CHAPTER NINE:

Third Person P.O.V.:

By the time the four Gryffindors had snuck out of the castle, the sun had set and curfew would come soon after. Harry, Hermione, Charlie and Ron had all successfully made their way up to Hagrid's front door before Charlie knocked twice.

As the half-giant opened the door, he sighed, "'Ello yeh lot. 'Orry, don't wish to be rude, but I'm in no fit state to entertain yeh today."

With that, Hagrid quickly tried to shut the door before the four kids all screamed out simultaneously, "We know about The Philosopher's Stone!"

This comment caused the half-giant to open the door once again, "Oh. In yeh come then."

The four gracefully entered Hagrid's Hut behind him, while Ron had shut the door after they entered.

It wasn't long before Harry began telling Hagrid their conclusion about their long haired professor, "We think Snape's trying to steal it."

"Snape?" Hagrid questioned, "Blimey. You're not still on about him, are yeh?"

"Hagrid," Harry pleaded as the four sat down in front of the fireplace, "We know Snape's after the Stone, we just want to know why."

Hagrid sighed and shook his head, "Snape is one of the teachers protecting the Stone. He's not 'bout to steal it."

Hermione shared a confused glance with the three young boys. After a moment, Charlie spoke, "Wait, what?"

"You heard," Hagrid retaliated, "Right. Come on, now, I'm a bit preoccupied like I said."

The brown eyed boy watched as Ronald Weasley has zoned out from the conversation and was now holding a staring contest with Hagrid's dog, Fang. He fought back the urge to laugh as he figured now might not be the best time.

Harry, on the other hand, spoke again in a confused tone, "One of the teachers?"

"Of course!" Hermione began, "There are other things guarding the stone, aren't there? Spells and enchantments."

"Exactly," Hagrid affirmed, "Seems like a bloody waste of time if yeh ask me, ain't no one getting passed Fluffy. Ain't a soul who knows how, except me and Dumbledore."

For a second time, the half-giant realized that he told the four Gryffindors too much, "Oh goodness me. Shouldn't have said that. Should not have said that."

Suddenly, there was a clanking noise coming from Hagrid's fireplace. The young boys and girl quickly snapped their heads at the sound, Charlie to see what it was. Hagrid, on the other hand, looked rather pleased. He quickly reached into the cauldron that was set over his fireplace and pulled out what Charlie could only assume, was an egg of some kind.

The half-giant carried the egg to the table in his hands, all the while making of bunch of "oh" sounds because of how hot it was. The four kids quickly got up and followed the giant to the table.

"Uh," Harry began before looking up at Hagrid, who was now sitting down, "What exactly is that?"

For the first time, Ron spoke up, "I know what that is! But, Hagrid, how did you get one?"

"I won it," Hagrid explained quickly, "From a stranger down at the pub. Seemed quite glad to be rid of it, as a matter of fact."

The egg on table shook and began to crack. Whatever was inside, was soon going to pop out to say hello. Charlie watched in awe as a baby dragon emerged from the egg, "Wicked!"

"Is that..." Hermione trailed off for a moment before continuing, "A dragon?"

"That's not just a dragon," Ron explained, while too, staring in awe,"That's a Norwegian Ridgeback. My brother, Jack, works with them in Romania!"

Hagrid looked as if he were about to cry, "Isn't he beautiful? Oh, bless him. Look, he knows his mummy."

The small dragon had waddled his way over to edge of the table by Hagrid, "Hello Norbert."

"Norbert?" Charlie questioned with a hysterical smile before looking at his friends to see if they found the name as strange as he did.

"Yeah, well, he's gotta have a name, don't he?" Hagrid answers back quickly.

The brown eyed boy laughed, "I suppose so."

It was then that Hagrid starting playing with the dragon with his big hands. The dragon sneezed and suddenly, Hagrid's beard was on fire, "Well, he'll have to be trained up a bit of course."

With a turn towards the window, Hagrid's face fell, "Who's that?"

The four quickly turned and looked out the window to see what he was looking at. There he was. Draco Malfoy, watching them so intently. As soon as the Slytherin boy realized that the five people in the hut were now watching him, he darted back for the Hogwarts.

