Of Dragons and Desires
I met up with the boys in the library, after the students had returned from break. I led them to our usual table, where I showed them all the books I had found on Nicholas Flamel.
“He’s the only known maker of the Philosopher’s Stone.” I said and Draco’s eyes lit up.
“What’s that?” Harry asked curiously.
“A Stone that will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which makes the drinker immortal.” I answered.
“This says he celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year,” Draco added pointing at the passage about Flamel in Alchemist Across the Ages.
I nodded then pulled forth another book I’d found on Flamel and Neville looked at me curiously before asking, “Modern Yule Traditions Explained?”
I smiled and answered back, “yes! Apparently, the first appearance of Santa Claus was around the mid to late 1400s. Some wizards have theorized that Nicolas Flamel is actually the Saint Nicolas.”
Harry and Draco grinned then Harry added, “I bet he travels by floo, that would explain why muggles think he comes down the chimney.”
“What’s a floo?” I asked and we spent the rest of the evening discussing various forms of travel that witches and wizards use.
Later that evening
“Why did you just flinch at your reflection?” Daphne asked, concern etched across her face.
I didn’t know what to say. It had been almost two weeks, yet I still couldn’t look at my reflection, without being reminded of what I had seen in that mirror. “I’m not sure how to explain it but I think I can show you, after.” I offered meekly gesturing to the showers.
“Ok.” she said, giving me a warm smile as she turned back toward her mirror and washed her face.
At the beginning of the year we had come up with a rotating shower schedule and Daphne and I happened to have the bathroom first tonight. Which meant the dorm would be empty for at least an hour, considering how long Pansy usually takes.
We could be back before they even noticed we had left. While towel drying my hair, I remembered that I still have Harry’s cloak. I know I’m meant to give it back in the morning but I’m sure Harry wouldn’t mind if I used it one last time.
Once we were dressed and Pansy and Millicent had locked the door to the bathroom, I approached Daphne with the cloak folded in my hands.
“Do you trust me?” I asked hesitantly.
She nodded, then I unfurled the cloak and draped it over one shoulder, partially covering myself. “Good, because what I want to show you, isn’t down here in Slytherin.” I said before lifting my arm in offering, “there’s room for two under here.”
She looked over at the door our dorm mates had just locked and back at my half invisible body. Then she gave a small nod and smile, before joining me.
We tiptoed through the mostly empty common room. There were a few sixth or seventh years scattered around and in his usual spot, was Theodore Nott. He had a book in his lap but he seemed to be looking up at the black lake.
I quietly led Daphne to the secret passageway then up through the castle. When we arrived at the door I stuck my wand out and whispered, “Alohamora.”
There was an audible click, then the door swung open and we entered cautiously. Everything in the classroom looked the same as it had the last time I was here. I heard her gasp when she caught sight of the massive, ornate mirror propped against one wall.
“Because of this?” She asked.
I removed the cloak from us then gestured at the words running across the top. “It’s backwards,” I said.
Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi
“I show not your face but your heart’s desire,” She supplied and I nodded.
Daphne stepped closer then she gasped, before she made a sort of giddy noise and started twirling one of her curls around her finger.
I approached her cautiously, not wanting to meet my reflection, and asked, “I take it, that means you like what you see?”
She looked at me with the biggest smile on her face and said, “Yes! Can you see it?”
I looked at the mirror but I could only see the two of us. I shook my head, “I think you can only see it if you’re standing in that spot.” I said pointing to where she stood, “I don’t think we can see what each other sees.” I added defeatedly.
She nodded her head in understanding then leaned over and said, “I’m older, in the mirror, maybe twenty something and I’m getting married. It’s so lovely, we’re at his family’s home and we’re surrounded by both our families, you’re there too of course.” She smiled.
“Your hearts desire is to get married?” I asked her curiously.
She laughed at that and shook her head, “No, but I think the groom is.”
“Can you actually see his face?” I asked, remembering the distorted images I’d seen the last time I’d looked in this mirror.
“I can make out every single freckle on his face,” She said gazing at her groom, “he may look older here but I know exactly who he is.”
Next she was turning to me and asking, “what did you see?”
