Norbert
The day Hermione got back, the brothers listened to her bicker with Harry and Ron in the library.
“If Filch had caught you out of bed, Harry—”
“Well, he didn’t, so—”
“That doesn’t matter!” Hermione snapped. “You snuck out of bed three nights in a row to see a mirror and didn’t even find out who Nicolas Flamel is!”
At this the brothers all exchanged a glance.
Harry looked about ready to defend himself, but Ron cut him off, looking sheepish. “Haven’t you been saying something about a nightmare? Your parents disappearing in a flash of green light? Dumbledore was right, Harry. The Mirror of Erised really can drive you mad.”
Donnie pursed his lips. “I’m not so sure,” he said. “Maybe the Mirror is trying to tell you something.”
Harry’s brows furrowed. “Tell me what?”
Donnie shrugged. “I’m not sure. It was just a suggestion.”
“Regardless,” Hermione cut in, glaring, “can we get back to Flamel, please?” Everyone went back to flipping through books, but nobody saw anything (granted, the Hamatos weren’t trying all that hard).
Once the term started, they were back skimming through books for ten minutes during their breaks. Harry had even less time than the others, because Quidditch practice had started again.
Wood was working them harder than ever, and for good reason. If they won this next match against Hufflepuff, they would overtake Slytherin in the House Championship for the first time in seven years. That alone was enough to spur the team to practice extra hard, but another factor was driving their intense training, as well: Snape would be refereeing the match.
The day the team had found out, Harry had rushed back to the Gryffindor common room, where he found Hermione and Ron playing chess while Raph watched on. Chess was the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something everyone thought was very good for her.
“Don’t talk to me for a moment,” Ron said as Harry sat down next to Raph. “I need to concen—” He caught sight of Harry’s face. “What’s the matter with you? You look terrible.”
Speaking quietly so that no one else would hear, Harry told the others about Snape’s sudden desire to be a Quidditch referee.
“Don’t play,” Hermione said at once.
“Say you’re ill,” said Ron.
“Break your leg,” Raph suggested.
“I can’t,” Harry said. “There isn’t a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can’t play at all.”
At that moment, Neville toppled into the common room. How he had managed to climb through the portrait hole was anyone’s guess, because his legs had been stuck together with what they recognized at once as the Leg-Locker Curse. He must have had to bunny-hop all the way up to Gryffindor Tower.
Everyone fell over laughing except Hermione, who leapt up and performed the countercurse. Neville’s legs sprang apart, and he got to his feet, trembling.
“What happened?” Raph asked as Hermione led Neville over to where they were sitting.
“Malfoy,” Neville responded shakily. “I ran into him outside the library. He said he’d been looking for someone to practice that on.”
“Go to Professor McGonagall!” Hermione urged him. “Report him!”
“Do you want me or Leo to do something about it?” Raph asked, already going to stand. “Or any of my brothers, really?”
Neville shook his head.
“I don’t want more trouble,” he mumbled.
“You’ve got to stand up to him, Neville!” Ron said. “He’s used to walking all over people, but that’s no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier.”
Harry felt in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a Chocolate Frog, the very last one from the box Hermione had gotten him for Christmas. He gave it to Neville, who looked on the verge of tears.
“You’re worth twelve of Malfoy,” Harry said.
Neville’s lips twitched in a weak smile as he unwrapped the frog.
“Thanks, Harry.” He held the card up. “Do you want this back? You collect them, don’t you?”
Harry looked at the Famous Wizard card as Neville walked away.
“Dumbledore again,” he said. “He was the first one I ever—”
He gasped, staring at the back of the card. He looked up at Ron, Hermione, and Raph. “I’ve found him!”
Raph stood next to Ron, Hermione, and his brothers, watching as the game prepared to start.
“Sorry, dudes, but we all know Hufflepuff’s gonna win this one,” Mikey said smugly. At Leo’s glare, he chuckled slightly. “Oh, right. We’re watching to make sure Snape doesn’t kill Harry. Not to see who wins. Got it.”
Luckily, Dumbledore was watching, which meant Snape wouldn’t dare try to hurt Harry.
Perhaps that was why Snape looked so angry as the teams marched onto the field, Raph mused.
Ron noticed it, too. “I’ve never seen Snape look so mean,” he said. “Look—they’re off. Ouch!”
