He's studying dragons in Romania, sure he must have some space for another dragon?"

"That's bloody brilliant," Ron said. "Charlie can take care of him until he's old enough and then he can set him free again!"

Harper looked sideways at Hagrid. "What do you think of that? He can grow up with other dragons?"

Hagrid hesitating but agreed in the end and the four of them send a letter to Charlie.

Another week later, Hermione, Harry and Harper sat in the common room while everyone was already to bed. They were waiting for Ron who was at Hagrid's to help him feed the dragon.

The red haired boy dashed into the Common Room. "It bit me!" he told them while showing his finger that was wrapped into a bloody handkerchief. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week! I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid's goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me, he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby!"

Harper frowned worriedly. This was getting out of hand. Dragon's weren't meant to be controlled.

Harper heard a tap at the window and snapped out of her thoughts.

"It's Dale!" Harry exclaimed while opening the window to let the owl in. "He has Charlie's reply!"

The owl landed on Harper's arm and she took the letter. "Good boy," she praised him, giving him some sweets before opening the letter and reading it out loud.

"Dear Ron and Harper,

How are you? Haven't seen the both of you in a long time, thanks for the letter.

To come at the matter of fact, I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't get seen carrying an illegal dragon.

Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark.

Send me an answer as soon as possible.

Love,
Charlie."

The four of them exchanged a glance.

"We have an Invisibility Cloak," Harry began, "it shouldn't be too difficult—I think the Cloak's big enough to cover two of us and Norbert."

"Alright," Harper stated. "Who's going with Harry and who's going to stay with Ron?"

"I think you should go, Harp," Hermione said. "You like the dragon more than I do."

"Tolerate, Hermione," Harper corrected her. "There is a big difference between like and tolerate."

"But you're coming with me?" Harry asked while looking sideways at her.

Harper winked at him. "Of course I will."

• ✧ •

     HARPER AND THE OTHERS WERE SITTING AT breakfast the next morning, and the red head was staring at Ron's swollen hand with a concerned look.

"That doesn't look good, Ron," she told him. "Maybe you should go and see Madam Pomfrey?"

"But what if she recognizes the bite? I don't want her to find out about Norbert," Ron argued.

"It's that or loosing your hand," Harry said.

Way to go, brother, Harper thought, as she saw Ron starting to pale.

"I'm so you won't lose your hand," she said, but she didn't really sound convinced.

Ron finally went to the hospital wing and when they saw him again at the end of the day, he looked even worse.

"Are you alright?" Harper asked him worried. "You look like if you're going to throw up."

"It's not just my hand," Ron confessed, laying in a hospital bed. "Though it feels like it will fall off." He looked at it grimly before looking at the others again. "Malfoy told Madame Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening me to tell her what had really bitten me—I told her that it was a dog but I don't think she believed me."

"It'll be over at midnight on Saturday," Hermione tried to calm him. That didn't work, instead he bolted up and Harper could see the sweat on his forehead.

"Midnight on Saturday!" he exclaimed. "Oh, no—oh, no— I've just remembered—Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert!"

Before one of them could say something, Madam Pomfrey came and shooed them away, saying Ron needed to sleep.

• ✧ •

     NORBERT HAD GROWN LARGER BY THE TIME Sunday came. Hagrid had packed him inside a large crate. Harry and Harper arrived on time at his cabin, eager to get this over with.

"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey." Hagrid said in a muffled voice and Harper could swear she saw tears in his eyes. "An' I've packed his teddy bears in case he gets lonely."

The words hadn't left his mouth or Harper could hear ripping noises from inside.

Guess he found his teddy bear, she thought.

"Bye, bye Norbert," Hagrid sobbed and Harper patted his arm.

"He's going to be happy in Romania, Hagrid, maybe he'll find himself a girlfriend. Wouldn't that be lovely?"

Hagrid smiled down at her. "Yer reminding me so much of yer mother sometimes, Harp."

Harper smiled. "Thank you."

She didn't really know how they had managed to carry the large crate, but it was almost midnight when they reached the foot of the highest tower, panting.

"Come on," Harper breathed heavily. "We're almost there."

She was about the walk further when Harry stopped her.

"Someone's there!" he hissed.

The three of them shrank back into the shadows. There were two people and Harper could make out Professor McGonagall in her bathrobe and a hairnet. She was holding a certain blond haired boy by his ear. Harper quickly put her hand over her mouth so that McGonagall wouldn't be able to hear her chuckles.

"Detention!" Professor McGonagall shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you!"

"You don't understand, Professor," Malfoy argued. "Harry and Harper Potter are coming—they've got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish!" Oh how close she was. "How dare you tell such lies! Come on—I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

They left and Harper and Harry quickly brought the crate to the top of the tower.

Once they were on the top, they threw the Invisibility Cloak off them and sighed relieved.

"How close was that?" Harper whispered. "And how amazing was that?" she added, beaming towards the others. "Malfoy's got detention!"

The two of them grinned at each other and a couple of minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping out of the darkness.

"Hello!" Harper greeted them.

They smiled and greeted them back while buckling Norbert safely into the harness they'd rigged up.

Harper must say, Charlie's friends were a real cheeky lot.

"Have fun with him," I told them while patting the crate. "And say 'hi' to Charlie for me, will you?"

They shook hands and replied that they would travel safely before they were gone, taking Norbert with them.

The two of them descended the stairs, happy to have fixed the dragon problem.

As they reached the corridor, Filch stepped up from the shadows. "Well, well," he whispered. "We are in trouble."

Harper almost facepalmed herself.

They had forgotten the Invisibility Cloak on the top of the tower.

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May 27th 2022
I hope you enjoy it & tell me what you think of it! :)