I briefly explained what I remembered about the witch and wizard who had been embracing me and their distorted faces and family crests and how I had ran out.
“Out of curiosity, why do you think they weren’t muggles?” She asked.
“They had wands and they weren’t wearing muggle clothes.” I answered automatically.
She pursed her lips in thought for a moment then stepped back and said, “would you be willing to take another look?”
I swallowed my anxiety and stepped forward.
When I opened my eyes I saw myself being embraced again by the same witch and wizard. I described them as best I could then I turned my attention towards the backgrounding, “it looks like we’re on the platform at kings cross station.” I said.
“So they’re dropping you off for scool?” She asked.
I nodded, “yes, that’s what it looks like.”
“Is there anyone else on the platform?” Daphne asked.
I looked around at the scene again, but there were no other people in sight I shook my head, “no, it’s just the three of us and what looks like a Python next to my trunk.”
“Like a familiar? Do you like snakes?”
“Maybe,” I answered, “I love snakes, actually, they’re my favourite.”
She looked thoughtful for a moment then tentatively asked, “Hermione, do you think it might be possible that you were adopted?”
My eyes widened momentarily, the thought hadn’t even occurred to me. Then I shook my head and confidently answered, “No, my parents would have told me if I were.” I couldn’t help the tears that started falling, “it looks like I just want to be a pureblood, but I swear, I love my parents,” I sniffled.
“This mirror doesn’t change that!” she said as she wrapped me up in a hug. “I love my parents too, and even though this mirror shows me a future wedding with a groom I know they’d never approve of, it doesn’t mean that I love them any less.”
“That’s very insightful, Miss Greengrass.” interrupted a familiar feminine voice. We immediately jumped apart and turned to see professor Evans, who was standing by the door that had, apparently, been wide open since we arrived.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized immediately, “I know we aren’t meant to be out this late, I just-“ I trailed off, I didn’t know how to finish that sentence.
Professor Evans must have understood cause she nodded her head and said, “you just wanted to talk to a friend about what you had seen.”
I nodded but kept my eyes trained to the floor out of shame. I’m not sure how much she had overheard but she was right. I had been desperate to share what I had seen with someone.
She approached us slowly and put an arm around each of us. “There’s nothing wrong with desiring parents who understand magic,” she said to me. Then she turned to Daphne and continued, “or desiring to choose your own husband.”
I felt silly for not realizing that’s what Daphne’s reflection had meant, I know she said her parents wouldn’t approve of her mystery groom, but surely they couldn’t force her to marry someone she didn’t want to.
Professor Evans enveloped us into a group hug and said, “this mirror gives us neither knowledge nor truth. Plenty of men and women have wasted away before it. Either entranced by what they had seen or been driven mad by not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible.”
She turned us away from it and started us towards the door before finishing, “The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, and I must ask you not to go looking for it again. However, If you do come across it, you shall now be prepared. It is not wise to dwell on dreams so much, that you forget to live. Now, why don’t you two put that lovely Cloak back on and head back to your dorm?”
We quickly nodded our agreement and dawned the cloak. Then we silently departed and made our way back down to the dungeons.
Classes resumed and so did the assignments. I decided with exams looming I would spend most of my free time studying in the library. Harry would join when he was free from practice and between Draco, Neville, Daphne and sometimes Blaise, I found I never studied alone. I made up a study schedule and copied it for them but Neville was the only one that seemed to follow it.
Just before the Easter holidays, I found myself in the library with Harry, Draco and Neville. They were working on their potions essays while I studied. We were sitting at our usual table, then Hagrid walked by.
“Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?” Harry asked curiously.
Hagrid shuffled around, trying to hide something behind his back. He looked very out of place wearing his moleskin overcoat inside. “Jus’ lookin,” he said, in a kind of shifty voice that caught my interest at once. “An’ what’re you lot up ta today?” He eyed us suspiciously. “Yer not still lookin’ fer Flamel, are ya?”
“Oh no, we figured out who he is ages ago,” said Harry matter-of-factly. “And we know what Fluffy’s guarding, it’s the Philosopher’s St“
“Shhhh!” Hagrid looked around to see if anyone could overhear. “Don’ go shoutin’ about it ‘n ere, what’s the matter witcha?”