"Malfoy," Charlie said with a worried tone, "That can't be good. Let's go."

After a quick farewell to Hagrid, the brown eyed boy ran out of the hut and towards the castle with his three best friends. With them now back in the castle, they walked slowly down the corridors to make sure that they were in the clear.

"Hagrid always did want a dragon," Harry whispered, "He told me so the first time I met him."

Charlie nodded, "Hagrid never does shut up about dragons. Good for him, but it's crazy. And what's worse? Malfoy knows."

"I don't understand, Charlie," Hermione said looking at him, "Will it be that bad?"

"Oh it'll be that bad," Charlie began, looking at the girl, "What's gonna happen to Norbert if Draco's dad comes for a 'surprise' inspecti-"

The boy trailed off as his brown eyes met the disappointed look of Professor McGonagall, "Good evening."

The four Gryffindors were startled as they knew they were sure to be reprimanded for being out past curfew. Then, to no ones surprise, Draco Malfoy peered out from behind Minerva and smirked.

Charlie sent daggers at the blonde haired boy, "You little—"

He was cut off again by McGonagall, "Enough of that Charles! You four, follow me."

As she turned, Draco followed behind her. Harry and Ron reluctantly followed as well. When Charlie didn't move, however, it was Hermione who tugged on his sleeve and spoke with a worried tone, "Please Charlie."

He sighed and gave in as per Hermione's request and let her lead him to McGonagall's classroom where they were to receive there punishment.

The Professor stood behind her desk and looked down on the four students from her own house, "Nothing, I repeat, nothing gives a student the right to walk around the school at night. Therefore, as punishment for your actions, 50 points will be taken."

The four Gryffindors gasped.

"50?!" Harry exclaimed, shocked to all hell.

"You can't be serious!" Charlie added on.

"Oh, I am afraid I am quite serious Charles," McGonagall replied, "You haven't even let me finish. It'll be 50 points for each of you."

The Gryffindor's faces fell even more. All the while, Draco Malfoy was pretty pleased with himself.

"And to ensure it doesn't happen again," McGonagall continued on, "All five of you will receive detention."

Draco looked at the teacher with a completely puzzled expression, "Excuse me Professor, perhaps I heard you wrong. I thought you said the five of us?"

Minerva turned to the blonde haired Slytherin, "No, you heard me correctly, Mr. Malfoy. You see, as honourable as your intentions were, you too, were out of bed after hours. You will be joining your fellow classmates in detention."

Harry and Charlie smirked at one another before turning Malfoy and giving him the same smirk. That's what you get, you slick haired git, Charlie thought.

"All of you are dismissed, off to bed," McGonagall spoke towards all of them before singling her eyes on Charlie, "Except for you, Charles."

Hermione sent a nervous glance in the boy's direction before he just nodded to let her know that he'd be fine. She then reluctantly left the room with Ron, Harry and Draco.

The brown eyed boy turned back to his Professor and raised a brow that urged her to say whatever she was going to say.

"Charlie," Minerva began, "I really hope that this obvious disregard for the rules doesn't become a habit for you. I wouldn't wish for you to get into any more trouble because if you do, I may be expected to bring your grandfather or worse, your father into it. And I know that you know, we both don't want that to be an option. Do you understand?"

Charlie gulped before nodding his head, "I understand. It won't happen again Professor, I can assure you."

McGonagall could sure be scary as hell when she wanted to be.

"Good." The female Professor said as she moved down from behind her desk and gave the boy a pat on the back, "Now, off to bed."

Without another word, Charlie ran off towards the Gryffindor common room and up to his dormitories. It wasn't long before he let sleep overcome him.

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The following night, Charlie, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco followed Mr. Filch to Hagrid's Hut for their detention. None of them knew what they were to be doing yet.

As they arrived at his hut, Hagrid seemed a bit distraught. He then explained to them how Norbert had been sent away by Dumbledore to go live in Romania.

"I'm sorry Hagrid." Charlie spoke, sincerely.

The half-giant just nodded his head before Filch spoke up, "For goodness sake, get yourself together you big brute. You're going into the forest after all, gotta have your wits about you."