Someone had poked Ron in the back of the head. Everyone turned to see Malfoy smirking.
“Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn’t see you there.”
“Really dude? I find that hard to believe,” Mikey said. To anyone else, his smile seemed relaxed, but Raph smirked at the threat it promised.
Malfoy, who didn’t know enough to be weary of Mikey, ignored him.
“Wonder how long Potter’s going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? Weasley?”
Ron didn’t answer. Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George had hit a Bludger at the potions master.
“You know how I think they choose the people for the Gryffindor team?” Malfoy said loudly a few minutes later, as Snape awarded Hufflepuff yet another penalty for no reason at all. “It’s people they feel sorry for. See, there’s Potter, who’s got no parents, then there’s the Weasleys, who’ve got no money—you should be on the team, Longbottom, you’ve got no brains.”
Neville went bright red but turned to face Malfoy.
“I’m worth twelve of you, Malfoy,” he stammered.
“You tell him, Neville,” Leo said, who had been glaring at Malfoy the entire time.
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle all howled with laughter. “Oh, shut it, Hero,” Malfoy sneered. He turned to Neville. “Longbottom, if brains were gold, you’d be poorer than Weasley, and that’s saying something.”
Raph straightened.
“I’m warning you, Malfoy,” Ron snarled, “one more word—”
“Ron!” Hermione said suddenly. “Harry!”
“What? Where?”
Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, streaking toward the ground like a bullet.
“You’re in luck, Weasley. Potter’s obviously spotted some money on the ground!”
Ron snapped. Before Malfoy knew what was happening, Ron was wrestling him to the ground. Neville hesitated for a moment before helping Ron.
“Well, Malfoy got lucky, didn’t he?” Donnie murmured, surveying the fight in front of him.
“He sure did, dude,” Mikey said, still smiling viciously.
“Come on, Harry!” Hermione screamed, oblivious to the fight around her. Raph and Leo had fought Crabbe and Goyle off of Neville, dodging their punches easily.
Suddenly the crowd erupted in cheers, and they all turned to see Harry beaming, his arm raised in triumph and the Snitch in his hand.
“Harry, where have you been?” Hermione asked a few hours later, as Harry stepped into the Great Hall. Raph narrowed his eyes at the boy’s pale face.
“We won! We won! And I gave Malfoy a black eye!” Ron said gleefully.
“Never mind that,” said Harry breathlessly. “Let’s find an empty room; wait ‘til you hear this.”
He made sure Peeves wasn’t in the room before he shut the door. “I was walking back from the locker rooms—Snape—the Forbidden Forest—”
“Slow down,” Raph said, suddenly stricken. “The Forbidden Forest?”
Harry gulped and nodded. “I followed him on my broom from above. He started talking to Quirrell—asking him if he’d found a way to get past Fluffy yet. Then he told Quirrell to think about ‘where his loyalties lie’ or something like that and walked away. Oh! And he mentioned the Stone, too.”
“So we were right, it is the Sorcerer’s Stone, and Snape’s trying to force Quirrell to help him get it.”
“So you mean the Stone’s only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?” Raph said.
“It’ll be gone by next Tuesday,” Ron said glumly.
Quirrell was braver than they thought, it seemed, because in the following weeks, while he did get paler and thinner, he didn’t seem to have cracked just yet.
Donnie and Hermione, however, had more on their minds than the Sorcerer’s Stone. They began holding daily study sessions in the library, reviewing their notes for hours on end.
“Dude, the exams are ages away,” Mikey complained at one point. Everyone was standing by their table, concerned.
“Ten weeks,” Donnie and Hermione snapped at the same time, not looking up from their notes. They had even color-coded them.
“What are you two studying for, anyway?” Ron said. “You already know it all.”
“What are we studying for? Are you crazy?” Hermione said. “You realize we need to pass these exams to get into second year? They’re very important—I should have started studying last month, don’t know what’s gotten into me.”
“Are you serious? ‘What’s gotten into you’? You do realize that all of this stress from literally everything cannot be good for you, right? Especially not at such a young age,” Leo said, crossing his arms.
Ron scoffed. “You guys always talk to us like we’re younger than you,” he said.
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that, too,” Hermione said, finally looking up from her book. Leo, Donnie, and Raph froze.
“Yeah, and wasn’t your birthday in September or something? And after Hermione’s birthday, too?” Harry accused.