“Actually, there are a few things we wanted to ask you,” said Harry,” about what’s guarding the Stone apart from the Cerberus of cour-”
“SHHHH!” said Hagrid again, even louder. “Listen, come an’ see me later today, I’m not promisin’ I’ll tell you lot anythin’, mind ya, but don’ go talkin’ bout it in ere, ya aren’ s’pposed ter know. They’ll think I’ve told ya”
“We’ll see you later, then,”said Harry.
Hagrid shuffled off. “What do you think he was hiding behind his back?” I asked thoughtfully.
“Do you think it has anything to do with the Stone?” Harry queried.
“I’ll go see which section he was in,” said Draco, who’d apparently seen which way Hagrid had come from. He returned a moment later with a pile of books that he slammed down on the table.
“Dragons!” he said. “He was looking up stuff about dragons. Look at these: A Dragon Keeper’s Guide and Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno.”
“Hagrid’s always wanted a dragon, I remember him telling me all about them the first time I ever met him,” said Harry.
“But it’s against the law to own one,” said Neville. “Dragon-breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks’ Convention of 1709, everyone knows that.”
“It is?” I asked surprised, “Why?”
Draco shrugged “It gets a bit hard to stop Muggles noticing us if we’re keeping dragons in the back garden. Besides, you can’t really tame dragons, it’s dangerous.”
“But it’s not like there are wild dragons in Britain?” I said.
“Of course there are,” said Neville who looked a bit gruesome when he added, “you should see the burns my dad got from a wild one a few years back. There’s the Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up. They have to keep putting spells on Muggles who’ve spotted them, to make them forget.”
“Then what on Earth is Hagrid up to?” I wondered out loud.
After dinner, Daphne asked Neville to help her revise her Herbology essay, so that left going to Hagrid’s to Harry, Draco and I. We met up at the oak door then headed across the grounds to Hagrid’s hut.
It was just starting to get dark out, only a few stars were visible. When we knocked on the door of the hut, I was surprised to see that all the curtains were drawn. We heard Hagrid call out, “Who is it?” before he let us in and then shut the door, quickly, behind us.
Once inside we noticed it was extremely hot. It had been such a warm day, yet Hagrid had a big blazing fire going. He made us tea and offered us some sandwiches, which we politely refused, claiming to still be full from dinner. Then he asked “So, you lot wanted to ask me sum thin’?”
“Yes,” answered Harry quickly. I guess there was no point beating around the bush. “We were curious if you could tell us what’s guarding the Stone, apart from Fluffy.”
Hagrid frowned at us and said, “ ‘Course I can’t. Number one, I don’ even know meself. Number two, ya know too much already, so I wouldn’ tell you lot, even if I could. That Stone’s here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts – I know yeh’ve already worked that out an’ all. But it beats me how ya three even learned ’bout Fluffy.”
“Oh, come on, Hagrid, I know you might not want to tell us, but you do know. You know everything that goes on around here,” I said, attempting a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid’s beard twitched and I could tell he was smiling.“We were only curious who had helped with the guarding, really.” I went on. “We wondered who professor Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you, of course.”
Hagrid’s chest swelled at those last words. Harry and Draco beamed. “Well, I s’pose it couldn’t hurt ta tell ya that he borrowed Fluffy from me and then some o’ the teachers did their own enchantments. Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall,” he started ticking them off on his fingers, “Professor Snape an’ Professor Dumbledore ‘emself did somethin’. Now ‘ang on, I’ve forgotten someone. Oh yeh, Professor Quirrell.”
“Quirrell?” Harry and I asked in unison.
“Yeah. Oy! you lot ’re not still on ‘bout that, are ya? Look, Quirrell helped protect the Stone, he’s not about ta steal it.”
I knew Draco and Harry had to be thinking the same thing I was. If Quirrell had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been really easy for him to find out how the other teachers had helped guard it. He probably knew everything, except, maybe, how to get past the Cerberus.
“I bet you’re the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren’t you, Hagrid?” I asked, a bit anxiously. “And you wouldn’t tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?”
