The Boys Who Lived | The Philosopher's Stone | (Hermione X Male Reader)

Chapter 14: Norbert The Norwegian Ridgeback

Quirrell must have had more bravery than they had previously believed. He did appear to be thinning and becoming paler in the weeks that followed, but it didn't appear as though he had cracked yet.

Y/N, Harry, Ron, and Hermione would press their ears to the door of the third-floor corridor each time they passed it to hear if Fluffy was still growling within. Snape was pacing around in his typical irate manner, which undoubtedly indicated that the Stone was still secure. These days, whenever Y/N and Harry passed Quirrell, they gave him supportive grins. Ron had also started reprimanding others for making fun of Quirrell's stammer.

Hermione was thinking about more than just the Philosopher's Stone. She had begun creating revision timetables and colour-coding all of her notes. Y/N, Harry and Ron wouldn't have minded, but she insisted they follow suit.

"Hermione, the exams are ages away."

"Ten weeks," Hermione snapped. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."

"But we're not six hundred years old," Ron said. "Anyway, what are you revising for, you already know it all."

"What am I revising for? Are you mad? Do you realise we need to pass these exams to get into second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's got into me..."

Regrettably, it appeared that the teachers shared Hermione's perspective. The Easter holidays weren't quite as enjoyable as the Christmas ones because they had so much homework assigned to them. Hermione's recitation of the twelve uses of dragon's blood or her practice of wand movements made it difficult to unwind. Y/N, Harry and Ron spent the majority of their free time at the library with her, groaning and dozing off as they attempted to finish all of their additional work.

"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out, throwing down his quill and staring longingly out the window. It was the first truly beautiful day they had in months. There was a sense of impending summer in the air, and the sky was a clear, forget-me-not blue.

Y/N, who was looking up 'Dittany' in One Thousand Magical Herbs And Fungi, didn't look up until he heard Ron say, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

As he shuffled into view, Hagrid had something hidden behind him. With his moleskin overcoat, he appeared terribly out of place.

"Jus' lookin'," he said, in a duplicitous voice that immediately piqued their interest. "An' what're you lot up ter?" Suddenly, he appeared suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel are yeh?"

"Nah, we found out who he is ages ago," Y/N said. "And we know the dog is guarding the Philosopher's St-"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid hastily glanced around to see whether anyone was listening to them. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," Harry said, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy -"

"SHHHH!" Hagrid said again. "Listen - come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'posed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh -"

"See you later, then," Harry said.

Hagrid walked away.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" Hermione said.

"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"

"I'm going to see what section he was in," Ron said, who'd had enough work. A minute later, he returned and pounded the table with a stack of books in his arms.