Hexad

Book one, chapter fourteen

Harry Potter And The Bleak World. Book one!

Chapter fourteen of this spectacular book-in-a-book, Norbert, the Dragon That May or May Not Singe Off Your Hands.

Damn, I think that's actually original?
I do not own Harry Potter. This is an AU.

This chapter is also a little short
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The weeks passed, nobody but Harry knowing of what happened between Quirrell and Snape. In the corridors, he kept his eyes on them, though it seemed like he was glaring.

He would've done more to keep an eye out for whether the stone had been taken or not, but he just didn't have the time, he found-- Hermione and Lisa had been raving up about exams, and managed to get him scrambling to study in extra time, even though exams were over two months away.

Ron certainly didn't like how they were studying all the time, since he thought exams were ages away, and he was not the only one. A lot of students found it simply absurd how the Professors had been piling up homework for Easter break, and there was no time to relax.

One long afternoon, Padma and Ron both proved very impatient. The sky was a clear blue, and the day had been extraordinarily warm, and the two wanted to enjoy it as much as possible-- but Harry, Hermione, and Lisa had only agreed they'd join after some studying had been done, much to the two's chagrin.

"I'll never remember any of this anyway," Ron whined, throwing down his quill. 

"We've been here for hours, when can we go enjoy the sunshine?" Padma added. 

"It's only been ten minutes, Paddy. And by all means, go enjoy the sun, we're not stopping you. We'll join you soon enough--" 

"Hagrid! What're you doing in the Library?" Ron disrupted Lisa, pointing out Hagrid, who had been acting rather oddly.

He had been hiding something behind his back, "Jus' lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once. "An' what're you lot up ter?" He looked suddenly suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, no, 'course not. We found out who he is weeks back, you know. We know what said Fluffy's guarding in the you-know-where." Padma said proudly.

"Well don' go shoutin' about it! What's the matter with yeh?"

"Aside from that, I actually wanted to know, Hagrid-- what, or who, is guarding the Stone--" Harry began to ask.

"SHHHH!" said Hagrid again. "Listen-- come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', yeh not 'sposed ter know in the first place. Jus' come an' see me later." Hagrid said, shuffling away.

"What's he hiding behind his back?" Hermione brought up. "I'll go see what section he came from," Padma said, quickly scampering off. She returned a minute later with a pile of books, dropping them on the table. "Dragons! He was looking at books about dragons!" She whispered.

"Dragons! He's told me he wanted a dragon, back in Diagon Alley, but you don't think he's got one, do you?" Harry asked. 

"He can't, it's illegal-- dragon breeding has been outlawed for centuries. You can't keep a dragon in the back garden and call it your pet crup. And you can't tame dragons either, it's dangerous-- that's why there's professionals! You've got to see the burns my brother Charlie's gotten off the ones in Romania!" Ron said.

"Ron, think about it. Is there a single dangerous animal Hagrid actually finds dangerous?" Lisa wondered, rolling her eyes.

When they knocked on the door of the Hagrid's hut an hour later, they were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed. "Who is it?" Hagrid called, peeking out through the tiniest crack in the door, before he hesitantly let them in, and then shut the door quickly behind them.