“Uh—”
“Look,” Mikey cut in, smooth as butter, “maybe we’re older, maybe we’re younger. The point is, you guys should stop stressing so much and just chill. Trust me, your lives will be so much better. And Dee, Hermione, we’ve got plenty of time.”
Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Donnie and Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren’t nearly as fun as the Christmas ones. Harry, Ron, and Hermione even took to studying at breakfasts, something that Raph was vehemently opposed to.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” he said when Hermione offered for him to study with them. His hands were clenched into fists, and he had murder in his eyes. “Donnie’s pushing me enough as it is. And anyway, I can’t right now—I have to go beat Mikey up. See ya later.”
He stormed off, leaving behind three very bewildered Gryffindors.
“Mikey,” Raph growled when he saw his youngest brother bounding to the Great Hall for breakfast. “Where are they?”
“Where are what?” Mikey asked innocently, and Raph clenched his jaw.
“You know exactly what. Where are my sais?” he demanded, crossing his arms. “And don’t try to tell me you didn’t take them,” he snapped. “You did. So where are they?”
Mikey sighed. “Fine,” he said dejectedly. He reached into the pockets of his robes. His eyes widened. “Whoops.”
“Whoops?” Raph repeated. “What do you mean, ‘whoops’?”
“Chill, dude, I just left them in the common room. No biggy.”
“No biggy? You’d better go get them before I whoop your butt all the way to New Jersey, and that’s a long way to travel, seeing as we’re not on that continent anymore.”
“I can’t—I promised I’d meet Fred and George for breakfast, and I don’t want to be late. But,” he said before Raph exploded, “I can tell you how to get to the common room.” He told Raph where the Hufflepuff entrance was.
“And how exactly am I supposed to get in, genius?”
“Oh, yeah! Just tap the barrel two from the left in the middle of the second row, to the tune of ‘Helga Hufflepuff.’”
“And if I run into another Hufflepuff?” Raph was starting to see many flaws in Mikey’s plan, feeling irritation surge again.
“It’ll be fine—everyone else is already at breakfast. And if they’re not, just use your ninja training, bro.”
He left Raph simmering in rage behind him.
“Hey dudes!” he said to Fred and George. He plopped down beside them, earning a few glares from the Gryffindors around them. “What’s up?”
“Mikey, my man!” George said, laughing. “Pulled any good pranks recently?”
Mikey shrugged, hiding a smirk. “A few.”
Fred patted his shoulder. “At the rate you’re going, you’ll be pulling pranks at our intensity and frequency in no time. Just you wait.”
“Oh, I don’t think I have to wait very long,” Mikey said, watching as the doors to the Great Hall slammed open. “In fact, I think that’s my cue.”
“MIKEY! ” Raph roared, storming into the room.
“Nice chatting with you dudes!” Mikey said, pushing himself up from the table as hundreds of heads turned to look at Raph. He retreated to the Hufflepuff table as Raph made his way toward him. At their respective tables, Donnie and Leo only rolled their eyes. They’d deal with that in a minute.
“What did you do?” Raph seethed, walking over to Mikey. “And why am I covered in vinegar?”
A few Hufflepuffs laughed at that, and Mikey chuckled sheepishly. “Did you spill something?”
“I tapped the barrels exactly like you said and got sprayed with vinegar,” Raph said, still walking toward Mikey. “Two from the left, middle row, ‘Helga Hufflepuff.’”
“Oh, uh, did I say two from the left?” Mikey said, inching backward. “I meant from the right. My bad?”
“Oh, you’re gonna get it!” Raph yelled, lunging. Mikey yelped, jumping out of the way.
“Dude, chill!” Mikey screeched. By now, most other students had gone back to eating, but a few watched the spectacle. “You can have them back!”
“Too late!”
Donnie and Leo stood up, exchanging an exasperated sigh. Mikey ran over to Donnie and cowered behind him.
“I can’t believe I’m related to you idiots,” Donnie muttered.
Leo stood in front of Raph, who was trying to force his way over to Mikey.
“Raphael,” Leo snapped, his voice harsh. Raph only glared at his older brother.
“I want them back,” he spat at Mikey, who quickly pulled Raph’s sais out of his pockets and handed them over. Raph glared at him the whole time.
“Raph, do not do that again,” Leo said, his voice low. “We want to stay here, do we not? If the Shredder is back, we need the magic. Do not get expelled. ”
Raph glared again at Leo, but sighed. “Fine,” he said, still fuming.