“O’ course not! Not a soul knows how ta get pas’ Fluffy, cept me an’ Dumbledore,” declared Hagrid a bit proudly.
“Well, that’s something, at least,” Draco muttered under his breath before turning to Hagrid. “Hagrid, can we open up a window? It’s boiling in here.”
“Can’t do that Draco, sorry,” said Hagrid. We noticed him glance at the fire.
Harry peered over into the flames. “Hagrid,what’s that?” But I’m sure he already knew what it was. Sitting in the fire, underneath the kettle, was a massive, black egg.
“Ah,”Hagrid said, fiddling nervously with his beard. “Well that’s, uh-”
“Where did you get it, Hagrid?” Draco asked as he crouched over the fire to get a better look at the egg. “That egg is probably worth a fortune.”
“I won it, actually,” announced Hagrid cheerfully. “Las’ night. I was down in Hogsmeade havin’ a few drinks an’ got into this game o’ cards with a stranger. Seemed like he was quite relieved ta be rid of it, musta known it was ready ta ‘atch.”
Suddenly the egg lurched and there was an audible crack. Hagrid jumped up and grabbed oven mitts and tongs before he pulled the egg out of the fire.
“It’s nearly out.” Hagrid announced giddily. The egg was now lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it and it was moving. A funny clicking noise started to come from it.
We all drew our chairs up to the table and watched patiently. Over the next thirty or so minutes, more cracks appeared on the shell. Then, all at once, there was a loud scraping noise and the egg split open.
The baby dragon stumbled out on to the table. It was absolutely adorable. Its dark wings were huge compared to its jet black, kitten sized body and it had a long snout with wide nostrils, stubs of horns and big, orange eyes. It sneezed and a couple of sparks flew out.
“Isn’t he beautiful?” Hagrid sighed. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon’s head. The baby dragon snapped at his fingers, showing their pointed fangs. “Bless him. Look at tha’, ‘e knows who his mummy is!” Hagrid said smiling as he tried to stroke the dragon again.
“Hagrid,” I said tentatively, “Exactly how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow?”
Hagrid was about to answer when suddenly, all the colour drained from his face, then he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.
“What’s the matter?” Harry asked.
“Sum one was lookin’ through a teany gap in the curtains, some kid, he’s runnin’ back up ta the school now.”
Harry and Draco bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance they could see the red hair as the kid retreated. One of the Weasleys had seen the dragon.
I looked over to the clock on the mantel and gasped when I saw the time. Harry and Draco looked back at me questioningly. “What?” They asked.
“It’s past curfew.” I announced. Harry promised he’d talk to the Weaselys in the morning and reassured Hagrid that it would be alright then we hurried back up to the school.
We had just entered the castle when we heard Mrs.Norris coming towards us so we made a run for it in the opposite direction. Unfortunately the corner we rounded brought us face to face with Ron Weasley who was getting reprimanded by Professor Snape.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Professor Snape drawled as he scowled at Draco and Harry before looking at me like he was disappointed. “Why are you three out of bed?”
“Sorry, professor, we lost track of the time,” I offered, “we were having a cuppa with Hagrid and left as soon as we realized how late it had gotten.”
He turned back to Harry and Draco who nodded their agreement before saying, “In that case, the three of you will be joining Mr.Weasley in detention next weekend.I will also be taking 5 points, each.”
“Five? But you just took ten from me!” Weasley protested.
“You didn’t have a reason to be out,”Professor Snape snapped before he gave Weasley a look of pure loathing and sneered, “Now you’ve lost Gryffindor twenty points, would you care to make it thirty?”
Weasley shrank back at that. Professor Snape turned back to us, “Mr.Malfoy, escort Miss Granger back to Slytherin, I want to have a word with you two after I drop them off at their tower.” He said gesturing at the two Gryffindors.
We returned to our empty common room and waited for Professor Snape. When he arrived he immediately reminded us of the cauldron scrubbing detention we’d earned. Then he showed us how to cast a tempus and set alarms with our wands. When he was done with his demonstration he ushered us towards our respective dorms and dismissed us by apathetically saying, “Do try, not to get caught out past curfew, again.”