Draco's face fell, "The Forest?! I thought that was merely a joke! You can't seriously expect us to go in there. The Dark Forest is off limit to us students for a reason! There's...creatures out there!"

The three boy Gryffindors laughed at Draco's fear, which earned a scolding from Hermione, "Play nice."

With that, Filch returned to the castle and the five of them reluctantly followed Hagrid into The Dark Forest.

As they walked, Charlie could hear the distant howls of werewolves. The feel of the Forest was extremely dark and eerie. A snap of a twig that Hagrid walked on caused Hermione to jump and grab on to Charlie's arm immediately.

"Bloody hell. I don't like this one bit." Ron spoke in a whisper, which broke Charlie's gaze away from the girl on his arm.

It was then that Hagrid bent down and noticed a patch of a shiny, silver liquid on the ground. He took a bit into his fingers to confirm his suspicions as to what it was.

"Hagrid, what is that?" Harry asked.

"What we're here for," Hagrid simply answered and held his fingers up to the group of students, "See that? That's unicorn blood, that is. Found one dead a few weeks ago. Now, this ones been hurt bad by something. So, it's our job to go and find the poor beast. Ron, you'll come with me."

"Okay." Ron spoke in a scared tone.

"Hermione you'll go with Charlie." Hagrid said with a little smile.

The young girl and boy just simply look at one another and smiled before turning back to Hagrid. It made Charlie really happy that he was being paired off with the bushy haired girl and he didn't quite know why.

"And, Harry, you'll go with Malfoy." Hagrid finished.

"Okay. Then I get Fang!" Malfoy yelled.

"Fine then," Hagrid laughed, "He's a bloody coward anyway."

Charlie chuckled at the dog as he whimpered in fear. Ron and Hagrid continued forward, Harry and Draco took the right, which meant Charlie and Hermione would take the left.

The two walked slowly through the Forest with Charlie slightly leading with the lantern, "I haven't any idea what we're supposed to do if we do indeed find this damn unicorn."

Hermione laughed, "Well, I suppose we'd just tell Hagrid and then get to go back to the castle."

"Where's the fun in that?" The boy asked before sending a sly smirk in the girls direction.

"You're an idiot." Hermione said in a annoyed yet amused tone.

"Maybe," Charlie began, "But you're my friend. Wonder what that makes you by association."

Hermione playfully hit the boy's arm, "Shut up."

The boy laughed as they continued on, "Ow! Careful there Granger, I need that arm for Quidditch!"

The girl was going to say something before she heard the scream of Draco Malfoy in the distance. It frightened her so much that she jumped back into the arms of the boy in front of her.

Charlie held her tight before making a joke of the situation, "And apparently you need these arms when you're scared. All the more reason not to hit me."

Hermione secretly enjoyed the way his arms were wrapped around her for a moment before pushing him away, "That sounded like Draco. We should head back. What if Harry's in trouble?"

The boy thought about her proposal for a moment, "You're right, lets go."

With that, the boy took her hand in his and ran back the way that they came. The two of them met back up with Hagrid, Draco, and Ron, and soon enough, found their way to Harry who was left by himself in the middle of forest with the dead unicorn. Hermione, Draco, Ron and Charlie gaped at the sight of the centaur standing before them.

Hagrid, however, engaged in a small conversation with the centaur, Firenze, before he turned and took off into the forest. With the unicorn now found, the five kids and Hagrid returned to the castle. Detention was now over.

Back in the safety of the Gryffindor common room, Harry told his three friends about his encounter with Firenze. He told them about how You-Know-Who was out in the forest, surviving off of the blood of the unicorns.

"Don't you see?" Harry asked, "Snape doesn't want the Stone for himself, he wants it for Voldemort. With the Elixir of Life, he can be strong again. He'll come back."

"But, if he does come back, you don't think he'll...kill you, do you?" Ron asked in a worried tone.

"I think if he'd had the chance, he might have tried to kill me tonight." Harry answered quickly.

Ron gulped, "And to think, I've been worrying about my Potions final."

"Hang on a minute," Charlie began, "Who's the one wizard who Voldemort always feared? My grandfather."

Hermione nodded her head in agreement, "Charlie's right, Harry. As long as Dumbledore's around, you're safe. As long as Dumbledore's around, you can't be touched."