Leo rounded on Mikey. “What did I say about pranks?” he whispered angrily. Mikey gulped.
“Uh… have fun?”
“Don’t. Do. Them.”
He and Donnie shared another glance and began to walk away.
“You’re starting to sound like Sensei,” Mikey mumbled.
The three older brothers stiffened, and Mikey’s eyes went wide.
“I’m sorry,” he said immediately, backing away. “I only meant—”
“I know what you meant,” Leo said. Raph and Donnie watched on anxiously. “And if Sensei were here, he’d tell you exactly what I’m about to: grow up.”
With that he walked away, leaving his three younger brothers standing in stunned silence.
Mikey took another step back, eyes wide as dinner plates. He turned wordlessly to Raph and Donnie, searching for comfort in their eyes. When he didn’t find any, he turned and sprinted out of the Great Hall.
“I’ll never remember this,” Ron complained later that day. The trio was sitting in the library, studying. They hadn’t seen their friends since that morning, and they were starting to get anxious.
Ron sat back in his chair and crossed his arms before immediately straightening. “Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?”
Harry looked up as Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back.
“Jus’ lookin’,” Hagrid said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once. “An’ what’re you lot up ter?” His eyes narrowed. “Yer not still lookin’ for Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?”
“Oh, we found out who he was ages ago,” Ron said with a wave of his hand. “And we know what that dog’s guarding—it’s the Sorcerer’s St—”
“Shhhhh!” Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. “Don’ go shoutin’ about it, what’s the matter with yeh?”
“There are a few things we wanted to ask you, actually,” said Harry, “about what’s guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy—”
Hagrid shushed him, more harshly than he had Ron. “Listen—come an’ see me later; I’m not promisin’ I’ll tell yeh anythin’, mind you, but don’ go shoutin’ about it in here—students aren’ s’posed ter know. They’ll think I’ve told yeh—”
“See you later, then,” said Harry.
Hagrid shuffled off.
“What was he hiding behind his back?” Hermione wondered.
“Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?”
“I’m going to see what section he was in,” Ron said, eager to stop working. He came back a moment later, a pile of books in his arms. He slammed them down on the table.
“Dragons!” he whispered. “He was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at this: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper’s Guide. ”
“Hagrid’s always wanted a dragon—he told me so the first time I ever met him,” Harry said.
“But it’s against our laws,” said Ron. “Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks’ Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It’s hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we’re keeping dragons in the back garden. And anyway, you can’t tame dragons, it’s dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie’s got off wild ones in Romania.”
“But there aren’t wild dragons in Britain?” said Harry.
“Of course there are,” Ron said. “Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, though. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who’ve spotted them, to make them forget.”
“If dragons are so dangerous, then what on earth is Hagrid up to?” Hermione asked.
The only sound in the Room of Requirement was Leo’s ragged breathing. He sat by the shrine of their sensei, shaking. He hadn’t moved from that spot since breakfast, but he hardly noticed. His words played in the back of his mind, cruel and ugly: Grow up.
He didn’t want to think about the utter devastation in Mikey’s eyes, how Raph had gone still and Donnie had sucked in a surprised breath. He didn’t want to think about how he’d disappointed his brothers.
Why had he even snapped, anyway? Sure, Mikey had been pulling some more pranks recently—just the other day he’d stolen Leo’s quills and replaced them with quills that had insulted Leo every time he tried to write. And a few days before that he’d added some ingredients into Donnie’s cauldron in Potions that had made Donnie’s potion explode, but that was just Mikey being Mikey. In fact, he was happy Mikey was pulling pranks again. That meant that Mikey was finally adjusting to Hogwarts. He was happy.
Wasn’t he?
A muscle in his jaw ticked. He owed Mikey an apology, he knew—owed them all an apology—but how could he face them after what he said to Mikey?
Tears stung the corners of his eyes as he thought of his youngest brother. How many times had he thought Mikey died in New York? And how many times had he actually died? Leo had lost count, but he knew that each time it had happened, a large, gaping hole had filled his chest when he knew he would never see Mikey’s smiling face, hear his light-hearted laugh, ever again.
And he had just told his happiest brother to grow up.
