CHAPTER 3 - SECRETS AND SILVERTAILS
CHAPTER 3
Hagrid’s house was a small cabin on the way to the Forbidden Forest. Neville bounced the dragon as he walked there, thankful for the empty corridors. First period had just begun – potions, his least favourite – and Neville was spending it petting a Yorkish Silverscale!
“Aye, Neville – is that a YORKISH SILVERSCALE!??!?!?!?!?!?!? :o”
Neville had to stop himself responding with an ‘aye’, choosing to nod instead as Hagrid waved him in.
“Well, wass ‘e doing?”
“I think he was delivering my post,” Neville said meekly, “Though I have no idea why.”
“Well, maybe you shoul’ read the letter. ‘Ere,” Hagrid said, untying it from the dragon’s neck before motioning to hand it back to Neville. Upon seeing his arms were too full Hagrid grinned widely, placing the letter down on his rickety table and reaching for the dragon, cradling it against his large frame and rocking it as if it were a baby.
Neville picked up the letter and opened it.
Neville,
I’m sending this by a Silverscale! How cool is that, right? You probably knew what breed it was. I’m hoping you do, lol, don’t want to be pushing my high expectations onto you. Spoiler: it’s a Silverscale! Man, dragons are awesome. I’ll send you tonnes. Well, as long as you send them back.
Thanks for passing on the message! Tell Hagrid I’d love to see the spiders. I’m a little busy now but I’ll send him an owl – yeah, just tell him I’ll send him an owl.
Well, I’m sending the thestral hair back because it was a fully intentional gift. I am a little obsessive when I find someone who likes dragons and plants as much as I do, maybe you gathered that. This time you get the Silverscale but don’t expect your next taste of magical creatures to be this big!
Charlie
“’Oo’s it from?”
“Charlie – um, Charlie Weasley.”
“Charlie Weasley, eh.” Hagrid scratched his beard thoughtfully. “Wha’s he doing, sending dragons around?”
“I don’t know,” Neville said. “I think we should send it back.”
“Yer right. Ah, yer right. D’you think he knows where ‘e’s going?”
“Yeah,” Neville crossed his fingers. As much as he wanted to hug the dragon close and keep it in his dorm, he knew his face was probably still flushed from his close encounter with McGonagall. Neville never did bode well with confrontation.
-
Dear Charlie,
The Yorkish Silverscale was really cool, thank you for sending it. I got in trouble with McGonagall though so maybe next time don’t send the dragon? But I want to see more, the Silverscale was asleep for most of the time it was here! Hagrid and me tried to take it to the lake and get it to eat fish but then we were scared when it wouldn’t catch any so we gave him some from Hagrids fridge. Is it okay? hagrid said it was but he was worried too.
The thestral hair is cool thanks for sending it back, hagrid says they are pretty expensive too and I don’t get why but I guess only certain people can see thestrals so maybe the hair is difficult to harvest, I don’t know.
Thank you so much for showing me the Silverscale and the thestral hair, Neville
-
Neville spent the night tracing the words of Charlie’s letter until they smudged – the thestral hair glowed in his fingers. His family was poor; he never got expensive things. Or nice things. The thestral hair was nice. Neville brushed it against his lips.
Charlie – who was Charlie Weasley?
Neville folded up the letter and tucked it into a shoebox he kept beneath his bed before the other boys in his dorm woke up. Whoever Charlie Weasley was, he’d be Neville’s secret.
senpai - hi guis! its me, senpai. thnks for the comments. i like reading them. give me more. feed the fanfiction
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