And with that, the four Gryffindors went off to their dorms for a much needed sleep.

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After the writing of their final exams, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Charlie walked through the castle's courtyard. Hermione and Ron bickered about whether or not the exams were as bad as they seemed. Charlie and Harry just ignored them as they carried on. They knew the two would stop eventually.

Soon enough, Ron gave up on his argument with Hermione and noticed Harry holding his forehead in pain, "You alright there mate?"

"It's my scar," Harry explained, "It hasn't stopped burning."

Hermione looked at him curiously, "It's happened before, hasn't it?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah, but never this bad. I think it's a warning. I think danger's coming."

Charlie chuckled slightly and gave The Boy Who Lived a pat on the back, "And I think you'd best go see the nurse."

The four of them walked some more before coming up to Hagrid's hut. There, the giant sat on his porch, playing a small tune on his flute.

It was in that moment that everything seemed to click in Charlie's head. About the dragon, about Fluffy, about everything.

"That's it!" He exclaimed before starting to walk towards Hagrid.

His friends looked at him curiously, but followed him as he spoke up, "Don't you think it's a bit odd that the one thing that Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to offer him one? I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pockets?"

"Oh my days." Harry said, catching on.

As the four of them reached Hagrid, it was Harry who spoke up, "Hagrid! The man who gave you the dragon egg! What did he look like?"

Hagrid looked at the four Gryffindors curiously, "Don't know. I never saw his face. He kept his hood up."

"But, you and this stranger must have talked?" Charlie questioned.

"Well o' course. He asked meh what kind o' creatures I looked after," Hagrid recalled, "I told him. I said, 'After Fluffy, a dragon will be no problem at all.'"

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Charlie pressed on, eagerly.

"Well, o' course he was interested in Fluffy. How often do come across a three-headed dog?! But I told him that, 'the trick with any beast is to know how to calm him'. Take Fluffy for example, play him a bit of music an' he falls straight to sle—"

Once again, Hagrid had said more than he wanted to, "Shouldn't have told yeh that."

The four Gryffindors looked at one another before sprinting back to the castle. Ron and Hermione were quick to catch on to what Harry and Charlie were insinuating.

They ran quickly into McGonagall's classroom, to which she was sitting as her desk writing with her quill and a bit of parchment.

"Professor!" Charlie spoke loudly as he approached her desk, "I need to see my grandfather immediately. Tell him it's important!"

McGonagall was taken aback, "I am sorry Charles, but I'm a afraid Dumbledore isn't here at the moment. He received an urgent owl from your father and left immediately for London."

Harry groaned, "He's gone? Now?! But this is about the Philosopher's Stone!"

"How do you—"

McGonagall began but was quickly cut off by Harry, "Someone's going to try and steal it!"

McGonagall waved the four kids off, "Now, I don't know how you four found out about that stone, but I can assure you that it is well protected. Now, would you go back to your dormitories? Quietly."

The four sighed before turning to walk out of McGonagall's classroom.

As soon as they were out of her sight, Ron spoke up, "So, it wasn't a stranger that Hagrid met in the pub? It was Snape?"

"Precisely." Charlie confirmed

Harry added on, "That means he knows how to get passed Fluffy."

"And with Dumbledore gone—"

Hermione began, but was cut off by the low calm voice of Professor Snape behind them, "Good afternoon. Now, what would four young Gryffindors like yourselves be doing inside, on a day like this?"

"Uh — we w-were just—" Hermione stuttered.

"You ought to be careful." Snape spoke, "People will think you're...up to something."

With that, the long haired professor turned and walked back the way which he came.

"What do we do now?" Charlie questioned once Snape was gone.

"We go down that trapdoor," Harry answered quickly, which earned a gulp from Ron, "Tonight."

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Author's Note:

Hope you enjoyed! Only one more chapter left of the Philosopher's Stone! Thank God, lol! Hope you guys aren't mad that I make Charlie the one to figure most things out, I want him to be the smartest next to Hermione. Besides, Harry never was the brightest bulb in my opinion ahaha.

If you enjoyed, be sure to vote, comment, and share! I'd really appreciate it!

Until next time, much love to you all!

xo, Selena