Growing up was terrible, and Leo was awed that Mikey still managed to remain so innocent, despite all they faced. But Leo wasn’t completely fooled—he knew that his brother might be putting on a bit of an act sometimes. But if Mikey’s playful manner was to ever go away—and especially if it was because of him—
He pushed himself up, sighing. He looked at his father’s shrine and bowed. “I’ll fix this, Sensei,” he whispered.
He stepped out of the Room of Requirement and immediately stumbled backward, having run into somebody.
“Oh—I’m sorry, I can come back later,” Mikey mumbled, keeping his eyes on the floor.
“No, wait, I—I’m so sorry, Mikey,” Leo said, taking a step toward him. “I never—I don’t want you to grow up.”
Mikey laughed, but it came out almost broken. “It’s okay,” he said. His eyes met Leo’s and Leo’s heart fell at the dead look they held. “You don’t have to lie. I know I’m childish.”
Leo shook his head. “No,” he said. “No, Mikey, I’m not lying. And you’re not childish—you’re fun. You’re kind. And out of all of us, you have the best heart. Never grow up, Mikey. We had to do that too fast in New York—please, just—stay exactly the way that you are.”
Leo was rambling, trying to say everything he could to Mikey. But Mikey looked up at him, something like hope shining in his eyes.
“You mean it?”
“Of course I do,” Leo said quietly. “You’re my brother—why would I ever want you to change? And I’m sorry I snapped,” he whispered, shame creeping up once again. “I just—I don’t know why—I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, bro,” Mikey said, pulling him into a hug. “We all miss Splinter. I’m sorry I brought him up. I promise I won’t do that again.”
Leo returned the embrace, shaking. “And I promise I won’t snap again.”
“Oh, so you guys have made up? Thank God,” Raph huffed, but there was no real bite in his words. He and Donnie regarded their brothers with a mixture of caution and relief, standing at the edge of the corridor. “I thought Donnie and I were going to have to force you two to talk it out.”
Leo turned to them. “I’m—”
“If you apologize to us I will smack you,” Raph said.
“Yeah, Leo, it’s fine. As long as Mikey forgives you, we’re good,” Donnie added. Mikey wrapped an arm around Leo’s shoulder, beaming.
“Now that we’ve patched that up, who’s up for some snacks?”
Leo chuckled. “Never change, Mikey.”
On their way to the kitchens, however, they ran into Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who looked perplexed as they rushed through the castle.
“Where are you guys going?” Leo asked, raising a brow.
“Hagrid’s,” Harry said. He lowered his voice. “We think he’s doing something illegal.”
All four of them immediately began following the trio.
When they knocked on the gamekeeper’s hut a few minutes later, they were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed. Hagrid called “Who is it?” before he let them in, and then shut the door quickly behind them.
It was stiflingly hot inside. Despite it being a warm day, a fire roared in the gate. Hagrid made them tea and offered them all stoat sandwiches, which they refused.
“So—yeh wanted to ask me somethin’?”
“Yes,” said Harry. He hesitated for a moment, but decided there was no point in beating around the bush. “We were wondering if you could tell us what’s guarding the Sorcerer’s Stone apart from Fluffy.”
Hagrid frowned at him.
“O’ course I can’t,” he said. “Number one, I don’ know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn’ tell yeh if I could. That Stone’s here fer 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.”
“Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on around here,” Hermione said with a warm, flattering smile. Hagrid paused, and Hermione pushed on, “We only wondered who had done the guarding, really. We wondered who Dumbledore trusted enough to help him, apart from you.”
Raph smirked as Hagrid’s chest swelled. Harry, Ron, and Raph’s brothers all beamed at Hermione.
“Well, I don’ s’ppose it could hurt ter tell yeh that… let’s see… some o’ the teachers did enchantments… Professor Sprout—Professor Flitwick—Professor McGonagall—” He ticked them off on his fingers, “Professor Quirrell—an’ Dumbledore himself did somethin’, o’ course. Hang on, I’ve forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape.”
“Snape?” Harry, Ron, and Hermione said together, incredulous.
“Yeah—yer not still on abou’ that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he’s not about ter steal it.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed. If Snape had been protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew everything—except, it seemed, how to get past Quirrell’s spell and how to get past Fluffy.
“You’re the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren’t you, Hagrid?” said Harry anxiously. “And you wouldn’t tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?”
“Not a soul knows except me an’ Dumbledore,” Hagrid said proudly.
“And the one who sold it to you,” Donnie chimed in, tapping the table absentmindedly. Mikey smacked his hand.
Hagrid frowned. “I s’ppose that’s true, but it’s nothin’ I would worry ‘bout.”
“And you only know about Fluffy?” Leo pressed, leaning forward in his chair.
Hagrid’s eyes widened, but all he said was, “That’s right.”
“Oh, come on, there must be something more you know,” Leo said.
Hagrid’s hesitation was palpable, and suddenly he was smiling. “Oh, all right,” he said. “It couldn’ hurt to tell yeh, then. Right,” he said, rubbing his hands together excitedly. “A few weeks ago, in the Forest, we foun’ a Grimando—the firs’ of its kind, we think. ‘Course, Dumbledore and I wanted the Ministry to come an’ look at it, but they’re busy with all the new trouble tha’s bin goin’ on—well, yeh all know ‘bout that, of course.”
Only Ron nodded—everyone else exchanged confused looks.
“Anyway, the Ministry granted Dumbledore special permission to keep it at Hogwarts, protectin’ the Stone.” Hagrid chuckled. “Even if Snape was tryin’ to get it, he’d have a hard time gettin’ past that Grimando, I tell yeh.”
Leo shot Donnie a look, eyes narrowed. Donnie subtly shook his head—he had no clue what a Grimando was. Leo frowned.
“Well, that’s something,” Harry muttered. “Hagrid, can we have a window open? I’m boiling.”
“Can’t, Harry, sorry,” said Hagrid, glancing at the fire. Harry looked at it too, starting.
“Hagrid—what’s that? ”
But he already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.
“Ah,” Hagrid said, nervously fiddling with his beard. “That’s—er…”
“Where did you get it, Hagrid?” said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. “It must’ve cost you a fortune.”
Leo and his brothers all peered at the egg, as well. Mikey tried to touch it, but Raph pulled his arm away, muttering, “Idiot.”
“Won it,” Hagrid said. “Las’ night. 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.”
“But what are you going to do with it when it’s hatched?” Hermione asked.
Mikey snorted. “You could always give it to Raph,” he said, laughing. Raph glared at him.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, I’ve bin doin’ some readin’,” said Hagrid, wisely ignoring the two bickering brothers. He pulled 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 in here. Keep the egg in the fire, ‘cause their mothers breathe on ‘em, see, an’ when it catches, feed it on a bucket o’ brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An’ see here—how to recognize diff’rent eggs—what I got there’s a Norwegian Ridgeback. They’re rare, them.”
He looked pleased with himself, but Hermione didn’t.
“Hagrid, you live in a wooden house,” she said.
“Not to mention it’s incredibly illegal,” Donnie added.
But Hagrid wasn’t listening, humming merrily as he stoked the fire.
Donnie groaned, putting his head down. “I can’t find anything on Grimandos,” he said. Everyone shot him an incredulous look—even Hermione was confused.
“Didn’t Hagrid say it was the first of its kind?” she said.
Donnie shook his head. “There has to be something," he muttered.
Raph leaned back in his chair, picking at his nails. “I’m more concerned with the new ‘trouble’ that’s been going on.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Leo said.
Ron shrugged. “It’s nothing, really. Just a few wizards poking around where they shouldn’t.”
“It’s obviously something if the Ministry can’t come look at a newly discovered species to deal with it,” Harry said.
“I’m sure they’re hushing it up,” Hermione said. “Making it seem better than it actually is.”
Mikey put his head back and groaned, earning a hateful stare from Madam Pince, the librarian. “Dudes, can’t we just go one day without worrying about something?”
Leo sighed. “I wish.”
“It must be nice to have a peaceful life,” Ron said.
One morning at breakfast, Hedwig brought Harry a note from Hagrid. He had only written two words: It’s hatching.
Ron wanted to skip Herbology and go straight to the hut, but Hermione shut that down.
“Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?” Ron complained. Mikey was having a similar conversation with Donnie at the other end of the Great Hall.
“We’ve got lessons, we’ll get into trouble, and that’s nothing compared to what Hagrid’s going to go through when someone finds out what he’s doing—”
“Shut up!” Harry whispered suddenly.
Malfoy was only a few feet away and he had stopped dead to listen. How much had he heard? Harry didn’t like the look on Malfoy’s face at all. Raph didn’t, either, and he glared at the Slytherin until Malfoy smirked and walked away. Raph turned back to them, his eyes narrowed. He and Leo exchanged a glance.
Eventually it was decided that during morning break, all of them would meet up at Hagrid’s. When the bell sounded from the castle at the end of their lesson, all of them dropped their towels immediately and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the forest. Donnie and Mikey met them by the door of Hagrid’s hut, and Hagrid greeted them, smiling widely.
“It’s nearly out,” he said, ushering them inside.
The egg was lying on the table, deep cracks running through it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from within.
They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.
All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. It wasn’t exactly pretty; it sort of looked like a crumpled, black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body, and it had a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns, and large, bulging orange eyes.
It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.
Raph cooed, waving a finger at it.
“Isn’t he beautiful?” Hagrid murmured. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon’s head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.
“Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!” said Hagrid. Raph’s eyes softened, his heart growing heavy as he was reminded of his past life.
“Hagrid,” Hermione started, “how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?”
All of the color suddenly drained from Hagrid’s face. He leapt to his feet and ran to the window.
“What’s the matter?”
“Someone was lookin’ through the gap in the curtains—it’s a kid—he’s runnin’ back up ter the school.”
Harry bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him.
“It’s alright, Hagrid,” Donnie said, trying to keep the others from panicking. “Malfoy probably didn’t see it over Mikey’s big head.”
“Hey!” Mikey snapped, but the sense of dread was too large in the tiny cabin for him to have any real bite.
All of them exchanged a defeated look.
Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy’s face during the next week made Harry and the others very nervous. They spent most of their free time in Hagrid’s darkened hut, trying to reason with him.
“Just let him go,” Harry urged. “Set him free.”
“I can’t,” Hagrid said. “He’s too little. He’d die.”
They all looked at the dragon. It had grown three times in length in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils. Hagrid hadn’t been doing his gamekeeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There were empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor.
“I’ve decided to call him Norbert,” Hagrid said, looking at the dragon with misty eyes. “He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where’s Mummy?”
“He’s lost his marbles,” Ron said under his breath.
“Hagrid,” Harry said, raising his voice, “give it two weeks and Norbert’s going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment.”
Hagrid bit his lip.
“I—I know I can’t keep him forever, but I can’ jus’ dump him, I can’t.”
“What about a dragon trainer?” Leo said, straightening.
“Charlie!” Harry, Ron, and Hermione said at once.
“We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put Norbert back in the wild!”
“Perfect,” Donnie said. “What do you think, Hagrid?”
Eventually, Hagrid agreed that they could send an owl to Charlie to ask him.
The following week dragged by. Wednesday night found Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Raph sitting in the common room long after everyone else had gone to bed, studying silently.
There was a tap on the dark window. Raph whirled, but the other three jumped up.
“It’s Hedwig!” said Harry, hurrying to let the owl in. “She’ll have Charlie’s answer.”
The four of them put their heads together to read the note.
Dear Ron,
How are you? Thanks for the letter—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 be seen carrying an illegal dragon.
Could you send 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.
They all looked at one another.
“We’ve got the Invisibility Cloak,” said Harry. “It shouldn’t be too difficult—I think the cloak’s big enough to cover three of us and Norbert.”
Raph rolled his shoulders. “You three take the Invisibility Cloak,” he said. “My brothers and I can stay on the lookout if anything goes wrong.”
“But what about getting caught?” Hermione said.
Raph only scoffed. “Don’t worry about that,” he said, with a grin that made Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchange a look.
There was a hitch. Ron had left his books at one of the tables in Potions while he’d gone to use the bathroom, and while the others were distracted, Malfoy had snatched one of Ron’s books.
“Charlie’s letter was in that book Malfoy took, he’s going to know we’re getting rid of Norbert,” Ron groaned after class.
“It’s too late to change the plan now,” Leo said, arms crossed. “I’ll try to see if I can get your book back, Ron, but we don’t have time to send Charlie another letter.”
“And this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert,” Harry added. “We’ll have to risk it. And we have got the Invisibility Cloak—Malfoy doesn’t know about that.”
They found Fang, Hagrid’s dog, sitting outside with a bandaged tail when they went to tell Hagrid, who opened the window to talk to them.
“I won’t let you in,” he puffed. “Norbert’s at a tricky stage—nothing I can’t handle.”
When they told him about Charlie’s letter, his eyes filled with tears, although that might have been because Norbert had just bitten his leg.
They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say good-bye to Norbert on Saturday night if they hadn’t been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night, and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid’s because they’d had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the entrance hall, where he’d been playing tennis against the wall.
Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large cage.
“He’s got lots o’ rats and’ some brandy fer the journey,” said Hagrid in a muffled voice. “An’ I’ve packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely.”
From inside the crate came a ripping noise that sounded to Harry as though the toy was having its head torn off.
“Bye-bye, Norbert!” Hagrid sobbed, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione covered the crate with the Invisibility Cloak. “Mummy will never forget you.”
Ron and Hermione stepped underneath the Cloak, but Harry paused, looking at the Hamato brothers, who were watching silently.
“Are you sure you guys don’t want to go back to the castle?” he said. “We can handle this, you know.”
Mikey shook his head with a wide grin. “Nah,” he said. “This is the most fun I’ve had in months. Come on, dude, let’s do this!”
As one, they seemed to fade into the shadows around them. Harry shook his head before joining Ron, Hermione, and Norbert under the Invisibility Cloak.
How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew. It might have had something to do with harsh whispers coming occasionally from the Hamatos— “Peeves up to the left”, “Watch out for Nearly Headless Nick”, “Don’t trip over that step there.” Midnight ticked nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors. Up another staircase, then another—even one of Harry’s shortcuts didn’t make the work much easier.
“Nearly there!” Harry panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.
“Stop!” Leo’s voice came suddenly, though they didn’t know where he was.
Up ahead, a lamp flared. Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair net, had Malfoy by the ear.
“Detention!” she seethed. “And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you—”
“You don’t understand, Professor. Harry Potter and those Hamatos are coming—they’ve got a dragon!”
“What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on—I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!”
The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. The Hamatos had remained at the bottom of the staircase, still hidden from view. How they did it, the others didn’t know, but they were too elated about what just happened to really care.
“Malfoy’s got detention! I could sing!” Hermione said once they threw off the Invisibility Cloak and stepped into the cool night air.
“Don’t,” Ron said.
Chuckling about Malfoy, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.
Charlie’s friends were a cheery lot. They showed them the harness they’d rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then shook hands with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who thanked them.
At last, Norbert was going, going, going… gone.
Leo’s eyes widened as footsteps rounded the corridor. He and his brothers crouched down, eyes narrowed as Filch stepped into view. He seemed to be… waiting for something. Leo’s heart dropped as he realized what he might be waiting for.
With Filch standing there, he and his brothers had no way of warning the three to be careful. He just hoped they were quiet enough under the Invisibility Cloak to not get caught.
But then three shadows appeared, slipping down the staircase.
“Well, well, well,” Filch whispered as Harry, Ron, and Hermione came into view, “we are in trouble.”
Leo and Raph shared a horrified look.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione had left the Invisibility Cloak on top of the tower.
The Hamatos could do nothing as the three were led to Professor McGonagall with their heads down. They all grimaced, slipping back to their respective common rooms before they, too, were caught.
In the end, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all lost fifty points for Gryffindor— each. On top of that, they all had detention, though they weren’t sure what it was until about a week before exams. Raph, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all looked troubled one morning at breakfast, but before they could fill the others in, notes were delivered to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They were all the same:
Your detention will take place at eleven o’clock tonight in the Forbidden Forest.
Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall.
Professor M. McGonagall
The Hamatos took one look at the location and looked up, nodding. They walked away, leaving the three first-years to suffer by themselves.
Raph got detention for shoving Crabbe against the wall in Charms and threatening to beat his teeth in.
Donnie got detention for causing a massive explosion that covered nearly the entire Potions classroom.
Mikey got detention for pranking Professor Quirrell; he’d murmured the tripping spell, and the teacher had taken such a large fall his turban had nearly fallen off.
Leo walked up to Professor McGonagall after Transfigurations.
“Professor,” he said. McGonagall looked up at him. “I need you to give me detention.”
Her brows furrowed. “Whatever for?”
“Because all of my idiot brothers got detention, and our father taught us to stick together.”
“I’m sorry, Hamato, but we do not just give out detentions willy-nilly.”
Leo shrugged. Suddenly he picked up a chair and hurled it against the wall. It shattered instantly.
He turned back to the professor, brow raised.
“That’ll do it,” she said, jaw clenched.