Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback
Piniet had proven them more courageous than they thought, though visible paler, he didn’t seem to have cracked. Fluffy was still on the third floor and Lilith continued to be her normal grumpy self. Luz, whenever she passed him in the corridors would give him an encouraging sort of smile and Willow started telling people off for laughing at his stutter.
Tests were coming, 10 weeks away, so Gus started making his revisions boards taking his mind off the stone for the most part. The teachers also were starting to increase the pace; the students had a very busy Easter holiday full of homework. “This is too much!” Willow moaned while the three studied in the library.
“What’s Hagrid doing in the library?” Willow asked as the giant man walked awkwardly with something behind his back. “Don’t know…Gus what kinds of books have in that section?” Luz replied looking at where section Hagrid came out of “Dragons?” Gus said.
“He said he wanted a dragon, maybe he got one” Luz said happy for the man “But it’s against our laws… Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks convention of 1709, everyone knows that. Dragons are a hard species to conceal” Willow explained “We need to check what he’s doing” Gus said closing their books.
One hour later, at Hagrid’s hut, all curtains were closed “Who’s it?” Hagrid asked before letting them in and then shut the door quickly behind them. Inside was hot as a sauna, even though it was a sunny day, there was a blazing fire in the grate.
“So, are yer still looking for Flamel?” Hagrid asked, serving them tea “We found out about him weeks ago, and Fluffy is guarding the Galdorstone right?” Hagrid let out a loud sigh “Besides Fluffy, what is guarding the stone? Can you tell us?” Luz asked “Of course, I can’t” He said.
“But Hagrid” Gus started but Hagrid interrupted him “Number 1: I don’t know meself and number 2: You know too much already. The stone’s here for a good reason, almost was stolen from Gringotts… You knowing about Fluffy is way too much”.
“Come on Hagrid, you might not want to tell us but you do know, you know everything that goes on around here” Gus said in a warm and flattering voice. “We just want to know who Bump trusted the security of the stone to, apart from you” Hagrid was clearly smiling; his chest welded at these last words.
“Well… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to tell yer that… Let’s see… He borrowed Fluffy from me than some teacher did enchantments… Professor Moncullus, Miss Eda, Professor Milo” He counted the off in his fingers “Professor Piniet and Bump himself did something of course… Hang on, I’m forgetting someone… Oh yeah, Professor Clawthorne” Their jaws dropped “Lilith?!” They asked.
“Yeah, don’t tell me yer’re still on about Lilith? See, she helped guard the stone, she’s not about to steal it” Luz knew Willow and Gus had the same thought she had; Since Lilith had been in protecting the stone, it would have been easier for her to find a way to counter the others, she probably knew everything except, it seemed, Piniet spell and how to get past Fluffy.
“You are the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy aren’t you Hagrid? And you wouldn’t tell anyone, not even a teacher right?” Luz asked “Not a soul knows except me and Bump” They sigh in relief “Can you open a window, I’m melting here” Willow said.
“Sorry, can’t do” Hagrid said “Hagrid… what that’s?” Gus pointed at the fire, underneath the kettle was a huge black egg, the trio already knew what it was “It is errr…” Hagrid tried to create a lie on the spot “Where did you get it? It must have cost you a fortune?” Willow asked crouching over the fire.
“Won it, last night in a pub, from a stranger in a game of cards down the village” He explained proudly “What are you going to do with it?” Hagrid pulled from beneath his pillow a book ‘Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit’. He read the first few lines about how to hatch and nurture it after it.
“Hagrid… You live in a WOODEN house” Gus said not as pleased as Hagrid was with himself, but he didn’t listen, he was humming merrily as he stoke the fire. A new problem was added to their list; what would happen if Hagrid got caught with his soon-to-be-born Norwegian Ridgeback? “We don’t get a week of peace do we?” Willow said.
Gus was driving them mad with her revision timetables. “It’s hatching” a Crow passed down the message one day at breakfast, but Gus didn’t allow them to skip Herbology to see that once-in-a-lifetime experience “We have lessons besides, I’m more concern with the amount of trouble Hagrid will be once someone finds out about it”. Luz saw that Boscha was leasing to them, how much she heard Luz didn’t know.
After their lessons, during morning break, the three hurried through the grounds to the edge of the forest where Hagrid lived “It’s nearly out!” Deep cracks were visible in the egg that lay on the table, something was moving inside. The students watched closely as the cracks grew deeper and the egg split open.
A baby dragon flopped onto the table. It wasn’t exactly pretty; it reminded Luz of a time a car ran over McGee’s granddaughter’s black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body and it had a long snort with wide nostrils, stubs of horns, and bulging orange eyes.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Hagrid murmured when the dragon sneezed and a couple of sparks flew out of his mouth, filled with pointing fangs that almost snap his fingers when Hagrid tried to stroke its head “Look, he knows his mummy” Hagrid said “Hagrid, how fast does a Norwegian Ridgeback grows?” Hagrid was about to answer when someone at the door said.
“Oh, this is going to be fun” Boscha ran when both Luz and Hagrid stood up. Boscha’s smug smile made the trio extremely nervous for the next week. They spent most of their free time trying to reason with Hagrid, to let the dragon, who was named Norbert by the gamekeeper, go. Norbert had grown three times in length in just one week.
“Use your head Hagrid” Gus said “Boscha can go talk to Bump at any time, you haven’t been doing your job lately, even the ‘Kare-takers’ have noticed something is off, they are way more agitated theses last days!” Hagrid bit his lip “I know I can’t keep him forever, but I can’t simply throw him away” Luz scratched her head.
“Don’t you know someone who could take care of him?” Luz asked, Hagrid stood a few moments in silence “There is Steve, he’s studying dragons in Romania” He said “Great, can you contact him?” Gus asked “No, but I guess Edric or Emira or Amity could, he’s their cousin after all”.
“Bly me, more people to know about it…” Gus frowned “Amity probably already know, Boscha must have told her” Willow said “Yeah, but she would never talk to us, much less help us” Luz said “We’re going to talk to the twins” They concluded.
They were having problems getting contact with Steve, no one could know about Norbert so they couldn’t provide a good reason to the twins to why they wanted to talk to their cousin, who had zero to no connection to any of them.
After asking a few times, the twins gave them their crow so they could talk to Steve. One night Willow came back from Hagrid’s hut, after helping him feed Norbert who now ate dead rats by the crate, “He bit me! I tell you, that dragon is the most horrible animal I’ve ever met; I won’t be able to hold a quill for a week!” She showed them her hand wrapped in a bloody handkerchief.
“Mama’s proud” Luz joked, when Hagrid talked about Norbert you could swear that he was a baby rabbit not a growing dragon. A caw from outside the widow, Brulure, the blight kid’s crow, they paid the crow with a piece of raw meat and it reproduced the message.
“Nice to meet you Noceda, Park and Porter” Steve’s voice came from the crow’s beak “I’d be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback. But getting him here will be the problem; best way is to send them over with some friends of mine, who are coming to visit me next week. Could you bring the ridgeback to the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while still dark. Send me an answer as soon as possible, have a great Hogwarts life, Steve” With the cloak, two of them and Norbert could easily enough make the trip.
By the next morning, Willow’s hand was twice its normal size and by afternoon, the cut had turned a nasty shade of green “I think his fangs were poisonous” Willow said as she went to Madame Cutburn. “The mean girls came here” Willow said when Luz and Gus went to visit her after classes “Boscha laughed at me, and threatened tell Madame Cutburn what really bit me, I told her it was a dog, but I don’t think she believed”
After trying to calm her down for multiple times, Madame Cutburn sent them away saying Willow needed to rest. Saturday couldn’t come quickly enough for Gus and Luz, who watched as Norbert became more and more difficult to handle.
Saturday night arrived, a cloudy night with few stars in the skies, Gus and Luz arrived at Hagrid’s hut a bit late because Peeves was in a fearsome battle against two ‘Kare-takers’ in the entrance of the castle over the possession of a jinxed box of balls who behaved like Bludgers.
Hagrid had packed Norbert in large crate “There’s got lots of rats and some brandy for the journey” He said in a muffled voice “I packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely… Bye-bye Norbert” He cried. They covered it with the invisibility cloak and stepped underneath it themselves.
How they managed to get the crate back to the castle? They never knew. After minutes of heavy lifting around the school they arrived at the corridor beneath the tallest tower, only to find Professor Chariot and Amity, who set in the steps of the staircase “I’m very disappointed with you, Miss Blight, 20 points from Slytherin and detention for you. Wondering around in the middle of the night?” Chariot wore a red and white sleeping robe.
“I’m telling you… Noceda and the other are illegally selling a newborn dragon” Amity said “How dare you go spreading such lies, come on, I shall see Lilith about you, Blight” The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that.
“Blight got detention? Willow would love to be here” Gus said once they finally reached the top of the tower and finally took the cloak off and breathed properly. A few minutes later 4 Palismen came swooping from the darkness.
Steve’s friends were a cheery lot; they showed Luz and Gus the harness they rigged up so they could suspend Norbert between them. Once the dragon was bucked safely, they shook hands and the four person rescue squad flew away.
They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands. No more dragons, Blight in detention, what could possibly spoil their happiness? The answer to that awaited them at the foot of the stairs “Trouble…Students outside bed” Ken’s face loomed suddenly out of the darkness; they had forgotten the cloak at the top of the tower.