The War Hammer of Hogwarts - Harry Potter

Norbert the Dragon

Quirrell was apparently braver than we thought.  In the weeks that followed he did seem to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't look as though he'd cracked yet.  Every time we passed the third floor corridor, we would press our ears to the door to check that Fluffy was still growling inside.  Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe.  Whenever Harry passed Quirrell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and Ron had started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter.  Hermione, however, had more on her mind than the Sorcerer's Stone.  She had started drawing up study schedules and color coding all her notes.  I wouldn't have minded, but she kept nagging us to do the same.

YN: Hermione, the exams aren't for a long time.

Hermione: Ten weeks!  That's not a long time, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel.

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

Hermione: What am I studying for?  Are you crazy?  You realize we need to pass these exams to get into the second year?  They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me...

I sighed, and we continued to class.  Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione.  They piled so much homework on us that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones.  It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practicing wand movements.  Moaning and yawning, Pieck, Harry, Ron, and I spent most of our free time in the library with her, trying to get through all our extra work.

Ron: I'll never remember this!

Ron threw down his quill and looked longingly out of the library window.  It was the first really fine day we'd had in months.  The sky was a clear and blue, and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming.  Harry, who was looking up "Dittany" in 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi", didn't look up until someone else came through the library.

Pieck: Hagrid?  What are you doing in the library?

Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back.  He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

Hagrid: Jus' lookin.  An' what're you lot up ter?

He looked suddenly suspicious.

Hagrid: Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?

YN: Oh, we found out who he is weeks ago.  And we know what Fluffy's guarding.

Ron: Yeah!  It's a Sorcerer's St-

Hagrid: Shhhh!  Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?

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

Hagrid: SHHHH!  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'pposed ter know.  They'll think I've told yeh.

Harry: See you later, then.

Hagrid shuffled off.

Hermione: What was he hiding behind his back?  Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?

Ron: I'm going to see what section he was in.

He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.

Ron: Dragons! Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these. Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland, From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide.