Party Police.

Chapter Twenty-One.

"It's too late to change the plan now," Harry told Hermione and (Y/n). "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl, and this could be our only change to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we have got the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that."
They found Fang the boarhound sitting outside with a bandaged tail when they went to tell Hagrid, who opened a window to talk to them.

"I won't let you in," he puffed. "Norbert's at a tricky stage— nothin' 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 him on the leg.

"Aargh! IT's all right, he only got my boot— jus' playing— he's only a baby, after all." The baby banged its tall on the wall, making the windows rattle. Harry, (Y/n), and Hermione walked back to the castle feeling Saturday couldn't come quickly enough.

They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say goodbye to Norbert 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 hut 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 crate.

"He's got lots o' rats an' 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 ripping noises that sounded as though the teddy was having his head torn off.
"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed as Harry and Hermione covered the crate with the Invisibility Cloak and stepped underneath it themselves. "Mummy will never forget you!"

How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew. Harry and Hermione were tasked with carrying the crate and (Y/n) was tasked with holding the Cloak high enough that they wouldn't trip, but low enough that it would cover them.

"Guys, I love you, but we've gotta hurry. I've already got a Riddle that'll be twice as hard. I don't want to get into trouble," (Y/n) whispered. Midnight was ticking nearer and nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors.

"I don't believe you're carrying this crate!" Hermione hissed back followed by a grunt. 

"Nearly there!" Harry panted before any more bickering could happen. They reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower. 
Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate. Forgetting that they were already invisible, they shrank into the shadows, staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared. Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hairnet, had Malfoy by the ear.

"Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Here you are wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you—"

"You don't understand, Professor! Harry Potter's coming— he's 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. Not until they stepped out into the cold night air did they throw off the Cloak, glad to be able to breathe properly again. Hermione did a sort of jig.

"Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"

"Don't," Harry advised her.
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 the trio the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then Harry, Hermione, and (Y/n) shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.
At last, Norbert was going... going... gone.
They all slipped back down the staircase, their hearts were as light as their hands now that Norbert was off them. No more dragon— Malfoy in detention— what could spoil their happiness?
The answer to that was waiting at the foot of the stairs. As they stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed suddenly out of the darkness.